Ill admit im not a fan of holistic/herbal nonsense, but if it makes a person feel better and is COMPLETELY HARMLESS it wont bother me a ton (ok yes it still will, except for pain management in which case it doesnt as much)
But lately ive seen a ton of nurses spreading this CRAP via social media
A list of "truth" about fighting cancer. Now despite the fact that its fake and actually isnt by John Hopkins at all whatsoever, it bothers me when nurses who are supposed to be healthcare professionals start peddling dangerous nonsense that can KILL people.
Some of the stuff in the article is true, or even general and vague. But then it goes on to "insinuate" that chemo/radiation is bad, and all this nonsense about becoming a vegan, getting rid of sugar, aspartme and scifi herbal remedies and what not.
And just makes me worry that people who dont have health science backgrounds see this crap coming from a nurse and having that lend credibility to its claims.
Maybe im nuts for having it bother me so much, but I just find it wildly irresponsible and quite honestly dangerous.
I have my religious beliefs. They don't clash with my scientific ones. When there's a contradiction, I sort it through...and make my own decision on the topic (on occasion after discussion with my rabbi, too). Life, religion is not an "all or nothing" deal in my world.
As for homeopathic, alternative or complementary medication (I use all three terms, because they are not interchangeable)....when they work, they work. It's not "magical", it's good science. Properties found in nature have always been the basis of our modern medicines; what was once just a tea that helped with heart troubles (foxglove) is now known as Digoxin. For some people, the fact that it is produced by a manufacturer makes it ok, but mention natural medicines and BANG: No, it's NOT ok, it CAN'T be....it's not synthetic!
(I'm not, btw, encouraging anyone to go out and brew foxglove in hopes of helping their arrythmias.)
My point is that anyone taking an "all or nothing" approach to medications, and healthcare in general, is sorely depriving himself of a whole lot of knowledge. Some home remedies are bunk, total garbage. But some are quite effective, and should not be disregarded as "just that herbal junk". It would be quite the injustice.
I like to take a look at what the homeopathic medication is, what the claims are surrounding it, and then go from there. I've found some GREAT natural alternatives to synthetics, and done well with them. I've also found a homeopathic ointment that there IS no branded alternative for. The homeopathic one has the demand sewn up, and it works. Not life or death, but for those who use it, they don't care WHAT it's made of, it works.
Keeping a closed mind to options is what keeps us, I think, from utilizing all possible sources of healing. I vaccinate. I medicate. And I use homeopathics whenever appropriate and helpful!
I just want to point out that nutrition to treat GERD, and Chiropractic care (to treat back pain ONLY) + exercise are approved "treatments" by conventional medicine. The relationship between GERD and nutrition is actually HUGE (and scientific). Chiropractic and back pain isnt really as scientific, and certainly is more holistic, although it does get some credit as a possible effective remedy for back pain. The other claims by chiropractor are generally completely outlandish though.
Now if you started telling us that your GERD was cured by acupuncture, and the back pain by a shamanistic rain dance, id just think you were nuts. But the things you mentioned generally fall into the approved by modern medicine category.
Approved modern medicines of today were often pseudosciences of the past!
That is an interesting point, because you know I haven't thought about that. 15 years ago I was experiencing gastritis and GERD. At the time, not one doctor recommended diet change. They all suggested PPIs and exploring the cause and even did a endoscopy. This was before they discovered that H. Pylori was the cause of many ulcers and before probiotics were known to help. I guess that does show that things do change over time and that nutrition is more accepted now for illnesses like GERD. However, the nutrition recommendations I have seen made by medical doctors today do not seem to help much in my personal experience with nutrition clients - at least with healing! I see they recommend foods to prevent reflux, but generally I have not seen healing occur in most people with GERD unless they include radical nutrition changes, vitamins, and herbal therapies! Many alternative practitioners believe that GERD and reflux are a result of low HCL in the stomach vs. the common belief of too much acid, and that goes against modern medical ideas. I used an HCL supplement and digestive enzymes along wtih my juicing to heal my gut - DRAMATICALLY! I think most would consider juicing and HCL supplementation for GERD outside the norm at this point and nutrition was utilized much less 15 years ago, but it was the only thing that got me off the medication and I recommend it to clients now who have similar symptoms!
How about instead of criticizing people you just let it roll off your back? Who cares what people want to believe?
I am actually extremely interested in nutrition as medicine and have done a ton of research on it. I certainly don't think that medication and chemo/radiation are bad things by any means, but I think a lot of chronic health problems can be prevented and even reversed by eating a clean, whole plant-based diet. I've seen several people who have changed their eating habits and have come off their medication completely. So as a nurse, I definitely advocate this lifestyle.
HOWEVER, I do believe medicine has it's place and regarding terminal illness/cancer, I certainly wouldn't try to convince someone not to get treatment.
Chronic health problem like 80% of the people in a hospital have could ALL be avoided if people didn't smoke, use drugs, drink, actually exercised a few times a week and avoided crap food.
We all know that ain't going to happen and least not in my area of down.....
Agreed that many chronic health conditions could be avoided if we took better care of ourselves (diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart health). But, cancer . . that's wholly different. I've been reading a lot lately about cancer research and where we really are in relation to how cancer truly works and the best way to fight cancer. There are so many different kinds of cancers that a one-size-fits-all answer is not going to ever happen. No one is really sure what triggers that cell to replicate it's DNA and then go crazy.
Interesting find this afternoon in my searching the internet for articles about alternative medicine in relation to one poster's comments about religious folks being the bearer of the magic thinking . . .
This spring, during the swine flu outbreak, I was searching the Web for news when a blog post on the Huffington Post caught my eye. Titled “Swine Flu: Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones,” its author, Kim Evans, offered a unique prescription for swine flu, one she believed could “save your life”: deep-cleansing enemas.
“Most estimates are that the average person has ten or more pounds of stored waste just in their colon,” Evans wrote. “In any case, many people have found that disease disappears when this waste is gone, and that when the body is clean it’s much more difficult for new problems, like viruses, to take hold in the first place. And it’s my understanding that many people who took regular enemas instead of vaccines during the 1918 pandemic made it out on the other side as well.”
Of course glucose is natural for survival. Please don't take that to mean you can dump sugar all over your cornflakes every am, down twinkies, and sip on sodas all day. Glucose can be produced in the body when we consume healthier food such as fruits and whole grain items. High glycemic foods promote tissue inflammation and insulin resistance, among other problems. A balanced, natural diet is a good thing. Try it sometime!
Therein demonstrating the limits of your "tolerance", which is both ironic and very, very sad. Hate is pretty ugly, no matter who it is being directed toward. It is not a state of mind that I am permitted to entertain...
Of course glucose is natural for survival. Please don't take that to mean you can dump sugar all over your cornflakes every am, down twinkies, and sip on sodas all day. Glucose can be produced in the body when we consume healthier food such as fruits and whole grain items. High glycemic foods promote tissue inflammation and insulin resistance, among other problems. A balanced, natural diet is a good thing. Try it sometime!
I'm not arguing any of those things, as I agree an apple is is much healthier than a twinkee.
My point was both an apple and twinkee turn into glucose, which is necessary for life.
So if a twinkee having sugar makes cancer worse, than eating an an apple and all this fancy vegan nonsense would make cancer worse too
Therein demonstrating the limits of your "tolerance", which is both ironic and very, very sad. Hate is pretty ugly, no matter who it is being directed toward. It is not a state of mind that I am permitted to entertain...
I didn't say I hated you or anything or anyone else. Ever.
I simply said I don't respect your beliefs. For instance, your belief that the Catholic faith "gave the world" the Big Bang theory is false and I don't respect it. I listed a litany of other beliefs in my previous post. I fully respect your right to hold those and other beliefs, demonstrably false or not. Therein lies the "tolerance" if you were looking for it.
Beliefs are not something to be respected simply because it is a belief. There are people that belief the Holocaust never happened. There is no reason to respect that belief.
Which brings me back to the point of sham miracle cures. I know many people, including nurses, who think these snake oil cures should be "respected" simply because someone believes in them.
We should not and in my opinion, the same goes for supernatural beliefs because they encourage the kind of thinking that leads to the sham therapies.
Again - it isn't Judeo-Christian folks, for the most part, who are peddling the false alternative medicine information. I'm not even sure why this is part of this discussion.
I'm a wacko born-again evangelical Christian who completely disavows the anti-vax crowd and is a skeptic when it comes to conspiracy theories (which unfortunately abound on the internet).
I'm a nurse who believes in the science of medicine. Obviously science makes boo-boos at times but the vast amount of scientific knowledge out there is available to refute lies and misinformation put out by folks on the internet. And really, those folks are not the people you are lambasting.
Of course Christians can be good scientists. I suppose astrologers can too.
I brought religion into the conversation to show how the support and encouragement of magical thinking of any kind (which includes mainstream religion) supports and encourages snake oil miracle cures even by nurses.
Christians, being the largest supernatural magical belief community in this particular time and this particular location took the brunt of my criticisms, but Scientologists, followers of Zeus and Hera, astrologers, 9/11 truthers, and "Elvis is alive" folks (any of whom may or may not push snake oil miracle cures) could have been equally offended.
I understand it doesn't strike a chord with everyone, but perhaps someday.
I'm not arguing any of those things, as I agree an apple is is much healthier than a twinkee.
My point was both an apple and twinkee turn into glucose, which is necessary for life.
So if a twinkee having sugar makes cancer worse, than eating an an apple and all this fancy vegan nonsense would make cancer worse too
You know the difference between a high and low glycemic carb, no? Please note that a twinkie and apple don't contain the same measurements of 'sugars' and that the body must work harder (good thing in this case) in order to trasform the 'sugar' into glucose. Also note that one has vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants while the other doesn't.
RNsRWe, ASN, RN
3 Articles; 10,428 Posts
I have my religious beliefs. They don't clash with my scientific ones. When there's a contradiction, I sort it through...and make my own decision on the topic (on occasion after discussion with my rabbi, too). Life, religion is not an "all or nothing" deal in my world.
As for homeopathic, alternative or complementary medication (I use all three terms, because they are not interchangeable)....when they work, they work. It's not "magical", it's good science. Properties found in nature have always been the basis of our modern medicines; what was once just a tea that helped with heart troubles (foxglove) is now known as Digoxin. For some people, the fact that it is produced by a manufacturer makes it ok, but mention natural medicines and BANG: No, it's NOT ok, it CAN'T be....it's not synthetic!
(I'm not, btw, encouraging anyone to go out and brew foxglove in hopes of helping their arrythmias.)
My point is that anyone taking an "all or nothing" approach to medications, and healthcare in general, is sorely depriving himself of a whole lot of knowledge. Some home remedies are bunk, total garbage. But some are quite effective, and should not be disregarded as "just that herbal junk". It would be quite the injustice.
I like to take a look at what the homeopathic medication is, what the claims are surrounding it, and then go from there. I've found some GREAT natural alternatives to synthetics, and done well with them. I've also found a homeopathic ointment that there IS no branded alternative for. The homeopathic one has the demand sewn up, and it works. Not life or death, but for those who use it, they don't care WHAT it's made of, it works.
Keeping a closed mind to options is what keeps us, I think, from utilizing all possible sources of healing. I vaccinate. I medicate. And I use homeopathics whenever appropriate and helpful!