Alternative Medicine Increasing in Popularity in U.S.

So-called "alternative" medicine – much of which has been in use elsewhere in the world for thousands of years -- is an increasingly popular alternative here in the U.S., new research from Harvard University indicates. In a recent report, researchers there found that a growing number of people – of all ages, ethnicities, geographic areas and education levels – are using at least one of 20 common traditional medicine techniques, including acupuncture, herbal medicines, yoga, massage.

Their study looked at use of traditional therapies over the past 50 years. The findings are based on more than 2,000 telephone interviews conducted in 1997 and 1998 and are published in the August 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

In the study, says an article from Reuters Health, almost 70% of adults said they'd used at least one traditional medicine therapy at some point. Not surprisingly, younger respondents were more likely to have tried one. For example, 70% of respondents born between 1965 and 1979 had used a traditional medicine therapy by age 33. Half of respondents born between 1945 and 1964 made the same claim, as did just 30% of those born before 1945.

Across all age groups, use of traditional medicine therapies is on the rise since the 1950s, however, and the biggest spike in utilization occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Almost half of respondents who've tried a traditional medicine therapy reported still using it as much as 20 years later.

Interestingly, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, massage and yoga were reported as the most popular therapies in the 1990s, while biofeedback, energy healing and imagery topped the popularity list in the 1970s. The National Institutes of Health have set up an office dedicated to clinical trials on a variety of traditional medicine therapies.

The take-home lesson? ``These results should dispel any suggestion that use has increased for only singular complementary or alternative modalities or that the use of complementary and alternative medicine therapies is a passing fad associated with one particular generation or fringe segment of the population,'' says Harvard Medical School's Dr. Ronald C. Kessler. ``These responses imply that complementary and alternative therapies are perceived to be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come."

Still, he says in the journal report, ``you can't make recommendations because the therapies are, by definition, unproven."

Source: Reuters Health

Funny that Chiropractic wasn't mentioned in this article, when more people see chiropractors than any other "alternative" method.