Health care consumers are increasingly becoming disillusioned by the inability of mainstream medicine to solve their health and dietary problems in a safe, cost-effective, and compassionate way

Health care consumers are increasingly becoming disillusioned by the inability of mainstream medicine to solve their health and dietary problems in a safe, cost-effective, and compassionate way. Their solution is to turn to alternative (complementary) methods of treatment and prevention. As Eisenburg et al points out, not only are they unlikely to tell their physicians about their use of unprescribed therapies, they are healthier as a group than their counterparts.