Why the hatred towards Alternative Healing?

This book, "Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine" proves that Alternative Medicine in no more effective than a placebo. The author uses statistics to make his claim.

I wonder who is paying for this book to be published and advertised...could it be the pharmaceuticals? I think alternative medicine is beneficial for many people, but the powers that be in our Western paradigm denegrate anything they cant glean ego gratification form, or anything that threatens the 'balance of profits'.

Does anyone have a positive or negative story with alternative medicine?

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly

A biostatistician, author and Senior Research Methodologist at the University of Maryland, Bausell looks at the alternative methods used by more than 36 percent of Americans to treat pain and illness by posing the question, "Is any complementary and alternative medical therapy more effective than a placebo?" In short, his answer is no; what, then, is actually happening in patients (and professionals) who swear by the medical utility of such complementary and alternative medicines ("CAMs") as acupuncture, deep breathing exercises and megavitamin therapy? Step by step, Bausell builds a rigorous case against CAM, beginning with a look at the history of CAMs and placebos, then the "poorly trained scientists" and flawed studies (among more than 300 analyzed for this book) that have historically supported CAM's efficacy. A breakdown of the placebo effect's hows and whys follows (are people hardwired for susceptibility?), along with a look at "high-quality studies" and "systematic reviews" (including an Italian study that finds natural opioid secretion in the brain responsible for the perceived benefits of placebos) which largely support Bausell's answer. Entertaining and informative, with plenty of diverting anecdotal examples, Bausell offers non-professionals and pros a thorough look at the science on CAM, along with a complementary lesson in the methods of good medical research.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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[edit on Fri May 8 2009 by Jbird]

A lot of medications are made from natural things. The heart medication Digoxin being one example that is from a plant.

Some people are so ingrained in western medicine , and think that is all there is.

They do not even realize some are from natural things.

I believe my life was saved, numerous times by "alternative" medicine, although talking about it here is against the T & C of ATS. In short, Acupuncture and herbal medicine relieved chronic pain that I had suffered with for years. "Real" medicine never touched it, and in fact only made things worse by adding a myriad of side-effects to the mix.

What's funny, is that all of our "real" medicine can be traced back to "alternative" sources. What's wrong with getting your meds straight from the source, rather than from some chemist who thinks he can improve on mother natures design?

Originally posted by 420prajna
threatens the 'balance of profits'.

Bingo!

Many alternative forms of treatment are proven but using them still goes against the grain. We have been paying for "Proven", "western" treatments for centuries.. there is a culture of profit seeking built up with healthcare.. Alternative treatments don't fall into this unless they can be packaged and marketed.. but then they are no longer "Alternative".

Because big pharma can't get exclusive patents on natural plant life. Without exclusive rights there can be no monopoly, therefore no monetary gain. So, the solution is to demonize natural healing.

Aspirin originates from willow bark. Mint and lavendar tea will calm your nerves and stomach. Rosemary tea (infusion) will strengthen the heart muscle when used regularly, etc. Dandelions are also an excellent food and health source. And we all know about the war on them. So many more.

People would be wise to return to Mother Nature. But until there is money to be made with herbal remedies comparable to pharmaceuticals, you can expect the demonization to continue.

I've written on this a few times before. I take an alternative approach to deal with my disease. It's called Pyroluria. It's not accepted by mainstream science, because it proves biochemical imbalances can be caused by metabolic disorders. That's not good news for BigPharma.

The approach I use is orthomolecular therapy. It was invented by Linus Pauling, the only single two-time winner of the Nobel prize. He first made sense of the chemical bond! This guy was a known genius, yet was ultimately discredited for his sincere contributions to humanity. He was awarded his second Nobel for speaking out against the nuclear arms race.

Linus Pauling proved biochemical individuality and the resulting absurdity of the RDA. He found some people require very large doses of specific vitamins to be balanced and sane. He treated thousands of patients with excellent success, yet is still hardly known today.

I personally take very high dose b & c vitamins daily, along with not so high dose of most other nutrients. There's no doubt in my mind I owe my sanity to this vitamin regiment.

Big pharma pays lobbyists to discredit alternative practices. They grant money to researchers who are biased towards allopathy, and who would skew the results, claims, etc. In a hundred years, this time period will be thought of as the dark ages. At least medically.

It's a tragedy. Thousands die yearly for taking pharmaceuticals, but nutrients are thought to be ineffective, or downright bad for you?! Just insane!!

The only reason there is so much hatred towards alternative medicines is that the FDA and the AMA no these cures work, and made congress pass a law to put people in prision for saying these cures work, instead of the "micicle pill" or vaccine the pharmacutical companies make.

I am an alternative medicine practitioner.

My friends say it works, the proof is in the pudding.

Here's an attempt to answer the question in the title:

Although a lot of people seem to benefit from alternative medicine, it is hard to tell what part of it is placebo or not (usually due to problems measuring the actual medicine). Placebo can be a very strong effect, but when people have partial success in alternative medicine, a lot of them will immediately dismiss the possibility of a placebo-effect. For some of them, this may even end up in a decision to stop all mainstream medicine. Depending on the disease and the drugs used in mainstream medicine, this could be either a good or a bad thing.. But to me it can be heart-breaking to see someone die trying to go down the alternative path, while a viable solution (albeit with nasty side-effects) is available from the world of mainstream medicine.

Of course that goes both ways. I'd suggest being very careful and observant at both kinds of treatment.

reply to post by scraze


Good point, the placebo effect can be explained by the power of the mind in healing. If a person believes they will get better, they probably will. Alternative medicines often strengthern the mind's power of healing.

reply to post by scraze


I ask you though, what's wrong with a placebo effect? If a treatment that has absolutely no physical or chemical impact on an ailment, but is able to "trick" the mind into healing the body, is that treatment not effective?

The healing power of the mind immense. Discounting natural healing, the entire concept of the "placebo effect" only serves to downplay the power than lies within each of us.

Originally posted by Unit541
reply to post by scraze

 

I ask you though, what's wrong with a placebo effect? If a treatment that has absolutely no physical or chemical impact on an ailment, but is able to "trick" the mind into healing the body, is that treatment not effective?

The healing power of the mind immense. Discounting natural healing, the entire concept of the "placebo effect" only serves to downplay the power than lies within each of us.

Well, honestly, there is no treatment that A) has no physical effect B) tricks the mind into healing the body.
If it heals the body, there is a physical effect.

But to answer your question: nothing is wrong if the treatment ends the ailment, or other treatments are applied as well. But if someone with a serious disease rejects mainstream medicine in favor of a placebo effect - for example, a patient of cancer decides to go purely herbal - .. well, it's their choice, but their family and friends may not perceive it as the best thing in the world.
By all means, 'placebo on' - just be careful with what you reject.

I believe there are multiple reasons for the "heathenizatoin" oof alternative healing.

The biggest two are:
1)As has been stated, the pharmaceutical companies profit margin. 'Nuff said.

2)Admitting that alternative healing worked would be admitting that there is another level of energy in the world. Alternative healing often involves the centralizations of specific energies. Admitting this worked, would be admitting that "chi" "psi"-energies were real. And that opens a giant can of worms that has been denied for centuries.

reply to post by cautiouslypessimistic


Yeah, the controlling powers only want people to have enough power to buy things that they tell us we "need"

Some of the above are true.

I am not against "alternative" treatments but you have to admit that many of the people pushing it also are pushing their product for profit. That is a huge red flag and turn off to me.

Like that sleezy looking guy that sells colon cleanse products on the infomercials.

Alot of it really is snake oil.

Coral Calcium is hawked as a cure all. Having big bulk bowl movements is going to cure everything. MMS cures all. Mineral this and that cures all.

There is something to all of it but claims are overblown and usually a for profit thing.

Without going into many areas of medicine & healing I'd like to re-iterate that acupuncture & therefore the points they utilise on the body are universal from human to human. Indeed on animals to. Thus starting us off on the merry quest exploring the energy system, an energy counterpart to the physical body that we see.

Something I'd wanted to comment on, on this site for some time, involves a study done at Manchester University this decade.
Full, accurate, detailed results have not been released but essentially involved the testing of essential oils on various bacteria - e.coli, mrsa, etc.

What is known that from combinations from as few as 3 or 4 of the oils from such plants as the Tea Trea & Geranium, some of the dealiest & nastiest cultures were erradicated swiftly.

This came at the time that mrsa reared it's ugly head in UK hospitals (well according to the media). There may even be people reading this who have had unpleasant experience or the loss of a relative.

What annoys me is that through simple steps, the oils could be used following the good news from the trials.
Apparently natural sources cannot be patented - which brings us back around to herbalism and generally a more healthy plant based lifestyle.
Surely by now we can cut through the BS and realise there is a perfectly valid reason for the mammoth supply of remedies nature has to offer!

Along with the marginal actual help that "alternative healing" does for people, compared to the real deal, a lot of the hatred comes from the practitioners and supporters taking on such a jerkish, superior, "you're an idiot for not doing this" attitude. Add to that an annoying layer of paranoia, and it's no wonder why people are turned off by it.

I don't know why, but alternative medicine is like a magnet for people who want to feel that they're so much smarter, well-informed, and spiritually superior than the average ignorant person who is being poisoned by the government or the FDA or whoever.

People, myself included, don't like to be told we're dopes, particularly by people we don't consider to be any less dopey than ourselves.

professionally i would say that ignoring any kind of treatment is detrimental to the subject.

However blatantly ignoring a course of reatment proven effective in favor of other means that are not proven effective can cause grave risk to a subject.

Alternative methods are what they are and should be sued in conjunction with any other line of treatment that is not being effective at solving the issue for the subject.

I agree that this type of science and I do think it is should not be overlooked. However there is hatred due to people choosing simply one over the other and ignoring other possibilities for aid.

ya know like those parents who prey over their kids and watch them die. well prayer isnt going to remove a ruptured appendix, or treat something as simple as a clogged artery eventually leading to death.

I think that is why people hate it, too many other people take things to far and ignore other treatments and stubbornly choose one.

reply to post by Unit541

I ask you though, what's wrong with a placebo effect?

That is absolutely correct, the power of positive thinking, or faith, I have seen the mind take over the matter.

I encourage people to use alternative medicine. Unless I like them. There are too many people now, so anything that reduces the total population is a win.