Health News

Study: Mexican-American Patients Use Herbal Products More than any other US Ethnic Groups

By Carl Gilbert, M.D. 

The result of a study done by a group of researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at Austin suggest that patients from Mexican origin use herbal products more than any other groups in the US. 

As there is an increased interest from many people of different background in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the US, “Hispanics, including Mexican Americans of both sexes and various age groups seem to have a positive acceptance to the use of a great variety of herbal medicines for the treatment of various diseases,” write the authors of the study in the Journal of the National Medical Association of December 2005. 

Mexican patients who were non-HIV and HIV-positive in El Paso region were found to be using herbal products at a rate that is higher than expected based on national trends. 

Three hundred forty-three non-HIV and 25 HIV-positive Mexican-American patients were included in the study. Seventy-nine percent of non-HIV and 71% of HIV patients reported using herbal products. 

Another study done in west Texas has shown similar results with 52.7% of the Hispanic families having reported using folk medicine and healing rituals as well as conventional medical care. 

The authors point out that only 8.1% of the persons surveyed in the El Paso study disclosed the use of any type of CAM to their doctors or nurses.  A number of herbal products can cause significant side-effects or drug interactions. A situation complicated by use of raw products, lack of manufacturing standards, lack of standard dosing, incorrect labeling of the products, and just plain inefficacy.   

The American Society of Anesthesiologists have raised concerns about complications due to herbal products during administration of general anesthesia. Therefore, “they have recommended that patients stop taking herbal products 2-3 weeks prior to surgery.”  

The authors of the study suggest that low level of education was associated with higher use of herbal products in the surveyed group. 

Chamomile (Manzanilla) came first as herbal product mostly used by the Non-HIV and HIV groups.  Hibiscus (Flor de Jamaica), peppermint, garlic, aloe vera, ginseng, were among the others reported to the researchers. 

Source: JAMA, Dec. 2005

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NO INSURANCE AND LIMITED ENGLISH HURT HISPANIC PATIENTS

   By Becky Ham, Staff Writer
   Health Behavior News Service

Feb. 27, 2003- Hispanic patients who lack health insurance and have problems
communicating with their doctors are less apt to seek medical help than whites
or blacks, a new study reports.

These two factors may be taking a toll on Hispanic adult health: The
number of Spanish-speaking Hispanics who say they are in fair or poor
health is more than twice that of whites, blacks and predominantly
English-speaking Hispanics, according to Michelle M. Doty, Ph.D., author of
the study published today by the Commonwealth Fund.

“Hispanics are more likely than any other group in the U.S. to be
uninsured and to have difficulty obtaining access to health care, and this
problem is made worse by language barriers,” says Fund president Karen
Davis.

Doty says that lack of health insurance may be one reason why only 69
percent of Hispanic adults with health problems visited a health care
provider in the past year, compared with 83 percent of whites and 84
percent of blacks.

Patients who speak limited English face even greater barriers to health
care. Two-thirds of uninsured Spanish-speaking Hispanics surveyed in
the study said that they did not have a regular doctor.

The study found that Spanish speakers often have trouble communicating
with their doctors, along with problems reading prescription labels and
written health information from their doctor’s office. Even after
taking into account differences in insurance, income and education,
Spanish-speaking Hispanics had more communication difficulties than either
whites or blacks.

In most cases, interpreters were not available to help out, says Doty.
Although 44 percent of the Hispanic patients surveyed said that they
had a hard time speaking with their doctor, only half of those said that
they usually had access to a translator when they needed one.

One-third of Hispanic patients rely on public clinics for health care,
which suggests these clinics might be a good place to reach out to poor
patients who speak mostly Spanish.

“Programs that focus on improving patient and doctor communication in
community or public health centers would reach and benefit a significant
number of Hispanics who carry the double burden of lack of insurance
and limited English proficiency,” Doty says.

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