STUDY ON HISPANICS’ USING ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE LEAVES RESEARCHERS STUMPED

From the Annals of Pharmacology came a recent study that focuses on the use of CAM by Hispanics. As we have learned on altMD.com, CAM is an acronym for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Hispanics have been known for their use of medicinal herbs such as brook mint, linden, star anise, and sapodilla, in both spiritual and medicinal healing.

Many of these are very different from what is used by non-Hispanics. Important to note, also is, that although acculturated Hispanics were using herbs and home remedies in centuries-old folk medicine, they weren’t predisposed to going to a specialist.

And while according to the study, the US Census Bureau reported that Hispanics accounted for 13.3% of the total population, not much is known about their CAM use outside of the home.


The study did reveal that CAM practitioners should pay close attention to the fact that CAM knowledge (notably the use of herbs and home remedies) is handed down from one generation to another by a female relative. And that understanding the cultural attitudes toward Western medicine within many different Latin American countries needs more study.


For more information on this study log onto www.theannals.com.