Complimentary Medicine And Therapy Use Nearly Doubles In A Decade
Posted: Monday 27th June 2011
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has for children has almost doubled in the past decade according to Head of the University of Otago, Christchurch's Paediatric Department, Associate Professor Andrew Day.
Professor Day discovered 67% of child patients had been given alternative medicines, with the use of probiotics among patients of a paediatric outpatient service in Sydney at almost double the number of patients using it in a similar study in 2002.
On the advice of friends and family, doctors or other health professionals, CAM (such as probiotics, herbal treatments and osteopathy) had been suggested in 45% of cases, the research found.
Wellpark College Ayurveda tutor, President of The NZ Ayurvedic Association Inc and Executive Board Member of Natural Health Council Gerald Lopez suggested allopathic doctors would benefit from discussing with their patients the use of complementary medicines in conjunction with prescribed medicines to minimise any possible negative interactions.
Lopez said he's also concerned that the medical profession is not working closely with natural health provider."I think if we did that we would have an amazing evolution of health care in New Zealand."
Lopez said conventional medicine is still reluctant to accept the growth in the alternative medicine market and coroners reports couldn't find any deaths directly attributable to natural medicines since the statistics were collected.
To read more about the 2006 Coroners Report which shows natural medicines have the lowest fatality rate of all medical treatments in this country click here.
To watch the the national news interview with Wellparks' Aurveda tutor Gerald Lopez, click here