Alternative Medicine Patients skyrocketed in the U.S.

Use of alternative therapies or so-called Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) experience high growth in the United States.

From the analysis conducted, it was revealed that the main reason people switch to CAM is due to a more affordable cost.

"For citizens of the United States who have no health insurance or those unable to pay medical expenses, CAM is piliah last and only one," said Su Dejun, Director of Health Disparities Center, University of Texas-Pan American.

As quoted from NewsWise, February 4, 2011, Su and his colleagues analyzed data National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 2007. Based on interviews with 23 thousand adults, the NHIS indicate that the use of CAM among whites increased more rapidly than among minorities.

Without counting medical purposes, 33 percent of whites claim to have used at least one method of CAM therapies. At the same time, approximately 31.8 percent Asian-American residents, 20.1 percent African-American, and 16.9 per cent of Latin American states have used alternative treatment method.

The use of CAM increased in the whole population between 2002 and 2007, but at different growth rates.

The highest growth occurred among whites and Asian-Americans that is 18.1 and 17.2 per cent. Among African-Americans, growing only 6.6 percent and among the citizens of Latin America grew only 1.01 percent.

"So far, we do not know the extent to which differences in the use of CAM has affected racial and ethnic disparities in health and mortality," said Su. "Further research is needed to understand the effectiveness, side effects, and interactions of CAM therapies with conventional medicine," he said.