The use of complementary medicine is often under researched, especially in areas such as rural South Australia. Nevertheless, the wellness and wellbeing of people with chronic diseases in these areas is of primary concern, and more research should be encouraged now that it is known that complementary therapies can actually enhance the effects of traditional medicine.
A recent study, however, has looked into the uses of complementary and alternative medicine (sometimes abbreviated to CAM) amongst Southern Australians, and has found that the use is slightly higher for those who are suffering from a chronic disease.
CAM is currently thought of in terms of two categories: medication-based, such as those who take multivitamins or supplements, and procedure-based, such as those who employ manual therapies such as massage, reflexology and so on. It is important to note, though that, research into the efficacy of many complementary therapies is limited at best.
One of the reasons that it is important to understand which herbal remedies people are using and why is because there is potential for herbal medications to interact negatively with drugs, which can lead to serious health repercussions. It is also important to do these studies in localised contexts, as a more general study (about Australia as a whole, for example) does not always mirror the behaviour of people in smaller communities.
It was found, for example, that those in rural communities were slightly less likely to use CAM, and that those who did use any kind of CAM services were likely to be from the higher end of the socioeconomic scale.
The most frequently used area of CAM was supplements such as glucosamine, fish oil and multivitamins, and there was also some use of massage therapists, alternative therapists and chiropractors.
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