Interest in alternative cures spurs changes in mainstream care

By Kyle Gearhart
For the Journal
http://www.wisinfo.com/journal/spjlocal/293394102922613.shtml

Acceptance of alternative and complementary forms of medicine to
deal with aches, pains and other ailments is pushing local care
health providers to make changes.

Interest in acupuncture and massage has grown quickly at the 16-
month old Center for Integrative Health, part of Community Health
Care clinics. Growing numbers of patients have pushed the center to
move from an off-site space at 2801 Westhill Drive this week to
separate offices in three clinic locations.

"We've had phenomenal growth," said Dr. Hilary Scully, a family
physician and acupuncturist who started the Center for Integrative
Health. "We hired an acupuncturist last October for two days a week.
He was working three days a week and will now go to four days a
week."
Across the country, a survey of 31,000 U.S. adults found that 36
percent used some form of complementary or alternative medicine,
whether receiving acupuncture or chiropractic care from a provider
or using herb or vitamin therapies on their own, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2002 National Health
Interview Survey.

Acupuncture, which uses small needles to stimulate points on the
body, is used most often to treat pain and has proven effective in
helping cancer patients with nausea and vomiting.

"At least half of the patients I see are using something considered
complementary (in conjunction with Western medicine), whether it's
acupuncture, massage therapy, vitamin E, ginseng or garlic," said
Rebecca Richards, a nurse practitioner at Marshfield Clinic-
Marshfield Center's hematology and oncology department. "Acupuncture
is clearly much more mainstream than it used to be - the same is
true for biofeedback."
Richards and some of the clinic's physicians will refer patients for
acupuncture or other treatments if they think it will help. But
unlike patients, who might be drawn to acupuncture or massage by a
friend's testimonial or their own experience, Richards and
physicians reserve referrals only for certain scientifically proven
treatments.

"We want to hold these treatments up to the same standards that we
hold other (Western) treatments up to," Richards said. "It's in its
infancy. We'll see more study, more knowledge and more progress. We
are also beginning to see many more resources available for people
to make the right choices."
One of those people is Betty Pound, 54, of the town of Maine. She's
had arthritis since she was 17. As she got older the pain worsened,
and about five years ago a car accident created constant knee pain.
Pound found that acupuncture eased her pain. She was able to lessen
the frequency of her treatments from once a week to months over more
than a year of treatment. She now uses Reiki, a form of energy and
meditative healing.

"You don't heal diseased joints," Pound said. "But what I find with
Reiki is that if I start in the morning I am completely mobile. If
not, if I skip a day or two, then it's painful."
Reiki is part of Pound's daily life. In fact, she started a business
in Rib Mountain called Inner Well devoted to its practice. But just
as the doctors use evidence-based studies before recommending
complementary approaches, Pound took time to study psychology to
better understand how her Reiki practice works on the mind and body.

Scully hopes to win more converts, both patients and physicians, to
the benefits of acupuncture, massage and other complementary
medicines. Integrating the Center for Integrative Health into the
Family Health Specialists clinic in Wausau, the CHC-Weston Clinic
and the General Clinic in Antigo, will help to do that.

"Now it will become more common. We'll build those relationships,"
Scully said. "One of the things we really wanted to do was integrate
into the hospital and offer massage and acupuncture. To grow we
couldn't have our own place to make this mainstream."