The world of mainstream medicine is not much different than any other part of the mainstream. It's full of lies and distortions for the sake of money.

by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 434 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 11:24:33 AM

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Not only should alternative always! be considered, but don'tcha want to scream every time you hear a prescription commercial?

They tell us they care, but it's a lie.  The pharma companies have been caught more than once knowingly dispensing pills that are hazardous to our health.

They say tell your doctor what medication you're on.  If the doctor doesn't know what you're taking he's an idiot.  Yeah, you could be going to a new one, but that's not what the commercials imply.

What is this consult you health care professional nonsence?  Doctors are health care pros now?  Or do they mean your local witch doctor?

It's like everything else, scare us into thinking we'd better take whatever pill they're pushing or disaster will descend upon us.  Yeah, like their pills won't kill us!

by Sandy Sand (198 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 1548 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 12:29:34 PM

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My mother-in-law, a surgeon of 35 years of experience including the WWII, Stalingrad and Japanese war considers the US doctors incapable of making any reasonable diagnosis. When told that someone 'beat' the cancer  she calmly says, 'That means it was not a cancer in the first place'.  She considers that people are misdiagnosed  en masse in the US, first and foremost  due to the extremely low level of doctors professionalism, their belief in the machines and first and foremost- due to greed and lust for money. It is alwys more profitable to  tell a person that he/she is sick.

by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4101 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 2:03:26 PM

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I agree completely. Doctors in this country are terrible. I worked at Georgetown for over a decade, and interacted with doctors and medical students all the time. They were often poor diagnosticians.

They just have labs run blood tests, and then prescribe an expensive pill.

I'll bet 90% of medications people are taking in this country are causing more problems than they are fixing.

by John R Moffett (89 articles, 18 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 697 comments [14 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 2:17:46 PM

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I am involved in studying alternative medical techniques such as homeopathy, and others, and I want to point out that not all alternative treatments are based on equally valid arguments.

Homeopathy, acupuncture and others like acupressure are most likely completely placebo effect treatments. This is not to say they don’t work, it is to say that their efficacy is based on the placebo effect, which is a very powerful effect.

Other treatments such as herbal medicine have more basis in science and pharmacology, but often the work just hasn’t been done to prove efficacy, or determine the active ingredients. In other words, more work needs to be done.

Other “treatments”, like laetrile, are fake treatments meant to make money for the practitioner. However, all such treatments still have a placebo effect. Unfortunately, cancer is one of the diseases that is least amenable to the placebo effect, which works more on pain and discomfort than on unregulated cell growth.

For cancer, the best alternative medicine currently is to change your lifestyle for the better. Better diet, better exercise routines, better attitude about life, etc. Sometimes, the immune system will finally recognize the tumor as foreign, and destroy it. That’s your best chance.

And the best part is, you don’t need health insurance, or money, to accomplish these changes, just the will.

by John R Moffett (89 articles, 18 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 697 comments [14 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 2:07:54 PM

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Western doctors and medicine don’t have all the answers and there are plenty of alternative methods for every disease or condition.  I believe western medicine treat the symptoms and not the condition in a lot of cases. People must be proactive in their own health issues.  Read and do your own research. 

The only thing I could say that is negative about alternative treatments is that there are a lot of charlatans out their trying to rip you off. I have a pinched nerve and once I used magnet therapy and it was the only thing that eased the pain so I am a believer in alternative treatments.

by Michael Chavers (53 articles, 0 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 198 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 at 2:33:11 PM

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I think you have confused two separate arguments. Which is the better alternative or traditional therapy and how well these services can or are delivered.

As someone who has cancer I can tell you that from my perspective I would rather stick with scientifically verified cures.

Statistics on the comparative cures the scientific one seems to offer a better outcome. I have made the numbers decision I wanted the odds on my side. Not on a maybe, perhap solution

I understand the placebo effect and such things as spontaneous remissions and without tests as per your article some quacks have been known to claim this as the result of their ‘alternative’ cure. To be fair this could go the other way too.

Having seen big cancer frauds like Milan Brick who set up in the Cook Islands to avoid scrutiny make millions off desperate people ( when he  was audited his success rate was far less than traditional medicine regardless of what he claimed).

 I would suggest that which ever regime a patient chooses it should be under strict supervision and the alternative practitioner should have the same  levels culpability  that a doctor must face. (lawsuits, insurances professional integruity etc). This criteria is essential to give the patient the best hope, choice and chance of recovery. I can assure you that all that when one has the dreaded diagnosis philosophic aspirations disappear and you want is the cure that gives you the best odds.

by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Friday, Oct 5, 2007 at 3:12:59 AM

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