Know the Science: The Facts About Health News Stories

What the Media Says About Complementary Health Approaches

There’s not a lot of research about how the media reports on complementary health approaches. However, existing research has found that:

• Many news stories say complementary health approaches should be used with conventional medicine, not instead of it.
• Media reports tend to describe complementary approaches as a treatment for an illness or specific symptoms, even though people also use complementary approaches to try to improve their overall health and to prevent illness.
• The tone of news reports on complementary approaches is generally positive, but that may be because the reports often leave out potential risks.