Health Blog: Solutions & Wellness Tips

34 Billion Spent on Alternative Care - Worthwhile or Waste?

Evidence based practice

A recent release by the Associated Press reported that Americans spend about 1/10 of their income on alternative care options. Click here for the whole story.


Massage, meditation, yoga, herbal supplements, such as echinacea and ginseng are all commonly used by consumers. But, as Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who leads Public Citizen's health research, notes, many of these "alternative remedies" have little to no proof of their effectiveness.


While some of the remedies may work, Dr. Briggs states in the release, "I personally am pretty conservative about supplement use," Briggs said. She believes that research her center has sponsored has affected consumer use. After widely publicized studies showed the ineffectiveness of echinacea for colds and St. John's wort for major depression, their use fell; fish oil use has risen following some research suggesting it might help lower risk of heart problems."


July 22, 2009
Back to Health Blog

Quick Links

Are You Ready To Live Pain-Free?

Request an Appointment

Latest Health Blog Posts

Imagine a tiny, invisible hitchhiker nestled between your toes, one that announces its presence with every step you take. This unwelcome passenger is Morton’s neuroma, a thickened nerve tissue that transforms the simple act of walking into a painful ordeal. Morton’s neuroma occurs when tissue thickens around a nerve in the foot, typically between the […]

April 10, 2025

Imagine your head as a bowling ball perched on top of a flexible straw. Now picture that straw being violently whipped back and forth. This is whiplash, a traumatic event that happens in a few seconds but can continue to bother you for months or years. More than 40% of people who experience whiplash develop […]

April 3, 2025