Do you think the more scientific 'alternative' therapies should be separated from the more 'hocus pocus' ones?

Question

I am very supportive of some alternative therapies, and hate it when people describe them as nonsense. For example medical herbalism is MEDICAL, not based on faith or witchcraft like some people imagine. It takes a good brain, knowledge of science and 4+years at University I think to become one. However herbalists like this often practice in the same building as other therapists such as spiritual healers etc, and all these therapies are lumped together under the one heading 'alternative therapies,' which gives the impression of it being a bit kooky and new age.

So many people write it off before considering it properly, not realising that most conventional medicines we have now were developed from chemicals we had discovered within plants, for example aspirin came from the willow tree and when first discovered people were prescribed the bark, not a tablet, and this has many health benefits.Medical herbalists use the original plants but are just as clever as any doctor, if not more so due to their ability to think outside the box we are born into.

I used to want to be a Medical Herbalist and when I told one person what I wanted to do he replied, 'why not just be nurse,' and spoke to me as though it was a weird, daft thing to want to do. It isn't just hocus pocus, however there are some new age therapies which are and maybe being all clumped together under one title is what causes people to think this way.

Answer 1

Western Medicine with prescriptions and such is only a couple of hundred years old.   The herbs and other things considered Folk Medicine or Alternative medicine is over 5,000 years old.  Most of their remedies work without so much contradindacations (side affects).

I do Reiki which is medically labeled as HEF  Human Energy Field therapeutic sessions.  It has been amazing.

Also there is a group in my state that is battling Health Freedom.  If you look on the internet and Google Health Freedom you might find one in  your state.  They are all over right now.

There was one state that was going to say that even vitamins were diagnoising and prescribing and should be regulated.. But that group contested it and won.

..Wow.. think that your doctor would have to prescribe a vitamin for you and the price would be $1.00 a tablet.  hummm money money money is the reason that they  want to discredit alternative medicine.  

Answer 2

if it's not mainstream it's alternative which is why they all work in the same buildings, medical herbalists are not as clever as doctors they have a shorter , less rigorous training and don't need qualifications to study - just the money to pay for the course.Also, they aren't so carefully monitored and learn how to extract as much money as possible out of their clients, it appeals to people who want a profession without working for it . Medicine has moved on, conventional medicine is more effective these days...why dissolve tree bark in water when you can buy an aspirin? Also medical is not a specific term  - just refers to anything that can be used for medicinal purposes such as brandy.I think with the economy as it is you'd be wise to train as a nurse and then train to be a herbalist, there's not much of a living to be made out of herbalism.

Answer 3

I do get very frustrated that i get lumped alongside the crystal therapists and irridologists etc. especially because what I do has nothing in common with these other therapies.

I also get very frustrated that we are all lumped as dishonest scammers by the ignorant and ill informed when most of us are nothing of the sort.

As Bassdoc says there are unfortunately a few crooks among us but you find these in any profession including conventional medicine.

There is an Osteopthic practitioner I have the misfortune to know who practices in such an immoral dishonest way she is an embarasment to the profession and everyone would love to see her cease practice.

Sooner or later that will happen, She's dodged a few bullets but sooner or later a complaint against her will be upheld.

What is overlooked by a lot of supporters of conventional medicine is that people often come and see us once they've had a go with conventional medicine and found it ineffective.

Whats also not well understood is that we get a lot of our business from word of mouth. if we don't get people better we go out of business very quickly.

Osteopthy Survived and thrived inspite of conventional medics (who in the begining were mosly illiterate) trying to get us out of business and our own incesant infighting.

Why?

because it works!

People aint all stupid and if critics think our lists are full of patients who are suckers who would beleive anything, let them spend a day in practice with some of us.

I did an incredibly intense 4 year program to qualify as an osteopath in the UK.

The syllabus included anatomy, Physiology, pathology, neurophysiology, pharmocology, rheumatology, orthopaedic and Neuro testing, clinical methods and clinical examinations such as heart and lung exams. most importantly it taught case history taking, differential diagnosis and how to form a solid working diagnosis.

A physio recently asked me how we came to a diagnosis and was quite surprised when I described how we did clinical and Orthopaedic tests etc.. I don't know why, perhaps she thought we came to our diagnosis by waving crystals over peoples knees.....

She was also suprised that we used a lot of the same text books.

UK Osteopaths are self regulating because the government is satisfied that we are suitably trained and competant to assess and treat patients and refer on if needed.

I now practice in NZ where we are regulated by a Government organisation rather than self regulating there are only 350 of us in the country.

One thing I would like to see change is every healthcare practitioner be taught case history taking and clinical examination.

Currently that is not the case.

Answer 4

You can have science based medicine, or you can have alternative therapies.  There is no middle ground.  If alternative therapies have not gone through proper scientific method, that is randomized, double blinded, controlled, clinical trials which are repeatable anywhere and have passed proper medical peer review, than they are not regarded as scientific.  Perhaps what you mean by "more scientific" is in fact "pseudoscientific".  Herbalists are NOT just as clever as any doctor, they have had zero proper medical training.  And they don't know what they are selling.  Off the shelf herbs have not had their active ingredients isolated and separated, the quality and quantity of the active ingredient varies and can not be verified. The sources of these products is unreliable.  They vary from season to season.  If they do have any effect, you must consider them to be "dirty drugs".  Stick to the science, the efficacy is well known, and so are the risks!  Because they have gone through proper scientific method.  By the way, just because something has been in use for thousands of years, that doesn't make it safe of effective.  We had no idea about epidemiology even hundreds of years ago, and keep in mind that the average life expectancy just a few hundred years ago was 45.  It is now 77.

Answer 5

Interesting question. Yes, I do agree that some therapies would progress more if they were separated from some of the more "new age" ones.

Answer 6

The real reason alternative medicine and other therapies are here to stay is that standard medicine is a SPECTACULAR FAILURE at treating the two ailments the average person is most likely to experience and lose work to - the common cold and simple back and neck pain!

The medical therapies for both these things have been proven again and again not to work, and chiropractic and acupuncture regularly steamrollers over the success rates of medicine and PT for back pain.

Unfortunately "Alt Med" casts a very wide net, and we are stuck with a lot of loonies and fruitcakes (and even a few crooks).

The public needs to be educated in ALL healthcare decisions it makes, standard OR alternative.

Best.

Answer 7

My dear Darkling (and that's what you are), if you ever were a homeopath I''ll eat my left leg.

Anyone who was once on the sunny side would never succumb to the darkness.

So tell the truth and stop rubbishing us.

And yes, we should be separated from all this "Esoteric Science".

PS.

In addition, one more thing. I sorry you for the money you spent on your education, if you do not know the big difference in the actual action of white willow bark and the humble aspirin.

Put your trolling into better use.

Answer 8

Docrock - "Anyone who was once on the sunny side would never succumb to the darkness."  Are you serious?  Medical science is the dark side now?  Nice argument from ad hominem - typical response from someone who who has no morals or ethics and will happily take money from desperate and ill individuals, while offering nothing but water.  Really, that is as low as one can go.   Darkling sounds like someone who who soon realized how much baloney homeopathy is, and did the only proper thing she could do - get out of it.