An Alternative To Medicines That Work
I'm always amazed when people tell me they're taking "Chinese herbs," and usually think to myself, "Why not just lick lead paint of a wall?" I mean, it's possible whatever the person's taking is useful for something; perhaps not for what they actually have. But do they have any idea what's actually in the little vial, and what it actually does or doesn't do? I'm guessing that they don't. But, for a lot of people, believing is enough.
In a book Scott Gottlieb reviews in the WSJ, Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst, M.D., Singh and Ernst detail the results of hundreds of studies examining the purported benefit of altie medicine treatments:
Ginseng has been proposed as a cure-all for everything from cancer to common colds, but there's no evidence that it does any good. Shiatsu massage appears to be a "waste of effort and expense," the authors say. Many aspects of traditional Chinese medicine, like the use of the herbs aristolochia and liquorice, are potentially harmful. Aromatherapy can relieve stress, but there is not a lick of evidence that it can treat a specific illness. Chelation therapy -- a legitimate method of removing heavy metals such as lead or mercury from the body, but now pitched in alternative-medicine circles as a cure for heart disease and other ailments -- is "disproven, expensive, and dangerous," according to Mr. Singh and Dr. Ernst. They urge patients "not to use this treatment."Some alternative remedies, it should be said, do appear to have value. There is evidence that St. John's Wort can help mild depression, although probably not as well as conventional antidepressants. Echinacea may be able to help relieve symptoms of the common cold, and perhaps reduce the length of illness, but so can many better understood conventional remedies that are sold over the counter. "It seems bizarre," the authors note, in light of the disappointing results, "that alternative treatments are touted as though they offer marvelous benefits."
...Together they conclude, after cataloging the evidence, that most of the popular forms of alternative medicine are "a throwback to the dark ages." Too many alternative practitioners, they say, are "uninterested in determining the safety and efficacy of their interventions."
And safety is a real concern. "Chiropractors who manipulate the neck can cause a stroke . . . some herbs can cause adverse reactions or can interfere with conventional drugs." The authors are particularly hard on homeopathy, the practice of using ultradilute solutions of common substances. The solutions are so dilute, though, that they are often little more than water. "Homeopathic remedies, which of course contain no active ingredient, can be dangerous if they delay or replace a more orthodox treatment," Mr. Singh and Dr. Ernst write, calling homeopathy "the worst therapy encountered so far -- it is an implausible therapy that has failed to prove itself after two centuries and some 200 clinical studies."
Orac, of Respecful Insolence, says it so well on his old blog:
Never forget that alternative medicine testimonials exist largely for one purpose: To sell a product. Most of them are advertisements They are no more "unbiased" than pharmaceutical advertisements. In fact, they are worse, because at least the pharmaceutical companies have to be able to back up their claims with science and disclose potential adverse reactions in their ads. No such requirements exist for most alternative medical treatments, mainly because most of them claim to be supplements rather than medicines. The other problem with testimonials is that they don't rise even to the lowest level of medical evidence, the anecdotal report. Anecdotal reports in medicine require a careful documentation of symptoms, lab tests, diagnoses, exact courses of treatment, and a patient's response to treatment. Testimonials almost never present these elements in sufficient detail to judge whether the treatment actually did anything. There's just no way of telling truth from exaggeration or fiction.
Thinking is work. Feeling is easy. Learning from others is unpleasant because of the tacit admission that somebody knows more than you do.
I've lost track of the times a forum or blog poster has called me "arrogant" or "elitist" because I actually had a documented answer contradicting their pet superstitions and lies; it's common to get a reply on the order of, "I don't care what you think" - when what I have actually done is post the source of the issue in contradiction of their wild claims.
If the truth is unpleasant, many people will simply skip it. They know they can blame others.
Radwaste at August 19, 2008 12:51 AM
When so many people are unable to afford medical care, what choice have they except to embrace superstition and hope it works?
Transfriendly at August 19, 2008 1:13 AM
TransFriendly your argument that because many people can not afford medical care they have to use alternative. Have you ever priced some of those services and goods. A simple healing massage could run at 50 dollars or more. I could pay twice the price and get a blow job with that massage. A which one would leave me more relaxed huh. A little bottle of some herb medicine to solve my general aches and pains could buy three bottle of Tylenol or one big bottle of Extra strength Excedrin. Never minding the prices and rourts that come with alternative care is that it rarely to never works. People would be better served saving their money up to go see a real doctor who could very likely save their lives.
Actually if you could not afford proper care - rather then wasting money on herbs and spices and over priced non "happy ending" massages people could spend it on improving life. Rather then quaffing some vile potion spend it on some fruits and vegtables rather than chips. Rather then mediating with some crystal over your third eye - go for a run or a jog. Using most common sense approaches to health would leave you less likely to needing a doctor.
John Paulson at August 19, 2008 1:40 AM
Two words: placebo effect. Placebos are very effective for many kinds of medical problems. There are two conditions:
- The person taking the placebo can't know that it is one.
- The placebo itself must be basically harmless.
Study after study with alternative medicine shows that it is medically ineffective. Which is to say, no better than placebos. But that can be very effective indeed...
bradley13 at August 19, 2008 2:11 AM
"When so many people are unable to afford medical care, what choice have they except to embrace superstition and hope it works?"
That would be fine if it were true.
It's not. The leading proponents of woo-woo methods have money. They don't have working brains.
Generally speaking, of course.
Ask a homeopath what's in their medicine. Stand on a chair to save your shoes.
Radwaste at August 19, 2008 3:00 AM
James Randi, when he gives talks about homeopathy, starts his talk by taking an entire bottle of homeopathic sleeping pills. Needless to say he's still alive (and wide awake!)after each lecture. Proves his point rather well.
It's a misconception that herbs are 'harmless', many interact with prescription drugs, and with each other...one needs to be as cautious about mixing Chinese herbs(kanpo) as you would pharmaceuticals. Many also pass into breastmilk, so there are several cautions to be heeded for nursing mothers as well.
crella at August 19, 2008 4:20 AM
No-one ever got drunk on homeopathic whisky. It would make an interesting drink-driving court case.
Norman at August 19, 2008 4:39 AM
Yeah, a lot of the new age stuff is whack, but there are natural remedies that work. Native peoples have been using them for thousands of years. Some type of juniper is being researched as a cancer treatment. There are other examples, but what can I say; I'm excellent at remembering concepts and suck at recalling details. (Trivial Pursuit is a nightmare!) But to dismiss anything naturally-occurring as having no curative properties whatsoever is missing the boat.
MonicaM at August 19, 2008 4:57 AM
While I thnk most 'natural cures' are crap I do use aloe vera on bug bites and sun burn, I have a few plants growing around my place.
But on another note I was discharged due to a knee injury - I was told by three different doctors that I would have to get reconstructive surgey on my knee by 2006.
I was given an open perscription for mild pain killers they came in a massive bottle with 150 pills. I had to use a cane to walk around, I could only take stairs one at a time, and my knee always felt like it had just been kicked - even with the pain meds
My mother badgered me into taking some natural remidy made from a fruit, rind seeds and everything, I took it just to get her to shut up. And I fully expected it to fail.
Two weeks later I didnt need the cane, or the pain pills, I can walk up and down stairs normally, and I no longer have an allergic reactions to animals or plants - which is something I never even considered when taking this stuff
lujlp at August 19, 2008 5:04 AM
That being said, I wouldnt rely on it to cure lymphoma
lujlp at August 19, 2008 5:06 AM
MonicaM - But to dismiss anything naturally-occurring as having no curative properties whatsoever is missing the boat.
I think you'll find that is a "straw man." Where do you think most medicines came from?
Norman at August 19, 2008 5:19 AM
luljp - Two weeks later I didnt need the cane, or the pain pills, I can walk up and down stairs normally, and I no longer have an allergic reactions to animals or plants - which is something I never even considered when taking this stuff
There's countless anecdotes like this. I note that you continued with pain pills and the fruit, and two weeks passed, yet you deduce that the fruit was the only cause of your getting better. I had a sore knee that took about six months to heal. I didn't take anything for it. So my anecdote counters yours!
Norman at August 19, 2008 5:24 AM
My late grandmother used to take chinese herbs over medical supplements. She was taking a Chinese tea to help her with constipation. Her rhetoric was that the medicine was too hard for her system and that the tea was a mild alternative. She learned later that the Tea had the SAME active ingredient than the pills!
I believe there's a false feeling of security surrounding the whole "Herbs&Homeopathy" movement due to a fear of pills and "Big Pharma". Instead of reading and learning about drugs that works, some people out of fear or laziness, chose to swallow something else.
Toubrouk at August 19, 2008 5:27 AM
Amy's awake! The trolls have been banned! (Forgot to get "Transfriendly" last night, who is anything but friendly to transsexuals or transvestites, but from an earlier post, is surely one of the tiny little hateful turds who thinks the best way to punish me for supposed "racism" is to denigrate transsexuals and transvestites in what are probably THOUSANDS of comments all about me, my looks, my dog...it's truly amazing. I never knew stupid people could find me so fascinating.)
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 5:48 AM
Call me weird (yeah I know most of you do, anyway!) but when it comes to pain, if I ignore long enough, it usually goes away. Headache pain, that is. I'll take an Advil or Tylenol once in a while, if it's terribly bad, but other than that, not so much. If I have exceedingly bad menstual cramps, I'll have a couple of tokes and go about my business. BUT...yesterday, I went to my chiropractor after not having gone to him in about 7 years. I was having really bad shoulder, neck and hip pain. The pain in my hips was the worst at night, when I tried to sleep on my side. ONE adjustment, and I have NO pain now in my neck or hips. My shoulder is still bothering me, but I'm going back tomorrow for a look at the x-rays, and another adjustment. It felt GREAT to get out of bed this morning with no pain in my neck at all! Say what you will, I love my chiropractor!
Flynne at August 19, 2008 5:48 AM
Sorry, lujlp, but unless you have psoriasis or genital herpes!...and even then, small sample size...
http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/at125.html
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 5:52 AM
That should be 'menstRual" cramps. Which, actually, since I'm pari-menopausal, isn't such a big deal anymore. So, I'll just have a couple of tokes with a glass of wine, and I'll be fine, thanks! o_O
Flynne at August 19, 2008 5:56 AM
Amy, I use aloe vera on sunburns, regular kitchen burns, and bug bites as well. It's always worked for me, in fact, I've found that when I use it on a bug bite, it heals faster than when I don't. Except for mosquito bites, then I use hydrogen peroxide. No more itch, gone in 2 days.
Flynne at August 19, 2008 5:59 AM
Sorry, Flynne, but there's a good chance it's a placebo effect.
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 6:07 AM
The confusion between homeopathy and Chinese medicine is something I dealt with myself.
In my experience and understanding, much of homeopathy is based on the long-disproven notion of the inherent vitality in the essence of a plant or substance, regardless of concentration. It's nonsense, of course, but New Age bliss ninnies peddle it to us for substantial profit.
Chinese medicine, however, is based on using the substances that actually contain useful amounts of compounds that we in the "West" have synthesized into prescription drugs, vitamins, supplements.
The problem with synthesizing these compounds is, of course, that some continue to work fine in synthesized pill form and others don't. White willow into aspirin? Success. Vitamin C synthesized and reduced to ascorbic acid? Forget it.
Anyway, when it comes to lumping New Age nonsense with proven Chinese medicine, don't throw out the baby with the bath water (there's valuable nutrients there). I've had good success "fine tuning" my treatment after my Western doctor got meager results with standard Rx. Your mileage may vary.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 19, 2008 6:07 AM
I though vitamin C was ascorbic acid. It's not?
Norman at August 19, 2008 6:16 AM
Oh, I like prescription drugs, don't get me wrong. But I have an open mind about things. And pot has been shown to ease a lot more symptoms than pharmaceutically-created medicine. My thought is simple: If you think something doesn't work, don't take it. You can feel superior all you want. Perhaps it's a side effect.
MonicaM at August 19, 2008 6:16 AM
And, if you do any basic research whatsoever, safety is ALSO a concern for manufactured medicine. A coworker's mother survived cancer treatment and then died from drugs she took afterwards to prevent her getting cancer again. There's a class action suit in progress. And, yes, that drug was in fact effective: Dead people don't get cancer.
MonicaM at August 19, 2008 6:18 AM
Bravo, Amy. There is no such thing as "alternative" medicine. Anything that works is, by definition, just "medicine" (once the placebo effect has been factored).
Please note, this has nothing to do with natural remedies. Everything is natural, when defined as being "of or relating to the universe." Anything else is supernatural, a category of items which don't actually exist, to my way of thinking.
ignatov at August 19, 2008 6:31 AM
Gog - that's because the body doesn't know what to do with certain things by themselves, like calcium or ascorbic acid.
You need to have Vitamin-D and a few other things in order for the body to metabolize calcium and use it, otherwise it's just poop fodder.
And as far as aloe on burns, it does have an impact. First, it is not a favorable environment for bacteria, so it acts as a kind of anti-infectant (as in "it does not promote bacterial growth", it DOES NOT kill bacteria, so if the wound is already infected, all bets are off). Second, it is a moisturizer, and I don't know the actual medicinal effect or whatever, but I know that putting it on sunburn causes little or no peeling, or at least little to no NOTICEABLE peeling.
brian at August 19, 2008 6:33 AM
"Sorry, Flynne, but there's a good chance it's a placebo effect." Actually most doctors I have talked with support Aloe vera for minor abrasions and burns. It has some proven anesthetic properties which will prevent scratching the affected area and thus reducing healing time.
Personally I avoid aspirin because it really doesn't work for me and I prefer to save my liver for self medication, the spirit-ual kind.
"When so many people are unable to afford medical care, what choice have they except to embrace superstition and hope it works?" Alternative medicine has a much higher profit margin then anything conventional. Plus mostly it fails. Acupuncture, massage and chiropractor (used properly) have been shown to relieve pain , stiffness and tension. They do not however repair the liver, cure cancer, bestow psych abilities etc.
Some of it can be dangerous if mis used and some of it is just plain dangerous no matter how you do it. Solid mercury beads would be just one example of this.
http://www.rudraksh.info/parad/pa_mads.asp
vlad at August 19, 2008 6:34 AM
I'm with former New England Journal Of Medicine editor-in-chief Marcia Angell, who, with Jerome Kassirer, wrote:
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2007/09/25/woos_on_first_1.html
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 6:37 AM
"And pot has been shown to ease a lot more symptoms than pharmaceutically-created medicine. " Look up Marinol. It's a lot more effective than straight pot.
vlad at August 19, 2008 6:38 AM
It may be related to how our bodies react to different things. I've found herbs and pharma to be equally ineffective. Fortunately, my birth control is working fine, but even with headaches, the only thing that has ever helped is sleep.
MonicaP at August 19, 2008 6:50 AM
I'm such a doubter that I can't get the placebo effect, but those who can get it have my blessings. So I avoid debunking harmless remedies, unless they're displacing something with actual beneficial biochemical effects.
A depressing thing I read recently: the more expensive a placebo is, the better it works.
Axman at August 19, 2008 7:24 AM
Hilarious, Axman.
By the way, if anyone uses pot, they should use the vaporizer. I don't use it myself -- it affects me like being hit over the head with a frying pan -- but the harmful effects on the lungs are from smoking it straight.
A friend who uses a vaporizer says it takes practice, but it can be learned!
Oh, and again, as I am not a pot user, I have not tried this thing, but here's a vaporizer from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001767Z7C?ie=UTF8&tag=advicegoddess-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001767Z7C
Read reviews across the net to see if it's any good or if there are better ones.
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 7:35 AM
I am a skeptic and a trained biologist. But, much to my shame and chagrin, I remain *horrrrribly* placebo-treatable! I will feel better immediately after taking meds that I *know* take weeks to build up in one's system before showing a significant effect. I receive relief of symptoms from sugar pills. It's embarrassing. ;) Yet, it's kind of nice to be in that 30 percent!
Melissa G at August 19, 2008 7:59 AM
Yo Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers can you explain to me what ingredient in tigers testicals, Dog meat soup, or deer antler give me a boner. Yep these wonderful Asians foods, drinks, and pills are used as sexual stamina and stiffy aids. When medical science has given us the "little blue pills" that works faster and lasts longer. Whoops and actually does work.
Yea I love how everybody always jumps on with Chinese Medicine and they think ginseng and plants and forget about the animal products. Or people pipe on about how its been used for thousands of years. Lets forget because of the stupid crutch of oriental medicine that the tiger, bears, rhino, seahorse are endangered and possibly going extinct to provide medicine for some stupid beliefs. And that the age of medicine learning is relative. One doctor from one thousand years ago did one think, kept it secret, died and that knowledge was lost. Or guy writes book, gives to student, student uses then destroys book because he thinks better.
As to Aloe Vera it is useful to a degree. As an end all cream or ointment it is not. It is good for minor burns and small cuts. Yet it will not cure wrinkles or ingesting will not stop cancer.
John Paulson at August 19, 2008 8:11 AM
Some "natural remedies" may work. See the Angell/Kassirer standard above.
Amy Alkon at August 19, 2008 8:15 AM
Norman I have a fuctioning alchoholics liver, and avoid alcohol like the plauge.
As a result things like advil and other asprins do nothing what so ever for me. I stopped taking the pain pills while on the jucie and felt fine, I stopped taking the juice and the pain and my allegies returned.
I am so sensitive to cat dander my eyes strart watering withing five munites of entering a house with a cat. I used to be the guy constantly blast air out of his nose, the guy everyone always asked "why dont you just blow your nose?"
Given I had noe expectations of the stuff effeting my pain levels I doubt it was a placebo effect - but the allergy thing deffinetly wasnt a placebo effect, I never even factored my allergys in regards to this stuff
lujlp at August 19, 2008 9:25 AM
Also norman I should point out the even while taking just the pills my leg hurt - just not as much.
And even on this juice if I overexert myself, like helping a freind move furniture the pain starts to bleed thru and I need the cane for the rest of the day
lujlp at August 19, 2008 9:29 AM
luljp -Well, I'd say keep on using it! - but I don't think you need me to say that.
Norman at August 19, 2008 10:03 AM
Some people use "alternative" medicine because they have bad luck with traditional medicine.
I had an especially bad time with doctors trying to put me on birth control to deal with my hormone imbalance. Firstly, BC is stupidly expensive and most insurance companies don't cover it. Never mind a lot of people don't use it for contraceptive purposes (it's a nice side effect though.) Secondly, in the grand scheme of things, doctors sometimes use clinical evidence to "lie" (by omission, mostly) about a drug's side effects.
Seven months ago, I was 5'10" and a 140-former dancer. I was concerned about weight gain with BC. The doctor said I didn't need to worry about it, because BC does not cause weight gain. And they're right! There is no evidence that BC causes you to gain weight.
...What it does is make you ravenously hungry, exhausted and cranky. It also causes you to retain water.
Long story short: after I finally broke down and said "I can't do this anymore" I was 60 pounds heavier. When I stopped I lost the water weight, but because I already follow a fairly strict diet and exercise regime (I'm one of those crazy people that feels good after "running" five miles on an elliptical machine) there is essentially nothing I can do short of starving myself that will allow me to lose anymore weight.
It's infuriating, not only because I feel like a fat slob (the exhaustion doesn't go away immediately) but because now, after seven months and 60 pounds, I have the exact same problems I had originally.
Why waste your money on someone who is trying to make their money back from a pharmaceutical rep? It's like buying a car from a high-commission sales person.
Having said that...I'd do chemo and radiation if I was diagnosed with cancer. :) I have bad luck with doctors, but I'm not THAT crazy.
Homeless in Seattle at August 19, 2008 10:06 AM
Many pharma products are based on plants, but have been modified to improve absorption or to reduce side effects. Aspirin can eat holes in your stomache lining, but the original compound found in willow bark was much worse. Look at any science journal in natural products chemistry-no one is ignoring plants.
Nature also makes toxins-no chemist has made anything nearly as deadly as botulism toxin. I like to point this out to people who insist on organic fruit, but get Botox. High dose of pesticide is deadly, trace on an apple is safe. If there is a safe dose of botulism, there is a safe dose for anything. (I buy local produce because it tastes better, organic or not).
I have a child with autism. I see lots of families spend their limited resources on quack remedies like clay baths to detox their kids (like any toxin can be drawn out through the 7 layers of skin by a cream) or very expensive vitamin supplements.
Ruth at August 19, 2008 10:27 AM
Hohn Paulson wrote "Yo Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers can you explain to me what ingredient in tigers testicals, Dog meat soup, or deer antler give me a boner. Yep these wonderful Asians foods, drinks, and pills are used as sexual stamina and stiffy aids."
Sorry, haven't had to get treated for that so I can't help you out. You might try feeling out your pals next time you're in the gym, maybe they'll have some hard data for you.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 19, 2008 10:50 AM
Thank Goodness - more sanity. I have a relation by marriage that was recently eating cilantro for her chelation therapy, avoiding white flour and sugar but consuming all sorts of other sugar containing foods, and generally acting like an ass in her denial that western medicine has any value. Then she didn't ever, ever get better and tried western medicine - all fixed! Almost overnight! Still swears by the chelation salsa.
And won't vaccinate her child, because there are "too many unknowns." No, I think that natural selection is pretty well known by now...
Hasn't it occured to these lemmings that people live longer now than they did back when humans only had roots and berries for a good reason? AAAAGHH, just when I thought that people couldn't get more stupid, they do.
MJ at August 19, 2008 11:41 AM
And won't vaccinate her child, because there are "too many unknowns." No, I think that natural selection is pretty well known by now...
Does she plan to homeschool as well? A lot of states have mandatory vaccinations. Washington, for example.
Homeless in Seattle at August 19, 2008 12:04 PM
Anti-vaccination activism: The ability to rationalize that it is better to risk burying your child after watching them die a painful death from a preventable malady than to risk that they might need special care and consideration to live a decent life.
Of course, that assumes that they are correct, and there's no evidence to suggest they are, and plenty to suggest they're full of shit. Like the fact that no US vaccine has had Thimerosal in it for several years, and there's been no decrease in autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.
Although there is something to the wheat thing - some people (my mother) can't digest gluten, and their body gets upset about having it hang around until it can figure out how to get rid of it. There's also people who have problems with soy protein, and peanut allergies are related to the proteins as well.
But believing that "chelation therapy" is going to cure the autism the mercury that wasn't injected into your child was supposed to have caused is lunacy.
brian at August 19, 2008 12:17 PM
MJ took the words RIGHT out of my keyboard.
True many "natural" remedies were in use for thousands of years, but you were practically ancient at 40, probably dead in your thirties, and that is if you were one of the lucky ones that lived through childhood.
Such remedies only stand the test of time if the people living through them had lifespans even remotely comparable to ours.
Robert at August 19, 2008 12:32 PM
Every time we get into these discussions I think of South Park's "Cherokee Hair Tampons" New Age medicine episode. TV has ruined me.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 19, 2008 1:26 PM
Say - this reminds me of some of the old-time home remedies I've heard about:
For Acute Homework Deficiency Syndrome: apply the Board of Education to the Seat of Knowledge once every eight hours, as needed.
For Invasive Kleptomania: apply 240 grains of elemental plumbum in an aluminum-copper buffer, as needed. Directly to the forehead.
For impotence: See that your patient's eyesight, sense of smell and tactile senses are working with a suitable calibration sample. It could be the immediate environment causing the acute dysfunction.
For alcoholism: apply one bus ticket, large.
Radwaste at August 19, 2008 3:17 PM
Hey, Radwaste, is it that time in the party already? Is the liquor that far down in the jug? Well, then, good:
I went to my doctor, and I said, "Doc, I've been reading about hypochondria, and I'm scared. I think I may have it. So check me out, and if I do, don't fool around. Give me the most powerful placebo you've got."
Axman at August 19, 2008 3:45 PM
Hey, I'm just giddy. It's less than two weeks to Dragoncon, and the guests include The Amaz!ng Randi, Phil Plait (The Bad Astronomer), and Michael Shermer, for my serious side, and the Firefly cast for the imagination...
... and Cruxshadows for the ears!
I've had my ticket since last year's event.
Radwaste at August 19, 2008 3:56 PM
While much of "alternative medicine" is nothing more than the modern day equivalent to snake oil salesmen, you have to understand that one of the reasons why alternative medicine exists as it does today is because of the absolute corruption of Western Medicine today.
Pharmaceutical corporations have basically changed the practice of medicine into nothing more than the biggest drug dealers in any neighborhood.
Take for instance, Amy's post a few months back about Gary Taube's book exploring the conventional wisdom regarding saturated fats and the propagation of the lipid hypothesis as factual...all to the tune of making statin drugs (and there awful side effects) the number one prescribed medication in the USA today.
The entire US medical industry has been thoroughly corrupted into a mindset that focuses on treating the symptoms of most degenerative diseases with pharmaceutical prescriptions without even bothering to actually find out the root causes -- which in most cases is 90% related to a nutritionally deficient and poisonous diet that is the hallmark of the Western food supply.
Dave from Hawaii at August 19, 2008 4:13 PM
I agree that the bulk of alternative medicine is useless and potentially dangerous. (And by the way, it should be noted that people often have negative reactions to placebos. Imaginary medicines can cause imaginary side-effects.) But sweeping statements about "alternative medicine" bother me. Using low-carb diets to treat obesity, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure is alternative medicine, but it works and is supported by plenty of science. I could also rant for some time about how unscientific the conventional method of diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism is. (I have hypothyroidism, so it is a topic of interest for me.)
People sometimes use "scientific medicine" as a synonym for "conventional medicine", but quite a lot of it just ain't. Medicine is highly politicized, and a lot of science is not politically correct. And I suspect a lot of people have figured this out. The way medical authorities keep changing their positions with the seasons is a pretty obvious warning sign. Some people who are a bit short on critical thinking skills figure it's all just a crapshoot anyway, so they give their money to the friendly people at the health food store. At least they treat their customers like human beings, unlike a lot of doctors.
I think the way "conventional medicine" uses the mantle of science to market itself helps to undermine confidence in science. Scientific medicine can be either conventional or alternative, depending on politics.
GodlessRose at August 20, 2008 12:25 AM
Do people taking conventional medications know what's in them either? Generally not, I would assume.
I don't think most people, natural or conventional medicine takers, know what's in their pills. We generally buy the pill and hope for the best.
NicoleK at August 20, 2008 7:09 AM
You're absolutely right, NicoleK. I am not one of those people -- but I have the capacity to do research that most people don't and a level of skepticism most people don't. When my doctor diagnosed me with GERD (gastrointestinal reflux disease), for example, I didn't say, "Oh, okay." I read about GERD and told her I felt she was wrong. And persisted. It turns out I have a horrible allergy to one thing in the world: roquefort cheese. If I eat it, I will be up all night with the worst cramps, hurling, etc.
Meanwhile, one of the problems, per an epidemiologist friend of mine, and a recent article in The New York Times: drug companies sometimes hide research that reflects unfavorably on their drug. I don't know if there's legislation that's been passed or is being passed to change this, but I hope it's in progress.
Amy Alkon at August 20, 2008 7:55 AM
"Do people taking conventional medications know what's in them either? Generally not, I would assume."
At least in SC, a monograph explaining everything about the prescription drug must accompany the package when it is handed to the customer.
That's not the case when you get OTC junk off the stylish shelves of Walgreen's.
Radwaste at August 26, 2008 7:21 PM
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