Which alternative treatments work?(Alternative medicine)

Publication: Consumer Reports

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.

Alternative medicine has come of age Nearly half of the 34,000 readers that we surveyed nationally for this report had tried some form of nontraditional treatment during the past two years, and their doctors were likely to have approved of it or even suggested it.

However, results show that for the 12 conditions we covered, ranging from depression to high blood pressure, alternative treatments, especially herbs and supplements, were usually far less effective than prescription drugs and even exercise. Although some readers said alternatives made them feel "much better," many more said they helped only "somewhat," indicating that most alternatives may make more sense as an adjunct to conventional care than as a primary cure.

The exceptions were two hands-on alternative treatments, chiropractic and deep-tissue massage. Chiropractic was ranked ahead of all conventional treatments, including prescription drugs, by readers with back pain. (Readers said it also provided relief for neck pain, but, as we note later, neck manipulation can be risky.) Deep-tissue massage was found to be especially effective in treating osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, a painful musculoskeletal syndrome that conventional medicine often remains at a loss to treat.

Readers also reported good results for exercise, not only for conditions such as back pain, but also for allergies and other respiratory ills, anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, insomnia, and prostate problems. Those results are consistent with a broad range of clinical studies of treatments for all of these conditions except allergies and respiratory ailments.

Six years ago, when we last asked our readers about alternative, a.k.a, complementary, medicine, we found evidence that medical doctors were becoming increasingly likely to accept it. Our new survey found that for readers who recently used alternative medicine, nearly 75 percent told their doctors about it. Most doctors approved; 25 percent of those readers said their doctor suggested the alternative in the first place. Topping the list of doctor-recommended treatments were glucosamine/chondroitin (for joint pain), deep-tissue massage (for musculoskeletal ailments), and saw palmetto (for prostate problems).

Our survey also suggests that patients themselves are becoming increasingly sophisticated about alternative care. They're more likely to concentrate on treatments that at least some studies have indicated can help their medical condition.

And studies of alternatives are on the rise. In 1999, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a then-fledgling component of the mighty National Institutes of Health, awarded its first research grant. In the fiscal year that just ended, the center funded 329 projects, ranging from yoga's effect on insomnia to ginseng's effect on glucose intolerance.

But a rise in acceptance and research doesn't mean alternatives help. So in our 2004 Annual Questionnaire, we asked readers to rate the effectiveness of conventional and alternative treatments they used for their two most problematic conditions over the past two years. We asked whether each treatment helped a lot, somewhat, a little, or not at all. Below are results for conditions for which alternative medicine worked best. Results for conditions for which conventional medicine worked best are listed at far...

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