A new U.S. government surgey released today says that about 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children in the United States use some kind of complementary and alternative medicine.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a term for all the parts of health, wellness and medicine that aren't considered "traditional" in Western medicine. It includes chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, herbal supplements and meditation.
For the survey, more than 23,300 adults were interviewed about their use of CAM; more than 9,400 were asked about their children. The number of adults using cam increased by just 2 percent over 2002, but use of techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, massage therapy, and yoga increased significantly.
Adults use CAM most often to treat pain, including back pain, neck pain or problems, joint pain and arthritis. They most often used supplements that contained fish oil/omega 3/DHA, glucosamine, echinacea, flaxseed oil or pills, and ginseng.
Here's a link to the article:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/12/10/38-of-us-adults-use-alternative-treatments.html
Tell Us
Do you fall into the 38% of American adults who use some form of alternative medicine along with conventional medicine? Has it made a difference in your life?