NCCAM
Survey Reveals Alternative Health Care Usage at 36 Percent
According to a new nationwide government survey, 36 percent of U.S. adults ages
18 and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). When
including prayer used specifically for health reasons in the definition of CAM,
the number of U.S. adults using some form of CAM in the past year rises to 62
percent.
“These new findings confirm the extent to which Americans have turned
to CAM approaches with the hope that they would help treat and prevent disease
and enhance quality of life,” said Stephen E. Straus, M.D., director of
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. “The data
not only assists us in understanding who is using CAM, what is being used and
why, but also in studying relationships between CAM use and other health characteristics,
such chronic health conditions, insurance coverage, and health behaviors.”
The survey, administered to over 31,000 representative U.S. adults, was conducted
as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2002 National
Health Interview Survey. The survey included questions on 27 types of CAM therapies
commonly used in the United States, including 10 types of provider-based therapies,
such as acupuncture and chiropractic, and 17 other therapies that do not require
a provider, such as natural products (herbs or botanical products), special
diets and megavitamin therapy.
Overall, the survey revealed that use was greater among women; people with higher
education; those who had been hospitalized within the past year; and former
smokers, compared to current smokers or those who had never smoked. In addition,
this was the first survey to yield substantial information on CAM use by minorities.
CAM approaches were most often used to treat back pain or problems, colds, neck
pain or problems, joint pain or stiffness, and anxiety or depression. According
to the survey, the 10 most commonly used CAM therapies were:
• Prayer for own health, 43 percent
• Prayer by others for the respondent’s health, 24 percent
• Natural products (such as herbs, other botanicals, and enzymes), 19
percent
• Deep breathing exercises, 12 percent
• Participation in prayer group for own health, 10 percent
• Meditation, 8 percent
• Chiropractic care, 8 percent
• Yoga, 5 percent
• Massage, 5 percent
• Diet-based therapies (such as Atkins, Pritikin, Ornish and Zone diets),
4 percent.
The complete survey results are available on the NCCAM website at altmed.od.nih.gov/news/camsurvey.htm.
NBCE Reorganizes, Names Executive Committee
The National Board of Chiropractic
Examiners (NBCE) held a reorganization meeting on May 8, and the board of directors
elected the following DCs to positions on the NCBE executive committee: Peter
D. Ferguson, D.C., chairman of the board; James J. Badge, D.C., president; Rick
C. Murphree, D.C., vice president; Kenneth W. Padgett, D.C., treasurer; Jerry
D. Blanchard, D.C., secretary.
The board also announced that FCLB President Richard C. Cole, D.C., and FCLB
Vice President N. Edwin Weathersby, D.C., were seated to again serve as Federation
of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) appointees to the NBCE Board of Directors.
Additionally, Donna L. Craft, D.C., of Michigan was re-elected director-at-large
for a three-year term.
Chiropractor and Others Join NCCAM National Advisory Council
The National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s (NCCAM) National Advisory Council
(NACCAM) welcomed six new members in early June. Each of the new councils members
were appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and
will serve a four-year term, replacing members who have completed their service.
The council, which meets three times a year, is composed of 18 members, including
investigators, physicians, licensed complementary and alternative medicine practitioners,
and representatives of the public. They contribute their time and expertise
in offering advice and recommendations to NCCAM on the prioritization, conduct,
and support of complementary and alternative medicine research, including research
training and dissemination of health information derived from Center-supported
research.
The six new NCCAM National Advisory Council members are:
Joel G. Pickar, D.C., Ph.D., associate professor at the Palmer Center for Chiropractic
Research at Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa. Prior to joining
the Center in 1999, Dr. Pickar was an associate professor in the Department
of Anatomy and Physiology at Kansas State University. Dr. Pickar’s research
laboratory is studying neurophysiological issues related to the vertebral column
and to chiropractic manipulation. He is on the advisory editorial board for
The Spine Journal and has published three book chapters and more than 30 articles.
Carlo Calabrese, N.D., M.P.H., research professor at the National College of
Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM); senior investigator at NCNM’s Helfgott Research
Institute; clinical assistant professor at Oregon Health Sciences University
(OHSU); and clinical investigator at Kaiser Center for Health Research, Portland,
Ore.
Jeanette M. Ezzo, Ph.D., M.P.H., Ms.T., research director of James P. Swyers
Enterprises, a company based in Takoma Park, Md., specializing in designing
and developing evidence-based CAM materials for a variety of audiences.
Robert E. Fullilove, III, Ed.D., associate dean for community and minority affairs
and professor of clinical sociomedical sciences at Mailman School of Public
Health of Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
L. David Hillis, M.D., professor and vice chair of the Department of Internal
Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas. Dr.
Hillis has performed extensive clinical research in patients with ischemic,
valvular and congenital heart disease, and with colleagues has done a series
of studies on the influence of cocaine on the heart.
Bala V. Manyam, M.D., professor, Texas A&M University System Health Science
Center College of Medicine, and director, Plummer Movement Disorders Center,
Temple, Texas, where he established a basic science laboratory and clinical
center for movement disorders. He also performs research on Ayurvedic drugs,
especially for degenerative neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s
disease.
The Atkins Diet
Fall-Out Starts?
In what may be the first sign of the fall-out over low-carb diets, a Florida
businessman filed a lawsuit in late May claiming that the Atkins diet endangered
his health when, after participating in the diet for almost 2-1/2 years, his
cholesterol rose into the unhealthy range and angioplasty was required for him.
An Associated Press report notes that the Atkins diet was sued in 1979 by an
elderly, overweight woman, but that her case was rejected by the jury.
The suit was immediately scoffed at by a coalition of restaurant owners and
food producers calling themselves The Center for Consumer Freedom, and in a
press release on the subject, claimed that the suit was “pushed by meat
hating animal rights radicals.” In fact, the suit has been supported by
the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a small group of doctors
that often operates as an animal rights group.
For some, though, it seems that Dr. Atkins admits to the inherent dangers of
his diet when, as in his book New Diet Revolution, he writes: “I admit
that there are individuals who are fat-sensitive and will develop a less favorable
cholesterol level on a high-fat diet than on a low-fat diet. Intensive study
of medical reports strongly suggests that fewer than one person in three falls
into this category.”
In Atkins defense, however, the company notes that New Diet Revolution warns
these “fat-sensitive” dieters that they will want to seek out “lean”
sources of protein such as turkey and skinless chicken.
Alzheimer’s
Patients Don’t Forget Everything
Some forms of memory may remain intact in people with Alzheimer’s disease,
says a Howard Hughes Medical Institute study. The researchers, reporting in
the June 10 issue of Neuron, found people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s
disease still possess a specific form of memory used for rote learning of skills,
even when these people have lost memories of loved ones and significant events.
The finding may help improve training and rehabilitation programs meant to bolster
cognitive function in people with Alzheimer’s disease and in healthy older
people.
The study included 24 older adults in the early stages of Alzheimer’s,
33 healthy older adults and 34 young adults. The researchers compared the memory
capabilities of the three groups. Each person was shown a series of words and
asked to decide whether the words represented living or non-living objects.
The Reagan–Palmer
Connection
The year was 1932, and Ronald Reagan was a new graduate of Eurkea College in
Illinois who went looking for a job. He found one at the WOC radio station in
Davenport, Iowa, doing sports announcing. Owned by B.J. Palmer, WOC was meant
to stand for “Wonders of Chiropractic.” A year later, he moved to
the WHO station, “With Hands Only,” also owned by Palmer, but in
the larger Des Moines market. His early acting skills were already paying off:
his job as a sports announcer meant recreating Chicago Cubs games. Many credit
his work at WHO for landing him in the acting community. While covering the
Chicago Cubs at spring training on Catalina Island in 1937, he took a screen
test for Warner Brothers, and the rest is history.
Trigon Saga
Continues
The American Chiropractic Association and the Virginia Chiropractic Association
are set to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the federal antitrust and
racketeering lawsuit against Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield after the U. S. Court
of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on June 2 rejected a petition to rehear the case.
“The actions of the 4th Circuit were not entirely unexpected, since U.S.
Courts of Appeal are reluctant to revisit decisions that have been handed down
by any panel,” said ACA Chairman of the Board George McClelland, D.C.
“This only strengthens our resolve to continue this important legal struggle
and seek justice for our patients and our profession from the highest court
in the land—the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The ACA alleges in its lawsuit that a conspiracy existed between Trigon and
the medical specialty societies in Virginia to ensure that patients with musculoskeletal
conditions were diverted to medical doctors instead of doctors of chiropractic.
A key piece of evidence in ACA’s case was the existence of a committee
established by Trigon to review low-back guidelines published in 1994 by the
federal government’s Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR)—guidelines
favorable to chiropractic—and to recommend appropriate protocols for referring
patients to chiropractic doctors.
“We want to bring Trigon’s harmful and discriminatory practices
to an end, but, equally important, we must keep in mind the big picture,”
added Dr. McClelland. “We must send a strong signal to all who would seek
to oppose, harm, or discriminate against us: we will never give up and will
always fight back.”
The ACA and other plaintiffs have 90 days to petition the Supreme Court of the
United States for review.
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