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TITLE: Trends in Alternative Medicine
BY: Krista Bard --President of Bard Associates Inc., a Philadelphia-based marketing communications consulting firm, and founder of the New Health Symposium
DATE APPEARED IN THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: January 3, 1998

A recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association was entirely devoted to the study of herbs and alternative medicine, reporting that Americans spend almost as much on out-of-pocket (not reimbursed by insurance) alternative medicine ($27 billion) as on all unreimbursed physician services ($29 billion). In addition, average Americans makes more visits to non-traditional medical practitioners than to their family doctors.

A confluence of social, psychological and economic forces has created this surge of interest in alternative medicine. Over 80 million aging baby boomers are searching for the fountain of youth. Educated consumers want to take greater responsibility for their medical destinies. The depersonalization and red-tape of HMO’s has brought forth a concomitant need for more personal interaction. Some people are looking for cures that traditional western medical research just hasn’t discovered yet. Some practitioners simply want to do whatever it takes to help their patients, others are lured by the cash business found in alternative medicine. Some see the shift as a natural swing of the pendulum to again include the ancient forms of healing that were the only medicine for thousands of years, and that remain today as the main form of medicine for 80% of the world’s population.

Within the myriad forces that brought alternative medicine into the forefront also lie the seeds that point towards its future.  Until about the mid-60’s, the purpose of medical research was primarily to solve the problems of sick people. Since then, the focus has gradually moved away from the search for the cure, to the search for a better life and all that that entails -- more pleasure, more energy, more memory, more relaxation, and the avoidance of illness. In response to this trend, traditional medicine aggressively pursues quality of life drugs like Viagra, and alternative medicine offers a wildly-growing plethora of illness prevention and life enhancement options, from therapies like Core Energetics, Rolfing®, Pilates, and Unergi®, to popular herbal remedies like St. John’s Wort, ginseng, echinacea, and wheatgrass.

Alternative products and supplements are not regulated in the U.S. as strictly as pharmaceuticals and over the counter drugs. There is also a paucity of clinical research supporting the efficacy of alternative modalities, especially when compared to the vast research machine that exists for traditional medicine.

With consumer demand fueling the alternative market expansion, expect that scientific research dollars for alternative medicine will follow. Look for more clinical studies backing up product claims and treatment modalities, government established standards for ingredients and their manufacture, and stricter professional accreditation boards for alternative medicine practitioners in all modalities.

While building their own arsenal of empirical evidence, Americans will increasingly turn to countries like Germany and England that are a few steps ahead in their research and regulation of alternative medicine. Expect strategic alliances of all kinds with these countries especially, for they have embraced alternative disciplines with an analytical rigor that appeals to our western thinking, by contrast to the more intuitive eastern schools of healing.

Already we are witnessing an albeit nascent, but growing communication between traditional and alternative medical practitioners, using eastern and western approaches. Twenty years ago, Dr. Carlo Bartoletti pioneered programs at the University of Milan where medical students would work in interdisciplinary teams, not only with physicians and other healthcare staff, but also beauty industry professionals. This European movement of “esthetic medicine” designed caregiving plans for patients addressing the whole person, not just alleviating isolated symptoms or problems. Dr. Kligman was among the first in the U.S. to adopt this approach, creating the Center for Human Appearance at the University of Pennsylvania.

Quite opposite to the turnstile referral chain of HMO healthcare systems, expect more interdisciplinary teams of traditional and alternative medical professionals conferring, not in a string of conversations, but a true meeting of minds to develop the best plan of care for individual patients.

The construct of these teams and the plans of care they develop are changing as fast as our understanding of the factors that impact a whole person’s health and vitality. John Q. Public’s “little black book” of personal well-being might today include traditional medicine, psychology, nutrition, sports therapy, massage, herbal supplements, chiropractic, and acupuncture, maybe some aromatherapy. The mainstream is opening its mind to include even more alternatives. Loreta LaRoche is teaching the healing power of humor at Harvard. Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect, is lecturing all around the country, about the proven effects of music on learning, healing, and productivity. At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Andrew Newberg is researching and advancing the role of spirituality in health. Dr. Bernie Siegel documents the interplay of love, medicine and miracles in his book with the same title.

People are desperately seeking to put the care back in healthcare. Almost anything that reinforces individuality and conveys a sense of personalization has a much better chance of being accepted. Whether it’s hard science DNA tracking to discover weak genetic links that make certain people prone to particular diseases, or Peter D’Adamo’s Eat Right for You Blood Type bestseller, the driving force is the same.

Regarding diet and nutrition, the key words are pure and personalized. Fresh, healthy, organic, whole foods without chemicals, pesticides or additives will only continue to grow in popularity; even indulgences like ice cream and steak, chips and candy are succeeding with these principles. Expect to see individual nutritional profiles for optimal performance, and individual diet plans revealing each person’s secret key to achieving their ideal weight.

The personalization of exercise programs will move beyond the simple idea of personal trainers, to exercise programs that are truly tailored to body type, age, agility, time constraints and natural talent. Wouldn’t everyone want to know what sport they are best suited for? Female baby boomers will take up more exercise to ward off osteoporosis, specifically strength training, and male baby boomers will want sports specific exercises to prevent injury as they pursue their weekend warrior and retiree fantasies.

The amount of men’s health information disseminated by the media is far lower in proportion to women’s coverage, and the active interest of men in their own health is back where the women’s health movement was ten or even fifteen years ago, when breast self-examination raised eyebrows and breast cancer was a taboo soundbite. Look for all of this to change, if not initiated by men, then by the women who love them.

Sorting through all of the options in both traditional and alternative medicine will bring forth new developments in information sciences. There are over 10,000 websites that deal with health, and a handful of search engines to negotiate the maze. Help is on the horizon, for silicon geeks and computer-illiterates both, in that the quantitative morass will be given more qualitative ranking, analysis, and accessibility.

Perhaps the most important trend to watch in alternative medicine is the changing attitude towards the very concept of health. Perfection is no longer the goal, but rather wellness, which encompasses more that just the physical. Someone can indeed have a perfectly healthy body, yet not be well. Someone else can be disabled or living with disease, yet radiate vitality. It is this quest for wellness, giving rise to the natural healing force within each of us, that distinguishes alternative medicine in its best and most promising future.