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I'm pretty sure hundreds of years of alternative medicine practiced in China for various ailments and illnesses weren't just placebo effects taking place over and over again, guylocke. Granted, I hear you when you say there are plenty of pharmaceutical companies that will put a sales spin on the actual purpose and uses of certain herbs and medicines. I've seen a bastardization of a lot of Eastern herbal/alternative medicines by the Western culture and that is a damn shame but outright deny that their use is pretty pompous and ignorant. Sure, you see immediate results of conventional treatment methods: if you cut something open with a knife, you'll bleed; if you inject an anesthetic, you go numb, but just because the American FDA hasn't approved of a certain method or medicine doesn't mean it doesn't work. These alternative medicines have been practiced for hundreds of years. The FDA has only been around for barely 100. Think on that.
The dirty little secret behind some of these "alternative" treatments is that they don't work and never did work. Before western medicine, people did this stuff b/c of the desire to do "something". That is what is behind parents' desire to use cold meds that dont' work, too. You want to do something to help your loved one or yourself. The sad part is that some people treat themselves with alternative treatments and then, when not getting better, look to western medicine, and sometimes it's too late, for anything, herbal or otherwise.
I am a big advocate of taking care of oneself through diet, exercise, stress management, etc. But I'm not a big fan of general alternative medications.
Believe me, I'm quite aware. I'm a doctor of pharmacy. I never once said a lot of our western medicine isn't derived from natural sources.
I just don't recommend popping herbs at your local GNC that haven't been approved, purified, tested, and proven safe (or as much as safe can be proven).
That just shows it, right here: how can anyone really have any interest or understanding of alternative medicine, if your definition of it is "popping herbs from GNC."
By the way, if someone discovers that a certain herb can treat and cure (yes, cure ) a certain condition, there is no way in the million years FDA will approve it. We all know why (chee-ching).
The dirty little secret behind some of these "alternative" treatments is that they don't work and never did work. Before western medicine, people did this stuff b/c of the desire to do "something". That is what is behind parents' desire to use cold meds that dont' work, too. You want to do something to help your loved one or yourself. The sad part is that some people treat themselves with alternative treatments and then, when not getting better, look to western medicine, and sometimes it's too late, for anything, herbal or otherwise.
I am a big advocate of taking care of oneself through diet, exercise, stress management, etc. But I'm not a big fan of general alternative medications.
Oh please, what do you think people used and survived on for thousand of years, before western medicine came in affect? It just wasn't called "alternative" medicine, because it wasn't an alternative back then.
It makes me laugh when someone says that "alternative"medicine has "dirty" little secrets, when it's much better applied to western medicine.
If you don't think there was charlatanism going on in the health care field hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, you are naive. People only had to survive long enough to reproduce and get their kids somewhat grown, to keep the human race going. A friend used a lot of "alternative" healers when her husband had luekemia. He died anyway. It was a fatal disease. A friend went to a chiropractor for her back, b/c she felt an MD would just give muscle relaxants and recommend exercise. She quit going to the chiropractor b/c she wasn't getting any better with that treatment, either. Some problems are pretty intractable.
We do not apply leeches anymore, except in EXTREMELY rare cicumstances, We do not "bleed" people any more, ditto. Those are just two examples of treatments that were abandoned because they do not work.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 11-03-2007 at 10:42 AM..
Reason: addition
If you don't think there was charlatanism going on in the health care field hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, you are naive. People only had to survive long enough to reproduce and get their kids somewhat grown, to keep the human race going. A friend used a lot of "alternative" healers when her husband had luekemia. He died anyway. It was a fatal disease. A friend went to a chiropractor for her back, b/c she felt an MD would just give muscle relaxants and recommend exercise. She quit going to the chiropractor b/c she wasn't getting any better with that treatment, either. Some problems are pretty intractable.
We do not apply leeches anymore, except in EXTREMELY rare cicumstances, We do not "bleed" people any more, ditto. Those are just two examples of treatments that were abandoned because they do not work.
Just because the "length" of life increased, doesn't mean the quality of life had improved.
And by the way, I don't think that western medicine "doesn't work". There is time and place for it as well. I think that alternative medicine works much MUCH better in preventing being sick then western medicine. I actually think that on most cases doctors are clueless on how to prevent any kind of disease (besides injecting a vaccine which to me is a questionable method any way, as you know).
I 100% believe in alternative medicine, because I personally saw what wonders it does to people without absolutely any side effects. In the meantime, if you look at any ANY type of medication, it has side effects. Yes, this pill might treat you from disease, while doing harm to other parts of your body. And for those who think that cancer, YES, cancer, cannot be treated with alternative medicine, I can tell you that I witnessed it to be not true.
I spoke to my cousin-in law who is an emergency doctor now and was SHOCKED shocked and how little he knew about proper nutrition, how few courses he took on nutrition, how few hours they spent on learning about herbs. How can I argue with a doctor on goodness of alternative medicine when he won't even know what "cracked-cell chlorella" is or how good aloe vera for your body. How in the world this person will understand, when he is much more comfortable thinking that all that is just "garbage" that's not worth his time and won't make him any money.
ETA: I do understand that my CIL works very hard and must of saved lots of lives in emergency room, but his lack of interest in anything that will prevent people from being sick is kind of alarming. Do all doctors feel that way: I'm sure not, but that was the indication of the lack of knowledge or interest or faith that representatives of western medicine possess.
Last edited by max's mama; 11-03-2007 at 11:07 AM..
My good friend in college, her father was diagnosed with lung cancer. The MD pretty much said he's not going to live past 6 months. They chose not to go through chemo/radiation but instead did alternative medicine. He survived 2 years, got to see a couple of grandkids get born. Fluke of nature? Maybe. Alternative meds working? Perhaps.
My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, late stages. He went the "western" route. Survived 3 yrs, almost exactly (also MD prognosis). No alternative meds, 'cept for complimentary, palliative care. He went though chemo/radiation instead. He, too, got to see a couple of grandkids get born.
One can't say that alternative medicine is completely bogus. I don't believe that for a minute b'c I've seen living proof that it works. In the same respect, I've also seen western practices "do it's thing". We should come up with a way for these medicines to compliment each other and not make it "one or the other", IMO.
My good friend in college, her father was diagnosed with lung cancer. The MD pretty much said he's not going to live past 6 months. They chose not to go through chemo/radiation but instead did alternative medicine. He survived 2 years, got to see a couple of grandkids get born. Fluke of nature? Maybe. Alternative meds working? Perhaps.
My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, late stages. He went the "western" route. Survived 3 yrs, almost exactly (also MD prognosis). No alternative meds, 'cept for complimentary, palliative care. He went though chemo/radiation instead. He, too, got to see a couple of grandkids get born.
One can't say that alternative medicine is completely bogus. I don't believe that for a minute b'c I've seen living proof that it works. In the same respect, I've also seen western practices "do it's thing". We should come up with a way for these medicines to compliment each other and not make it "one or the other", IMO.
I completely agree with your post. I think that there is like a "war" that's going on between reps of alternative medicine and western medicine. Each of them argue what works better, but I think the beauty is that they work beautifully if wisely combined together.
In certain situations one simply MUST go to a regular doctor or to emergency rooms, but when people dismiss alternative medicine as a placebo effect or garbage, it drives me off the wall, because obviously there is some research and knowledge that's missing on their part.
I used to have a certain distaste towards western doctors. After seeing them making one mistake after the another when my mother was sick with lymphoma, after seeing mistakes on 7 months old child who had menningitis and got sent home by pediatrician twice, I developed distrust towards them. However, as the years went by I understood that most doctors do the best they can with the knowledge that they have. They are very hardworking people, who care about their clients and do the best to their ability. I mean people want to smoke crap, drink crap, eat crap and then when they get sick they run to doctors: here, fix me. What is it? A humpty-dumpty?
I still think though that if a regular doctor just took time out of their busy schedule to learn about alternative medicine and combining the knowledge that they already have with the knowledge of alternative treatment, it would make for one powerful trustworthy doctor I would want to go see.
I, too, have a distaste towards MDs sometimes, espcially after I heard my father say that his urologist said "Asians don't get prostate cancer" and guess what my Dad got? Prostate cancer. I am long past the "blame game" and am at peace with this tragedy but have come to realize that we are all responsible for our own health. You make a great point. MDs are not here as a "cure all". Sure feels like it though when they talk to you for 5 minutes and charge you $109 (my last MD visit).
Just because the "length" of life increased, doesn't mean the quality of life had improved.
I certainly think our quality of life in the early 21st century is better than it was, say 100 yrs ago (when many of our grandparents were alive). My grandmother lost several siblings in a diphtheria epidemic. Her mother also had a stillborn during that epidemic. They lived a "healthy lifestyle" on a farm. They hardly went anywhere to even get exposed. One literally begged for water, because diphtheria forms a membrane on one's throat, making it impossible to swallow. (Stories from my mother) Now we have a vaccine against diphtheria, and if someone does get dehydrated, we give them IVs.
Type I diabetes used to be a death sentence. You literally starved to death. Then it was discovered that insulin could treat it, not in the sense of curing it, but in managing the disease. That was in the 1920s, I believe.
A child born with cystic fibrosis received a death sentence, too. His/her body could not digest food. Now some people with CF live to middle age, or longer.
Communicable diseases often caused death, much more frequently than now. There were no antibiotics. I could go on and on.
As far as docs not having much nutrition education, that is correct. I think it's unfair, though, to blame the ER doc for not being particularly interested in preventive care. After all, that's not what he's doing. When my brother had a heart attack, he went to the ER (drove himself). The ER doc stabilized him, and referred him on to a cariologist. Part of his cardiac rehab was the low-fat, low salt diet. I don't know what in medical edcation could be eliminated to add more nutrition. In pediatrics, a large part of well care is discussing nutrition.
Part of the problem is that so many people see the doctor (MD) as the sole source of all health care. Nutritionists have the education and experience to cousel people re: nutrition. There is so much misinformation about nutrition, so many "fad" ideas, etc, it's an area I am hesitant to get into.
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I'm a doctor of pharmacy. I never once said a lot of our western medicine isn't derived from natural sources.
) a certain condition, there is no way in the million years FDA will approve it. We all know why (chee-ching).
