URING the past decade, the adult U.S. population has
shown an increasing interest in the use of complementary
or alternative medicine. The number of people stating
that they have used alternative medicine increased from
33.8% in 1990 to 42.1% in 1997 (1). Many adults use alternative
treatments in conjunction with allopathic medicines,
especially when treating certain chronic conditions such as
arthritis (2–4). The rising popularity of alternative therapies
could represent an attempt to lower health care expenses by
substituting less expensive alternative medicines for prescription
medicines (5), in addition to dissatisfaction with
allopathic therapies (3).