Alternative medicines misunderstood

[Guest guest]

Before you read this I just want to point out in my 'humble' opinion, that not many of the doctors I have come to know over many many years....... know much at all about nutrition - vitamins - minerals or any other complimentary (alternative) natural methods of healing! In fact most of them see 'complimentaries' as 'opponents', aliens, dangerous and to be avoided.................. now I wonder where they get that impression from?

 

Clare in Taz

 

 

 

 

 

Siobhain Ryan | November 22, 2008

Article from: The Australian

 

TWO-THIRDS of Australians use complementary medicines, but many know so little about them that they could be doing themselves more harm than good, new government-backed research suggests.

First results from the long-awaited National Prescribing Service study show consumers often self-prescribe, don't tell their doctors what they are taking and fail to recognise these preparations as drugs -- despite potential side effects.

Ignorance and confusion also extends to the other side of the medical divide, with health professions acknowledging they don't know enough to handle take-up of the hugely popular products among their patients.

NPS chief executive officer Lynn Weekes says GPs and pharmacists are "getting lost" in a maze of information about alternative medicines. "When you couple this with the fact that consumers don't consider complementary medicines to be real medicines, and many don't think to tell their GP or pharmacist when taking a complementary medicine, it could become a serious issue."

Australians spend $2 billion a year on complementary medicines, which range from traditional Chinese medicine, herbal and homoeopathic preparations to vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements.

Every year some of those medicines cause side effects, toxicity and allergies or interact badly with more heavily regulated prescription drugs. Yet only 3 per cent of consumers identify side effects as a potential downside of complementary medicine use, according to the national NPS survey.

Only 5 per cent name interactions with other drugs as a disadvantage. The survey of 612 people who had taken complementary medicines in the previous 12 months found about half did not mention their use of the drugs to their GPs.

Up to 30 per cent were buying products to stave off illness, rather than treat it -- despite a lack of evidence to support such a use.

Ken Harvey, adjunct senior research fellow at La Trobe University, says herbal medicine makers add to people's ignorance by playing down risks.

"One of the problems is the promotion. They're promoted not as 'fairly safe', but completely safe, natural, harmless," he says. As a result, side effects and drug interactions are under-recognised and under-reported. "We're probably only looking at the tip of the iceberg."

As long ago as 2003, an expert complementary medicines committee called for more research into people's understanding of these products. The recommendation started a process that will culminate in the official release of the NPS research findings early next month.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Jan McLucas, who is responsible for medicines regulation, has voiced her own concerns about the industry's marketing practices and evidence base, but this week stalled any response to the issue until the full report was available in December. Results so far, she says, "seemed to me to point to the need for improved information about these medicine for both consumers and health professionals, as well as some encouragement for them to communicate about the use of these medicines." The most likely response to the NPS findings will be the creation of a central, independent website to provide advice on individual complementary medicines, including their uses and potential side effects. Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia technical director Trixi Madon is among the backers of such an approach. She says manufacturers already publish information on safe use on complementary medicine labels and advertising, but a single approved source of information could help close the gap in attitudes to the drugs that now exists between patients and doctors. For the medical profession, "it's still 'alternative'," despite the growing body of evidence about the benefits of complementary medicines, Madon says. She points to the industry's use of ingredients pre-approved by regulators, its inclusion in their adverse drug reactions notification scheme, and its complaints handling body as evidence it takes consumer protection seriously. But other groups, ranging from Choice to the Australian Medical Association, want a higher standard of proof of efficacy. Delays in handling complaints and enforcing rulings on complementary medicine promotion has also shaken faith in the industry. The NPS study highlights the difficulties government will face when reconciling the sharply different views when it starts consultations next year on complementary medicines regulation. More than 80 per cent of the GPs and community pharmacists it surveyed felt that complementary medicines need more scientific testing. By comparison, 59 per cent agreed there should be more government funding for research into the effectiveness of complementary medicines, a separate national survey by health fund BUPA reported yesterday. The Government has funded some research, topping up funding for complementary medicines to over $7 million earlier this year. But it is still to declare its position on the issue of how complementary medicines should be governed.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24682251-23289,00.html