Complementary & Alternative
Medicine...A Growth Industry
August 2000 -- We recently ran a MedicineNet.com poll on
AboutArthritis.com. The poll simply asked viewers the question whether or not
they used food supplements as a part of their arthritis treatment.
The response was 61 percent "yes."
What does this mean? Well, it at a minimum,
demonstrates that supplements are a very popular treatment method of internet
viewers that use the AboutArthritis.com site.
It has been demonstrated that patients with
arthritis and other rheumatic diseases tend to use alternative medical
treatments more frequently than the general population (1). In some studies, up
to 90 percent of rheumatic patients used alternative treatments!
A recent study of the use of alternative medicine
found that half of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in Canada, United
States, and the United Kingdom were using alternative treatments (2). These
users of alternative treatments tended to be younger and better educated.
The upward trend in popularity of complementary
and alternative medicine continues to grow. In 1997, patients in the U.S. made
629 million visits to providers of nonconventional care. This is more visits
than were made to primary care doctors during the same year. Further, the annual
cost of these visits, $21 billion, exceeds the annual cost of ALL
hospitalizations (3)!
Some alternative treatments, such as the popular
glucosamine and chondroitin food supplement for osteoarthritis symptoms, have
been found to have certain potential benefits. Many others do not have any
significant scientific support for their use. Although many have not been
demonstrated to cause harm, some have.
So what? What these issues tell us is that
doctors and patients must recognize that we need a better understanding of the
field of complementary and alternative medicine. Moreover, there must be
improved communication lines between patients and healthcare practitioners so
that all treatments for a given health condition are appreciated and monitored.
William C. Shiel Jr., M.D., F.A.C.P.
References:
1. Rao J.K. et al. Use of complementary therapies
of arthritis among patients of rheumatologists. Ann Intern Med 1999;131:409-416.
2. Moore A.D., et al. The use of alternative
medical therapies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. ARTHRITIS &
RHEUMATISM 2000;43:1410-1418.
3. Eisenberg D.M. et al. Trends in alternative
medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997. JAMA 1998;280:1569-1575.
For additional Doctor's Views written by Dr. Shiel, click on
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Views Archive.
Last Editorial Review: 7/7/2004
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