Complementary and alternative medical therapy utilization by people with chronic fatiguing illnesses in the United States

Jones, James F.; Maloney, Elizabeth M.; Boneva, Roumiana S.; Al, Jones; Reeves, William C.

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-7-12

Cited by 39 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Recently, the United States has seen an upward trend in the use of nonconventional medicine for chronic conditions, [19][20][21][22] mimicking trends seen internationally. [23][24][25] Although many studies have examined the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within different chronic disease populations, 16,26,27 researchers also suggest that the reasons for CAM use for chronic back or neck pain and other musculoskeletal diseases warrant further study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Patients with Arthritis or Other Musculoskeletal Diseases

Mbizo

Okafor

Sutton

et al. 2016

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Patients with Arthritis or Other Musculoskeletal Diseases

Mbizo

Okafor

Sutton

et al. 2016

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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“…Accordingly, chronic fatigue is one of the most common complaints treated by alternative complementary therapies in the United States. 3 In this study, the antifatigue effect of moxibustion on 44 subjects with ICF was investigated. This study was not targeted toward CFS, which can be diagnosed by typical criteria and has more severe symptoms than those of ICF.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 Thus, patients suffering from ICF or CFS frequently use alternative and complementary therapies. 3,4 Traditional Oriental medicine considers chronic fatigue to be the result of an unbalanced state among interfunctioning organs, or a deficient vital energy (called qi) condition with characteristic blood symptoms. 5 Several clinical studies have shown positive results of herbal remedies on CFS, [6][7][8] and acupuncture and moxibustion therapy have been leading treatments in traditional Oriental medicine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indirect Moxibustion (CV4 and CV8) Ameliorates Chronic Fatigue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Study

Kim

Yoo

Park

et al. 2013

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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Objectives: The antifatigue effect of indirect moxibustion and its antioxidant properties were investigated. Subjects and design: A randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial was performed with 44 patients who had idiopathic chronic fatigue. The subjects were treated with a placebo or moxibustion (indirect moxibustion on CV4 and CV8 3 times per week for 4 weeks), and their fatigue severity was monitored using a self-rating numeric scale (NRS) and a visual analog scale (VAS). Serum level of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity, the activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase and total glutathione content, were determined before initial moxibustion therapy and after the 12th moxibustion treatment. Results: The moxibustion group had a significantly lower fatigue severity score compared to the control for both the NRS ( p < 0.05) and VAS scores ( p < 0.01). The level of serum MDA was significantly lower in the moxibustion group than in the placebo group ( p < 0.05), whereas glutathione reductase activity and total glutathione content increased significantly following moxibustion ( p < 0.05). Conclusions:The results provide clinical evidence for an antifatigue effect of indirect moxibustion at CV4 and CV8 and suggest that the effect is due to the antioxidant properties of moxibustion.

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“…Many of these patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) [10][11][12]. A study of fibromyalgia patients in the U.S. found that 92.6 % of the participants (mostly women) reported to have used some kind of CAM [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with health complaints attributed to former dental amalgam fillings

Kristoffersen

Hamre

Björkman

et al. 2016

European Journal of Integrative Medicine

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Background: The dental filling material amalgam is generally well tolerated. However, a small proportion of dental patients experience health complaints which they attribute to amalgam. The symptom pattern is often similar to patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) and the health complaints may persist after amalgam removal. Among patients with MUPS, the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) seems to be high. The aim of this survey was to describe the prevalence and range of CAM use among people with health complaints attributed to dental amalgam fillings in which the health problems persist after the removal of all amalgam fillings. Specific attention was paid to (1) self-reported effects of CAM, (2) differences in CAM use dependent on self-reported health, and (3) gender differences in self-reported CAM use. Methods: A survey was distributed to all members of The Norwegian dental patient association (NDPA) (n = 999), the response rate was 36.4 %. The anonymous questionnaire asked for socio-demographic data, health complaints related to former amalgam fillings, subjectively perceived health status, symptoms, and experience with therapeutic interventions, mostly from the spectrum of CAM. Only participants who had all their fillings removed, which was the vast majority, were analysed. Results: A total of 88.9 % of included respondents had used at least one CAM modality, with a higher proportion of men (95.7 %) compared to women (86.2 %, p = 0.015). The most frequently used therapies were dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals recommended by a therapist (used by 66.7 %) followed by self-prescribed dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals (59.0 %), homeopathy (54.0 %), acupuncture (48.8 %) and special diets (47.5 %). Use of CAM was similar for participants reporting normal to good health compared to participants reporting poor health. For all but two CAM modalities, the self-reported treatment effect was better in the group reporting normal to good health compared to the group reporting poor health. Conclusions: CAM was widely used by participants in our study, a finding similar to findings from studies of MUPS patients. To date, health problems associated with the use of dental amalgam is not an accepted diagnosis in the healthcare system. Consequently, people suffering from such complaints experience a lack of adequate treatment and support within conventional health care, which might have contributed to the high number of CAM users in this study.

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Complementary and alternative medical therapy utilization by people with chronic fatiguing illnesses in the United States

Cited by 39 publications

References 22 publications

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Patients with Arthritis or Other Musculoskeletal Diseases

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Patients with Arthritis or Other Musculoskeletal Diseases

Indirect Moxibustion (CV4 and CV8) Ameliorates Chronic Fatigue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Study

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with health complaints attributed to former dental amalgam fillings

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