Complementary & Alternative Medicine Opinion of Former Surgeon General

Ran across an interesting interview with former Surgeon General Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D. recently where he talked a little bit about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). While admitting that some good comes from CAM, those parts that are scientifically proven and then accepted into mainstream medicine, he feels that billions of dollars are being wasted on dubious devices and products. He added that "But the fact that 50% of Americans are spending discretionary income on alternative medicine shows that the public is dissatisfied with the healthcare system."

I do agree with him on one major point: people don't know enough about their health. Dr. Carmona said "We're a health illiterate nation. Studies show that about one third of our population doesn't understand the connection between their lifestyle and their health outcomes...The real challenge for consumer-directed initiatives is to deliver health literate, culturally competent messages that resonate with diverse populations....Health literacy is the currency of success for everything we need to do to improve the health, safety, and security of our nation."

Hopefully UnBreak Your Health is one of the ways to improve the health of Americans!