Abstract

Over three-quarter of the world’s population is using Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) with an increasing trend globally. CAMs may be beneficial but are not completely harmless. This study aimed to assess the trend in the treatments administered to 961 patients that attended the CAM clinic at the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative medicine Utako, Abuja North Central Nigeria for 10 months. This is a retrospective study involving 961 participants who attended FEDCAM clinic and were treated of various ailments like back pain, arthritis, high blood pressure, STDs, and malaria fever for 10 months. A total of about 1, 580 diseases of different levels were examined, and these are classified according to body systems. Duration of treatment varied from ≤ 4weeks to ≥ 25weeks. 90% of patients were treated using naturopathic detoxification therapies primarily for symptoms ranging from gastrointestinal disorders, general cleansing/preventive medicine, autoimmune disease and environmental exposure. 961 patients at one point or the other visited the clinic for medical attention. This figure when compared to the previous year shows a remarkable increase which is a justification of the fact that a lot of people are beginning to appreciate the importance of integrative medicine despite the criticisms the institution has witnessed in the recent times.