Americans spend billions on alternative medicine
Do you take natural supplements to ease your joints, visit a chiropractor for an achy back or do a little yoga here and there to find your Zen? Count yourself among the Americans who spent $34 billion last year on alternative medicine, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health.
About $22 billion of that total was spent on everything from yoga classes and acupuncturists' visits to natural supplements such as fish oil, glucosamine and Echinacea (multivitamins and mineral supplements don't count).
For context, about $14.8 billion went to the supplements -- that's about one-third the total out of pocket spending on prescription drugs. Meanwhile, another $12 billion went to practitioners such as chiropractors and massage therapists -- roughly a quarter of out-of-pocket spending on doctors visits.
So do they work?
Critics say more study is needed on lots of alternative therapies, known as CAM.
“With so many Americans using and spending money on CAM therapies, it is extremely important to know whether the products and practices they use are safe and effective,” said Dr. Josephine P. Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Still, I think we all know people in our lives who swear by some of these remedies.
Confession: I'm partial to yoga myself and have been for years. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't shun modern medicine in favor of the so-called healing properties of my sticky mat. But I've found that yoga increases my strength and flexibility and does wonders for stress.
So what about you? Who here has taken Echinecea to ward off a cold, or even taken a Tai Chi class?
photo courtesy of Getty Images
Comments
GREAT read! Thank you! East meets West and it all works.
Annie Appleby
Founder YogaForce
http://www.yogaforce.com
Posted by: Annie Appleby | July 30, 2009 8:59 PM
above article show we spend billion of dollars by using alternative medicine, my view is instead, we could practice preventive medicine habit, instead of spending huge wealth of worlds hard earn money to cure disease and spending billion and billion of dollars in research to combat and find the cure for the diseases, why not we adopt the simple method to prevent disease. prevention is better than cure. I
Posted by: naeem | July 31, 2009 4:02 AM
I am a huge fan of the de-stressing nature of yoga, too. And I have found that deep tissue massage therapy helped me heal from injuries faster than physical therapy ever did.
Posted by: Susan | July 31, 2009 10:01 AM
-Alternative medicine is paid for out of pocket is an important issue. If there were more support by 'health insurance' companies, lowering alternative medicine costs, acceptance and use of alternative healing would grow, and the result would be a healthier, happier society.
-Critics can debate alternative medicine for lifetimes, and get no "... ... Read Moreresults". E.g. how can anyone "prove" that a natural diet, hatha yoga and mediation improves health using strict scientific method, without evaluation of at least 3 lifetimes...? But anyone that practices such things KNOWS it to be true, experiencially.
Waiting for the studies to come home is folly, following thousands of years of history and paying close attention to ones personal experiences is wisdom.
Posted by: Daniel West | July 31, 2009 10:15 AM
The high premiums similar to the peak oil price last year may offer a hint
Posted by: HSR0601 | July 31, 2009 11:38 AM
People are tired of "Big Pharma"! Why would I take something to cure indigestion when the side affects are worse that what I'm treating!?! We are also passing what is not dissolved in our system, back into our water ways to poison the rest of the population. It's all about what you stuff in your face. Want to get rid of disease? Change the way you eat! Let's put warning labels on McDonalds. After all, poor nutrition is killing more people than alchohol and tobacco combined!
Posted by: Carla Geelan | July 31, 2009 3:30 PM
Why is yoga lumped in with alternative medicine, but not lifting weights? I do both, and swear that both contribute not only to core strength but also a sense of vitality and well being.
I also swear by acupuncture. I have a standing appointment every 5-6 weeks--and very rarely need to see a doctor. Our family began using acupuncture when my elderly mother-in-law was taking so many drugs for acute pain that she was literally killing herself. After just one visit from the acupuncturist she kicked the pain meds cold turkey. And this was someone who didn't even believe in acupuncture!
Posted by: Dahlink | August 2, 2009 10:20 AM
Waiting for the studies to come home is folly, following thousands of years of history and paying close attention to ones personal experiences is wisdom.
Posted by: How To Grow Taller | October 11, 2009 7:07 PM