Why Do We Spend $34 Billion in Alternative Medicine?

[JoeyDonuts]

WitchyWoman,

What legal recourse do you have if you see your herbalist, and they give you a concentration of X remedy that makes you sick? Or puts you in the hospital?

 

[MattC]

I am inclined, WitchyWoman, to think that you are in support of alternative medicines (specifically herbal remedies I think), but from your words in this thread I can't really say that for sure - you haven't spoken very much about it, indeed most of your words aren't so much about these remedies as much as they are against... well, "modern medicine" works as a catchall term I suppose.

I'm afraid that this really doesn't help me understand your side very much though, being the last one standing after the arguments have stopped still places you under the burden of proof. Why don't you tell us a bit about these herbal remedies and how they work as a starting point? I'm sure we'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter.

~ Matt

 

[T.A.M.]

I am inclined, WitchyWoman, to think that you are in support of alternative medicines (specifically herbal remedies I think), but from your words in this thread I can't really say that for sure - you haven't spoken very much about it, indeed most of your words aren't so much about these remedies as much as they are against... well, "modern medicine" works as a catchall term I suppose.

I'm afraid that this really doesn't help me understand your side very much though, being the last one standing after the arguments have stopped still places you under the burden of proof. Why don't you tell us a bit about these herbal remedies and how they work as a starting point? I'm sure we'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter.

~ Matt

I am sure she will speak for herself, but I have yet to say any scientific explanation for how many of their so called "remedies" work. They just collect stories of people who have used them and say it worked, and this is their so called "evidence". The exception, of course, are those herbs that actually have medicinal ingredients in them, such as Digitalis and Foxglove. However, the scientific evidence as to how these work was gathered by conventional science and medicine, not by the naturopaths.

TAM

 

[Fat Bottom Gurl]

Witchy, welcome to the forum,

I'm wondering if you can take a step back and state your position more clearly, that might help make the discussion less personal and antagonistic.

The view of many on this board is that, while many plant medicines may be effective, there are a few problems with the herbalist tradition.

1. Active chemicals found in plants can vary wildly in concentration, it's very hard to control how much of an active chemical is in a leaf or a piece of bark, so there is a risk of over or under dosing.

2. Without rigorous testing across broad populations, it's hard to predict side effects and thus make a knowledgable decision about whether the risk is worth the gain.

3. When ingesting plants directly, you're taking in more than just the active chemicals you want, you're taking in additional chemicals you don't need which often increase the risk of side effects.

4. Due to placebo effects and other errors, you sometimes don't know if the herbs you are taking are effective, in fact, many herbs widely sold by herbalists turned out after careful study to lack the benefits they were said to have.​

There are more problems, but those are some of the biggies.
What science and modern medicine does isn't to throw out any claims of herbal medicine, but to investigate them.

Through the process of double blinded, rigorous testing, it can become far more clear, which chemicals in the herbs have what effect at what doses and with what side effects. So some of the medicines sold by "Big Pharma" originate in chemicals found in herbal medicines, and some of them are more purely lab created, but all of them minimize the problems I've listed above and increase effectiveness in ways that can't be done without that kind of rigorous testing.

That's why I personally wouldn't want to go to an herbalist.
Can you make a clear case for why I should? Can you address the points above?

Oh, and don't worry too much about the antagonistic tone, a lot of us like the fire of a debate. The more you're clear with your points and your logic, the more civil this place will be (for the most part).

Crickets chirping. Too bad Cavemonster - I was hoping for some answers too.