Scam or for real: Natural Medicine

jen42 · Dec 15, 2005

My opinion is that, like many things, some of it works and some of it is bunk. When you look back, as one poster stated, things like acupuncture, chiropractic care, and massage therapy were considered a lot more "alternative" that they are now. There may be procedures under that list that, 20 years from now, will be as common as going to the chiropractor. BUT, a lot of it really makes me wonder.

Experimental treatments for AIDS, cancer, etc., when traditional therapies have failed- go for it. Or use them along with traditional therapies with the permission of your health care team. However, it worries me when people turn to alternative therapies before traditional ones, proven to work, have not been tried- especially in cases of life-threatening illness.

As far as the randomized double-blind studies... there's a lot of politics in that. Where I went to nursing school there was a center that was trying to do exactly that- well-designed scientific studies on natural medicine techniques. Funding was difficult to come across, especially for studies that would need to be more expensive or involved expensive equipment. Also, many doctors are leery of beginning to study natural therapies, either because they don't think they work or they don't want to attach their name to anything slightly New Age-y.

1Tulip · Dec 15, 2005

The National Institutes of Health has an entire Division for the study of these things. It came into being maybe a decade ago. National Centers for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

It was the brain-child of (I think... could be wrong here) of Sen. Tom Harkin who was just SURE that bee pollen had had some miraculous effect upon his health.

So, rest assured, our government is spending millions and millions on alternative therapies, research on which cannot be acquired elsewhere. Which brings me to ask two questions:

1) Where are the data that prove these treatments safe and efficacious?

2) How many research dollars have been p*ssed away that might have been spent on making advances in cancer, lupus, multiple sclerosis, dementia and on and on and on.

Bee pollen. Millions of dollars. Think about it.

BabyRN2Be · Dec 15, 2005

I had an ER pat a couple of years ago that was getting hydrogen peroxide IV for some sort of chelation therapy. I don't remember what it was they were trying to cure. It didn't work to say the least. Kinda freaked me out. I just kept asking of the peroxide doesn't bubble when it hits the blood....nobody could answer that one for me.
I think alot of these things are just high tech snake oil salesmen of today. Just my opinion.

You are absolutely right. Some of these treatments might be for real, others not. I've heard of phototherapy being used on an experimental basis for those suffering from such autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma.

There's a really good website which dispels the myths of some of these treatments, it's http://www.quackwatch.com. I've been known to spend HOURS on that page. It's very interesting.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Dec 15, 2005

There was an article in our local paper about a child dying from treatment with chelation therapy. As far as I can remember the child had autism. :stone

CuriousMe · Dec 15, 2005

I'm not a nurse or an expert of any kind.....but I always have an opinion :)

Even though Chiropractors have become more "mainstream" I still think there are far to many folks out there promising things they can't deliver to folks who are desperate enough to believe (and pay for) it.

I was diagnosed with what turned out to be pretty severe asthma a few years ago. I'm a huge research type person and looked up everything I could find about Asthma. I was amazed at all the folks who swore they could "cure" asthma...a lot of them were chiropractors! I think that sometimes more "mainstream" just means that more folks have heard of it.

I'm not saying that nothing in alternative therapies will help....but I think you need to be very careful, because even in you do find a treatment that might work, how do you measure how credible the practitioner is?

I'm also much more suspicious of anyone telling me that because something is natural it's safe....the last time I checked orificenic was all natural....but I don't think I'll take any.

My .02

Peace,

Cathie

1Tulip · Dec 15, 2005

I'm not a nurse or an expert of any kind.....but I always have an opinion :)
Even though Chiropractors have become more "mainstream" I still think there are far to many folks out there promising things they can't deliver to folks who are desperate enough to believe (and pay for) it.
I was diagnosed with what turned out to be pretty severe asthma a few years ago. I'm a huge research type person and looked up everything I could find about Asthma. I was amazed at all the folks who swore they could "cure" asthma...a lot of them were chiropractors! I think that sometimes more "mainstream" just means that more folks have heard of it.
I'm not saying that nothing in alternative therapies will help....but I think you need to be very careful, because even in you do find a treatment that might work, how do you measure how credible the practitioner is?
I'm also much more suspicious of anyone telling me that because something is natural it's safe....the last time I checked orificenic was all natural....but I don't think I'll take any.
My .02
Peace,
Cathie

I'm also asthmatic and almost had to go on a blower a few years ago. Turned out the ACE inhibitor I was taking for my blood pressure was revving up the inflammatory mediators in my lungs. It's a good drug that almost everyone can safely take, but... anything with a biological effect will have side effects and every biological system (i.e., person) is unique.

So, when people grind up plants and herbs and dehydrate them and put them in a pill... think of all the compounds you ingest when you take one of these. And if even 5% of the ingredients have biological effects...

I don't know. Scares me.

And chiropractic!!! Have you ever looked at the anatomy of the nerve roots? People blow out disks by just coughing or bending over to tie their shoes. So... to pay to have your spine violently jolted???? I don't think so.

Katnip, RN · Dec 15, 2005

Yes, like I said. ANY medicine traditional or not can be unsafe in the wrong hands. A lot of people out there have suffered severe consequences of FDA approved drugs with a lot of research behind them.

Also, keep in mind a lot of modern drugs came from "natural" sources. Aspirin, digoxin, etc. And as far as aspirin and NSAIDs nobody knows the mechanism of action they have. They just know it works.

And yes, NIH has shown that some alternative therapies are effective for certain things. Accupuncture has been shown to be very effective for pain relief.

I'm not saying see a chiropractor to treat asthma. But don't go closing your mind to things that other people find works for them.

For centuries people thought it was crazy to use aseptic techniques. So just because it hasn't been "proven" yet doesn't mean it can't be helpful to some.