Alternative Medicine Expanding into the Mainstream

In recent times, an increasing number of people have begun directing their attention toward alternative medicine for preventing and treating illnesses and solving their day-to-day health-related issues. Consider these statistics: Between 1990 and 1997 there was a 47 percent increase in visits to alternative practitioners, from 427 million to 629 million, bypassing the estimated total number of visits made to all conventional primary care doctors in 1997; currently, one out of every three Americans use some kind of alternative medicine—despite skepticism and, in some cases, strong opposition by the modern medical establishment to the use of these unconventional techniques.

The public’s increased acceptance and use of alternative medicine suggests an inherent dissatisfaction with the conventional medical system. Research shows that patients want natural, safer remedies and physicians who regard them as whole persons—minds and spirits as well as bodies—and who have respect for the innate mechanisms of healing. For example, an integrative practitioner inquires into not only a patient’s specific symptoms but to all lifestyle, psychosocial, and spiritual influences affecting their quality of life. The subsequent treatment plan includes recommendations such as increased physical activity, dietary changes, stress reduction and positive coping skills such as yoga, meditation, prayer or biofeedback in addition to any specific therapies.

Dr. Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, says that, when it comes to conventional medicine, most patients aren’t treated very satisfactorily. “If we had highly effective, satisfactory conventional treatment we probably wouldn’t have as much need for these other strategies and as much public interest in them,” he said. And even those who oppose the use of alternative medicines understand their attraction. “They give you a lot of time. They treat you like someone special,” said R. Barker Bausell, a University of Maryland biostatistician.

But many opponents say that safe and natural is not always what you get with alternative medicine. The Associated Press evaluated dozens of studies and interviews of 100 different sources and discovered that an entire underground medical system exists, with an entirely different standard to follow than the rest of the medical industry.

For instance, dietary supplements are not regulated by the government; therefore they do not have to be proven safe or effective before they can be sold. Their ingredients and countries of origin are often unknown and some make claims using wordy blather that the average person cannot understand. Also, a large number of them do not accomplish what their labels claim, and some contain harmful substances, such as lead or arsenic. “In testing, one out of four supplements has a problem,” said Dr. Tod Cooperman, head of ConsumerLab.com, an independent company that rates such products. Some may also interfere with other medications a patient might be taking, such as birth control pills.

“Herbals are medicines,” with good and bad effects, said Bruce Silverglade of the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest, who noted that the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act of 1994, which excused herbal medicines from requiring FDA approval before going on the market, “has resulted in consumers wasting billions of dollars on products of either no or dubious benefit.” Still, tens of millions of Americans use dietary supplements; herbs, vitamins and minerals ranging from ginseng and selenium to fish oil and zinc, said Steven Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition. “We bristle when people talk about us as if we’re just fringe,” he said. Supplements remain “an insurance policy” for people who don’t always eat right.

And alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, that may help certain conditions are being touted for uses beyond their evidence. According to the Associated Press article, a federal agency formed to review herbal supplements and unconventional treatments have discovered nothing monumental aside from the use of acupuncture and ginger for chemotherapy-related nausea. Nevertheless, hospitals and clinics increasingly offer these unconventional treatments. Many offer massage, meditation and yoga to help in patient recovery, while others earn fees from treatments like acupuncture, which insurance does not pay for if the reason is not sufficiently proven.

Of course, mainstream medicines have issues as well. The popular painkillers Vioxx and Bextra were discontinued after deadly side effects emerged once they were being widely used. However, the difference is that there are regulatory systems and watchdog agencies helping to keep traditional medicine in line, whereas there is no such safety net for alternative medicine. Practitioners of unconventional therapies are largely self-policing, with their own schools and accreditation groups. Some states license certain types, like acupuncturists; others do not.