Alternative medicine is steadily finding its way into mainstream adoption, according to a government survey.

Almost 40% of adults in the U.S. and 12% of children use alternative methods to conventional medicine, from herbal supplements and chiropractic care to massage therapy, say the survey run by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The study is the first to examine children’s use of alternative medicine – a broad term describing the gamut of non-traditional treatment that is not usually found in medical schools.

The survey found that alternative medicine has remained stable overall since 2002, while some of its methods like meditation, massage therapy and yoga have grown in popularity.

The survey results are consistence with the growing accepting alternative medicine is seeing, according to Dr. Melinda Ring, medical director of Northwestern University’s Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.

Ring said that the method is no longer seen so much as experimental, but rather a valid form of treatment with valid benefits.

Adults use alternative medicine mostly to treat chronic back and neck pain. It is being used with children to treat colds, anxiety and Attention Deficit Disorder.

These natural products, like fish oil, glucosamine and flaxseed-oil pills were the most widely used form alternative treatment for both children and adults.

Certain experts caution that many of these herbal supplements have not been proven to be effective or safe, and not subject to rigorous testing like prescription drugs. Said experts are also concerned whether these supplements should be used by children, since most of the research that has been done, has been done on adults.

This author asks then why this rigorous testing hasn’t been done yet. Surely it would benefit everyone in either case: if they’re safe and useful, people get better treatment where “conventional” medicine fails; if they’re not, people are definitively warned against harmful faux-medicine. Why leave it hanging like this in the air?