Arthritis Docs Embrace Alternative Medicine

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Friday, April 19, 2002 8:25 AM

Arthritis Docs Embrace Alternative Medicine

 

 

- http://www.personalmd.com/news/n0412050304.shtml -

 

 

Arthritis Docs Embrace Alternative Medicine

FRIDAY, April 12 (HealthScoutNews) -- More Americans, particularly those

suffering from arthritis and chronic pain disorders, are turning to alternative

medicine to beat what ails them. By some estimates, visits to such practitioners

may even exceed visits to conventional doctors.

Given that, how do traditional physicians view the flurry of non-conventional

medicine?

According to new research, many doctors not only are aware of and seem to accept

alternative strategies, they even engage in some of these practices themselves.

University of Maryland researchers set out to determine how often

rheumatologists, the doctors who treat arthritis and related conditions, use

alternative therapies -- either directly themselves or indirectly by referring a

patient to another practitioner.

Several studies have shown people who see rheumatologists also use alternative

medical treatments, says Barker Bausell, study co-author and the director of

research at the University of Maryland Complementary Medicine Program in

Baltimore.

" That's why we were interested in seeing the issue from the other side, " Bausell

says.

Bausell and his colleagues sent questionnaires about 22 different alternative

therapies to 2,000 physicians who were members of the American Academy of

Rheumatology. They got 924 responses back, analyzed the results and reported

their findings in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The alternative therapies listed in the survey were acupuncture; behavioral

medicine; biofeedback; chiropractic; counseling/psychotherapy; dietary

prescription; electromagnetic application (TENS and PENS); energetic healing;

exercise intervention; herbal/botanical medicine; homeopathy; hypnotherapy;

magnets; manipulation therapy (non-chiropractic); massage/manual healing;

meditation; movement (yoga, qi gong); music/sound; nutraceuticals (glucasimon,

S-adenosylmethionine); prayer and spiritual direction; relaxation techniques;

and trigger-point therapy.

At least half of the doctors who responded had actually referred patients to

eight of the therapies: acupuncture, behavioral medicine, biofeedback,

counseling/psychotherapy, dietary prescriptions, electromagnetic application,

exercise and massage.

More than half had either referred or directly used nine of the 22 therapies,

with counseling/psychotherapy (85 percent) and exercise (81 percent) receiving

the most responses.

Overall, the physicians surveyed were more likely to have referred a patient

than to have administered the treatment themselves, with the exception of

trigger-point therapy and nutraceuticals. In these cases, 51 percent and 34

percent of doctors, respectively, said they had used the therapy.

After that, the physicians were most likely to have directly been involved in

exercise intervention (41 percent); dietary prescription (33 percent);

counseling/psychotherapy (24 percent); and electromagnetic applications (10

percent).

The results seem to indicate an openness on the part of rheumatologists to

alternative therapies, the study concludes.

Experts agree.

" This is an important study, " says Dr. John Klippel, medical director of the

Arthritis Foundation. " What it reflects is an emerging trend, which has probably

been going on for the last 10 years, of rheumatologists becoming involved in

complementary and alternative medical therapies. "

" I think this has been driven by a couple of things, first and foremost by an

interest by people with arthritis in using them, " he adds.

" The second thing is that there's a growing body of evidence that [alternative

medicine] can play an important role in the comprehensive treatment of someone

with arthritis. Studies have appeared in journals that rheumatologists read, " he

notes.

Klippel adds, however, that " nearly 70 percent of physicians don't discuss

alternative therapies with their patients because they do not feel knowledgeable

enough. "

The study did not focus on the effectiveness of the different alternative

therapies. That is an entirely different question, and one which researchers are

actively investigating. Currently, there is a large trial underway to see how

effective acupuncture is against osteoarthritis.

" That, of course, is a big, big job, " Bausell says.

What To Do

You can go to the Arthritis Foundation for more guidance on arthritis and

alternative therapies and a free guide on supplements.

Visit the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to see

different fact sheets on alternative medicine.

 

To learn more about the group, please visit

 

 

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