Complementary/alternative medicine: Classic or Dud?

But on the other hand I grew up around a lot of 'alternative whores' - people who dabbled in homeopathy AND aromatherapy AND Chinese herbs AND Ayurveda AND acupuncture AND yoga etc etc as if they were all equivalent. Something always disturbed me about soaking it all up as if it was all part of a single therapeutic system, which it clearly ISN'T.

And my cynical side goes further, believing that if you're going to give money to charlatans, at least be consistent...

i REALLY want to try reflexology as well, but i'm firmly of the opinion that complementary medicine works best when you make an effort ALL THE TIME (or most of the time heheh) to be healthy( no good eating 20 tons of Mcdonalds every day and then expecting the odd peppermint tea to sort you out). making *overall* health your priority and taking a holistic approach to it is definitely the best way and helps to ensure that you don't get ill in the first place!

actually i take it back. DONT EAT MCDONALDS... ;)

It just seemed such a sensible description and I was bemused momentarily about the fairly banal fact that I have a pathetic level of concern for my health. I'm doing my best to make myself sound normal here......

The rich, red tomatoes used to make Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup mean a serving counts as two portions of fruit and veg*. A serving of Heinz Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce contains one portion of fruit and veg* and contributes because of the amount of tomatoes used in the sauce. With Heinz Baked Beans, the beans form part of the pulses category and therefore count as one portion per serving*.

Canning naturally preserves food and locks goodness in without the need to add any artificial preservatives. All Heinz products contain only the highest quality ingredients and contain no GM ingredients.

And you know what - I'm noit sure why it shouldn't. The fruit/veg thing after all is all about getting the nutrients out - the key point is having diversity. The lycothranpy stuff that's in tomato's is well worth it. The additional sugar is a bit of a downer but doesn't really feed into the nutritional side (since Grapefruit with sugar would could as a serving).

the only thing that annoys me more than this is that smarmy little sign on the back of Walkers crisp packets that say "this bag of crisps has as much Vitamin C in it as an apple". it is JUNK FOOD MASQUERADING AS HEALTHY AND IT SHOULD BE BANNED!!!!

i thought that Medical Science had sppproved beanz as an acceptable way of getting yr veg. i could be wrong tho.

ah it is government advisors. do i smell a bribe (allegedly)?

i wonder if pickled onions count? hey HANG ON, i wonder if JAM DOUGHNUTS count? cos y'know jam is made of fruit...

Katie, I imagine you would have to eat a LOT of doughnuts to get enough fruit. Oh what a shame.

"A recent MORI omnibus survey** found that people are confused over what counts and what doesn't. A staggering 91% of people don't realise that canned spaghetti can count towards their 5-A-Day. Heinz Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce counts because of the number of tomatoes used in the sauce. Over 70% don't realise that canned tomato soups count towards their 5-A-Day and almost 60% don't realise that baked beans count."
It's Official!
What makes you so angry? That they put salt and sugar in them to make them yummy as well as highly nutritious?

i'm going home now anyway. night all!

As for the original question -- clinical studies first, please, before winging off into the ether. I am an allopathic madman.

It's become the opposite in the United States--practically every doctor I've ever gone to has always diagnosed "stress" first and only after my symptoms won't go away and I've bitched and moaned will they even consider a physical cause. Relaxation techniques did nothing for my sinus headaches; antihistamines have worked well so far. And one of my friends suffered for ages with a gallbladder problem that her doctor was writing off as psychosomatic.

As for the various "alternative" medical practices, I have no problem with them as long as they have been proven to be effective in a randomized clinical trial. An individual case study, whether of complementary or allopathic medicine, doesn't necessarily in and of itself mean anything regarding the case outcome or the treatment used.

And fruit and vegetables are great, if you pick the right ones. I've chosen to devote my life to orange squash, crisps, chocolate and chips. I think they all count. Obviously I have more than one bar of chocolate a day to make sure I have four portions.

One of my close work colleagues runs and cycles all over the place and mocks my diet, as I mock his. He was off sick yesterday! Aha! I was triumphant! He exercises loads and takes endless care over his diet, and he was off sick, whereas I do zero exercise and eat rubbish, and I have had only 43 days off sick this year! Proof!

Been doing some research online to find some Gerson Therapy-friendly recipes for the holidays to cook for my mother in law, who's been doing the therapy for about 6 months.

And I found this

How do I use applied kinesiology to choose which foods or ingredients are best for my body today?

It's really quite easy and simple. First, stand with your feet together and relax your knees. Hold the food item that you are about to eat in front of you at about your solar plexus and just touching. Close your eyes and ask your body if it needs this food today. The majority of people's bodies will lean forward for a "Yes" response and conversely it will lean backward for a "No" response. If you lean to either side that is usually a "maybe" or "optional" type response. The amount of sway differs on many factors including the person and the need of the body for that particular item. Usually if I get a big sway I'll add more of that item.

http://rawcowgirl.blogspot.com/

Ooooooof

my diet would be chocolate, icecream and beer

The regular medical profession is pretty ace when it comes to anything that can genuinely be fixed by a surgery. But, of course, surgery has acquired such enormous prestige that surgeons have bulled their way into areas where they have little to offer in the way of effective therapy, but plenty to offer in the way of risk and expense.

Then there are all those new pharmaceuticals, which are more complex than ever, and are applied to a whole universe of ailments and conditions that once lacked any effective treatment. These, too, have acquired enormous prestige, with the consequence that they are frequently prescribed willy-nilly, with the risks downplayed and the benefits hyped, for conditions where there are no proved clinical results.

Otoh, alternative medicines and therapies have a long history of overreaching, overhyping, illegitimate claims and spotty results. Yet, they do sometimes have a better track record than conventional medicine, so go figure. I am happy to see that there is a trend of conventional and alternative medicine converging, when evidence emerges that an alternative therapy really does work.

Sorting through all this stuff is overwhelming and occasionally a nightmare. The chances of making mistakes or errors of judgment are boggling. I am just happy that my own body seems to be basically healthy and functional and I try not to abuse it too much. Making medical decisions on my daughter's behalf is challenge enough for one lifetime.

Yeah I've learned a lot from what my mother-in-law has been through. Mainly about resisting the urge to categorically judge treatments as quackery and being more intune with the wellbeing of the person in question.

This Gerson Therapy still, even now, on paper just seems like an awful lot of handwavey piffle to me...but my MIL is in no pain, is engaged and pretty much her old self, it's just now she's got this invader in her pancreas doing a ridealong. There's been no growth in her cancer so far, so hey. What the hell.

Same with my sister in law, who's doing a pretty hardcore alternative treatment for her MS. I have a hard time buying waht little science is behind it, but her symptoms are almost completely managed by doing this. So while she's healthy, I just have to kinda say fuck it.

Because it's not me. And what I've learned from them is that when you're staring scary shit down, you're willing to do what makes m you *feel* well, and live well.

^^ seems pretty much otm to me

http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/

http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/403-why-you-should-avoid-all-honcode-certified-websites.html

this is amazing (but old news, just never seen such a perfectly rongitarian case like this in the wild)

lordy that is psychotic.

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/jen-gunter-at-uoft-andrew-wakefield-is-a-credible-source-about-vaccinations-now

One of my relatives is going for a doctoral degree in acupuncture at a university for "integrative health" and it really rubs me the wrong way. Like, she'll sit there talking about chi flow and pulse diagnosis and then refer to herself as "in graduate school" and will say things like "once I'm a doctor..." Am I right that this makes me want to pull my hair out or should I just relax?

Eh, life's too short to get bent out of shape about it imo. And if alternative medicine can help make life even shorter, all the better.

My therapist has recommended I try EFT for anxiety when I do my driving test. He told me upfront it's basically bullshit but just going along with it can help relax and get some placebo effect

I'm pretty anti-woo and didn't know what EFT was but that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea.
if it's your first test and it doesn't go well (I did mine severely on edge over my husband's heart surgery and failed) you might find having done it once makes you less scared of the unknown so will be more relaxed a second time. Not that that will happen because you can and will totally pass first time!

It's my 8th (although 2nd on this round of attempts) but thanks :)

all the best ppl pass on their 8th time :)

Like, she'll sit there talking about chi flow and pulse diagnosis and then refer to herself as "in graduate school" and will say things like "once I'm a doctor..."

Sounds like a former relative-in-law of mine. Be ready to hear about some "alternative" views on vaccines.

Most chronic diseases of affluence (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver disease, lower respiratory disease, depression, an estimated 40% of cancer) are lifestyle related. Lifestyle medicine, focusing on diet, exercise, conviviality, sleep etc should be the primary response towards prevention and in many cases, cure.

That said, alternative and complementary medicince conflates lifestyle medicine, which provably works, with a lot of utter hogwash. There are a few chiropractors and naturopaths I respect (like Alan Goldhamer and Pam Popper), but they have largely rejected the non-evidence based parts of their education. I find some within these fields plainly snake oil salesmen. If Dante were alive, he'd assign a circle of hell for homeopaths, accupuncturists, and numerous other hucksters.

Pam Popper, a "recovering naturopath"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8DNQNNg8eQ

Same relative from my last post got an ear infection last week and went to a regular local clinic to get treated. From her Facebook update:

Still fighting off the infection that started this. I had to jump through hoops to get antibiotics. Western medicine disappoints me with their quality of care.

I swear to fucking god.