Why the impetus in CAM?
The 2nd International Conference on Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine Research, April 12-14, 2002, in Boston, Massachusetts [5], noted in a series of consumer surveys conducted between 1990 and the present in the United States found that the use of CAM increased from 25% in 1990 to 42% in 1997 and that the use of herbal remedies increase by 380% during the same period. This conference was jointly coordinated by faculty from Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco, and supported in part by NCCAM. The conference report goes on to say that post-baby boomers are the highest users of CAM followed closely by the baby boomers. The reasons given for their preference in CAM are due to perceived efficacy, particularly in combination with conventional therapies; corresponds with their values and beliefs; and experiences of failed conventional treatment. It was also noted that fewer than 40% of CAM patients informed their medical doctors, as they believ
