We've all heard of using reflexology on the hands and feet to cure various illnesses, but have you ever tried the same principle on your ears?

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When I went to a trainer this summer to learn about a holistic breathing method thought to improve asthma symptoms, I didn't tell my allergist. I was worried he'd dismiss it with a wave of his hand, and I wanted to learn the method with an open mind. More importantly, I was worried I'd lose him as a physician. I rationalized that because I wasn't changing my medications or treatment plan, it wasn't important. But looking back, I think the honest thing to do would have been to tell him. After all, I expect him to be honest and up front with me.

It turns out, I'm not alone. Over one third of Americans are turning to natural and holistic medicine to cure what ails them, but many of those patients are keeping mum when it comes to telling their Western doctors. Fearing that their physicians will be angry with them or will drop them as patients, they carry on a relationship with both practitioners. You don't have to have a medical degree to realize this could be dangerous.

I can understand why people do it. I did it, after all. If you have an old-fashioned doctor or one who doesn't believe in alternative medicine, you're likely not to get much support. Try to remember, however, that in the doctor-patient relationship, you're the customer. Honesty is the best and safest policy for getting the combination of treatments -- be they alternative or Western -- that you need.

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I used to be a little leery of alternative medicine, mostly turned off by products that carried outrageous claims with an even more unbelievable price tag. But in the last several years, alternative medicine has been getting more serious attention, and while there are plenty of people out there willing to trade you your hard earned cash for their useless product, there's also a lot of solid science that says some alternative treatments really work. CNN recently highlighted five of them:

• acupuncture
• calcium, magnesium, and B6 to treat PMS
• using St. John's Wort for mild depression
• treating pain and anxiety with guided imagery
• glucosamine for joint pain

Health experts recommend making sure any product has labeling from the USP or NSF International, that practitioners are trained and licensed, and that you turn your back on crazy claims or promises of quick fixes.

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The FDA has proposed that companies make experimental drugs more readily available to certain patients -- specifically those with very serious or life-threatening conditions that have no known treatments. This sounds like major news, but in reality many drugs have been available since the 1970's to certain patients before they were officially approved by the FDA -- particularly drugs for HIV, AIDS, cancer, and heart conditions. But this new proposal outlines specifically when and how much drug companies can charge patients, and therefore will make it much simpler for companies to make their drugs available without so much confusion and red tape.

Even though the FDA spells out exactly how the companies should calculate their fees, and that those "fees" should only be what it takes to cover development and administrative costs to make the drug available, it seems like terminal desperate patients are an easy group to take advantage of. If some experimental drug is the last hope for someone, that drug company could charge practically whatever it wants and the patient will pay it. I just hope the FDA backs up its proposal, if approved, and enforces the guidelines.

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