NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly half of all asthma or seasonal allergy sufferers say they turn to alternative therapies for relief, researchers report.

The finding ``supports other observations indicating an increasing prevalence over the last decade of alternative, complementary, or unorthodox treatment'' for these common maladies, Dr. Paul D. Blanc and colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco, reported in a recent issue of the journal Chest.

By telephone, Blanc's team randomly surveyed 300 northern California adults with either asthma or seasonal allergies such as hay fever, questioning them about their use of herbals, homeopathy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology, massage and other alternative medicines.

Overall, 127 (42%) of those surveyed reported using at least one alternative therapy in the previous year. Of these, 33 (26%) were not currently using any prescription medications.

Twenty-four percent of those questioned reported using herbal remedies--products such as herbal teas or Chinese herbal preparations--while another 22% said they had tried other treatments such as aromatherapy, massage or acupuncture to ease their symptoms.

People who used one type of alternative therapy tended to use others, the team found.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Edzard Ernst of the University of Exeter, UK, said the growth in use of alternative therapies by asthmatics and those with allergies is in keeping with trends seen in the general population.

But the effectiveness of most of these therapies remains in doubt, he said, and some--including medicines containing Ephedra and certain Chinese herbal mixtures--have proven downright dangerous to the health of some users.

Too many patients also hide their use of alternative medicines from their doctors, Ernst added, a potentially harmful practice since many of these medicines can interact harmfully with conventional drugs.

According to Ernst, doctors and patients need to do more to educate themselves about the risks and benefits associated with traditional remedies, so that ``we start clearing up this profoundly confusing and potentially dangerous mess.''

SOURCE: Chest 2001;120:1433-1434, 1461-1467.

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