Survey Reveals More People Are Using Alternative Medicine
by Kate White From Natural Healthline |
The recent study was completed by a team led by Nancy C. Elder, MD, MSPH, a family physician at the Oregon Health Sciences University located in Portland, OR. Patients volunteered to be a part of the study by attending focus group discussions about their use of alternative medicine. Specific results showed that 57 of 113 family practice patients were using alternative medicine. Only half of these patients (30/57) said they had informed their physician. The most popular modalities were chiropractic, massage therapy, herbal medicines, megavitamins, and meditation.
Patients said the main reason they used alternative medicine was because they believed it would work. Other reasons included the belief that alternative medicine could hasten their healing process when combined with standard medical practices, or that they simply wanted to use every option at their disposal to increase their health. Patients who worked with their doctors "spoke of acceptance and control," while those who did not "mentioned traditional medicine's limitations and narrow-mindedness."
"Patients who use alternative medicine appreciate the extra time the practitioner gives," study co-author Amy Gillcrist, MD, said in a Medical Tribune News Service release. While many patients are afraid to tell their doctors that they use alternative medicine, the researchers encouraged patient reporting. Many ingredients used in some alternative medicines can harmfully interact with medications prescribed by physicians. "Herbs, vitamins, and other treatments are not innocuous," Elder said.
"I think it's crucial to the continuity of care that all providers in charge of a patient's care should [know] what the others are doing, " said Jennifer Jacobs, MD, a family physician in Washington State, and practitioner of alternative medicine therapies. "The biggest danger is perhaps someone with a serious disease going undiagnosed during a crucial period of time when they could receive curative treatment."
"I never recommend any alternative therapy until I have diagnosed [the problem] and have used conventional therapy," said Isadore Rosenfeld, MD, cardiologist at Cornell Medical College in New York and author of new book, "Dr. Rosenfeld's Guide to Alternative Medicine." Rosenfeld is in favor of converting alternative medicine into an adjunct or complementary treatment to the current medical system.
The same issue of "Archives of Family Medicine" features an article on a panel convened in 1995 by the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in 1995 to examine clinical practice guidelines in complementary and alternative medicine, and an editorial by Wayne Jonas, MD, current director of the Office, and John Spencer, PhD, now retired.
For more information,
Archives of Family Medicine
http://www.ama-assn.org/
Review of Dr. Rosenfeld's book and excerpt from Random House
http://www.randomhouse.com/releases/9702/679-42817-8.html
and from the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-04/01/019L-040197-idx.html
Acupuncture.com |