"Alternative Medicine" users rely on friends and family for advice

[Kevin Robert Dean]

Mayo Clinic Rochester News
Tuesday, July 10, 2001 

http://www.mayo.edu/comm/mcr/news/news_1663.html

Herbal Product Users Rely on Friends and Family Rather
Than Physicians for Advice

ROCHESTER, MINN. — A survey of Minneapolis-St. Paul
adult residents found that those who use herbal
products to treat or prevent an array of health
conditions appear to rely predominantly on family and
friends for information, according to an article in
the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 

The most commonly reported reason for using herbs
varied by type of herb, although for five of the
herbs, promotion of general health and well-being was
the primary reason cited by the survey’s respondents.
Yet, for 11 of 13 herbs, less than 60 percent of the
respondents rated the herb as effective or very
effective. 

The survey’s results provide key information about
herbal product use that can be helpful to physicians,
the authors write. 

“Because herbs are being used frequently to treat or
prevent an array of health conditions, physicians must
become educated about herbs so they can identify
potentially unsafe herbal use practices,” said Lisa J.
Harnack, Doctor of Public Health, of the Division of
Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of
Public Health, the principal author. “Becoming more
knowledgeable will prepare physicians for discussing
herbal remedies with patients who, at present, are
relying predominantly on family and friends for
information.” 

And, Harnack writes, physicians should begin asking
patients about herb use when they obtain a medical
history. Physicians may be able to identify possible
herbal-pharmaceutical and herb-herb interactions and
use of herbs with known toxic effects. Physician
understanding of patient self-treatment may open a
dialogue about patient health concerns and the use of
herbs. 

The survey respondents who reported using an herbal
product were significantly more likely to be women and
to have reported using a multivitamin or individual
nutritional supplement during the past 12 months
compared with those who did not report using an herbal
product. 

Prevalence of use of specific herbs during the past 12
months ranged from 30.9 percent for ginseng to 3.0
percent for milk thistle. Herbs reported to have been
used by 10 percent of more of the respondents included
ginseng, echinacea, garlic, ginkgo, St. John’s wort,
ginger, ephedra and goldenseal. 

The survey found 61 percent of the respondents
reported using an herbal product in the past 12
months. The authors noted that the survey may have
slightly inflated estimates of the usage rates because
a higher proportion of women and a lower proportion of
non-high school graduates occurred in the sampling
compared to census bureau statistics. 

The survey was conducted by using data tapes from the
Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and
Vehicle Service Division to randomly selected 752
adults age 18 or older to receive a mail survey
between June and August 1999. Of the original sample,
580 people were eligible and 376 of them returned a
completed survey for a response rate of 65 percent. 

Mayo Clinic Proceedings is a peer-reviewed and indexed
general internal medicine journal, published for 75
years by Mayo Foundation, with a circulation of
130,000 nationally and internationally. 

Full text of Mayo Clinic Proceedings article is
available in PDF: Prevalence of Use of Herbal Products
by Adults in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., Area.
 http://www.mayo.edu/proceedings/2001/jul/7607a2.pdf
John Murphy 
507-538-1385 (days) 
507-284-2511 (evenings) 
newsbureau at mayo.edu 

### 


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Kevin Dean
Buffalo, NY
ICQ: 8616001
http://www.yaysoft.com

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