NHS to trial back-ache alternatives
Friday April 2nd, 2010
The NHS is to try out alternative treatments for back-ache - as well as cracking down on unregistered practitioners, it was announced yesterday.
As science writer Simon Singh won his court of appeal case on chiropractic, health secretary Andy Burnham announced a series of measures to strengthen NHS control over complementary practitioners.
Herbal medicine practitioners are to be required to join a register managed by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, he said.
Further
steps may be taken to deal with people who offer acupuncture, he said.
Meanwhile GPs are to be asked to take part in an English trial of therapies for low back pain.
The department of health said a study in Northern Ireland had found that treatments improved patient well-being and reduced GP consultations.
New treatments such as chiropractic, osteopathy and acupuncture, may be introduced in parts of Britain. They will then be evaluated by government researchers.
Mr Burnham said: "Low back pain affects seven out of ten people at some time in their lives. This pilot and its evaluation will provide us with good evidence about the benefits for patients and value to the NHS of extending the treatment choices available for the management of a disabling and costly condition."
* Meanwhile a new study says acupuncture may help people who lose their sense of smell after viral infections, a condition known as dysosmia.
Researchers report a study involving just patients who were treated with traditional acupuncture over ten weeks. They were compared with patients treated with vitamin B.
The findings are reported in the journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.
Eight of the acupuncture patients recovered a sense of smell while just two others did, according to researchers led by Dr Julia Vent, of the University of Cologne, Germany.
Dr Vent says acupuncture "offers a possible new therapeutic regimen in post-viral dysosmia."
Tags: Alternative Therapy | NHS | Pain Relief | UK News
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