CAM use common in kids at emergency

Paediatric emergency department patients commonly present having used complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs), according to a presentation at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine conference in Adelaide this week. Professor David Taylor, Director of Emergency and General Medicine Research at Austin Health studied patients attending three emergency departments over a six month period Jan-Jun 2013.

The parents of over 400 patients participated in the study, and of those patients almost half had taken a CAM in the previous year. CAM use was significantly more common among older patients, and tended to be more common among those with chronic disease. The most commonly used CAMs were fish oil, garlic, chamomile, acidophilus and cranberry.

 Source: pharmacydaily.com, Friday 29 November 2013