Recent Trends in Use of Herbal and Other Natural Products

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Abstract
The use of alternative medicines in the United States, particularly herbal products, increased dramatically during the last decade.1 In 2001 alone, Americans spent $4.2 billion on herbs and other botanical remedies.2 Although this issue now receives considerable attention in the medical and lay press, few details about the frequency and nature of use of herbal and other natural products (herein referred to as dietary supplements) have been published. Because such information is important to the clinical and research communities, we examined recent trends in the use of dietary supplements, using data from the Slone Survey, a telephone survey of a random sample of the US population that has been ongoing since 1998. Individual vitamins and minerals are not considered in this report.