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Study: Alternative Medicine Joins Mainstream

It's official: alternative medicine has finally joined the mainstream, at least among consumers. A new Harvard study published on Monday suggests that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), whether it be acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is being used by increasing numbers of Americans and appears unlikely to subside as a trend anytime soon.

"It's not the radical fringe that's doing this stuff now, it's you and me," said Ronald Kessler, an epidemiologist at the Harvard Medical School and Center for Alternative Medicine.

"There's a message for conventional medicine because people out there are saying: 'I don't trust my doctor as much as I used to,' said Dr. Kessler. "A lot of people feel medicine is stodgy and slow and I'm not going to wait 10 years while these guys get their act together. I think it's part of the self-help movement, that people want to be in charge of their own destinies.”

He and his research team sought to examine the last 50 years of public participation in alternative medicine by interviewing 2,055 people of all ages about their experiences. What they found is that Complementary and Alternative Medicines use has steadily increased since 1950s among all age groups, with half of all Baby Boomers using some form of alternative medicine and 70 percent of post-Baby Boomers who have reached the age of 33.

Source: The research appears in the August 2001, Annals of Internal Medicine, a medical journal published by the American College of Physicians.

Alternative medicine has been popular for most of the 20th century, with homeopathic remedies gaining large followings in the early decades. Nutritional supplements, like Vitamin C and E, lead the recent explosion in supplement sales. Now, close behind, herbal medicines are being shown in double-blind clinical trials to be as effective and a lot safer than synthetic drugs.

Common sense, readily available internet access to health information about drugs as well as natural alternatives, fear of the side-effects of drugs and the desire to save their hard earned money are inspiring millions of Americans to seek natural alternatives rather than Prescription drugs.