In a survey performed by the U.S. government, more than 23,000 adults were surveyed to ascertain what their use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is, including nonconventional medicine named as "herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic treatment and acupuncture." In 2007, 38% of the participants said they used CAM, which didn't differ much from the same survey that was conducted in 2002, where 36% of adults said they used it. The use of alternative therapies went up the most drastically with meditation, massage therapy and yoga. The majority of CAM users also sought it out for their musculoskeletal issues, i.e., arthritis and back and neck pain. This survey also was able to get an idea of how many children are being exposed to CAM. It was found that parents were five times more likely to give their children CAM, such as "echinacea, fish oil/omega 3/DHA, combination herb pill, flaxseed oil or pills, and prebiotics or probiotics (foods containing supplements)," if they themselves used them. Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, says, "People are using these products to enhance wellness. The dietary supplement increase reflects consumer trends toward improving and increasing their sense of wellness and their own self-empowerment with respect to their health." I couldn't have said it better!

Suffering from musculoskeletal pain? Trying to find financially conservative ways to treat your pain? Try physical therapy. According to a study conducted by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), physical therapy was more effective than standard care from a general practitioner when it came to musculosketal pain, i.e., neck and back pain. In the medical journal Spine, patients who received physical therapy and exercise were said to experience significant amounts of relief, where additional medications and treatment weren't necessary. Lead researcher and APTA spokesmen Michael Walker says, "This study, demonstrating the efficacy of physical therapy for a condition as widespread as neck pain, is particularly relevant in today's challenging economic environment." Physical therapy treats disorders of the musculoskeletal system by restoring affected body parts, from disabilities, accidents and surgeries, to its full function.

Think acupuncture can only be performed with needles. Think again. In a study performed in Sweden, researchers conducted four tests to see how acupuncture, standard medical treatments and acupuncture without needles affected four control groups who were suffering from nausea. At the end of the study, it was found that 67% of acupuncture participants had their symptoms improve, while only 37% of standard medical participants had improvements. What is particularly interesting about this study, though, is that there was no difference between the two acupuncture groups at all: the effectiveness of traditional acupuncture treatment, with needles, and those who received "simulated acupuncture" ("acupuncture ... with a telescopic, blunt placebo needle that merely touches the skin") reported the same level of nausea relief, implying that the needle use in traditional acupuncture isn't as integral to acupuncture as once thought. Therefore, researchers are theorizing whether the positive effects of acupuncture have more to do with "increased care" [and the] "extra time for rest and relaxation," rather than the placement and precise manipulation of the needles. This study is quite intriguing in that it begs the question about what exactly is it about acupuncture that is so effective. According to the World Health Organization, acupuncture has been proven to treat sprains, headaches, dental pain, stroke, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, biliary colic and hay fever, among many other diseases and conditions. If this documented success isn't dependent upon the needles, then what exactly is it dependent upon? With hope, time will tell.

HIV/AIDs drugs, while effective, tend to be very costly and its effectiveness varies from patient to patient. Researchers at the UCLA AIDs Institute made a major breakthrough in what can possibly become both a cost effective and natural treatment option for HIV/AIDs: the astragalus root. Recent research has shown that the chemicals in astragalus root, among others, were effective in stopping or slowing the progression of telomere, "a region at the end of every cell chromosome that contains repeated DNA sequences but no genes; telomeres act to protect the ends of the chromosomes and prevent them from fusing together....," which was quoted in this article. Astragalus is a significant root in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Often boiled in water or dropped in to soups, astragalus is known for boosting the immune system and treating heart disease and diarrhea. The researchers are very optimistic about these findings, saying, "The ability to enhance telomerase activity and antiviral functions of CD8 T-lymphocytes suggests that this strategy could be useful in treating HIV disease, as well as immunodeficiency and increased susceptibility to other viral infections associated with chronic diseases or aging." How exciting!