Ask Your Doctor

People 50 and older frequently use complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, but don't often talk to their physicians about it, a new survey shows.

The research, conducted by AARP in collaboration with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, found that 63 percent of respondents used complementary or alternative therapies, but only 31 percent had discussed this with their doctor.

Among those who didn’t discuss CAM with their physicians: 42 percent said the doctor never asked; 19 percent said there wasn’t enough time during the appointment; 17 percent figured the doctor didn’t know the topic; and 12 percent thought the doctor would have been dismissive or discouraging about the therapy. Three in 10 respondents said they didn’t know they should tell their doctors about CAM therapies.

The survey, of more than 1,500 people age 50 and up, also found:

> So-called body work, including massage therapy and chiropractic manipulation, was the most popular form of CAM, with 45 percent of respondents reporting use. Second on the list was herbal products or dietary supplements, at 42 percent; third was mind/body practices such as hypnosis or meditation, at 15 percent.

> People ages 50 to 54 were more likely to use CAM than those 65 and older.

> Women were more likely than men to discuss what type of CAM to use.

> Respondents most frequently heard about CAM from family and friends (22 percent) and publications (14 percent). Physicians were third on the list, at 12 percent.

To read the report, look for the link atwww.aarp.org/research/health/prevention/cam_2007.html. For more about CAM, seewww.nccam.nih.gov/health/.

SOURCE: NCCAM website, 1/18/07

Skin Scan

A melanoma is more likely to grow quickly if it’s thick, symmetrical, or elevated; if it causes a sore; if it lacks pigment; if it has a regular border; or if it causes symptoms, Australian researchers report. Faster-growing melanomas were more likely to occur in men; in people 70 and older; and in people with relatively few moles and freckles.

SOURCE: Archives of Dermatology, 12/18/06

Quit It

A study of 154 people who smoked within three months before diagnosis with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer has found that more than 40 percent smoked again within a year. The majority who relapsed did so during the first two months after surgery, researchers from Missouri, Texas and North Carolina found. Factors that predicted smoking relapse included a shorter period of smoking abstinence before surgery, lower income, and higher education levels. The findings suggest that efforts to prevent smoking relapse should target patients who wait until cancer surgery to quit smoking, “and should be started as soon as possible after treatment,” the researchers wrote.

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 12/06

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