Why do GPs tend to be critical of complementary therapies?

Question

as a lot of modern drugs are based on herbal medicine or are considered little more than a placebo so what is the problem? if it is a means to one healing oneself why are some of you critical??

and I mean complementary not alternative

Answer 1

Medical doctors are human beings (shhhh - don't tell them!).  For all human beings it is human nature to 'distrust' anything about which we know nothing.  Simply, they are critical because they have no knowledge, no training, and no experience with these therapies.

And, for those people who hang on to the ridiculous belief that 'there is no research', they should try reading the THOUSANDS of scientific papers published annually on the therapeutic and disease prevention roles of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, phytonutrients (carotenoids, flavanoids, polyphenols, etc.), herbs, and seasonings.  All of this research is available on the world's search engine for biomedical research - Pubmed.

Best wishes.

Answer 2

Great question!!!!!!!!! Old habits -especially with the medical profession are hard to change!! Doctors are now stuck into the habit of quick diagnosis ,handing out pills pushed by the drug companies and do not read the latest research that is changing all notions of treatment that are presently entrenched!! For example -studies in europe have proven the benefit and efficacy of fish oil over the statins like lipitor ! Fish oil outperformed thestatins in lowering cholesterol !

Yet does the med profession change or attempt improve their treatment ??? NO!! The reson being that it is easier to maintain the status quo , do the same old quackery and give you the exorbitant bill!!!!!!!

   The med profession has become a self serving fraud gobbling up money for doing little to nothing and in some cases harm!!!!

  This is not entirely the case ,of course, but it is the norm!!

Push out the worthless drugs and collect the money!! That is why alternatives are gaining a foothold with the more informed!!

Answer 3

Please remeber the AMA came into existence to put chiropractors and midwives out of business, [read that: If not annihilation, certainly complete restraint of trade which ultimately amounts to the exact same thing. ] so rather than looking at the AMA as a licensing/quality control organisation and governing board, which it can sometimes be, keep in mind its very genesis was to a) make the then new "science" of medicine with its EXTREMELY toxic and harmful modalities of surgery, drugs/chemotherapy and radiation the ONLY option for people, and to give these extremely invasive, dangerous, and at that time, unproven, methodologies exclusive use rights, regardless of their statistical outcome.  (Do some research on the use of lobotomies and hysterectomies in women's healthcare in the 1800's-1900's, if you don't believe me.)  Look at the AMA as a professional trade union that was and is completely comfortable in its hostile takeover and co-opting of all other healthcare modalities, most of which had been historically provided by women at home, in hospitals and in convents, which were amongst the earliest hospitals (and the cleanest), with many nuns having been the studied, lettered, professional nurses, doctors, healers, midwives, pharmasists, herbalists of their time.  Look at the AMA as the "enforcer body general" of the good old boy network of white male "physicians", who believe their way is the ONLY way, and everyone else is a barefoot, ignorant philistine, and you'll begin to see modern medicine a little differently, aka compare the methods of the AMA to the Teamsters, or the Mafia, and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Regarding Vortex's excellent post:  I wish things were as simple (and as kindly) as "team mentality" but the truth lies in much more insidious, hostile, arrogant and deadly places, places such as "male arrogance", "patronizing paternalism" (and yes, this is changing...slowly, mostly because allopaths are being FORCED to listen to the desires and market choices of their more intelligent, educated, enlightened and forceful clients, ie Money talks (and has already walked) and they no longer wish to be left out of the multi-BILLION dollar Alt Med market.  It's called change and adapt or watch your practice die.  It's also called having the humility to admit when your practices or methods do not work, kill, damage and maim people, and when your actual cure statistics (with all your new drugs and interventions) are actually worse then they were before you started.  (Any doubts about this, check out the stats for homebirths, midwifery assisted births, birth center births, especially in Holland, Scandinavia and the UK, vs. "Standard American 'modern' allopathic births".  Maternal/fetal beneficial outcome is HORRENDOUS in the US.  We're 18th amongst industrialized nations and falling.  Some OB/Gyns and perinatologists [where, b/c they deal w/ far more high risk pregnancies, one would expect to see a higher C-sec rate, I'll admit, but 2/3 of your practice?  Bullshite.]  are approaching a 66% C-sec rate on first time mothers.  Heretofore (as recently as the 1970's, any Dr. with over a 20-22% C-sec rate was automatically up for serious review.)  Read Nancy Wainer Cohen's Silent Knife for starters.

Read Susun Weed's discussion of The Scientific Tradition vs. The Heroic Tradition vs. The Wise Woman Tradition in her book, Healing Wise.  This is the most intelligent discussion of the militaristic and war-based genesis of "modern male medicine" vs. a feminine, spiral, synergystic, interconnected, inter-communicating, whole, systems--based model of healing I've ever encountered.  And it's imperative to understand the genesis, the beginnings, the roots, the birth of a thing, for that is what it is at its core and at its start, its roots and beginnings.  Modern medicine, has as its roots, amputation of entire limbs and removal of organs, suppression of symptoms, in the belief that if one no longer senses or sees a symtom, it is gone, not that it has retreated deeper internally only later to recur, and with more serious, worse, deadly effects.  It has a "war on the enemy mentality" and most certainly a "Kill 'em all and let God separate 'em!" mentality.  (Can we talk clear margins and irradiation here, as a clue?)  Modern medicine sees death as the enemy, disease as being completely separate from the diet, lifestyle, activity levels (or lack thereof) and psychology of the presenting patient, not as logical outcomes of life poorly lived.  This is slowly changing, especially recently, but there are a few hundred years of really poor history in medicine to overcome here.  There's also the whole notion of "clean margins", thin, white supremacy, sterilization (in all its forms and permutations), and the arrogant notion of actually being able to control, to engineer life itself, the thought that we can interface (read that control, again) life through "genetic engineering" and gene "therapy" and that we'll somehow be able to "control" the outcomes.  (Do a little research into Monsanto, and nanotechnology, and hormone--interfacing, plastic nano-particulates if you want a sense of how playing God is going to go for humans in the next 100 years.  Do a little forecasting and ask yourself, "If we've come to this point in only 150 years or less, with all the large mammals slated to be dead in 50 years, all the rainforests GONE, the seas dead and too polluted to be of any use, thousands and perhaps millions of species extinct, weather events of global, not just local significance, having gone literally from horseback or walking, to travel to the moon, where do you think we'll be in 150 years more?"  and exactly how responsible are scientists, politicians, big Pharma and industry going to be about telling the truth, and cleaning up the messes, some of which "little messes" have the potential to ruin the planet, ruin human health, revert control of food production away from humans and into the hands of privately owned companies and industrial sized factory farms where profit (and annihilation of all competition, again) is the ONLY motive.  Ask yourself what the largest industries in the world today are.  Ask yourself, "How do you contol a populace for maximum revenue, maximum information, minimum diversity, maximum uniformity and predictability", and you'll begin to have an inkling of what I'm talking about here.  Change is NOT always good, new is NOT always better and killing the earth has no future.  Collaboration and complementary medicine is the only way that will work.  Tell me if you want me to list 30 herbs that are used in modern medicine right now.  They are hardly placebos.

Sorry, I've kinda gone from GP's and complementary therapies here to world domination, but it's all related, all different facets of the same conundrum, and not to be overly simplistic, but I see all mankind's bad dog behaviour as stemming from the belief that all problems can be solved and that we can engineer or design our way (control, again...) to a better existence, while never really having a) a clean-up plan for when it all goes bad, and b) really having no reverence whatsoever for our teeny, tiny place in this irreplaceable world, and c) being grossly motivated by one thing, PROFIT, and unsustainable, unending growth.  Our brains and egos are too big, and our logical, integrity-filled, compassionate, visionary selves are FAR too small, and too limited.  Otherwise we would not now being looking at the total destruction of the entire planet and our species in the next 100-150 years.  A totally controlled monocultured, factory farmed world, where bacteria and viruses are out of control.  We are currently breeding our own destruction and that of every plant and animal on the Earth.  The planet will recover and regenerate.  (Timeline, about 1.6 million years.)  We will not.  Consider it a design flaw solved and a cancer cured.

Answer 4

You will find that Reiki is being more accepted now. Things are changing and we are going full circle from the time that every one went to see the village wise one for a cure to the modern day medicines and now more and more are seeking alternate healing again which is great but can not take the place of the medical doctor so we complementary therapists must never diagnose unless medically qualified to do so and must advise our patients to see the doctor if they are worried about anything.

Answer 5

I have been trying to figure this out for the last 10 years so this question is right up my alley.

It is a complex set of influences and situations but a large part of it is that they are taught this "attitude" in med school. It is also an aspect of human behavior. We get this team spirit mentality. If you ask most gp about alt or complemetary they are against it, if you ask an alternative doctor about allopathic medicine, they are against it. Much like a high school football team, if you ask the school about the competing school or team, they are against it and vice versa. Team sprirt, it is a function of human psychology and unfortunately it gets in the way of optimal health care.

I understand where you are coming from, you go to a doctor thinking you are going to get the best health care approach possible no matter what the remedy or therapy is, but sadly that isnt how it works. Healthcare is segregated. although there are exceptions to the rule and fortunately more allopaths are breaking free of this polarized mentality. But the doctor has to be pretty special, as it takes alot to overcome the influence of med school beliefs, drug company influence, peer doctor influence, insurance reimbursement, and legal risk to stand up and put all of this aside and give the patient the best care.

It is interesting when the playing field is leveled, meaning the doctors that use both nutritional supplements and drugs, they tend to gravitate heavily towards supplements over drugs. That should tell you something.

So go find a doctor like this and you will never look back.

Answer 6

Simple answer, proof.

If it is not proven to work, we don't use it. Same goes for untested drugs, herbs supplements, everything. There is no great conspiracy about doctors being out to make money/ make you sicker/ put almeds out of business.

The simple answer is usually the right one.

The placebo effect is fine, but you don't "heal" from it. It wont reduce viral load, or tumor size. It only makes you feel better, and improves subjective things like nauseousness, "sick" feeling, appetite etc. This is all well and good. But as others have mentioned it should not replace modern medicine and can be a waste of money.

I realize that complimentary therapies should not replace modern medicine, but not everyone does. Some of the more extremists honestly think modern medicine/ drugs are dangerous and should be completely abandoned. Read some of the responses you get to this answer and others in the alternative section. I am answering them as much as you, as you havent really asked a question. Its clear what your position is, and you have received mostly responses that confirm it. Sorry if you don't want to hear other opinions, but that is the nature of YA.

I don't think doctors are critical of complementary therapies, but they are not going to recommend something that doesn't work.

Answer 7

Because GP`s are ignorant about it.

Their mind is set only on what they have learnt but do not have experience on the other side of medicine.

Answer 8

Criticism is good, it sparks debate. Retain an open mind and make your own choices. Personally, I rely on my GP's expertise as it's worked up to now!

Answer 9

Well having suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis and tinnitus, and still do i know that complementary therapies don't always work ?, i have tried many many things to help myself to get better, spent a lot of money and nothing came of it... So if that's just me, one person out of millions.. then I'm sure doctors know these facts and figures and that's why they tend to be critical, also if you were a doctor would you put your own nose out by recommending something else that didn't involve seeing you ?? I'm not saying these therapies don't work for everyone as i am just talking about me !!, and if it was to help id sing its praises and recommend it to anyone, cause after all your right when you say its all about helping oneself to get better,

out of everything Ive tried Hydrotherapy is the one that helps the most and helps me keep my joints exercised without too much pain and strain !!...

Answer 10

Because they don't work.. I've tried them and they made me iller. Waste of money on the NHS.

Answer 11

because most of it is nonsensical.

Answer 12

Show the doctors the evidence.

If there is any.

Then they will be convinced.

Answer 13

Gps are under a lot of pressure from drug companies to keep prescribing drugs.

And drug companies are financed by Big Brother.

Answer 14

I think most GP's now accept other therapies as legitimate.

Indeed, I have a friend who is a Chiropractor and he works in a GP's practice.