Alternative medicine that works...

Hammer_of_Thor

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Hammer_of_Thor
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Mar 16, 2007
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Found this online.

Are there any opinions on whether or not this article is valid?

I especially like the quote when talking about St. Johns wort that says "It's worth a try...".

When the article talks about lots of evidence both for and against I think that you could find point/counterpoints to most things.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/04/ep.alt.med/index.html

Is there any science that actually supports this article? I have looked around a little bit but I am wondering if anyone here has any feelings or data about the five listed "medicines".
 
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First off, if it works it's not "alternative", it's just medicine. Secondly, the article addresses a few things that are extremely controversial, such as acupuncture for chronic pain. Depending on which studies you look at, this either "works" or it doesn't. There is certainly no consenus.

The vitamin and mineral supplementation may work if there is a relative deficiency, but I'm not sure how oral magnesium supplementation would be helpful. I'd have to see the specific study(ies) this was cited from.

There is a fairly good consensus (maybe not complete) that glucosamine may help, but certainly doesn't hurt. And that's just it. Most people don't realize that these "alternative" treatments have some risk to them (e.g., too much B6 might cause neurologic damage, you are at risk for infection if you undergo acupuncture [esp. at a direputable establishment], etc.)

Best bet is to talk with an expert in these areas and find out the best possible course of treatment, including non-standard therapies, that may benefit. And just because some of these non-standard therapies may have some benefit in certain conditions, it does not mean that they work in other similar conditions.

-Dr. Imago
 
There was a piece in the Guardian ( UK) today about this sort of thing warning that these 'medicines' are not tested and could be dangerous .
 
The problem with alot of alternative medicines is that (A) have no regulatory standards, and (B) Evidence for them rarely if ever takes the form of the gold standard double blind control trial. Without such evidence, most clinicians, including myself, will not likely be convinced. There is an ELEMENT of validity to the argument "If it does no harm, then try it", but with the following caveats.

1. So long as using said treatment does not cause user to avoid or delay proper and proven MEDICAL Therapy.
2. So long as using said treatment does not harm said user financially, breaking the bank to pay for said UNPROVEN therapy.

As for the 5 therapies mentioned in the article...

1. Acupuncture - Not really amenable to a true double blind control trial. Some lesser forms of evidence/study indicates it works for some people.
2. Vitamins and Mineral for PMS - Show me the DBCTs that prove they work versus placebo.
3. St. John's Wort - Show me the DBCTs, and also, can interfere with many meds.
4. guided Imagery for anxiety - No real amenability to DBCT, but a relatively harmless option. Anecdotally I have found it effective with many of my mildly anxious patients.
5. Glucosamine for Joint Pain - IIRC the only DBCTs done were on the knee, and I believe (also IIRC) there was some statistically significant benefit with the glucoseamine. I recommend it to those patients who have mild arthritis in the knee, for whom standard therapies are not an option...once again relatively harmless, although like most of these alternatives, can be pricey.

TAM:)
 
Isn't guided imagery a sort of relaxation technique with extra bells and whistles? Like giving a person aspirin and a homeopathic painkiller?
 
Every one I know who has used St. John's Wort for chronic depression has said it worked for two or three weeks at most and then became ineffective.
They found their prescribed meds to be more reliable for the long term.
 
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What also needs to be made clear to the altmed people is not that skeptics are trying to harsh their buzz. Skeptics are, in fact, trying to give them an opportunity to get their product properly tested and out there as a viable and supported medical treatment. All they need do is meet the same testing standards as current medical treatments... ;)
 
Um, I think by definition alternative medicines lack proper scientific evidence.

Sure, you can get anecdotes. But those suck.
 
T.A.M. said:
The problem with alot of alternative medicines is that (A) have no regulatory standards, and (B) Evidence for them rarely if ever takes the form of the gold standard double blind control trial. Without such evidence, most clinicians, including myself, will not likely be convinced. There is an ELEMENT of validity to the argument "If it does no harm, then try it", but with the following caveats.

1. So long as using said treatment does not cause user to avoid or delay proper and proven MEDICAL Therapy.
2. So long as using said treatment does not harm said user financially, breaking the bank to pay for said UNPROVEN therapy.

As for the 5 therapies mentioned in the article...

1. Acupuncture - Not really amenable to a true double blind control trial. Some lesser forms of evidence/study indicates it works for some people.
2. Vitamins and Mineral for PMS - Show me the DBCTs that prove they work versus placebo.
3. St. John's Wort - Show me the DBCTs, and also, can interfere with many meds.
4. guided Imagery for anxiety - No real amenability to DBCT, but a relatively harmless option. Anecdotally I have found it effective with many of my mildly anxious patients.
5. Glucosamine for Joint Pain - IIRC the only DBCTs done were on the knee, and I believe (also IIRC) there was some statistically significant benefit with the glucoseamine. I recommend it to those patients who have mild arthritis in the knee, for whom standard therapies are not an option...once again relatively harmless, although like most of these alternatives, can be pricey.

TAM:)
Click to expand...

I Don't have anything to add to that, but there is another thing that acupuncture needles (not acupuncture itself, just the needles) are useful for: Getting rid of knots in muscles.
 
Using acupuncture needles to help 'knots in muscles' is what is known as needling Trigger Points to de-activate them.

Trigger point de-activation can be done just as well by going to see a good sports massage therapist or a bodyworker using advanced techniques. No needles necessary.
 
Physiotherapist said:
Using acupuncture needles to help 'knots in muscles' is what is known as needling Trigger Points to de-activate them.

Trigger point de-activation can be done just as well by going to see a good sports massage therapist or a bodyworker using advanced techniques. No needles necessary.
Click to expand...

True, which is what I did, but needles can be quicker, from what I've seen.
 
The article didn't seem too bad, other than relying on Dr. Andrew Weil too much, until near the end when they supported going to an "alternative health practitioner". There seems to be a small handful of so-called alternative treatments that have some promise. There's a huge amount of quackery. Your regular doctor can easily get educated about things like glucosomine and they can and do recommend trying it sometimes. Mental techniques like what they call "guided imagery" can easily be part of a conventional pain management program.

The alternative health practitioner is likely going to do many more practices that have no real evidence behind them.
 
Jeff Corey said:
Isn't guided imagery a sort of relaxation technique with extra bells and whistles? Like giving a person aspirin and a homeopathic painkiller?
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If you go to www.quackwatch.org and search for imagery; you'll get around 50 hits. Some is pure quackery (healing cancer) other uses may have some value. BTW, when I searched "guided imagery" (with the quotes) I only got 2 hits.
Tsukasa Buddha said:
Um, I think by definition alternative medicines lack proper scientific evidence.

Sure, you can get anecdotes. But those suck.
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely correct.
 
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