The scope of complementary and alternative medicine in Poland

Abstract

Introduction. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used by patients. The most frequent CAM users are patients with cancer, but patients with other chronic diseases also utilize these methods. Materials and methods. Data on the use of CAM were obtained from Google searches. For each specific search term, the first three Google pages were analyzed. Results. The analysis included 91 CAM institutions matching the inclusion criteria. The most common anticancer services were intravenous vitamin C infusion, saltwater, intravenous infusion of glutathione, colon irrigation, an anticancer diet, bio-resonance, and intravenous ozone infusions. The most common non-cancer entities treated were rheumatic diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome, arterial hypertension, allergies, borreliosis, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and depression. Anticancer therapies were more expensive than those used for non-malignant diseases (medians 250 PLN and 170 PLN, respectively; p = 0.041). Conclusions. This study provides a comprehensive overview of CAM methods used in Poland. These data may facilitate social education and the development of preventive measures.