38% of adults use alternative medicine

Washington Post, December 11, 2008

More than one-third of adults and nearly 12% of children in the United States use alternatives to traditional medicine, according to a large federal survey. The 2007 survey of more than 32,000 Americans, found that use of yoga, "probiotics," fish oil and other "complementary and alternative" therapies held steady among adults since the last national survey five years earlier, and that such treatments have become part of healthcare for many youngsters. Critics say the findings were disturbing because most alternative treatments have not been scientifically validated and those that have been rigorously tested have overwhelmingly been found to be ineffective.