ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 26, 1996 TAG: 9611260058
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Personal Health
SOURCE: JANE BRODY
(First of two articles on alternative medicine)
When advised by a respected orthopedist that surgery was unlikely to bring significant relief from the pain in my knees, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Rather than give up tennis, skating and other knee-damaging activities that I love, I consulted an Alexander teacher - a movement and posture specialist - who helped somewhat by teaching me how to minimize the stress on my knees from activities such as walking, standing and climbing stairs.
I also checked out various formulas for joint problems sold in my local health food store and bought one that happens to contain nearly the same substances as the capsules that the veterinarian had prescribed for our arthritic dog.
The formula I bought contains glucosamine chlorhydrate and chondroitin sulfate, substances that are present in a healthy knee, although there is no scientific explanation as to how they might manage to travel, undigested, from the stomach to the knee.
And suddenly I realized that I, like a third or more of Americans, had wandered into the controversial realm of alternative medicine, or, a term I prefer, complementary medicine.
Last month, the Oxford Health Plans, a major insurer in the Northeast, became the first company to offer its 1.4 million members an opportunity to consult a network of ``credentialed'' alternative medicine practitioners, including acupuncturists, chiropractors, naturopaths, massage therapists, yoga instructors, clinical nutritionists and registered dietitians. One reason is that Oxford expects that giving patients access to alternative practitioners will cost less than if they must always rely on conventional medicine.
Some ``alternative'' techniques, once ignored or opposed by conventional medicine, have since become incorporated into the medical mainstream. The most obvious of these is adoption of a health-promoting way of life, which is now routinely prescribed to prevent and treat heart disease. Acupuncture, too, has been reluctantly accepted by many doctors and health plans as beneficial for some conditions, especially treating pain, even though they do not know why it works.
Of course, other alternative treatments such as certain herbal remedies can be wasteful and even harmful. Using copper bracelets to treat arthritis or coffee enemas for cancer, for example, has no basis in reality. And there are quacks and charlatans who sell cures for incurable diseases that simply do not work.
Anyone considering an unconventional treatment should investigate it and its practitioner carefully, and consider what doctors and pharmacists have to say about its safety.
The attraction of alternative medicine starts with the fact that conventional doctors do not have all the answers patients need. Various studies have indicated that from one-half to two-thirds of patients who visit a primary care provider for a health problem are mainly suffering the wages of psychosocial stress manifested as a physical complaint, such as chronic backaches, headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances, undue fatigue, eating disorders, high blood pressure and even infertility.
Prescriptions for physical remedies such as pills may provide only temporary relief, if any, unless the contributing cause - the stress - is also addressed. But few doctors are schooled in recognizing and managing stress-related health problems, which takes more than the typical 10-minute office visit.
Many of the techniques used by practitioners of alternative medicine may help to reduce stress, even if they do not meet the grander claims sometimes made for them. Among techniques that do not do any harm and can be profoundly relaxing are massage, meditation and tai chi, to name a few.
Patients are naturally attracted to practitioners who see them as whole people, not just a collection of body parts. Modern medicine mistakenly separated mind and body and is only now beginning to try to reintegrate them.
Too often, conventional medicine adopts a top-down approach, with the doctor as the authority and the patient as the supplicant. But patients who feel in control of their fate, who participate in decisions related to their health, become ``empowered,'' to use a currently popular term, and this power in itself can at least minimize their discomfort, if not speed their recovery.
Contrary to what some might guess, it is not the ignorant or poor who are most likely to choose alternative methods. Rather, a national telephone survey of 1,539 adults conducted in 1991 showed that better-educated, wealthier whites were the most frequent consumers. And the number of visits paid to alternative medicine practitioners, an estimated 425 million, exceeded the visits to all primary care doctors that year.
There are ways to judge how responsible your acupuncturist or massage therapist is. Responsible alternative practitioners do not urge patients to abandon conventional care. Steer clear of anyone who tells you to stop seeing your doctor or taking medicines prescribed by your doctor. And be sure to tell your doctor about any unconventional therapies you are pursuing.
Sometimes a supplement you take on your own may counteract the benefits of prescribed drugs or may result in a toxic or even deadly combination. Or changing your living habits - adopting a very low-fat diet, exercising regularly, meditating and the like - may so reduce your cholesterol level or blood pressure that you no longer need the drugs your doctor prescribed.
Before you decide to take a supplement, whether it be vitamins or some other potion that purports to help the part that ails you, do some homework. Get a list of its contents and dosages and ask your pharmacist or doctor about their safety, especially in light of what else you may be taking. Do not assume that if it is ``natural'' it is safe. Botulism toxin and hemlock are perfectly natural; they are also deadly.
- New York Times Syndicate
LENGTH: Long : 104 linesby CNB