Reflexology

About 10 million people use some sort of complementary or alternative medicine every year in Britain and about half of them see therapists.

Among people with cancer, use of unorthodox medicine rises by a third. Overall the nation spends £1.6 billion on such treatments, some of them supplied by GPs.

About half of family doctors (49 per cent) offer access to some form of complementary or alternative medicines (Cams) in their practice, from vitamin pills to hypnotherapy. This compares with 39 per cent in 1995.

A third of doctors also offer some sort of Cams in their own surgery. Some doctors and nurses have undertaken supplementary training in acupuncture, others have become medical herbalists, and osteopaths and chiropractors are now regulated by statute.