Why Unconventional Medicine?

The careful national survey reported by Eisenberg et al. in this issue of the Journal1 tells us that in a given year about a third of all American adults use unconventional medical treatments, such as relaxation techniques, chiropractic, therapeutic massage, special diets, and megavitamins. Unconventional techniques are most often used for back problems, headache, arthritis, musculoskeletal pain, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. The most frequent users are educated, upper-income white Americans in the 25-to-49-year age group, and they are more likely to live in the West than elsewhere in the country. The cost is over $10 billion a year, 30 percent . . .