Originally published August 15 2005
Alternative health goes mainstream
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new report has found that more and more people, as well as doctors, prefer alternative healing remedies as opposed to traditional ways of healing.
A Consumer Reports survey of more than 34,000 readers reveals that many people have tried it, and more and more doctors are recommending it.
Readers gave the highest marks to hands-on treatments, which worked better than conventional treatments for conditions such as back pain and arthritis.
Of all the hands-on alternative therapies, acupuncture has the most scientific support.
Readers also reported good results for exercise, not only for conditions such as back pain, but also for allergies and other respiratory ills, anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, insomnia, and prostate problems.
Those results are consistent with a broad range of clinical studies of treatments for all of these conditions except allergies and respiratory ailments.
On the other hand, well-known, heavily promoted herbal treatments such as echinacea, St. John's wort, saw palmetto, melatonin, and glucosamine and chondroitin didn't work as well for readers.
Federal laws ensure that a bottle of prescription or over-the-counter pills contains the amount and kind of medicine stated on the label, and dosages are standardized, but no such standards apply to dietary supplements.
A separate Consumer Reports survey of 10,042 women who had gone through menopause or were experiencing it found that a large minority of women have turned from hormone replacement, which can be risky, to black cohosh, soy supplements, and vitamin E for relief from hot flashes.
Most studies of soy supplements have suggested that they're not very helpful, and breast-cancer patients should talk with their doctor before taking large amounts of soy.
For other supplements, studies show little or no evidence of benefit.
If your doctor doesn't have a referral list of practitioners, check with a local hospital or medical school.
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