Posted on: Friday, January 14, 2005

Study: Alternative therapies maintain popularity in U.S.

More than one in three U.S. adults used some form of complementary or alternative medicine in 1997 and 2002, an indication that herbal medicines and activities such as yoga have become a part of daily healthcare, according to a study published in the January/February issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.

More than 18 percent of Americans used supplements such as St. John's wort in 2002, up 50 percent from 1997, researchers found. Ten million now practice yoga, an increase of 40 percent from 1997.

The findings "underscore the need to rigorously study these therapies to provide information for doctors and patients," said study author and Harvard Medical School research fellow Hilary Tindle. "All that we have so far are several large-scale surveys."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration studies the effects of pharmaceutical drugs on patients, though it doesn't look at herbal supplements and other alternative medicines that are available in U.S. stores.

To complete the study, researchers from Harvard Medical School compared results obtained from the National Health Interview Survey in 2002 and similar research conducted in 1997.

"Everyone is asking questions. Should I use this or not?" Tindle said. "We really need more collective information."