(NewsUSA) - In its heyday in the later part of the 19th century, homeopathic medicine was practiced by one out of five doctors in the U.S. While it remains commonplace in Europe and other parts of the world, Americans have been slower to embrace homeopathy after its decline in popularity here in the early 1900s. But now there are signs that the U.S. homeopathic market is making a comeback.
According to a report by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, sales of homeopathic drugs in the U.S. were between $300 million and $450 million in 2003, with a compound average growth rate of about 8 percent per year.
As more Americans turn to homeopathy for healing conditions both common and rare, myriad new homeopathic and natural remedies have emerged on the market.
"Homeopathic products are starting to boom in popularity as they are natural, governed by the FDA as a drug, [have] no known side effects and they are designed to treat symptoms before an outbreak or promote rapid healing during," said Andrew Weiss, chief executive officer of Aeura Inc. (www.aeura.com), which recently introduced a line of sublingual homeopathic formulas for treating the symptoms of cold sores, shingles and herpes. "They give added meaning to 'it's all good.'"
According to the industry publication Chain Drug Review, homeopathic products are "catching on in America's chain drug stores." Aeura's formulas, for example, are sold over the counter at such pharmacies as CVS, Meijer, Brooks/Eckerd and Pharmaca.
Homeopathy, the treatment of a disease via small doses of natural substances that in a healthy individual would produce symptoms of the disease, has long been a popular form of medicine worldwide.
More than 12,000 health care providers administer homeopathic treatment in France, Germany and the U.K., according to the Web site Hpathy.com. In India, there are at least 180 homeopathic medical schools.
The British Medical Journal reported that in the 1990s, an estimated 56 percent of the population in Belgium and 28 percent in Denmark used homeopathic solutions as a complement to traditional medicine. In the U.S., that number is roughly 3 percent and growing.
Industry experts say the high cost of many prescription drugs may represent a major reason for the rise in the stateside popularity of homeopathic solutions, which often cost considerably less than prescription pharmaceuticals.
In addition, homeopathic remedies typically do not interact with prescription drugs and therefore can be used in combination with conventional treatments.
