Originally Published September 14, 2004 -- Your Wellness
Guide
Alternative Medicine
Trends Point to New Future
Special Consumer Wellness Series 1 of 2
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Look
for Part 2 of this Special Consumer Wellness
Series by clicking
here.
|
More
Americans are using complementary and alternative medicine
therapies, including lifestyle improvements, to better their health
and overall quality of life. This Two-Part Consumer Wellness Series
looks at how alternative therapies are being used, how natural
medicine and lifestyle approaches are reducing overall healthcare
costs, and what are the upcoming U.S. healthcare system changes that
are poised to dramatically alter complementary healthcare usage. |
Today’s
Facts
The newest data points to a health movement that U.S. modern medicine
cannot ignore. Recently released 2004 study figures from the National
Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (nccam.nih.gov)
say that a large percentage of Americans are utilizing some form of
complementary therapy or alternative medicine (CAM) -- 36 percent. When
prayer is included in the definition of CAM, the percentage rises to 62.
Richard L.
Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H., one of the study authors and NCCAM's Senior Advisor
for Scientific Coordination and Outreach, says that the study’s “survey is
unique in that it combines an in-depth survey of CAM use with an in-depth
survey of demographics, health status, health care utilization, and health
behaviors (and) allows researchers, policymakers, and third-party payers,
such as insurers, to make informed decisions concerning CAM."
|
Photo Courtesy: Center for Health and Healing
A licensed massage therapist treats a patient at
the Los Angeles’ Center for Health and Healing, an integrated
department of St. Vincent’s Medical Center. |
Indeed
the research is compelling. Combined with upcoming changes in the
U.S. healthcare system, the study reflects a milestone in what some
term the “death of conventional medicine” as we know it. NCCAM’s
research results are from a survey completed by 31,044 adults ages
18 years or older and included not only therapies such as
acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic, but also diets,
supplements, and meditation -- among other therapies.
Additionally, 75 percent of people were found to have used CAM at
some point in their lives, with 36 percent having used it in the
last 12 months, mostly to treat chronic conditions. 28 percent used
alternative therapies because they thought conventional medicine
would not help, and 26 percent used complementary medicine
because a conventional doctor recommended it. |
Dr. Terry
Grossman is founder and director of Frontier Medical Institute in Denver (www.fmiclinic.com),
which is participating in a $30 million NIH study on chelation therapy.
He says “We are at the threshold of a new paradigm of medical care
combining complementary and conventional therapies. Conventional
physicians have begun to realize that complementary therapies can help
them help their patients.”
Integration
Trends
With 55 percent of people saying that complementary treatments would
improve their health if combined with conventional medical treatment, this
view is not going unnoticed as integrative health centers are popping up
across the U.S.
Some of
these centers focus on developing optimal health plans, such as The Duke
Center for Integrative Medicine at Duke University in North Carolina (www.DCIM.org).
Others add in research or clinical studies, professional education, and
public clinics, such as The Continuum Center for Health and Healing at
Beth Israel Medical Center in New York (www.healthandhealingny.org)
where practitioners perform “Functional Medicine” -- individually
analyzing patients and then tailoring unique interventions that help
restore physical, mental, emotional, and structural balance.
Licensed
Acupuncturist David Boyd has overseen the
Center for Health and Healing at
St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Los Angeles for several years and says “As
people begin to use integrative medicine and they see the effect on their
well-being, there will be a change of thinking.”
Look
for
Part 2 of this Special Consumer Wellness
Series by clicking
here.
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Wellington
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national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.
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Wellington