COMMENT: Michael Ellis and Julie Zilko | September 27, 2008
from: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24402620-23289,00.html#tools-share
COMPLEMENTARY medicine regularly receives sceptical treatment in the media. An example followed the announcement by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in June that it planned to introduce a sub-faculty for “integrative medicine” — combining both Western and complementary methods — which would accredit and educate doctors.

Illustration: Michael Perkins
Yet many of the articles that appeared covering this news pointed out that nearly 70 per cent of Australians have sought at least one type of alternative solution to their medical problem each year. These include acupuncture, mind-body medicine such as hypnosis and meditation, and evidence-based nutritional and environmental medicine.
The most common users are higher-educated and higher-earning women in their middle years who are suffering from chronic or painful conditions. In fact, one story reported that in 2005 Australian spending on alternative medicine was $4.13 billion — more than was spent on prescription drugs in that year.
The question is, if western medicine works, then why do nearly three-quarters of the population seek alternatives? The answer is simply because there are no real solutions to chronic medical problems apart from drugs that mostly provide intermittent relief at best, and rarely cure the problem.
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