10 Interesting facts about complementary and alternative medicine.

1.  The World Health Organization estimates that between 65 to 80 percent of the world’s population (over 4 billion people) rely on alternative medicine as their primary form of health care compared to only 10 to 30 percent of people who use conventional medicine.

2.  Traditional Chinese medicine has been chosen by the World Health Organization for worldwide propagation to meet the heath care needs of the twenty-first century.

3.  Medicinal herbs were found amongst the personal effects of the mummified prehistoric “ice man” who was found in the Italian Alps in 1991.

4.  19 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer alternative medicine as part of their health care compensation packages.

5.  One-half of all medical schools now offer courses in alternative medicine.

6.  Spinal manipulation was used by the Ancient Greeks long before it was incorporated into chiropractic and osteopathic medicine in the 19^th Century.

7.  More than 70% to 90% of physicians consider complementary and alternative medicine therapies, such as diet and exercise, behavioral medicine, counseling and psychotherapy, and hypnotherapy, to be legitimate medical practices.

8.  Massage therapy dates back thousands of years and has been recorded in ancient writings from the Orient, Asia, Arabia and Greece.

9.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) currently invests about $40 million per year in complementary and alternative medicine related research.

10.  2/3 of people who use complementary and alternative medicine do not tell their medical doctor.