Alternative Medicine's Rapid Spread? Nonsense

Alternative medication and some faith

Interesting article...I was a guinea pig to all the newer medications for arthritis, depression and what not. All the traditional doctors want to do is to alleviate a symptom than see the root of a problem..Still we are billed for the inefficeincy.

Slow transiting to alternative medication was worth every ounce of energy spent in it. People need faith for anything to work the same with alternative meds..Most people resist to it maninly because it is not FDA approved and not covered by insurance. If a traditional doctor prescribes ashwagandha for mental stress and if the med is covered, am pretty sure people are going to take it without a second thought.

Missing the Point

You're defining alternative medicine as treatment by a professional using alternative medicine. This is misleading, as most alternative medicine in this country is self-treatment. You're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Alternative Medicine's Rapid Spread? Nonsense

Of course most people are well most of the time, so they don't need any form of medical treatment. Of more importance than these figures is what percentage of the population resort to "alternative" measures when sick, and this is much higher than the rates discussed here. Nearly all such use is complementary to conventional care (not "allopathy" -- all "alternative" measures other than traditional homeopathy are "allopathic"), indicating that the public does display some discrimination in relation to CAM use, generally, and wisely not relying on it alone in serious situations,

And if you don't get heart disease or cancer, as most won't with simple lifestyle measures, and you live in a population not susceptible to many once fatal infective illnesses, then you can lead a very long life without ever needing a doctor, or being exceptionally clever in one's choice of medical treatmments..

Too many practicing medicine without a license.

First we have the M/A that is performing triage in a doctor's office. No quarrel if it stops with weight, pulse, B/P, filling out medical questionnaire.

Next we have the LVN whose medical training stop too short of the RN. I realize that there are some that have expertise that is better than many doctors that have abandoned the idea of practicing medicine to collecting for an office visit and writing a script, a pat on the rear as they are passed out the door. RNs come in two varieties. One is looking for a doctor to marry and the other are those who are divorced and again looking for the elusive MS. There are a few dedicated to their profession, but their number dwindles as their ranks are resupplied with each graduating class.

Then there is the insurance company that has hired MDs without the guts to have private practice. Some of these have a list of practicing docs willing to take orders from the insurance clerk.

Pharmacist that have left filing prescriptions to pharmacy techs. The techs have the temerity to question a doctor's prescription or refuse to fill it because it conflicts with their religion.

Then there is a disease called, "The Law" and the vermin practicing within its parameters. This bacteria knows that drug companies and insurance companies would rather settle than fight. Small wonder Alternative Medicine is growing and a good primary care physician is hard to find.

"natural" solutions

A commenter above posited that "there's no way big medicine is going to condone a natural solution for anything." Frankly, that's untrue and insulting to doctors (real doctors, I should add), nurses, and clinical practice guideline developers.

Setting aside for the moment the question of what is meant by "natural," real medicine condones and recommends natural solutions all the time. For example, what's the first course of treatment your doctor will recommend if your cholesterol is high and there aren't other complicating factors? Change your diet and exercise more. Duh.

Alternative medicine proponents routinely fail to believe that human experience is fallible, and keep spouting nonsense about how anecdote and personal experience somehow trumps rigorous scientific study.

Real doctors aren't anti-"natural", they're anti-"wildly implausible" and anti-"tested carefully and shown not to be effective."

Figures That Lie

Mr. Comarow:

It's true that a small fraction of Americans use CAM while we are in fact the world's largest consumer of prescription drugs. This is evidence of the power and effectiveness of the pharmaceutical and medical industries.

CAM providers must keep a low profile due to the legal problems caused when you attract the attention of the AMA or FDA. Every year laws are passed to take away the freedom of Americans to even choose CAM, so is it any surprise that fewer folks take advantage of therapies proven safe and effective for decades, hundreds or even thousands of years? It's not a level playing field by any means!

Most important, only a few CAM therapies are included in these surveys. UnBreak Your Health - The Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Therapies lists 300+ therapies in 138 different categories and it doesn't include any type of diet or supplement therapy. These surveys are not presenting the total picture because of the limited scope of their study.

I have to agree

I graduated in 1998 from Pacific College of Medicine in San Diego. I practiced Traditional Chinese Medicine and I can honestly say that the "woo woo" factor is ridiculous. I know what I can treat and what I can't.

First stages of cold or flu, come see me. Strep throat or the beginnings of a fever, AP can relieve the pain and fever while waiting for the antibiotics to work. Want to lose weight without dieting or exercise, go see someone that's in it for the money. Diet and exercise are what works and there is no medicine on the planet that can replace personal effort.

Recovering from some of the side effects of stroke, heart attack or surgery, come see us. We can even help with prevention of SOME of the above. Looking for a miracle cure? Go see Miracle Max. Trying to rehab certain injuries or the first two month's of Bell's Palsy, come see me. Need to change your life without active effort, go see Max again.

Headaches, be they cluster, migraine or tension, come see me. If you hate your life so much that your body hurts all the time, go see a shrink, even Max can't help you.

While acupuncture can help to mitigate the effects of cancer drugs, it CAN'T kill cancer. That's not its job. As the saying goes, "acupuncture supports the upright." Any of the other claims you hear people espouse are from the crackpot side.

A good acupuncturist will tell you the same things that a good doctor will tell you. Fresh air, exercise, chew what you eat instead of stuffing your mouth and gulping, are bad for the digestion. Absolutely don't want to change your diet and eat lean meats, fish and extra leafy vegetables, etc., then go ahead and take fish oil. It will be of some use in the long run, but not as much as doing the exercises, getting fresh air and sunlight on a regular basis will help to extend your life.

Learn to cook and you can control most of the bad crap you put in your body. But that is too much trouble for most people and they're off to the next "alternative therapy" because they heard sticking your feet in water with some kind of charge will clear your body of toxins and you can tell because the water changes color. That treatment will always remain at the top of the crackpot chain for me.

Chinese medicine is more about changing your circumstances from the inside out than it is about miracles. The miracles are usually the ones that followed all the directions faithfully and made a conscious effort to change their lives.

I quit practicing because the majority of my patients wanted someone to fix them but they didn't want to do anything but pay, take a pill and then on to the next treatment designed to separate them from their money. Money they could have spent on healthy food and exercise that really do help.

CAM has received bad press because it is so determined to be accepted that some practitioners promise the moon when in truth they couldn't recognize a serious illness if it bit them on Du25, (the tip of the nose).

Internet will be the cure

Quacks? Yes. Placebo effect? Yes.

Probability that some effective alternative therapies will go viral on internet without suppression by AMA and mainstream medicine?

100% over time.

Does this mean that everything is easily cured? No. Does it mean citizens of the world will share their successful experiences? Yes.

I think you are wrong...

My husband and I lost our health insurance many years ago when I quit a very good corporate job in Pennsylvania to move back to Texas and care for my mother as she went through hell and ovarian cancer. We could not get individual health insurance coverage for two reasons: excluded "pre-existing" conditions and sky high premiums (the commenter above who says our health care system is a disgrace is right on point).

We educated ourselves on herbal remedies; use them to keep my husband's COPD and my heart/blood clotting condition, among other things, in check; and I honestly believe we would not still be around if we did not use the herbs and supplements we do. I was a veteran of agressive medical treatment for a wide range of issues for 40 years before we lost our coverage. I sometimes think that if I had continued in the AMA system I would not have survived the "treatments". I also believe that there are millions of Americans like us in light of the fact that almost 50 million have no health insurance coverage.

Your article sounds like you have a vested interest in proving that alternative medicine is neither prevalent nor useful. Now that I have learned so much about the strength and efficacy of herbs and lifestyle changes, I can see why pharma and medical interests work so hard against the alternatives - the reason is "Money, money, money, money!"

Uniformed Aggression Against Medicine

As a 4th-year medical student, I am now well over $150,000 in debt due to 8 years of college and medical education. Moreover, I will soon begin my 5 years of residency whereupon I will work 80hrs per week and receive a little over $40,000 per year for my time. To be clear, I have chosen to dedicate my life to serving others; therefore, I have knowingly taken on this burden because I value helping my fellow man.

With the above said, I would like to communicate my disappointment and frustration with the countless polarizing posts I have read over the years. I find it highly inconsiderate of the authors to write these melodramatic conspiracy theories which attempt to paint the world in simplistic terms of 'black and white,' instead of having the intellectual maturity to accept shades of gray. In fact, the idea of "complementary medicine" is an expression of the possibility for Traditional Medicine and Alternative Medicine to work in conjunction with one another, and Not to be seen as mutually exclusive entities.

Case in point, every single doctor that I have worked with in my life has Always promoted exercise, a balanced diet with fresh fruits and vegetables, cigarette smoking cessation, and moderation with alcohol. Unfortunately, I have watched the vast majority of patients conveniently ignore these suggestions, because they are more difficult than taking a pill. I ask my readers this: What is the doctor supposed to do with a non-compliant patient whose medical conditions are worsening? Should the doctor deny the patient an effective (albeit Imperfect) medication, just because the patient is too lazy or busy to put forth the energy to improve their health?

Most doctors choose to continue promoting healthy living, while also providing medical therapy when they see dangerous situations evolving. I should also note that physicians frequently recommend Fish Oil and Glucosamine/Chondroitin, both of which have not been formally approved by the FDA and are not being sold by "Big Pharma."

Also, many doctors doctors state that herbal therapies and chiropractic treatments are options available to patients; however, the medical community rightfully recognizes that we do not have as much empirical evidence from these methods and we do not know what risks may (or may not) exist. For instance, Kava Kava was recently associated with liver damage, but we physicians could not warn our patients a decade ago because the herb had not been thoroughly tested like most FDA-approved drugs.

I will reiterate that I do Not think that FDA-approved drugs are perfect or side-effect free, nor do I enjoy the pharmaceutical marketing campaigns in the media. Nonetheless, I hope that the public will recognize the patient's role in the problem. Healthy diet, exercise, etc. are promoted by the media, physicians, and schools; at some point, human beings need to make active efforts to follow the advice.

It is now time for my morning walk. Enjoy the holidays...