Gps Warm To Alternative Therapies
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday February 7, 2000
The first comprehensive study of the use of alternative therapies by Australian doctors has shown that some of them are well accepted.
Most Australian GPs have referred patients for meditation, acupuncture, hypnosis and chiropractic, according to the study published in today's issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
One third have trained in meditation, while more than 20 per cent practice acupuncture. About half the doctors surveyed wanted training in either meditation, hypnosis or acupuncture.
A separate study, also published in the journal, found that more than 70 per cent of cancer specialists believed meditation and relaxation to be of help to patients, while more than one third believed acupuncture and hypnotherapy helpful.
But most cancer specialists find other alternative therapies, such as high dose vitamin C, macrobiotic diets, coffee enemas, ozone therapy and shark cartilage either neutral or positively harmful.
The cancer specialists' study, carried out by the NSW Cancer Council and covering 161 of the 265 oncologists in Australia, found few specialists knew a lot about alternative therapies.
The best understood alternative therapies were acupuncture, antioxidant use, meditation and microwave therapy. But practices such as iridology, aromatherapy, immune-enhancing therapy and ozone therapy were little understood.
The GPs' study, carried out by the University of Melbourne, was based on a postal survey of 800 Victorian GPs, with 488 responses.
It showed GPs perceived alternative therapies in two groups. Most doctors had referred patients for acupuncture, meditation or hypnosis, while fewer than one third had referred patients for homeopathy, aromatherapy, osteopathy and spiritual healing.
Most GPs would not encourage their patients to see a chiropractor, but interestingly, most had referred them to one.
Another feature of the study was that for most alternative therapies, doctors were twice as likely to have studied them than use them.
The exception was acupuncture, which was practised by most doctors who had studied it. It is the only alternative therapy for which GPs trained in it receive a specific Medicare rebate.
These findings sit among signs of a decade-long trend towards the mainstreaming of alternative therapies.
Individual Australians now spend more money on alternative therapies than on prescribed pharmaceuticals, although government subsidies ensure more money is spent overall on pharmaceuticals.
At least 20 per cent of Australians see some sort of alternative therapist in a year, and half of us use some form of alternative therapy each year.
However, US surveys suggest that most people who see non-medical alternative therapists do not tell their doctors.
For this reason, groups such as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners have been running education programs on alternative therapies.
Even the top universities have started offering courses in alternative medicines, with Sydney University joining in this year.
Soul provider
Training and practise of complementary therapies among GPs
HAVE TRAINED IN PRACTISE THE
THE THERAPY (%) THERAPY (%)
MEDITATION 34 17
HYPNOSIS 20 11
ACUPUNCTURE 23 22
HERBAL MEDICINE 12 8
VITAMIN AND MINERAL THERAPY 23 15
NATUROPATHY 6 6
CHIROPRACTIC 8 7
SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald