Health Supplements

Insurance policies are private contracts between insurance companies and those receiving benefits under that policy, so different health insurance policies are ultimately going to contract in and out of different forms of treatment. As a general rule, you can always look for policies that cover more kinds of integrative therapies if those are important to you and your specific course of treatment.

Outside of shopping around for policies that may have more of the types of services you’re looking for, one way to push for movement in this and any other issue area is to pursue some form of legislative advocacy. For integrative therapies, you can speak to your representatives and tell them that these types of treatments should be covered as “essential health benefits” in all plans.

For information on your elected officials go to: http://www.house.gov (to find your U.S. Representative), http://www.senate.gov (to find your U.S. Senators), and http://www.votesmart.org (to find your local elected officials).

Make sure to talk to your doctor about your supplements, since some supplements can interact with medications. Because doctors may not know about all supplement-drug interactions, you may also need to do your own research and pay close attention to any side effects. Do not take more of a supplement than is recommended, because many nutrients can be toxic if you take too much.

For more about vitamins and supplements, see our feature article: http://www.cfah.org/hbns/preparedpatient/Vol4/Prepared-Patient-Vol4-Issue4.cfm
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Herbs are plants that are commonly used as health supplements. Herbs are also used for flavoring, like mint, and may have medicinal qualities, such as aiding digestion.

For more about vitamins and supplements, see our feature article: http://www.cfah.org/hbns/preparedpatient/Vol4/Prepared-Patient-Vol4-Issue4.cfm

Just double check to be sure any supplements are not "undoing" what any potential medications may be trying to do..... IE-I am on femara. Wouldn't be a great idea to go on some sort of HRT..... And, sometimes it's necessary to did deeply to find that a particular supplement (to use this example) is promoting the ability to produce estrogen. I see the Sloan Kettering's webpage about supplements is listed. Their list is pretty comprehensive and it explains each supplement and the potential benefits/pitfalls. Great source of info, well written and easy to navigate.
AnneMarie