Use of complementary and alternative medicine among American women

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients with Gynecologic Cancer: a Systematic Review

“…Patients want to extend this period more, reduce the side effects of the treatments and have a quality life using CAM. In studies investigating the use of CAM by cancer patients, it is indicated that 30-50% use CAM (Lee et al, 2000;Pud et al, 2005;Scott et al, 2005;Upchurch et al, 2005;Verhoef et al, 2005).…”

“…As indicated in the studies, women use CAM in all stages of their lives and CAM methods vary according to the problems they encounter (Gungormus and Kiyak, 2012). In the literature, it is seen that women diagnosed with gynecologic cancer use CAM frequently (Upchurch and Chyu, 2005;Akyuz et al, 2007;Amanak et al, 2013). When studies on CAM are reviewed, it is determined that most of the patients cannot explain the reason why they use CAM clearly and do not have any information on the effects/side effects of using CAM (Verhoef et al, 2005;Tokem, 2006;Kav et al, 2008).…”

Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Menopause: A Qualitative Analysis of Women’s Decision Making

“…[1][2][3] Use of CAM has been associated with being older, more educated, and in poorer health, 1 but little research examines why menopausal women use CAM. A small study (n=14) noted women using CAM for menopausal symptoms felt in control through their choices, and described CAM as "natural" and effective.…”

Complementary and alternative medicine: Herbals and supplements: A review for the primary care physician

“…The women were more likely to be older, educated, white, and poorer in health, with insurance status not an independent association [14]. A report based on over 31,000 adults in the U.S aged 18 or older revealed the following: 62% used some form of CAM therapy during the prior 12 months; the most common were prayer, natural products, breathing exercise, meditation, yoga, and diet-based therapies; and the most utilized natural products were echinacea, ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and garlic [15].…”