The Public's Doubts About "Western Medicine"

elkpark · Feb 21, 2010

I think with time, you will see that works both ways.
Plenty of phyicians "prey" on patients, insisting on immediate treatment with XYZ, when other (less dramatic, less risky, less expensive) alternatives exist.

But at least with physicians, there is a board, regulations, code of ethics, etc., and poor quality practitioners can eventually get disciplined (although I'm well aware that doesn't happen with physicians nearly enough!) With "alternative" practitioners and treatments, it's the "Wild West" -- no rules, no consequences, no nothin'.

GilaRRT · Feb 21, 2010

I am not sure this "Wester Medicine" concept is all that valid. There are some pretty good cardiac programmes in India. I advocate good evidence based medicine with with transparency and peer review. It is not perfect, but it is the best we have to go on at this point in time.

Unfortunately, many of us and our patients do not have a good grasp at looking at evidence and making decisions based on evidence. A good example being back pain. Many patients with chronic back and disc herniation pain are tempted to go down the route of surgical intervention. Is there a large base of evidence supporting surgery for treating pain alone? Not really.

yet we as providers and patients are not keen on learning the realities, limitations and benefits of medicine. Concepts that are of little use to medicine are still taught as gospel and this creates many barriers. The concepts of the golden hour, giving beta agonists to every patient with dyspnea, and CO2 retainer hypoxia death drive are but a few of the ill understood concepts we often tout as dogma.

Medicine is not the problem, the problem revolves around how we utilise medicine.

leslie :-D · Feb 21, 2010

the consumer also has a responsibility in researching medicine, western or otherwise.

i think we can get some semblance of realistic dosages, whether they are regulated or not.

agree with jopacu, that alt medicine is underused and often misunderstood.

leslie

caffeineRx · Feb 21, 2010

To answer your questions. When I use "alternative" types of stuff, it is mostly based on herbs, etc. You're right, it is all a business. However, alternative isn't bound to turn one into a "druggy" lol.

CuriousMe · Feb 21, 2010

To answer your questions. When I use "alternative" types of stuff, it is mostly based on herbs, etc. You're right, it is all a business. However, alternative isn't bound to turn one into a "druggy" lol.

But isn't the reason you're taking "herbs" for their pharmacological value?

I guess I don't see a lot of difference between taken that pharmacological substance in it's original form, vs. taking it as a purified drug. A "druggy" either way. There's just less control over what's in the herbs.

caffeineRx · Feb 21, 2010

But isn't the reason you're taking "herbs" for their pharmacological value?
I guess I don't see a lot of difference between taken that pharmacological substance in it's original form, vs. taking it as a purified drug. A "druggy" either way. There's just less control over what's in the herbs.

I guess I should emphasize that I'm bigger on naturalistic forms. Teas, vitamins, herbs...things in their natural form.

I wouldn't consider myself a druggy. I haven't had health insurance for 7 years, due to college, etc. From ages 17-24. I'm the healthiest out of all of my friends who are consistently resorting to "western" medicine. I believe it's used far too much as a crutch. In my eyes, it's a half half thing. I prefer to try the least evasive methods of intervention and then progress as needed.

caffeineRx · Feb 21, 2010

To note: I can see what Jolie is pointing out. I JUST obtained health insurance this January and have had a few concerns in the last 3 months. Each time I go, the MD prescribes me something without EVER finding out what the problem is. They fail to warn me that these medicines can cause weight gain and heart issues. The last two times I have denied them. I have had far too many medicines pushed on me over the short course of my lifetime. I don't care if there is "regulation" or "boards", the people dispensing these medicines are human beings. Not God. So you will ALWAYS see me taking my chances with naturalistic approaches, first, before "Western" approaches.

CuriousMe · Feb 21, 2010

I guess I should emphasize that I'm bigger on naturalistic forms. Teas, vitamins, herbs...things in their natural form.
I wouldn't consider myself a druggy. I haven't had health insurance for 7 years, due to college, etc. From ages 17-24. I'm the healthiest out of all of my friends who are consistently resorting to "western" medicine. I believe it's used far too much as a crutch. In my eyes, it's a half half thing. I prefer to try the least evasive methods of intervention and then progress as needed.

I'm so glad that you've been able to maintain your health so well, that's fantastic.

I think we're agreeing on the forms. Herbs (in a natural form, ingested as teas, etc) vs. drugs that are pharmacological compounds....many which are substances that are isolated from different plants.

All I'm saying is that no matter the vehicle (an herbal tea or a pill) ingesting something for it's pharmacologic effect is still a drug. Isn't that the idea behind making sure to find out everything (including herbs and supplements) that patients are taking when we're getting a history from them? These substances have pharmacologic effects....which is good, if they didn't why would anyone take them?

I understand you prefer these pharmacologic substances in their natural form (herbs, vitamins, etc). But no matter how it's sliced, they're pharmacologic substances. So, as I said... a "druggy" either way.

RNperdiem, RN · Feb 21, 2010

If there are public doubts, I will hear about it when pharmacies close for lack of business, when hospital departments shrink and doctors go into other lines of work for lack of patients.

DirtyBlackSocks · Feb 22, 2010

It's a tough subject.

On one hand, Western Medicine is scientifically proven successful - procedures are in place (for the most part) to ensure that methods used by those carrying an MD are peer reviewed methods.

The problem is that on both sides you have deceitful con artists who will take advantage of any craze they see, or the window of opportunity.

For example, child obesity in America has raised concerns about corporate responsibility towards what is acceptable to use in processed foods meant for consumption. Nutritionists come out and tell everyone that organic foods are the way to go.

Expert opinion gets warped into a new fad of nutritional supplementation. People are now selling phytoplankton and seaweed extracts as the cure all for your ailments, because everything in it is organic - regardless of there being any actual scientific, peer reviewed evidence to back those claims up.

As American's, people are pre-programmed to believe in advertisement. It's unfortunate, but it's true. The recent climate in the media - distrust for the government, corporate scandal, etc. - all directly relates to how an uninformed person is going to apply that to their daily lives.

On the other extreme you have doctors abusing the system in order to make a buck. Gynecologists go to a one day seminar - open up a practice in Beverly Hills - and legally claim they are certified plastic surgeons. Once again the media breaks a story like this - and people distrust mainstream medical science.

While I'm not disputing that organic and holistic medicines can be a great way to alleviate symptoms, I certainly think it's just as much a patients responsibility as it is a Doctor's to educate themselves and stay informed.

If you're bi-polar and psychotropic drugs have never worked for you - but then you changed to a raw diet and find yourself full of energy and never having manic episodes, that's fantastic. It still took that doctor to diagnose you as bi-polar for you to educate yourself into a possible solution.

Not only is it intelligent to challenge what you read or hear from your Doctor, it's your obligation. In the day of Google.com - where a wealth of community knowledge is literally an hours worth of research away - why would you not trust in anyone but yourself?

Still, to throw a Doctor to the side as being uneducated or misinformed is ridiculous. It's a cooperative effort between patient and provider - period.

zahryia, LPN · Feb 22, 2010

"Alternative" medicine doesn't fit the 'evidence-based science model'. That model was MADE for western medicine. You're trying to fit a circle into a square peg. So if you 'worship' this belief system, then clearly you would be against non-Western medicine. Alternative medicine could never 'compete' fairly in this system.

However, if you value individual's experiences. If you value how 'alternative' medicine uses their own evidence based systems, then you just might be open to another world of possibility.

Let's face it. A vast majority of 'research' is funded by private funds and private interests. There is no financial benefit in demonstrating an herb is just as effective as a pharmaceutical. Who's going to fund this type of research. Firstyear, are you going to do it? No. And I'm not either. I have better uses for my money. I go only go by what has worked for me and generations of people. Do I have a p value for these experiences? No. And I don't need one, because at the end of the day, you can make statistics tell whatever story you want to tell it.

For example, there was a study of St. John's Wort and an anti-depressent pharm that showed St. John's Wort had minimal to no effect on people with serious depression. Of course, the headline and conclusion was that the St. John's Wort doesn't work. However, if you didn't bother to read the study, you would've missed the fact that the anti-depressant drug didn't work any better (or any worse) than the herb. AND, other studies show that St. Johns Wort is better for MILD depression versus the type of depression that was studied in the aforementioned trial.

So my personal take is that Western Medicine has a place as much as non-Western medicine does. If I have an emergent, acute condition, you better believe I'm going to turn western medicine. However, if I'm looking to promote and enhance my health through primary, secondary or even tertiary preventive interventions, I will turn to traditional, alternative models of health.

One more thing, I find that western medicine uses research only when it's convenient. I work in maternity, and there's a whole lot of science against what's currently done, and it it ignored because it's inconvenient and not profitable. Pharm drugs kill thousands and thousands of people every year (even when used as prescribed) and that evidence is largely ignored, so let's keep things in perspective when it comes to science and statistics and evidence.

Take home message is that there's a place for all types of medicine. Depending on the situation, one may be more appropriate than the other.

firstyearstudent · Feb 22, 2010

I have to disagree, zahryia. If you believe there is such a thing as truth or facts, then the scientific method is a proven methodology for getting there. It wasn't created for Western medicine and it exists outside of it, and the scientific method could be used to determine the value of alternative medicines and therapies (if money were available for the studies). What is there outside of the scientific method for determining the effectiveness of any kind of treatment or therapy? I suppose there is "patient satisfaction" but then it's "for entertainment purposes only" which I once saw printed on a paper used for "ear coning/candling."