News

An article in Acupuncture Today’s February 2009 edition reported that an estimated 3.1 million Americans used acupuncture and Oriental medicine in 2007, a 50 percent increase since 2002, according to a study released by the federal government.

The report entitled “Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults and Children: United States, 2007” was released by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

The report goes on to say that 17 percent of adults used alternative medicine most often to treat a variety of musculoskeletal problems including back pain or problems, neck pain or problems (6 percent), joint pain, stiffness or other joint conditions (5 percent), arthritis (4 percent) and other musculoskeletal  conditions (2 percent).  The study also gave Acupuncture and Oriental medicine high marks for its research quality.  Out of 40 systematic reviews identified by the National Library of Medicine involving acupuncture, massage therapy, naturopathy or yoga, published between 2002 and 2007, the only studies that found sufficient evidence to conclude that the given therapy was effective for a given condition all used acupuncture as a form of treatment.  In addition, a systematic review concluded that both acupuncture and massage therapy should be considered therapies for treating back pain.

To view the study in its entirety, as well as various charts capturing the data, please visit http://nccam.nih.gov/news/camstats.htm.