tKJje Charlotte
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 1996
14A = HealthyBody/Healthy Mind
HMOs to cover
alternative
health sources
By Steve Sakson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK- They won't pay for
shark cartilage pills and coffee ene
mas yet, but leading HMOs are exper
imenting with the demi-science called
alternative medicine, hoping to cure
ills when regular medicine fails.
It’s a startling trend. Many doctors
still view some alternative methods
with great skepticism - the word
“quackery” is bandied about - and
health maintenance organizations
have a reputation for shunning all but
the most reliable treatments.
While most HMOs already offer chi
ropractic coverage, a number are
adding acupuncturists and massage
therapists, along with practitioners
called naturopaths who use herbal
remedies, relaxation therapies, yoga
and more. The health plans are offer
ing to cover this care just like they do
for cardiologists and pediatricians.
On Tuesday, the picture will broad
en when Oxford Health Plans Inc., a
highly profitable HMO in the
Northeast with a reputation for mar
keting innovation, jumps into the field
with the most extensive program to
date.
One big reason is that patients want
it, even though hardly any of the
alternative techniques have under
gone rigorous, scientifically controlled
studies.
A landmark survey, published in
1993 by Harvard Medical School,
showed that one in three Americans
used nontraditional treatments,
spending a total of $14 billion a year
compared with just under $1 trillion
spent on traditional health care.
“Consumers are already voting with
their out-of-pocket expenditures that
these services work,” said Alan
Kittner, a California-based consultant
who helps HMOs set up networks of
alternative providers.
“Quite often these things can be less
expensive than traditional health
care, especially if you can avoid hospi
talizations,” said Randall Huyser, an
HMO industry analyst with the secu
rities firm Furman Selz in San
Francisco. “Secondly, there is a ten
dency for people that like holistic
cures to generally be healthier people,
so they are more attractive patients
for HMOs.”
More importantly, public health
authorities are becoming convinced
that at least some of these things may
really work.
At least 41 state governments now
require chiropractic coverage in some
form. Six states require acupuncture
coverage and nine license natur
opaths. Late last year, the
Washington state Legislature man
dated that all insurers provide alter
native medicine.
Until now, leaders in the movement
to cover alternative medicine have
mostly been small niche companies on
the West Coast and upper Midwest.
Also involved are some respected non
profits - like Seattle’s Group Health
Cooperative of Puget Sound and
Kaiser Permanente of California.
Even ^ome traditional insurer.s like
Prudential Insurance Co. of America
and Mutual of Omaha have dabbled
with limited programs.
Oxford’s program will offer fully
insured coverage of chiropractic,
acupuncture and naturopathy cover
age from a network of pre-screened
providers for an additional premium
cost of 2 percent to 3 percent.
In addition, members will be able to
purchase yoga, massage and nutrition
services from an Oxford-endorsed net
work at a discount. And they will be
able to buy herbal remedies, vitamins,
and other supplements by mail order,
also at a discount.
“Our members said this was impor
tant. We responded by creating these
programs as a natural extension of
what Oxford has done throughout its
history,” said Dr. Hassan Rifaat, the
company’s alternative medicine direc
tor.
See HMO page 15A
Alternative
health care
has many
names
The term alternative medicine
includes a wide swath of nontradi
tional therapies, some centuries old.
Some examples:
•Naturopathy (pronounced nay-
ture-AH-pa-thee):
A field of practice that emphasizes
the body’s ability to heal itself.
Naturopathists use vitamins, nutri
tional supplements and herbal medi
cines like ginko bilbowa to improve
circulation, dong quai to ease dis
comfort of menstruation and echi
nacea to boost the immune system.
They may also employ homeopathy,
acupuncture, biofeedhack, massage,
yoga and other methods.
• Homeopathy (pronounced home-
ee-AH-pa-thee):
Patients with certain symptoms
consume substances that would nor
mally cause those very symptoms.
However, the substances (chemicals,
minerals, even poisons like arsenic)
are diluted to minute amounts. The
theory is their presence will build up
the body’s resistance to the disease
causing the symptoms.
•Acupuncture:
Use of thin needles, inserted at key
points in the body to influence the
flow of internal energy in the body.
Usually used to kill pain.
• Acupressure:
Similar to acupuncture, except the
practitioner uses finger pressure on
key points.
• Biofeedback:
A method of learning how to con
sciously regulate normally uncon
scious bodily functions in order to
improve health. By watching a mon
itoring device, patients can learn to
control things like blood pressure,
temperature, gastric functions and
brain waves.
• Touch therapy:
A therapist uses hand motions
over a patient’s body to smooth out
“energy fields” surrounding the
body.
HEALTH
BITES
Forum reveals African American women at risk
By Larry Lucas
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Recently, I participated in a
forum held by the
Congressional Black Caucus.
The subject was one that's
important to me personally,
and I’m sure it’s important to
all of you: the health of
African American women.
Saving our sisters, our wives,
daughters, mothers, grand
mothers and aunts—is a goal
we can all applaud. And when
we’re talking about African
American women, the need is
urgent. Look at some of the
numbers:
• African American women
between the ages of 35 and 74
EDITORIAL
are twice as likely to die of a
heart attack than white
women in the same age group.
• African American women
are 86 percent more likely to
die of stroke than white
women.
• In the
1990s, 14
times as
many
African American women
have been diagnosed with
AIDS than white women.
• Black women are more
than twice as likely as white
women to die of breast cancer.
Fortunately, pharmaceutical
companies are researching
and testing new medicines for
the diseases of African
American women. There are
currently 107 medicines in
development for heart disease
and stroke, 110 for AIDS and
48 for breast cancer, to name
just a few. All together, U.S.
pharmaceutical
companies will
spend nearly $16
billion this year
looking for cures
for these and other diseases.
As more companies look for
and develop new medicines for
a wide variety of diseases, we
learn a great deal about how
to prevent and treat these dis
eases.
To share that knowledge and
to empower people to take
charge of their own health
care, we’ve put together a
series of Health Guides. So
far, the subjects covered
include several of special
interest to African American
women, including heart dis
ease, stroke, breast cancer,
menopause, and mental ill
ness.
What can Congress do to
assure that medicines to help
African American women get
developed and that women
will be able to get these medi
cines?
• Congress should reform
the Food and Drug
Administration. It currently
takes nearly 15 years to get a
new drug from the laboratory
to the pharmacy shelf. Many
patients can’t wait.
• Congress should also over
haul the tort system. Lottery
like punitive damage awards
chill the incentives for
research. High-risk products
women need is the chief casu
alty. For example, one compa
ny stopped research on a vac
cine for preventing the trans
mission of the AIDS virus
from infected mothers to
unborn children.
The reason: concerns about
law suits.
• Congress should make
sure that women have access
to the medicines their physi
cians think would work best
See SISTERS page 15A
Asian spice can keep body healthy
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Anyone who has ever eaten
Indian food has tasted the
spice curcumin.
Commonly known as cumin
and turmeric, curcumin is not
only used widely in Asia for
cooking, but also to treat skin
inflammations and ailments.
Like many other common fla
vorings, including garlic,
onions, parsley and licorice,
research studies are begin
ning to show preliminary evi
dence that curcumin, too, may
have anti-cancer properties.
At the recent annual confer
ence of the American Institute
for Cancer Research, investi
gators summarized some
small studies that have begun
to experiment with curcumin's
effects on skin, breast and
colon cancers in laboratory
animals and tissue samples:
• Breast cancer: In a study
with breast cancer cells,
researchers at Pennsylvania
State University found that
curcumin may inhibit the
activity of certain proteins
that play a role in cancer
development. This study is
ongoing and has yet to identi
fy other key factors that may
interact in combination with
the curcumin to affect cell pro
liferation.
•Skin cancer: Researchers at
Chiang Mai University in
Thailand found that mice
treated with curcumin before
being exposed to carcinogens
had significantly lower inci
dence of skin tumor formation
and development than mice
who did not receive the treat
ment. More research needs to
be conducted in humans.
•Tissue Inflammation:
Scientists from the State
University of New Jersey
found that curcumin sup
pressed inflammation caused
by an enzyme called nitric
oxide, which is produced by
the body as an immune
response to infections and to
harmful substances. In this
study, curcumin limited nitric
oxide's effects to damage cells
and possibly leading to cancer
development.
Because a growing number
of plant foods, including
fruits, vegetables, grains and
herbs, are being identified as
having possible cancer-fight
ing substances, the American
Institute for Cancer Research
advises a wide variety of these
foods every day.
For a free brochure on how to
eat for better health and lower
cancer risk, send a stamped,
self-addressed business-sized
envelope to the American
Institute for Cancer Research,
Dept. TLP, Washington, DC
20069.
• October is National Breast .
Cancer Awareness Month.
1,
•The Breast Cancer .'
Screening Program van will
provide mammography on
Wednesday from 10 a.m.-3
p.m. A mammography is an
x-ray of the breast that can ;
detect cancer up to two years
before a lump can be felt. To .
be eligible for screening,
women must over the age of ,
35. The cost for the mammo
gram is based on the number
of clients screened. To make
an appointment or for more
information, call 347-4026. , ,
•The American Cancer ,
Society is offering Freshstart
Stop Smoking classes on
Tuesday and Thursday at 6
p.m. at 500 E. Morehead St.
Suite 211. Cost for the ses
sions is $25. For more infer- .
mation, call 376-1659.
• • •
The society will also offer
“Look Good...Feel Better,” a j
program for women undergo
ing chemotherapy or radiation
therapy at 10 a.m. on Oct. 28 ;
at Presbyterian Hospital- ,
Matthews, 1500 Matthews
Township Parkway. The pro
gram will help wom'n cope ■
with the changes therapy i
causes the body and find ways
to camouflage its effects with
wigs, turbans and makeup. ^
•Dietitian Francine
Grabowski and Dr. Daniel
Wise of Mid-Carolina
Cardiology will facilitate a '
presentation for people with '
heart problems and who want i
to reduce cholesterol Oct. 24 ,
at 7 p.m at Presbyterian
Hospital.
•The Center on Aging at
Bradley University is looking
for African American grand- ,
parents who are raising ,
grandchildren. To learn more
about the survey, call (800) ^
695-5927.
•Information about
Alzheimer’s Disease, the most
common non-treatable demen
tia in the U.S. is available by .
calling (800) 358-9295.
Information is also available
on the U.S. Agency for Health
Care Policy and Research
home page at URL
http://www.ahcpr.gov/guide.
Click on clinical practical |
guidelines online.
Did you know...
•The Morehouse School of
Medicine has found that
African American women are
more likely than any other
ethnicity to suffer from hyper
tension during pregnancy.
•More than 75 percent of all
African Americans are lactose
intolerance. Lactose intoler
ance is defined as the inability
to digest lactose, the predomi
nant sugar of milk and dairy
products.
•The Baylor College of
Medicine has found that win
ter poses a triple threat for
sufferers of psoriasis. The
hereditary disease, character
ized by red, flaky, scaly patch
es is most likely found on the
elbows, knees and scalp.
To help comhat the disease,
Baylor doctors recommend
adopting a winter regimen
that includes:
•Getting as much sunlight
as possible.
•Moisturizers and creams to
combat dryness.
•Think you can’t bum calo
ries cleaning house? Here’s
the number of calories a 130-
pound person burns in one
hour:
•377 scmbbings
•221 mopping
•208 window washing
• 168 polishing furniture
• 162 vacuuming