Why don't people who boast about "traditional" medicine realise that traditionally people died of illnesses...

Question

... which modern medicine can now cure or prevent completely?

Sorry quacks, but homeopathy wasn't curing cancer or malaria in the 1800s any more than it is now

And acupuncture didn't cure the Chinese of anything when they invented it and their average livespan was barely 30.

I really don't get it. Is our education system so bad that people honestly believe this stuff, or are they just trying to be different?

Answer 1

you are healthy so you will say this kind of remarks. But when you really fall sick and you have tried all the modern medicine and still there is no cure, there is no harm trying with traditional medicine. In truth, it goes hands in hands

Answer 2

It's odd that proponents of alternative therapies often point to some aspect of modern medicine which has been a failure, eg the Aunt who died of cancer, thalidomide, misdiagnoses.  This is to suggest that modern medicine is not perfect.  Well, big whoopee.  Nothing's perfect.

However, please tell me how alternative medicine has eradicated smallpox, made polio, diphtheria etc virtually unknown in the West, fights bacterial infections that would have been fatal before antibiotics and so on.

There is obviously a role for alt meds - it is well recognised that the placebo effect is very powerful and should not be discounted.  Similarly, complementary therapies can offer palliative and therapeutic benefits for many conditions - one example might be massage for back pain.

A good physician will attempt to correctly diagnose and treat a patient's condition but the key to success lies in correct diagnosis.  Complementary therapists who attempt to treat illness without a definitive diagnosis are dangerous; serious conditions can often present with minimal signs or symptoms - particularly in the early stages.  

I'd also be curious to know how complementary therapies can treat (I don't mean lessen the symptoms, I mean cure) cleft palate, malaria, trauma (such as a car accident), macular degeneration, glaucoma, syphilis.  The list could be very long!

Incidentally, don't pooh pooh acupuncture - there is very real evidence to show that acupuncture raises endogenous endorphines to produce increased pain tolerance and a sense of wellbeing.

I would expect complementart therapists to show scientifically sound evidence of their procedures but this is very lacking.  The occasional anecdotal success is irrelevant.  Many practitioners rely on faith and as we well know, people will not accept criticism of a belief system!

Answer 3

hello brother or sister,

science did not erupt in one day it is a constant improving process.boasting about traditional medicine is a must as in those days where the technology was less there was no MRI AND CT scans ,with out sophisticated instruments they used to treat people successfully(that is where there greatness is).now a days where we can locate a problem very easily ,the cure looks simpler .for example 70 years ago taking a photograph was a huge task , and now even a child can capture it with just a click .that doesn't mean that those photos taken at that time worth nothing . this is  a constant improving process you must feel proud of the traditional works done they were the foundation steps for the modern medicine. my friends there is no difference between traditional and modern medicine it is just an extension .

Nori.G.Pradeep

Answer 4

After suffering from GERD, my DR had put me on Zantac. After taking this for several months, I started experiencing insomnia and nervousness. After doing research on google, I found out that certain medicines and others causes depletes vitamins and minerals. As a result I started taking digestive enzymes for my indigestion and havn't went back to Zantac since. Here's another one; I was also suffering from chronic sinus and allergy problems. I started using saline wash (home remedy) and now I don't need antibiotics. So, it works for me, sorry!

Answer 5

Id be really interested to see where you got your information regarding the lifeexpectancy of chinese 5000 years ago.

Interestingly you state the life span was 30 WHEN they invented it which actually suggests that SINCE they've invented it, lifespan has extended considerably....

Contrary to myth propogated by big Pharma, the biggest factors contributing to the extened lifespans we enjoy today are better sanitation, cleaner water and better nutrition.

Lets do a test study and let an experimental group live in the same squaller as 200 hundred years ago giving them all the allopathic medicine you like and see what effect this has on the average lifespan of that group shall we? Better still lets raise infants from birth in these conditions...

Skepdoc, what percentage of patients do altmed practitioners kill or maime compared to conventional medicine?

Do we have 100,000 deaths per annum in the USA from adverse reactions like your lot do?

MDs pay up to $100,000 per annum for liability insurance. The same companies cover chiropractors for $2000 per annum.

So which one is more risky and dangerous to the patient?

Edit:

I've just had a look at  http://whatstheharm.net/ and the Osteopthy Section.

It lists 12 people have been killed or harmed by Osteopathic treatments over a 15 year period.

These people were actually treated by around 4 practitioners and only 1 of them was outside the USA.

All US registered Osteopths are actually MD's who pretend to practice manual medicine.

The one patient outside the US that died from an untreated condition was a child taken to a whole host of other practitioners as well as an osteopath.

In the UK there are 7 million Osteopathic consults per annum. In the US there are probably more. From all this over a 15 year period this site has gleaned incidences of 12 deaths or injuries......

.......And we are unsafe?

It also talks of around 270 people killed or maimed by Chiropractors in a similar time period.......

....Compare that to how many deaths due to mistakes from conventional medicine?

I can tell you with certainty that I am not expected to kill or seriously injury any of my patients by mistake.

Can medics say the same?

I've heard of doctors actually saying (to the principle of an Osteopthic college outside the US) 'you know you are an experienced MD when you've killed at least ten of your patients by mistake'.

Answer 6

Our bodies react to natural nutrients and in many cases the natural products actually cur a diesase. Synthetic prescriptions treat the symptoms and the side effects are worse than the disease. I believe that our immune system is the only way to cure a disease and it needs a lack of pollution and plenty of clean water, air and nutritional food. Disposal of waste is important also.Prescriptions don't cure diseases.

Answer 7

Traditional medicine, even though it is false, is a mixture of two things: a desire to turn away from the adverse side affects of some drugs, and an attempt to put common 'home healing' on a recognised footing.

As a doctor, I too am concerned about drug manufacture (and patents as mentioned above) and some of the awful side-effects of some powerful drugs. As long as people aren't educated in how drugs actually work and why there are side effects, quacks will be able to sell water to people for a lot of money.

Answer 8

Traditionally the body healed itself.  The fact that we are all here today is proof of that.  Our ancestors were not all completely disease free.  They got sick, and in time, got better.  Some indeed may have died, but that is every bit as true today.

But what is different today is that we know much more about how diseases are spread, and can take better care to avoid them.  All the same, modern medicine doesn't have all the answers  -  aren't they still doing research?  They haven't yet got a cure for the common cold.  The most they can offer is something that will relieve some of the symptoms while your body does its own healing.  If someone feels homeopathy or other alternative treatment helps, why not?  

I'd rather not fill my body with chemicals if there is another way.

  

Answer 9

There are so many different types of 'traditional' and 'alternative' medicines, many of which are used along side modern medicine to either increase their effectiveness or relieve symptoms.

My best buddy died of Cancer January this year...she was being pumped full of the essential Chemotherapy drugs, but found that alternative medicine (with guidance and support from her consultants)

helped her get through the side effects caused by her treatment. She couldn't have coped with the side effects without it.

I've been studying herbalism for 2 years now and don't just believe that alternative medicine is effective because of my research, but I've tried and tested many myself (as have many of my friends) and I absolutely swear by them.

Your reference to homoeopathy and acupuncture are accurate, but you've got to look into the history of these practises and the state of the cultures at that time to understand more about their mortality rates and causes of death.

We're very lucky now with the development of modern medicines, but as long as alternative remedies and treatments don't counteract other medical treatments, they can be a welcome addition.

Also, most chinese hospitals practise their own traditional methods alongside modern medicine.

I think you have a valid query, but I don't think you're right to pigeon hole those who use and believe in the possitive qualities of alternative practices as uneducated or 'trying to be different'.  

I suggest you educate yourself on this subject, you might be suprised on what you learn.  

Answer 10

I have a story from my Grandmother.

In the late 1930s, just before the beginning of World War 2, she was going to university in Hawaii. During her third year, she was the 'Den Mother' (What we now call RA) of an all girls dorm. And every day, she would go around and check to make sure everyone who lived in her dorm could feel the bottom of their feet. Why? Because people would wake up and be paralyzed by Polio. Overnight. They would wake up and be unable to move their legs.

This is completely incomprehensible to us now. People getting crippled and dying  with such regularity. Drop back a hundred years and the average life expectancy drops to under 40 years in the US, 1 in ten women are dying due to getting pregnant. Drop back another 100 years and the average life span drops under 30 years. Think for a moment, how many children died to cholera. For the vast majority of human history, people appear to have lived less than 30 years. People flat out didn't live long enough to die of things like cancer or dementia or Alzheimer's.

The idea that the human body has some fundamental overwhelming ability to heal itself from any and all ailments is one I can't personally wrap my head around. It's resilience is impressive, but it's really just an organic machine with countless billions of tiny moving parts. Things break, things go wrong, things were never put in correctly to begin with.

Answer 11

I agree, you don't get it. Worse, you don't want to. Your many questions along this vein make that clear.

Why don't you interview the parent of a "thalidomide" baby?

Answer 12

You know what I don't get? The fact that not all complementary therapists are "anti" conventional medicine. Yet a great deal of conventional practitioners/supporters are "anti" complementary therapists.

I'll outline my position. I am a qualified nurse with over 15 years experience in medicine.

Yet I am also a qualified an practising massage therapist, reflexologist and Reiki practitioner.

I would NEVER claim to be able to cure ANYTHING. What I do is work alongside conventional doctors to provide the optimum level of care for a person.

If a person does not have a lot of money - I ask for nothing and still treat them.

So please don't lump all therapists in your preconceived mould.

Answer 13

I partly agree, but wonder if there are some more traditional remedies or cures which have been pushed out of favour in the name of profits for the drug conglomerates. My bone of contention is the idea that the drive for profit is what funds our drugs research. I am not quite sure how we could do this better, but it is the age old problem in politics, which seems to be that state control leads to inefficiency, whilst competition in the private sector leads to duplication of research by differing competitors, which we see in the races for various cures, as well as in other industries such as armaments. This duplication of research is a waste of the limited resources on earth.

We would certainly have a much better, happier, and more peaceful planet if the available research was published for all to see and use, and if patents for drug formulas were outlawed. By denying the third world the right to our superior knowledge unless they can pay for it, we are in effect contributing to their deaths from tropical diseases.

Going back to your question though, education is in rapid freefall, as are many other areas of society. I think people just hope that there is something more out there, and are gullible. It is not as though these herbal rememdies and alternative treatments are cheap either- the acupuncturists et al are all on the profit hunt as well. How much does a lump of a chinese root really cost, Messrs Hollan & Barrett?

Take care...

Answer 14

I've found Alties to be quite disingenuous when it comes to the down side of sCAM.  On the other hand medical science is quite open about the problems with our treatments...we publish them in peer reviewed journals, every hospital has morbidity and mortality committees etc.

Alties  are very vocal promoting the natural, wholistic, no side effects "boosting your immune system" side of things but completely ignore the fact that:

-placebo treatments (which is essentially all most sCAM modalities are) can have negative side effects, known as nocebos

-people can have serious side effects, illness and death from herbal treatments

They ignore things like HIV transmission, or pneumothorax from acupuncture, serious burns and skin infection from moxibustion, verterbral artery dissection leading to stroke or death from chiropractic, pulmonary embolus from "cupping".   The list goes on and on and on and is completely ignored by Alties

I will only mention in passing the real downside to sCAM...people with actual serious illnesses who waste their time, money, health, and often lives by choosing a sCAM treatment when there exists a proven treatment or cure offered by evidence based medicine.

http://whatstheharm.net/

Don't get me started....

Answer 15

haha. so true