CAM guide: articles in today's Guardian

[Mojo]

There's a story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1414920,00.html) headlined

Charles gets seal of approval on unorthodox treatments

Complementary health guide gains state aid

in today's Guardian about a guide to therapies issued by the Foundation for Integrated Health. It is at least largely neutral in tone, although it does include, for example

Michael Dixon, a GP from Cullompton, Devon, and chairman of the NHS Alliance, an umbrella group of individual healthcare workers and NHS organisations in primary care, agreed. "Last year, there was one trial suggesting aromatherapy only worked if the patient thought it worked. The conventional scientists would say therefore it doesn't work but that is the wrong conclusion. The conclusion is a complementary therapy works for those who believe in it."

Placebo, anyone?

It's balanced by a large sidebar by Edzard Ernst: http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1414930,00.html
and there's another report by him (on "spiritual" healing) at http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1414810,00.html

 

[Drooper]

I think the sidebar could provide a little more direction from known research. Some of the strangely noncommittal statements include:

Homepopathy:

The evidence is very conflicting. One summary concluded that the effects of homeopathy are not totally due to placebo. But many subsequent reviews of the trial data were far less optimistic

...conflicting??

Reflexology

Even though several encouraging studies, on balance, the totality of the data does not strongly support the effectiveness of reflexology

..not strongly support??

Aromatherapy

Studies show relaxing effects which are probably short-lived but can be helpful in supportive care for seriously ill patients, such as cancer sufferers

...how about no effacacy beyond that from placing a nice bunch of flowers in the room??


What a woo. What is it with the defrence that people pay to academics.

 

[pgwenthold]

Michael Dixon, a GP from Cullompton, Devon, and chairman of the NHS Alliance, an umbrella group of individual healthcare workers and NHS organisations in primary care, agreed. "Last year, there was one trial suggesting aromatherapy only worked if the patient thought it worked. The conventional scientists would say therefore it doesn't work but that is the wrong conclusion. The conclusion is a complementary therapy works for those who believe in it."

Whereas medicine works whether you believe it or not (although most medical treatments can certainly work better if you believe in it).

 

[Mojo]

What is it with the defrence that people pay to academics.

This is more to do with relying on the evidence that currently exists: although there is little evidence that these therapies work, in many cases so little decent research has been done that there is not much evidence that they don't work either.

 

[Matabiri]

I think the sidebar could provide a little more direction from known research.

The most irritating thing about the whole exercise was that the "remedies" were generally deemed "harmless", and no-one mentioned that this is not the case if people forego proper medical treatment for a condition in favour of alternative medicine.

Also, no-one turned up and said, "Screw patient choice, public healthcare money should only be spent on techniques and remedies that have been shown to have a definite benefit."