American consumers spent an estimated $34 billion on alternative medicine in 2007. In fact, alternative medicine accounts for over 11 percent of out-of-pocket spending on health care in the United States. This surprising information comes from the first national estimate of dollars spent on alternative medicine in over ten years. The last government estimate of spending on alternative medicine was reported based on a 1997 survey that found spending to be at about $27 billion.

Alternative medicine includes any healing practice not falling within the realm of conventional medicine. Many such practicies include herbalism, homeopathy, hypnosis, naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, biofeedback, diet-based therapies, Unani and traditional Chinese medicine. These practices are very diverse and may be based upon traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, newly conceived approaches to healing or a combination thereof.

Briggs also noted that as the number of uninsured Americans increases, the use of these therapies may grow even more as some of them are relatively inexpensive. Because the data gathered for the estimate was collected prior to the current recession, it is not know if the economy played a role in jump in alternative medicine spending.

Findings concluded that 38 million adults visited alternative medicine practitioners for which they paid less than $50 on average per visit, and the average annual spending per person was about $122. For services such as acupuncture, homeopathy and hypnosis, the average was a higher at $75 plus. The average spending for products was $177.

The pursuit of the perfect tan could be much more costly than you think. According to experts from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation carry a cancer risk that is equivalent to cigarettes. The IARC, a part of the World Health Organization (WHO), has now re-classified UV tanning beds to the highest possible cancer risk category known as “carcinogenic to humans.”

Scientists have long suspected that tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation were probable carcinogens, and the results of the recent analysis performed by IARC offer proof that this is true. The analysis reviewed about 20 studies to reach the conclusion that the risk of skin cancer is increased by 75 percent when individuals use tanning beds prior to reaching the age of 30.

Although it was previously believed that only one type of ultraviolet radiation was lethal, the experts also discovered that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused disturbing mutations in mice, offering more proof that the radiation is carcinogenic. The research was published online in the medical journal Lancet Oncology.

Instead of using a tanning bed, the American Cancer Society advises people to use bronzing or self-tanning creams. The organization has reported that in 2008, approximately 62,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in the United States, with about 8,000 people losing their lives to the deadly cancer.

With people eager to get in line for the H1N1 or Swine Flu vaccine, it’s important to remember about the rest of the immunizations you can protect yourself and your children from with routine visits and inoculations. I should know, I just recently got whooping cough and it wasn’t as serious as it would have been if I was a young child, but nonetheless my childhood vaccination wore off and I was susceptible to nasty viruses yet again. August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) and in my opinion, a great way to end the summer and start a new school year…protected.

Each year the goal of NIAM is to provide sufficient awareness to communities across the United States so they are able to schedule routine shots they may have been overlooking. In protecting yourself, you are also protecting the community from spreading potentially dangerous strains of viruses. Although babies, young children, and the elderly are often the most at-risk and the biggest set of age groups receiving shots, NIAM makes sure every adult is aware of the importance of immunization.

With colleges starting up again soon, dorms are notorious for spreading disease because of cramped living quarters, un-sanitized common rooms, and communal showers. Before I started college, my school encouraged the meningococcal shot as the fear of meningitis in residence halls was spreading like wildfire.

Imagine enjoying a regular day’s routine full of dog walking, carpooling, and playing with your kids until you are suddenly crippled with pain. Now imagine not knowing when this can happen and that it can affect major joints required for walking and doing normal activities. This is a day in the life of someone who suffers from a disease called gout. This is a disease that concentrates arthritic attacks in specific parts of the body and it is like living with the unknown, and require staing away from certain trigger foods and beverages, and adopting a lifestyle change.

Gout is primarily a man’s disease with 90 percent of the diagnoses being men over the age of thirty. To date, there are over 2 million sufferers throughout the United States. Gout, as a form of acute arthritis, comes about suddenly caused by an increase of uric acid in the blood. Gout can be spurred on by an excess of alcohol, causing the spike in uric acid  prescription drugs or post-surgery complications can also invite a case of gout. Some gout sufferers go asymptomatic for years between attacks, others have a harder time getting rid of it and multiple attacks over time can create chronic pain or disfigurement.