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Herbal medicine

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine focused on who used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), what was used, and why it was used in the United States by adults age 18 years and over during 2002. According to this recent survey, herbal therapy, or use of natural products other than vitamins and minerals, was the most commonly used CAM therapy (18.9%) in the United States during 2002 ( table 1 on page 8) when all use of prayer was excluded. Consistent with previous studies, this study found that the majority of individuals (i.e., 54.9%) used CAM in conjunction with conventional medicine ( page 6). "The fact that only 14.8% of adults sought care from a licensed or certified CAM practitioner suggests that most individuals who use CAM self-prescribe and/or self-medicate" (pg 6).

Examples

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is starting to fund clinical trials; see the links at the National Institutes of Health .

• Echinacea extracts have been shown to limit the length of colds in some clinical trials .
• St John's wort has been found to be more effective than placebo for the treatment of mild depression in some clinical trials .
• Artichoke and several other plants have been associated with reduced total serum cholesterol levels in preliminary studies .
• Black cohosh and other plants that contain phytoestrogens (plant molecules with estrogen activity) have been found to have some benefits for treatment of symptoms resulting from menopause .

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