SPECIAL HEALTH
AMERICANS ARE STILL
PAYING OUT OF POCKET
FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE BY SHEILA JULSON
G
arlicky chicken soup was once the standard cure for a cold and peppermint was used to soothe an upset stomach rather than going to the drugstore for an over-the-counter pill. Grandma’s remedies have been coming back in a big way: About 59 million Americans spend money out of pocket on complementary health approaches, totaling approximately $30.2 billion a year, according to information provided by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)—a U.S. government agency housed under the National Institutes of Health that explores integrative and alternative medicine.
HERE IN THE U.S., DRUG COMPANIES HAVE THE DEEP POCKETS TO FUND A MYRIAD OF LARGE-SCALE STUDIES THAT DWARF NON-PROFITABLE NATURAL APPROACHES. Complementary (also called integrative) medicine is when a non-mainstream practice is used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Alternative medicine uses non-mainstream practices in place of conventional medicine. They’re often referred
to together as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and have a similar objective: to find and treat the underlying causes of health problems rather than to just address symptoms. CAM practitioners use holistic and preventive approaches to relieve and cure ailments ranging from the common cold to inflammatory conditions like arthritis. CAM treatments include herbs, whole foods nutrition and preventive lifestyle habits to support health, such as exercise, avoiding processed foods and smoking, stress management and light or no alcohol use. CAM also includes chiropractic, yoga, Illustration by VectorMine/Getty Images
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