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"Doctors Going Alternative" says a headline in this morning's Chicago Tribune. As the article notes, patients lead the way, voting with their feet and wallets in favor of therapies like massage, acupuncture and meditation. Now physicians are getting on board:
"The future success of the holistic complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) movement in the U.S. hinges on the very people who once viewed alternative medicine with cold skepticism: mainstream, conventionally trained doctors. Though many...believe medical treatments should be backed by rigorous scientific data, they will not rule out adding into the treatment mix mind-body therapies that have been used for centuries in other cultures. (Doctors) might suggest relaxation techniques when...stress is a factor, acupuncture for pain or probiotics for acute diarrhea."
Moreover, there may be sound economic and public policy reasons for pushing the trend along:
"Five chronic conditions—mood disorders, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and high blood pressure—account for more than half of all U.S. health expenditures, according to the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which advises the federal government on health issues. But these are the disorders that conventional medicine struggles to treat, according to the institute."
Health care consumers WANT what they want and DO what they want, no longer trusting convention or experts to have all the answers. Smart practitioners develop care plans reflecting that new reality.


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