- 07 Jun 2004 02:44
#184727
From acupuncture to aromatherapy, many people are looking beyond conventional medicine to improve themselves mentally and physically.
Use of CAM ? shorthand for complementary and alternative medicine ? has become popular in recent years and not just among celebrities and free thinkers on the West Coast or in large cities.
Health consumers in Kentucky's heartland also are using CAM and inquiring about it, said Dr. Maureen Flannery, a board-certified medical acupuncturist at WaysMeet in Berea who is also a family physician and researcher.
"We're not talking Berkeley (Calif.). We're not talking New Age. We're talking Pike County and Letcher County and Perry County and places like that as well as Central Kentucky," said Flannery, an assistant professor in family practice and community medicine at the University of Kentucky.
CAM, which comes in many forms and is constantly evolving, includes acupuncture for migraines; ginger to combat nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy; meditation to lower blood pressure; and tai chi, a martial-arts-inspired form of exercise, to improve balance and reduce arthritic pain. Mind-body connections, helping the body to heal itself and illness prevention often are emphasized.
When a non-conventional therapy is used alone, it's usually referred to as alternative medicine, but when it's used in addition to conventional medicine, it's often called complementary medicine, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), an arm of the National Institutes of Health.
You may in fact be doing CAM without knowing it since it includes common practices such as prayer and spiritual healing, chiropractic therapies, nutrition and taking herbs.
"If you take a vitamin supplement, that's considered to be alternative medicine; if you take a yoga class, you're doing alternative medicine. If you listen to a relaxation audio tape, that's considered alternative medicine," said Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and author of "The Best Alternative Medicine."
Estimates of just how many people in the United States use CAM vary, partly because of inconsistent definitions of CAM and differing data collection methods in research studies. But major studies have estimated use at nearly 30 percent, as well as more than 42 percent, in recent years.
"It is very much a consumer-driven movement," said Pelletier, former director of the complementary and alternative medicine program at Stanford University School of Medicine. "It's the great American principle of freedom of choice."
"There are certain times when it's extremely important that we seek medical care, advice and also medication; otherwise, people would die," said Vickie Harley, an alternative medicine user in Louisville and a life coach who helps people to achieve their personal goals and overcome obstacles. "But in general for me, looking for something natural, it's like the first thought. ... I'd much rather do that."
In some instances, "a massage might be just what we need rather than going to a back surgeon," Harley said.
But people need to do their homework to avoid dangerous and ineffective practices, experts caution. When dealing with unproven therapies, there is a risk of false hope as well as lost time and money.
"Some people waste a lot of time and energy searching for things that may not work," said Thomas J. Wheeler, an associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Louisville who leads the Kentucky Council Against Health Fraud.
Established by Congress in 1998, the national center funds CAM research to help separate the wheat from the chaff. It also works to integrate scientifically proven CAM practices into conventional medicine and educates the public about CAM through efforts such as conferences, a Web site and an information clearinghouse.
Consumers "need to know what is safe and effective, and there is a lot of research that's going on," said Dr. Brian Berman, director of the complementary medicine program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a professor of family medicine. "It's not all a placebo, but it's also not all a panacea," he said.
Some people turn to CAM because they're fed up with conventional medicine's shortcomings and want to do something to help themselves.
"They're tired of taking pills; they're sick and tired of being sick and tired; they drag themselves in here," said Dr. Robert Jeffrey Brown, a chiropractor who leads the Southern Indiana Center for Alternative Medicine and Acupuncture in Jeffersonville. "A lot of them come with 13-14 different pills they're taking. They're over-medicated."
But few people are rejecting conventional, mainstream medicine outright in favor of CAM, Flannery and Pelletier said.
"The vast majority use both conventional and alternative medicine in order to help themselves and their families," Pelletier said. "They're not making stupid decisions."
For instance, a cancer patient might get conventional treatment, such as chemotherapy, but use CAM therapies ? such as supplements, acupuncture or Qigong, a form of Eastern movement meditation ? to address side effects or symptoms, Flannery said.
"I think there's a real desire for improved health and wellness, and health consumers and patients perceive that they're better off going to the doctor and doing other things that may in their mind be outside of mainstream medical care," she said.
The users of alternative and complementary therapies tend to be middle-aged ? part of the baby boomer generation in their late 40s to early 60s ? and have higher socio-economic status, higher education levels and higher incomes, Pelletier said.
That means "they have the ability to seek out the best of conventional care but then have enough discretionary money to seek out additional influences," such as alternative and complementary medicine, Pelletier said. That may be through travel or through the Web.
The Internet has helped to spur CAM's popularity by making it possible to rapidly spread information about health options, Pelletier said. It's also helped to break down geographic boundaries, giving the public access to other cultures, where many alternative therapies flourish, he said.
Increased marketing also has been a factor in the popularity of CAM. "Companies perceive that offering vitamins, minerals, exercise equipment, books, tapes, etc. ? all of the commercial products ? (is) quite lucrative, and certainly the marketing and sales of those materials has fueled its interest," Pelletier said.
CAM tends to be more popular among women, research shows.
Harley, 50, said she has tried numerous alternative therapies, including homeopathy, Reiki (a method of natural healing based on the application of "universal life force energy"), herbs, massage, yoga, hypnotherapy and chiropractic health care, reaping various benefits. Massage helped her to become more comfortable with touch and to release stress, she said. Yoga brought her peace. Homeopathic remedies helped her with colds and muscle aches.
Harley said she doesn't see trying such therapies as risky to her health because she educates herself and knows her body well enough to know when to get something checked out by a mainstream doctor.
Janice Allen, 48, of Louisville began using alternative medicine 15 years ago by taking supplements. She had a job with no insurance and couldn't afford to go to the doctor, so she began frequenting health-food stores. She started with grapefruit seed extract for strep throat, then others, such as Echinacea for colds, St. John's wort for depression, ginkgo biloba for circulation and blessed thistle for period-related headaches.
Seeming to get relief from the supplements, Allen has continued using various supplements over the years, consulting resource books and the Internet to match her symptoms with given supplements and keeping her doctors informed about what she takes.
Allen said she has had ill effects from supplements twice. She got severe heartburn after taking a supplement for a heel problem and developed itchy skin after taking a supplement and then getting into a tanning bed.
But given problems that have occurred with some regular drugs in this country, "I don't think there's any more risk involved" in taking supplements, she said. "The potencies aren't always consistent, but you learn ... what brands are good and stick with those."
She also isn't swayed by the fact that supplements aren't regulated as strictly as drugs.
"I don't trust the pharmaceutical companies; I don't trust the FDA," she said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "I just always felt natural is better. It's something God intended for this use. Why not use it?"
But Wheeler, who teaches an elective course on alternative medicine for second-year medical students at UofL, cautioned that "natural" doesn't mean a product is safe. Furthermore, he said, "It doesn't mean it works."
A person might attribute feeling better to a complementary or alternative therapy when it's just the natural cycle of the person's disease or condition.
"It's important to realize many things get better on their own or they come and go," Wheeler said.
People also need to realize that just because someone who has tried an alternative therapy says it works doesn't mean that it's so, even if the anecdotal report comes from a friend or relative.
"It's very easy to be fooled," Wheeler said. "Even doctors can be fooled. Doctors have done treatments that they were sure worked and then when a controlled study was done, it turned out that it didn't really do anything."
http://www.courier-journal.com/features ... 14339.html
Use of CAM ? shorthand for complementary and alternative medicine ? has become popular in recent years and not just among celebrities and free thinkers on the West Coast or in large cities.
Health consumers in Kentucky's heartland also are using CAM and inquiring about it, said Dr. Maureen Flannery, a board-certified medical acupuncturist at WaysMeet in Berea who is also a family physician and researcher.
"We're not talking Berkeley (Calif.). We're not talking New Age. We're talking Pike County and Letcher County and Perry County and places like that as well as Central Kentucky," said Flannery, an assistant professor in family practice and community medicine at the University of Kentucky.
CAM, which comes in many forms and is constantly evolving, includes acupuncture for migraines; ginger to combat nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy; meditation to lower blood pressure; and tai chi, a martial-arts-inspired form of exercise, to improve balance and reduce arthritic pain. Mind-body connections, helping the body to heal itself and illness prevention often are emphasized.
When a non-conventional therapy is used alone, it's usually referred to as alternative medicine, but when it's used in addition to conventional medicine, it's often called complementary medicine, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), an arm of the National Institutes of Health.
You may in fact be doing CAM without knowing it since it includes common practices such as prayer and spiritual healing, chiropractic therapies, nutrition and taking herbs.
"If you take a vitamin supplement, that's considered to be alternative medicine; if you take a yoga class, you're doing alternative medicine. If you listen to a relaxation audio tape, that's considered alternative medicine," said Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and author of "The Best Alternative Medicine."
Estimates of just how many people in the United States use CAM vary, partly because of inconsistent definitions of CAM and differing data collection methods in research studies. But major studies have estimated use at nearly 30 percent, as well as more than 42 percent, in recent years.
"It is very much a consumer-driven movement," said Pelletier, former director of the complementary and alternative medicine program at Stanford University School of Medicine. "It's the great American principle of freedom of choice."
"There are certain times when it's extremely important that we seek medical care, advice and also medication; otherwise, people would die," said Vickie Harley, an alternative medicine user in Louisville and a life coach who helps people to achieve their personal goals and overcome obstacles. "But in general for me, looking for something natural, it's like the first thought. ... I'd much rather do that."
In some instances, "a massage might be just what we need rather than going to a back surgeon," Harley said.
But people need to do their homework to avoid dangerous and ineffective practices, experts caution. When dealing with unproven therapies, there is a risk of false hope as well as lost time and money.
"Some people waste a lot of time and energy searching for things that may not work," said Thomas J. Wheeler, an associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Louisville who leads the Kentucky Council Against Health Fraud.
Established by Congress in 1998, the national center funds CAM research to help separate the wheat from the chaff. It also works to integrate scientifically proven CAM practices into conventional medicine and educates the public about CAM through efforts such as conferences, a Web site and an information clearinghouse.
Consumers "need to know what is safe and effective, and there is a lot of research that's going on," said Dr. Brian Berman, director of the complementary medicine program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a professor of family medicine. "It's not all a placebo, but it's also not all a panacea," he said.
Some people turn to CAM because they're fed up with conventional medicine's shortcomings and want to do something to help themselves.
"They're tired of taking pills; they're sick and tired of being sick and tired; they drag themselves in here," said Dr. Robert Jeffrey Brown, a chiropractor who leads the Southern Indiana Center for Alternative Medicine and Acupuncture in Jeffersonville. "A lot of them come with 13-14 different pills they're taking. They're over-medicated."
But few people are rejecting conventional, mainstream medicine outright in favor of CAM, Flannery and Pelletier said.
"The vast majority use both conventional and alternative medicine in order to help themselves and their families," Pelletier said. "They're not making stupid decisions."
For instance, a cancer patient might get conventional treatment, such as chemotherapy, but use CAM therapies ? such as supplements, acupuncture or Qigong, a form of Eastern movement meditation ? to address side effects or symptoms, Flannery said.
"I think there's a real desire for improved health and wellness, and health consumers and patients perceive that they're better off going to the doctor and doing other things that may in their mind be outside of mainstream medical care," she said.
The users of alternative and complementary therapies tend to be middle-aged ? part of the baby boomer generation in their late 40s to early 60s ? and have higher socio-economic status, higher education levels and higher incomes, Pelletier said.
That means "they have the ability to seek out the best of conventional care but then have enough discretionary money to seek out additional influences," such as alternative and complementary medicine, Pelletier said. That may be through travel or through the Web.
The Internet has helped to spur CAM's popularity by making it possible to rapidly spread information about health options, Pelletier said. It's also helped to break down geographic boundaries, giving the public access to other cultures, where many alternative therapies flourish, he said.
Increased marketing also has been a factor in the popularity of CAM. "Companies perceive that offering vitamins, minerals, exercise equipment, books, tapes, etc. ? all of the commercial products ? (is) quite lucrative, and certainly the marketing and sales of those materials has fueled its interest," Pelletier said.
CAM tends to be more popular among women, research shows.
Harley, 50, said she has tried numerous alternative therapies, including homeopathy, Reiki (a method of natural healing based on the application of "universal life force energy"), herbs, massage, yoga, hypnotherapy and chiropractic health care, reaping various benefits. Massage helped her to become more comfortable with touch and to release stress, she said. Yoga brought her peace. Homeopathic remedies helped her with colds and muscle aches.
Harley said she doesn't see trying such therapies as risky to her health because she educates herself and knows her body well enough to know when to get something checked out by a mainstream doctor.
Janice Allen, 48, of Louisville began using alternative medicine 15 years ago by taking supplements. She had a job with no insurance and couldn't afford to go to the doctor, so she began frequenting health-food stores. She started with grapefruit seed extract for strep throat, then others, such as Echinacea for colds, St. John's wort for depression, ginkgo biloba for circulation and blessed thistle for period-related headaches.
Seeming to get relief from the supplements, Allen has continued using various supplements over the years, consulting resource books and the Internet to match her symptoms with given supplements and keeping her doctors informed about what she takes.
Allen said she has had ill effects from supplements twice. She got severe heartburn after taking a supplement for a heel problem and developed itchy skin after taking a supplement and then getting into a tanning bed.
But given problems that have occurred with some regular drugs in this country, "I don't think there's any more risk involved" in taking supplements, she said. "The potencies aren't always consistent, but you learn ... what brands are good and stick with those."
She also isn't swayed by the fact that supplements aren't regulated as strictly as drugs.
"I don't trust the pharmaceutical companies; I don't trust the FDA," she said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "I just always felt natural is better. It's something God intended for this use. Why not use it?"
But Wheeler, who teaches an elective course on alternative medicine for second-year medical students at UofL, cautioned that "natural" doesn't mean a product is safe. Furthermore, he said, "It doesn't mean it works."
A person might attribute feeling better to a complementary or alternative therapy when it's just the natural cycle of the person's disease or condition.
"It's important to realize many things get better on their own or they come and go," Wheeler said.
People also need to realize that just because someone who has tried an alternative therapy says it works doesn't mean that it's so, even if the anecdotal report comes from a friend or relative.
"It's very easy to be fooled," Wheeler said. "Even doctors can be fooled. Doctors have done treatments that they were sure worked and then when a controlled study was done, it turned out that it didn't really do anything."
http://www.courier-journal.com/features ... 14339.html
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