The Future of Natural Medicine

One in three, approximately 158 million, of the United States adult population uses natural medicine in one form or another. “Traditional medicine refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being. In industrialized countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are termed ‘Complementary’ or ‘Alternative’ (CAM).”[1] Natural Medicine looks at each individual as unique. It utilizes therapies that support the body’s natural healing processes rather than suppress symptoms. The patient now can play an active role in his or her own healing process. Natural medicine has become a $17 billion industry in the United States alone.

Many countries around the globe use natural medicine to meet their primary health care needs. In developed countries the demand has steadily increased forcing positive changes that show the future of natural medicine is on the verge of becoming main stream and will one day be used in collaboration with conventional medicine. The driving force of this change is People. From all walks of life, the populous will cause their voice and choice to be heard.

The boost to the industry has already forced governments to take notice. The powers that be clamber to develop policies and regulations. They form government offices dedicated to the sole purpose of studying these alternative medicines. Sharing the trends and the triumphs of this natural medicine with their citizens.

Insurance agencies, recognizing this new cash cow and in an effort to woo and personalize the healing experience for it’s policy holders, are recognizing natural medicine and beginning to cover some modalities in their policies. Who would have ever thought an HMO would cover a massage or powdered cat’s claw? It’s true! Check your policy.

The demand for natural medicine has fueled increased research and education. Institutes of higher learning for the field are turning out graduates at record pace and the word on the street is there is high demand for them. So high in fact that conventional medical schools are offering courses and continuing education in natural medicine. To many, natural medicine may just be some quackery, but to a huge part of the world… It’s a big deal.

When the World Health Organization launched a program to assist countries in developing policies for evaluating and regulating natural medicine (TM/CAM). The Traditional Medicine Strategy was introduced in 2002. The goal was to create safety, efficacy, and quality products and practices. It also focused on promoting the proper use and availability and affordability of natural medicine. 70 countries have national regulations on herbal medicines; the most commonly used natural medicine.

A survey conducted in 2004 showed that more than one third of the population in the United States was currently using some form of natural medicine. With such a large number of its citizens using alternatives to main stream medical care, the government has begun to take notice, develop policies, regulations and fund research. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines was formed as a part of the offices of the National Institutes of Health, under the Department of Health and Human Services. Its function is to conduct scientific research on natural medicines.

According to the NCCAM, the major areas of emphasis for research of natural medicine are in cancer, women’s health, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal (i.e. arthritis), degenerative neurological conditions, and aging. The department will study modalities based on public health needs, preliminary research data, availability of the methods or products, feasibility and ethics. The average study costs $5 to $30 million per study. The NIH gave Bastyr University more than $900,000 to study natural alternatives to treat HIV and AIDS.
The Food and Drug Administration has also become involved with natural medicine in the regulation of herbal supplements. It requires makers of herbal supplements to follow good manufacturing practices and specific labeling requirements. The Administration also issues product warnings and bans certain herbs based on current research, in the interest of public safety. The current United States regulations require proper documentation of research before products can be labeled as an effective treatment which is enforced by the FDA.

At the state level, many states license, regulate or prohibit the practice of natural medicines. By 1999 at least 11 states required some type of accredited training and licensing of specific natural medicine modalities. The following states have licensing laws: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.

On a world wide scope, natural medicine is driving changes in government, not only on a national level but also at a state level. There are new administrations formed to regulate the practice of specific modalities and the products associated with natural medicine. These changes are going to fuel the integration of natural medicine into the main stream.

The demand for natural medicine is also shaping the way insurance companies do business. “Twenty six percent of adult CAM users utilized it because a conventional medicine professional suggested they try it”[2] Most patients believe in their doctor as an authority on health. If your primary care physician or some other medical professional suggests a natural therapy could be helpful to you, the patient, you are probably going to try it. If Doctors are suggesting natural therapies, the insurers are going to have to give these natural medicines some considerations or risk losing their bread and butter to competing insurance companies who will cover them.
In response, many HMO’s are covering certain alternatives to conventional treatment. Some companies cover only Acupuncture and Chiropractic, while others also cover many natural therapies including Massage, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Herbal Medicine. A recent survey of 18 major HMOs and insurance providers, including Aetna, Medicare, Prudential, and Kaiser Permanente, found that 14 of them covered at least 11 of 34 alternative therapies.

Many mainstream physicians have access to training in natural medicine and a number of hospitals also have incorporated natural medicine. A number of hospitals in the bay area of California have created ‘Complementary Care Units’ staffed by board certified physicians who are cross trained with natural medicine. The unit offers everything from acupuncture to herbal medicine. With hospitals and physicians now using natural medicine, insurers must respond. In a 1998 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, 56% of the individuals surveyed believed that HMO’s should cover the cost of natural medicine.

“Health plans can play an important role in providing members with access to evidence-based information regarding the safety and effectiveness of various alternative therapies. As attention to patient-centered health care increases, CAM will necessarily receive increased attention in the future. Since CAM users often have selected a primary care provider, have regular check-ups, and desire active engagement in health care decisions, there is an opportunity to provide information about alternative medicine options. Such discussions may lead to higher patient satisfaction.”[3]

The integrative medicine approach is open to all disciplines, all therapies, and all options. This is a better way to reach optimal health. The industry has become more accepting of natural medicine. Not only the patients, but the hospitals and physicians included. In an effort to meet the needs of patients and providers and to remain competitive Insurers will have to change with the times and include natural medicine in their coverage policies. The trends show this is the case.

If the insurance companies cover natural medicine therapies, many more patients will try it because they will have little or no out of pocket expense. This supports and eases the integration of natural medicine and conventional medicine going forward.

The research, regulation, public demand and willingness of HMO’s to foot the bill goes hand in hand with the interest of doctors to bring more choices to their patients. It directly supports their effort to reach optimal health goals and patient satisfaction.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! This must be the case as more traditionally trained medical professionals are open to natural medicine. With patients continually searching for better care and opening up to modalities that give them more choices and more control over their health, opportunities for education and research abound.

“Conventional medicine has developed standardized therapies for standardized diagnoses for generic patients that are effective in symptom relief but not very effective in promoting health and are utterly incapable of recognizing how truly different each of us is” [4] In response to this the medical community now cross trains in natural medicine. Increasingly schools of conventional medicine are offering natural medicine in their curriculum. The Association of American Medical Colleges reported that 95 of the 125 medical schools in the US require coursework in CAM. According to the NCCAM, the number of medical schools in the US offering natural medicine coursework grew from 26% (2001) to 78% (2004).

The demand is high. It is estimated that alternative physicians will increase by 124% between 1994 and 2010, compared to only 16% for new conventional medicine doctors. Researchers observed that the number of alternative practitioners and their acceptance by the public already make the field a force to be reckoned with and medical planners should take this shift in clinical focus in to their forecasts.[5]

Education in natural medicine has dramatically improved since the industry created its accreditation policies to meet the US Department of Education standards. In addition there are national professional examination boards, and established standards of care. Many graduates open private practices and/or work in unison with conventional doctors on a referral network within an HMO. Some of the graduates of these schools of natural medicine can be found working for private entities or the government doing research.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is at the helm of the research being conducted on natural medicine. In addition, the number of research centers across the country grew from nine (1999) to 36 (2007). The goals of research are not only to identify natural medicines that are beneficial, but also to establish a profile of the people who use them, various diseases or other medical problems that can be effectively treated, and to establish safety guidelines.

It may be similar to Germany’s Commission E, more a way to regulate natural medicine. One can never know what the true intentions of government involvement can be. However, the research will improve the general public’s opinion on the validity of natural medicines. With government established used and safety guidelines, such authority is viewed as a stamp of approval to some.

Research on the government level may yet quell the opinions of skeptics, as the integration of said quackery with conventional medicine moves forward. The results are in and they show that natural medicine is effective. The NCCAM has published their findings on numerous natural medicines. From the use of Acupuncture in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the health benefits of Tai Chi, Herbal Medicine use of Turmeric for Rheumatoid Arthritis, to Vitamins that fight Cancer. Continuation of clinical trials and research findings on the benefits of natural medicine are just what this country needs to push the integration of natural medicine with conventional medicine.

Does natural medicine have a place in our healthcare system? It has been used for centuries all around the world. Yet we shut it out, put it in the closet and hung it out to dry. We let go of years of our medicinal heritage in favor of conventional, cover up the mess, make it go away medicine. There is a movement. People who have practiced out of the main stream. Now that movement is poking its nose in the door of your waiting room.

Natural medicine is gaining back its respect, regaining its place in the medicinal community. The government has reached into its pockets to research and regulate it. They make offices and policies to try to control what they should have embraced all along. Never the less, their efforts serve to validate natural medicine to their citizens.

Who would have ever thought an HMO would loosen its purse strings to something as unconventional as Magnetic Therapy? Ever increasingly they are doing just that. Maybe they recognize that it costs less to treat a patient naturally than with conventional medical practices. Maybe they see that Doctors are increasing their knowledge and suggesting these off the wall natural therapies. Maybe for once they are interested in satisfying their customers, the policy holders. Of course it helps to have to compete with the other insurers too. Whatever the case, the bottom line is this: If an Insurance company will cover it, patients will increasingly use natural medicine.

A continued effort to research natural medicine and train the medical community in the various modalities will improve the confidence of the public. The more stamps of approval by seeming authorities on medical issues and uses of natural medicine for such issues, the more the public will accept and use them. When the public tries them and finds relief, the more they will continue to use them and sing the praises of natural medicine. It’s the cycle of supply and demand. These are the driving force of the integration of natural medicine with conventional medicine.

Who can predict that exact Eureka! moment? All that can be said is that it is happening. It is a slow train that has been working to reach it’s destination for some time. We are all the passengers, the benefactors, who have everything to gain when this train reaches its destination.
Will natural medicine make it to the main stream? Of course it will, its here. It is slowly but surely being integrated as we speak. The only thing left to do is give it a try, and start healing. When we take charge of our health we take charge of a system that once dictated to us: the how, the when, and the why of our health care. Those days are on their way out and may be gone already.

Integration of natural medicine with conventional medicine has already begun and therefore, the future of natural medicine is assured. It has found its place, set its roots and begun to grow. The future of natural medicine is looking pretty good.


[1] World Health Organization, Fact Sheet N° 134, May 2003, Page 1

[2] Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2002, CDC Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, Number 343, May 27, 2004

[3] American College of Physicians, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among Health Plan Members, A Cross-Sectional Survey, Effective Clinical Practice, January/February 2002

[4]Pizzorno, Jr., Joseph N.D., The Future of Health Care, Bastyr University Expert Opinion Series

[5]Cooper, Richard A. M.D., Trends in the Education and Practice of Alternative Medicine Clinicians, Health Affairs 15:3 (Fall 1996) 226-238