Alternative Medicine Comes of Age - increased use of alternative medical treatments for illnesses

Vegetarian Times, April, 1999 by David Plank

Ten years ago, the idea of getting acupuncture or herbal therapy at a traditional hospital would have seemed ridiculous. And expecting medical insurance to pay for such care was out of the question. But the times they are a-changing. Today such prestigious institutions as New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center and Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago--along with major insurance companies--are realizing what many of us have known for years: that alternative therapies can be less expensive and more effective than traditional treatments.

It's no wonder the buzzword in medicine is complementary. According to David Eisenberg, M.D., of Harvard Medical School, at least one in three people have used alternative therapies. And a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (November 11, 1998) estimates that $27 billion was spent on such treatments in 1997. To keep up with the growing demand (and maintain profit margins) there are now more than 100 hospital-affiliated alternative care centers in the United States. They treat everything from depression to cancer with treatments ranging from massage to acupuncture to herbal therapy, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School.

James Gordon, M.D., director of the Institute for Mind/Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., explains that most hospitals set up programs because of patient demand. And as more hospitals come to accept, and offer, alternative therapies, large health insurance companies like Blue Shield of California and Mutual of Omaha, who once scoffed at these treatments, are being forced to rethink their position. Many offer supplemental coverage that pays for a broader range of nontraditional care; some even include these options as part of their basic plans. Other companies, such as Regence Blue Shield of Washington state, permit members to choose naturopaths as their primary care physician. Interestingly, these steps are being urged by the carrier's own medical advisers. "All these health plans and hospitals have physicians on staff who are respected in their own fields and have become interested in complementary medicine," Gordon says.

Another indication that alternative medicine is being integrated into the mainstream is that a number of non-conventional approaches are being taught in at least 50 U.S. medical schools. That number represents a 29 percent increase over just three years ago. And even many seasoned doctors are acknowledging that alternative treatments are a way to improve a patient's quality of life, reports the Harvard study. "I never put much stock in [complementary medicine]," says Mike Stanton, M.D., a 62-year-old general practitioner in Los Angeles. "But then I saw a patient who'd been using narcotics to manage chronic pain for seven years. I prescribed acupuncture and massage, and today she's almost completely off drugs." Stanton says he has since turned to similar therapies for patients suffering from a host of disorders, including high blood sugar and cancer.

Such acceptance is long overdue. According to the World Health Organization, 65 percent to 80 percent of standard health care services overseas is what Americans would call "alternative." Germany has long offered massage and other complementary treatments in its hospitals, and in China, acupuncture is often used as an anesthesia during surgery. "These therapies become `complementary,' `alternative' or `unconventional' only when used in Western countries," says Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., former director of the National Institutes of Health's Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

With this new-found medical enlightenment, the future of Western medicine is sure to be bright.