Americans cutting back on alternative treatments

I thought this was surprising and fascinating:

The percentage of Americans using alternative, or complementary, therapies for head and chest colds dropped from 9.5 percent in 2002 to 2.0 percent in 2007, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decline in popularity of alternative cold meds comes in the wake of numerous studies over the last few years that have shown that some of the so-called immune-boosting supplements, such as echinacea or high doses of Vitamin C, really don't do much good. In addition, government agencies have been increasingly cracking down on unproven claims from supplement manufacturers.

That’s very good news, says Dr. Ronald Glick, medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh-Shadyside. “It means that people are reading about the science and it’s making sense to them and they’re responding appropriately.”