Alternative medicine growing in popularity
 

Alternative medicine growing in popularity

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/2...e.ap/index.html

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Alternative medicine -- including yoga, meditation, herbs and the Atkins diet -- appears to be growing in popularity in the United States, perhaps because of dissatisfaction with conventional care, the government said Thursday.

More than a third of American adults used such practices in 2002, according to the government survey of 31,000 people, the largest study on non-conventional medical approaches in the United States.

If prayer is included, about 62 percent of U.S. adults used some form of alternative medicine.

The results seem to indicate more people are turning to alternative medicine, though the 2002 survey could not be directly compared to previous studies because of differences in size and survey methods, health officials said.

The top alternative therapies included prayer (43 percent of adults), natural products (19 percent), meditation (8 percent) and diets such as Atkins, Ornish, or the Zone (4 percent). (((How Are Ornish And Atkins Lumped Together Like That?)))

More people also are using natural products such as herbs or enzymes to treat chronic or recurring pain, said Richard Nahin of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

"Many conditions are not easily treated with conventional medicine," Nahin said. "It may be the public is turning to complementary and alternative medicine because it's not getting relief from conventional medicine."

But people should not be turning away from conventional treatments that are proven safe, said Dr. Stephen Straus, director of the alternative medicine center.

"People are making individual decisions to neglect those therapies and we have concerns about those choices," he said.

Health officials said they were concerned that 13 percent of those surveyed said they turned to alternative medicine because regular medicine is too expensive.

"It needs to be explored -- we need to find out whether they were insured or not," Nahin said.

Health officials also were surprised that 6.6 percent of those surveyed used the supplement kava kava, which has been associated with liver disease.

"People make the assumption that because something is natural that it's safe," Nahin said. "But a number of studies have shown that natural products can be unsafe when used inappropriately or with other drugs."

He said people considering using alternative medicine should consult their doctor first.

Well, for me low-carbing is alternative medicine and the medical community has had no solution for my problem: PCOS. As far as I'm concerned, drugs are no solution. Curing the problem is. Low-carbing has done that for me.

The History of Medicine

"Doctor, I have an ear ache."


2000 B.C.----"Here eat this root."

1000 B.C.----"That root is heathen, say this prayer."

1850 A.D.----"That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."

1940 A.D.----"That potion is snake oil, take this pill."

1985 A.D.----"That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."

2000 A.D.----"That antibiotic is artificial. Here, take this root."



;)

Doreen

that spoof on the history of medicine is one of my very very favorites!

Boy, is that so true though. LMAO. Thanks for posting that.

Speaking of food as medicine, think about the chinese way of cooking. Their soups and foods are laden with Garlic, Ginger,Onions, and other wonderful "healing" spices.

When I feel a cold or another illness coming on, I go to our local chinese buffet here and nourish my body. The wonders a good cup of "Hot-N-Sour" soup will do. :)

If chicken soup is good for a cold, imagine what a nice bowl of "Egg Drop Soup" will do. It's high in protein, thanks to the eggs, and has the healing chicken broth in it that our mothers, and mothers before them, used to swear by to help the common cold.

In fact if you do a search at Amazon.com for "food as medicine" you'll find all kinds of books on the subject. :)

I believe, in traditional Chinese medicine, that meats are commonly used to correct certain qi deficiencies. And speaking of Chinese medicine, many of their diagnoses sound like weather reports: "excess cold damp wind invading lower jiao" - but you know, it works for many many people around the globe.

A friend of mine who is studying such things said that many times menopause (with it's sudden hot flashes, night sweats, etc), is a "yin deficiency, rather than a yang excess" - I should ask her what that means.

Hot-N-Sour soup is the best. But I make my own. It has chicken broth, pepper and vinegar. All three ingredients are great for helping with a cold. The broth has enzymes in it that promote healing, the pepper helps clear sinus passages, and the vinegar soothes a sore throat like lemon does.

And on top of that it just tastes great!

Ditto for me. I do have insurance, but between the copays for office visits, referals, and medication I figure I'll try fixing it myself first and save the doctor for the serious stuff. So far so good.




I'm with you there! <sarcasm> You mean, you don't want to take birth-control pills forever? And just ignore our increased risks of diabetes and cancers and etc.? Gee... </sarcasm>

Uh huh! Not to mention that established treatment is the wrong pill for PCOS. I found that out when I finally got a doctor who prescribed one that works better for PCOS sufferers to help regulate their periods. But I stopped taking even that pill less than 6 months after beginning low-carb. I'd rather use other methods to prevent pregnancy, not that I really have to worry about it ;).

BTW: I've seen other PCOS sufferers post that they were put on diabetes medications because they had PCOS. At least that's what it looked like the reasoning was. Of course, all of us with PCOS have/had insulin resistance, but I made a deal with my doctor not to go on diabetes meds when my bloodsugar was first tested and it came back 138 fasting. A year later, my bloodsugar was in the low-normal range. No meds for me.

my fasting blood sugar was 85 and my endo put me on glucophage for PCOS. He said it will help me lose weight and I am not getting the full benefit of low carbing without it, because I am so insulin resistant.

I didnt want it, then I finally agreed to try it, but after 3 days I got so sick I stopped taking all pills including my multivitamin. I was totally freaked out. I wanted the glucophage for weight loss, just because I have been frustrated, but that just isnt gonna happen. I guess I just need to keep low carbing and not think about it. I know that its the healthiest and best thing for me... so whats another year or so. Not like I plan on doing something else after.