Conventional medicine vs. alternative medicine

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CJB

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What's your stance? Do you think conventional medicine works best or alternative? Both at the same time? Neither?

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Depends on the person seeking treatment for relief. Some are for therapeutic purposes like QiRei Shiatsu as a holistic approach to wellness.
 
CJB said:
What's your stance? Do you think conventional medicine works best or alternative? Both at the same time? Neither?

:thumb:
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Personally, I believe that the two need to look at the benefits in each and go from there. Unfortunately, too many in the alternative field refuse to consider conventional treatments. However, conventional medicine has been pretty good at telling patients there is nothing wrong with combining the two, but simply inform your physician of any alternative method you are using. The reason being, alternative medicine is not regulated, and can actually be dangerous as a result.
 
Definitely depends on the person and the illness. alternative medicine is quite good for managing pain, and far less dangerous. But for something like a brain tumor, I'd say you should put down the herbs and acupunture needles and get to a neurologist stat!
 
What about doing something like using food grade hydrogen peroxide in various ways, including a scheduled plan to include it in and drinking purified or distilled water?
 
Tousi said:
What about doing something like using food grade hydrogen peroxide in various ways, including a scheduled plan to include it in and drinking purified or distilled water?
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As a preventive measure?
 
Wouldn't drinking distilled water be dangerous? Anyone that took a college- or university-level biology class would know why....
 
I didn't take college biology. I learned how to use a distillation tube in organic chemistry lab.
 
sallylou said:
I didn't take college biology. I learned how to use a distillation tube in organic chemistry lab.
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Yet I see so many "health freaks" and "new age" folks advocate for distillation... at least until they took a course in biology or chemistry, then they don't sprout it anymore.

Good job on not being one of them. :p
 
I think it's important to approach illness and diseases from all angles. It's also equally important to not dismiss a course of treatment without first understanding it. A lot of people I know who favor holistic medicine, often disregard sound medical advice because they don't trust doctors. I think we need more doctors willing to discuss alternative treatments in addition to standard treatments.
 
nope said:
I think it's important to approach illness and diseases from all angles. It's also equally important to not dismiss a course of treatment without first understanding it. A lot of people I know who favor holistic medicine, often disregard sound medical advice because they don't trust doctors. I think we need more doctors willing to discuss alternative treatments in addition to standard treatments.
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Agreed, Many of our conventional treatments came directly from indigenous medicines. But I still agree with them being evaluated empirically and not just left to anecdote.
 
I don't know anything about distilled water (science was not my strong point and I haven't studied it since I was 16), but I had an interesting experience today relating to alternative medicine.

The centre which offers the course I go to (I keep typing curse! A Freudian slip is when you say one thing and think of a mother...) also offers several alternative therapies, which they have encouraged me to try- free -so I'm going for one tomorrow.

The woman explained that she offers massage, indian head massage, reflexology and hopi ear candling. She stated that a hollow candle is placed in your ear and lit, and all the impurities are drawn out of your ear and into the candle centre. Then the candle is extinguished, and cut so that you can see all the 'gunk' that was in your ear. I googled this when I got home, and found that:

1) the Hopi tribe do not affiliate themselves with ear candling and have asked the main manufacturers of such candles to stop using their name.
2) the 'gunk' drawn into the candle is debris from the wax and smoke

and, most importantly to me:
3) the procedure can result in occlusion and wax in the ears

Just a story from today I wanted to share- the point is, not everything is as it seems, although I'm sure it's not representative of every alternative procedure.

I think conventional medicine has had it's share of accidents/scandals- thalidomide, black box warnings on anti-depressants, but so has alternative medicine- IIRC there was some poisoned 5HTP in Canada (I think it was Canada?), and foxgloves and arsenic will kill you- just because something is natural or alternative doesn't mean it's somehow better, but at the same time conventional medicine is not immune to problems.

Actually...while I'm on a roll...a couple of years ago my mum hurt her back- the doctor said she had a slipped disc, and she spent months not being able to move around as she usually would, and being in pain. She read a book about back pain by Dr. John Sarno which attributes chronic pains, depression and many other illnesses to a psychosomatic syndrome he calls TMS.

We had a lot of arguments about this at the time- I can see the value of holistic therapy, and appreciate that my mental state contributes to aches and pains etc, but I didn't (and still don't) believe that my problems are caused by 'TMS'.

Wiki link to TMS: Tension myositis syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm still not sure where I stand, on this or quite a lot of things in life!
 
Be an informed consumer. Research any medical therapy before treatment, including those recommended by an M.D. (there are some unnecessary surgeries) Know the risks of any treatment. Learn to spot dubious claims.

Here's a consumer protection site:

Quackwatch

Some of the dangerous treatments on this site are sold in your local health food store, like collodial minerals. Aways research what you put in your body and tell your physician what alternative treatments you are using.
 
CJB said:
What's your stance? Do you think conventional medicine works best or alternative? Both at the same time? Neither?

:thumb:
Click to expand...

I've always leaned more towards conventional medicine vs alternative medicine, but I am starting to think that integrative medicine is best. However, I agree with Jillio that we need to emphasize empirical research rather than cures that rely upon anecdotal evidence of success.
 
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I was just looking at the Quackwatch site (I'm sallylou and Jillio's one-woman fanclub!) and remembered the British 'Nutritionist' Gillian McKeith- are you familiar with her in America?

She has/had a TV show, and I remember one episode where she was saying that different coloured foods had different auras, and that oranges were good for you as they had orange auras...!! Science at it's finest ;-) what worries me is that she has gone from a premise of eating mostly vegetables, and exercising daily, which is healthy in itself, and did a lot to improve the health of the volunteers on the show, but jumped to 'food has auras', and people will believe her, because her initial premise is sound.

Having said that, there are so many different views out there that I don't know what to believe- there might be stuff on Quackwatch I believe in, and stuff I don't, and without being a scientist myself there's only so much I can do to educate myself and come to my own conclusions.
 
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