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Alzheimer's, Dementia, Mental Health News
Anxious, Depressed Senior Citizens Turn More Often
to Alternative Therapies
They are not doing it
for a cure seniors
don't believe it is treatable
July 6, 2006 Senior citizens over age 65, who are
depressed or anxious, turn to complementary or alternative medicine more
often than other older people who are not anxious or depressed but not
to treat their mental symptoms.
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Alzheimer's,
Dementia, Mental Health News |
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Joseph. G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., and colleagues from
Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported in the Journal of
Alternative and Complementary Medicine that 34.9 percent of people over
65 who had symptoms of anxiety or depression used complementary or
alternative medicine (CAM), compared to 26.5 percent of those without
mental symptoms.
When praying for health is considered a form of CAM
and added in, the percentage jumps to 81.7 percent of those with mental
symptoms, compared to 64.6 percent of those without.
But the results showed that fewer than 20 percent
of those with anxiety or depression used CAM to treat it. That was a
surprise.
"Based on previous research and models of health
self management, it was anticipated that CAM use would be greater among
older adults with self-reported anxiety or depression than those without
such conditions," said Grzywacz, associate professor of family and
community medicine.
The results are based on the 2002 National Health
Interview Survey (NHIS) Alternative Health Supplement, which Grzywacz
said was "the largest and most representative study of CAM use in the
U.S. population to date."
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The survey included 30,785 persons who participated
in face-to-face interviews with U.S. Census Bureau personnel.
People who answered "yes" to the question "During
the past 12 months have you been frequently depressed or anxious?" were
defined as having anxiety or depression, he said.
"The findings demonstrate that a significantly
greater proportion of older adults with anxiety or depression, in
contrast to those without these conditions, use CAM," said Grzywacz.
"These differences are driven by greater use of
spiritual practices, relaxation techniques and non-vitamin, non-mineral
natural products."
But he added, "Older adults with anxiety or
depression generally do not use CAM to treat their mental conditions."
He said that the 2002 NHIS survey was the first
with sufficient numbers of older adults to provide description of CAM
use among those with anxiety and depression.
Grzywacz said that mental disorders among older
adults are under-diagnosed and under-treated.
Partly, that's because people over 65 don't believe
it is treatable.
"Older adults frequently report that depressive
feelings are a natural part of aging and may not view them as something
requiring treatment," said Grzywacz.
Another surprise was that there was no difference
among race or ethnic groups in the use of CAM for poor mental health.
Last December, Grzywacz and his team reported that, among people over
65, blacks and Native Americans make much greater use of home remedies
than whites. The differences seemed to be based on culture rather than
access to health care.
In the current study, he said, "in the absence of
conventional treatment, we expected that minority elders would seek
other therapies to manage their mental health." But that didn't happen.
Editor's Note - Other investigators in the study
included Thomas A. Arcury, Ph.D., from Family and Community Medicine,
and Sara A. Quandt, Ph.D., Ronny A. Bell, Ph.D., Wei Lang, Ph.D., and
Cynthia K Suerken, M.S., all from the Division of Public Health
Sciences. The research was supported by the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Wake Forest U. Baptist Medical Center
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is
an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital
and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the
university's School of Medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Wake
Forest University School of Medicine 18th in family medicine, 20th in
geriatrics, 25th in primary care and 41st in research among the nation's
medical schools. It ranks 32nd in research funding by the National
Institutes of Health. Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty
are listed in Best Doctors in America.
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