Frequency of current utilisation of complementary and alternative medicine by patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Since MS patients are frequently using CAM despite the absence of clinically proven efficacy and appraise it positively, further research on the motivation for utilisation and on objective effects of CAM are needed.

Access, delivery and perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom: An online survey

“…In addition, a study in Germany found that the majority of complementary and alternative therapies use by people with multiple sclerosis happens in the early stages of the disease as initially they explore all avenues (Kochs et al, 2014). As the participants in this sample had a mean time since diagnosis of 16 years this may explain why complementary and alternative therapies use was lower that most of previous research where, when reported, time since diagnosis was from seven to nine years (Apel et al, 2006;Gedizlioglu et al, 2015).…”

“…This result was lower than complementary and alternative therapies use in Germany (67%) (Apel et al, 2006), the United States of America (58%) (Stoll et al, 2012) and the Nordic countries (46-58%) (Skovgaard et al, 2012) but higher than complementary and alternative therapies use in Turkey (26%) (Gedizlioglu et al, 2015). The majority of the participants in the studies which reported higher complementary and alternative therapies usage had relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and were mildly or moderately affected.…”

“…Furthermore, the perceived efficacy of physiotherapy services and barriers to accessing them is also unknown. In addition to traditional clinical services, people with multiple sclerosis often utilise complementary and alternative therapies in the management of their condition and whilst there is literature examining usage across the Nordic countries (46-58%) (Skovgaard et al, 2012), the United States of America (58%) (Stoll et al, 2012), Germany (67%) (Apel et al, 2006), and Turkey (26%) (Gedizlioglu et al, 2015) there is currently no information on the use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom.…”

Changes in attitudes toward and patterns in traditional Korean medicine among the general population in South Korea: A comparison between 2008 and 2011

“…In CAM surveys in developed Western countries, the educational level of CAM users was reported to be higher than that of non-users [17,[24][25][26][27]. However, other studies have reported that the educational level of CAM users was lower than that of non-users [28] or that educational level was not correlated with CAM usage at all [29,30]. Therefore, the influence of education level on CAM and TKM usage is ambiguous and debatable.…”

Complementary and Alternative Therapy Use in Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Exercise, meditation, yoga, relaxation, acupuncture, cannabis, massage, dietary changes, vitamins, therapeutic herbs or mineral supplements are a few examples of such means and methods. (1,2,3,4,5) There is, however, little evidence for the benefit of these applications (6). As with many other chronic diseases, the use of alternative and complementary treatment (ACT) is getting more widespread for MS and there is a growing accumulation of knowledge about them globally.…”