Why do people believe in alternative medicine?

[Weeping Sore]

This is the definition I read (though I read yours as well):

Homeopathy, or homeopathic medicine, is a medical philosophy and practice based on the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself. Homeopathy was founded in the late 1700s in Germany and has been widely practiced throughout Europe.

At least in the U.S., homeopathic medicine is more specifically associated with the micro-doses of botanicals and other medicine administered in tiny capsules. The broader system based on German natural medicine is referred to as Naturopathy, which does include knowledge of homeopathy. There are various 4 and 5 year schools in the U.S. which accredit NDs or Naturopathic doctors. Their rights (which can also include prescribing pharmaceuticals) vary from state to state. I'm skeptical of the effectiveness of the micro-doses of homeopathic medicine in particular. I also think that Naturopaths' reflexive recommendation against gluten (regardless of any test of wheat allergy/sensitivity) is questionable. Use of excessive dietary restriction as a method has the danger of exacerbating any tendencies toward eating disorders, IMO.

[aceluby]

I guess I always just clump it all together as home remedies, many times with science backing why it works. Like I've said previously I'm not against either western or alternative medicines. Both have their pros and cons and both have their snake oil salesmen, you just have to be open minded and smart about what you're doing. As I said in the example before, I would never go to a doctor for my tendonitis, they just want me to have surgery that will make it worse. Western medicine consistently fails with wrist issues and usually make them far worse. Looking for alternatives is the only option I have with things like stretching, icing, rest, dietary supplements, acupuncture, etc... which has let me control it.

[Aemon Stark]

I'm no orthopaedic expert, but surgical interventions for tendonitis are uncommon to unheard of. About the only common wrist surgeries around are reductions of fractures and carpal tunnel releases. As a rule, surgeons avoid operating if it's not likely to benefit.

[aceluby]

I'm no orthopaedic expert, but surgical interventions for tendonitis are uncommon to unheard of. About the only common wrist surgeries around are reductions of fractures and carpal tunnel releases. As a rule, surgeons avoid operating if it's not likely to benefit.

Not in the music community. I know of exactly one person out of a dozen cases that wasn't suggested to have surgery for wrist related guitar issues.

[Which Tyler]

OP - it depends on your definition of "Alternative Medicine".

Personally, anything setting itself up as an alternative to medicine isn't to be trusted at all - but then, I'm not aware of anything that does that, the preferred term is "Complementary Medicine" as it exists alongside, and is complementary to, Alopathic Medecine.

Beyond that, plenty of therapies depend on where you live, and where the individual trained as to whether it's alopathic or complementary.

For example:

Aromatherapy is generally considered complementary... except in France where essential oils are a pharmaceutical prescribed by the GP - I believe the prescribed oils are the same as used elsewhere, as there's barely any profit to be made by big pharma when a treatment costs E0.02.

In the US, osteopathy is alopathic; everywhere else in the world it's complementary.

Physical therapy provided by a physiotherapist (or osteopath in the states) is alopathic; exactly the same treatment given by a chiropractor (or osteopath outside of the states) is complementary.

Acupuncture has been developed independently by alopathic medicine - where it's called "Dry Needling" and works to a point.

As an aside, the very term "Placebo" is often misleading too. To most it means "ineffective" whilst the whole point of it is that it IS effective, we just don't know why, and try, through trial design, to mean "any effect beyond what we're trying to isolate out"

[roxWolfox]

OP - it depends on your definition of "Alternative Medicine".

Personally, anything setting itself up as an alternative to medicine isn't to be trusted at all - but then, I'm not aware of anything that does that, the preferred term is "Complementary Medicine" as it exists alongside, and is complementary to, Alopathic Medecine.

Beyond that, plenty of therapies depend on where you live, and where the individual trained as to whether it's alopathic or complementary.

For example:

Aromatherapy is generally considered complementary... except in France where essential oils are a pharmaceutical prescribed by the GP - I believe the prescribed oils are the same as used elsewhere, as there's barely any profit to be made by big pharma when a treatment costs E0.02.

In the US, osteopathy is alopathic; everywhere else in the world it's complementary.

Physical therapy provided by a physiotherapist (or osteopath in the states) is alopathic; exactly the same treatment given by a chiropractor (or osteopath outside of the states) is complementary.

Acupuncture has been developed independently by alopathic medicine - where it's called "Dry Needling" and works to a point.

As an aside, the very term "Placebo" is often misleading too. To most it means "ineffective" whilst the whole point of it is that it IS effective, we just don't know why, and try, through trial design, to mean "any effect beyond what we're trying to isolate out"

Great post.

[Prue]

OP - it depends on your definition of "Alternative Medicine".

Personally, anything setting itself up as an alternative to medicine isn't to be trusted at all - but then, I'm not aware of anything that does that, the preferred term is "Complementary Medicine" as it exists alongside, and is complementary to, Alopathic Medecine.

Beyond that, plenty of therapies depend on where you live, and where the individual trained as to whether it's alopathic or complementary.

For example:

Aromatherapy is generally considered complementary... except in France where essential oils are a pharmaceutical prescribed by the GP - I believe the prescribed oils are the same as used elsewhere, as there's barely any profit to be made by big pharma when a treatment costs E0.02.

In the US, osteopathy is alopathic; everywhere else in the world it's complementary.

Physical therapy provided by a physiotherapist (or osteopath in the states) is alopathic; exactly the same treatment given by a chiropractor (or osteopath outside of the states) is complementary.

Acupuncture has been developed independently by alopathic medicine - where it's called "Dry Needling" and works to a point.

As an aside, the very term "Placebo" is often misleading too. To most it means "ineffective" whilst the whole point of it is that it IS effective, we just don't know why, and try, through trial design, to mean "any effect beyond what we're trying to isolate out"

True, it depends on the definition of 'alternative' medicine and its counterpart. And it depends on the experiences one has made with the medicine sector, either yourself or people you know. Sorry if I got too cranky and stepped on people's toes, especially if they work in the medicine sector. I believe you that you are idealistic and only want to do what is best for the patient. And I hope it will remain that way.

I'm just so exasperated about people I know who only believe in alopathy, which for them means that they demand (and get!) prescription-only drugs for every silly cold and the like, even if they ruin their health with that. One of my mum's friends even nearly died from that as her immune system broke down after taking yet another super-hard antibiotic, as she was already resistant against nearly everything. (I even took that experience out on elrostar in chat back then, sorry.) Fortunately she survived, and she's super-happy that she is already allowed to take 'light' antibiotics again *rolleyes* Maybe it's their hero-worshipping of doctors as 'demi-gods in white', maybe only thriftiness as they don't want to pay for any 'alternative' (= over the counter) medicine out of their own pocket, but it can be really frustrating to deal with people who *don't* believe in 'alternative' medicine.

[Summah]

Antibiotics are inappropriate and ineffective for colds, but have you considered that it may not always be thriftiness, but rather because some can't afford over the counter medications? Perhaps the better answer is trying to get coverage for some types of complimentary and OTC therapy, at least for poor people, then the doctor can prescribe something more appropriate.

[arya_underfoot]

What herbs are associated with diabetes? Type I or II? I've never heard this, and i'm not sure anything out on the market would help out in any way shape or form.

French lilac has been used in "herbal preparations" for centuries I believe. More recently ie early 20th century, the chemical "metformin" was isolated from it, and has been the mainstay of pharmacotherapy for type 2 diabetes for decades.

A lot of "actual medicine" have many side effects that are not widely publicised. For example, paracetamol, a common pain killer and fever reducer, can damage the liver. It also stays in your liver for up to 3 months, long after taking it. It takes the body so long to get rid of it.

That's just plainly wrong. There's lots of pharmacokinetic data that says otherwise. Liver injury, however, can indeed be caused by paracetamol in excessive doses or in patients with pre-existing liver disease (in which case you shouldn't be taking paracetamol). This is very clearly stated on every packet of paracetamol, regardless of brand, in all Western countries at least.

[Zoë Sumra]

Antibiotics are inappropriate and ineffective for colds, but have you considered that it may not always be thriftiness, but rather because some can't afford over the counter medications? Perhaps the better answer is trying to get coverage for some types of complimentary and OTC therapy, at least for poor people, then the doctor can prescribe something more appropriate.

How much does OTC medication cost in the US? Would the antibiotics be covered 100% by insurance/Medicaid, whereas one cannot get basic medicine that way? Round here I'd rather get a pack of cold-and-flu-painkillers, a bottle of cough syrup and a packet of raspberry & echinacea tea (IDK if echinacea has any effect at all but the tea's warm, wet, tasty and caffeine free) than spend about the same amount, maybe a little more, on a prescription charge for a packet of antibiotics that wouldn't even work.

[Summah]

I'm not saying they should get antibiotics, I'm explaining why some people may not be able to get OTC meds, all insurance is different, Medicaid is different in every state, however I believe antibiotics (unless they're still under patent) would probably cost me $2 and here Medicaid usually maxes out at $6, so yes I believe that's probably cheaper than OTC meds, definitely cheaper than what you suggested. People may also be able to get charitable help for drug copays, probably not for OTC. The point isn't that people should be given antibiotics for colds, they shouldn't. The point is that perhaps there are other reasons, financial reasons some people are making these decisions. And so perhaps coverage should be given for other therapies that are more appropriate for a cold, at least for poor people, like what you suggested, so they stop asking for antibiotics for colds.

[TerraPrime]

From memory:

Cold-and-pain killer like DayQuil is about $6 for off-brand.

Cough syrup like Robitussin is about $6 for off-brand.

Cough drops like Halls is about #3 for off-brand.

So total would be about $15.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I'm not saying they should get antibiotics, I'm explaining why some people may not be able to get OTC meds, all insurance is different, Medicaid is different in every state, however I believe antibiotics (unless they're still under patent) would probably cost me $2 and here Medicaid usually maxes out at $6, so yes I believe that's probably cheaper than OTC meds, definitely cheaper than what you suggested. People may also be able to get charitable help for drug copays, probably not for OTC. The point isn't that people should be given antibiotics for colds, they shouldn't. The point is that perhaps there are other reasons, financial reasons some people are making these decisions. And so perhaps coverage should be given for other therapies that are more appropriate for a cold, at least for poor people, like what you suggested, so they stop asking for antibiotics for colds.

Fuck. I just had to take a course of doxycycline for Lyme's disease (I've gotten it the past two years and pretty much have accepted that living in the northeast and spending as much time outdoors as I do it's going to be a life time reality.

A one week dose cost me $50. Actually it was $52 for 14 pills. So for the 30 day course of antibiotics its over $250. I pay $50 out of pocket a month for my premium, it's actually a $228 a month plan, but the difference is subsidized. I have insurance, but it's the most basic shit plan you can have. What does it cover? Well, if I spend $5000 in over the annual term it starts to pay for stuff. At about a 70/30 rate. So for me I might as well not have insurance, it pretty much only protects me from a catastrophic situation.

Antibiotics are not cheap, at least as far as I'm can tell. But then the only time I've taken them has been to prevent really bad shit like Lyme disease, and once because a dog bit all the way through my hand. If this was 100 years ago, they would have cut my hand off.

[Aemon Stark]

I'm not sure where your prescription fees are going to, but the pricing data I have suggests a cost per 100 mg pill of 39 cents.

[Larry of the Lawn]

My pharmacist told me it was a supplier shortage, that one of the two companies in the US that were manufacturing it couldn't make it anymore due to poor quality, so the competitor jacked up the price. I have no idea if it's true or not but it was drastically cheaper a year ago.

[Aemon Stark]

That makes sense. It's not that well publicized but there have been a lot of shortages over the last couple years.

[Summah]

A one week dose cost me $50. Actually it was $52 for 14 pills. So for the 30 day course of antibiotics its over $250. I pay $50 out of pocket a month for my premium, it's actually a $228 a month plan, but the difference is subsidized. I have insurance, but it's the most basic shit plan you can have. What does it cover? Well, if I spend $5000 in over the annual term it starts to pay for stuff. At about a 70/30 rate. So for me I might as well not have insurance, it pretty much only protects me from a catastrophic situation.

Antibiotics are not cheap, at least as far as I'm can tell.

That's a pretty good argument for a single payer system.

Antibiotics usually are cheap, unless they're under patent, or something like what happened to you, a drug shortage is going on. Sometimes medications become entirely unavailable (or only to hospitals) because of drug shortages, and half the time I wonder if the manufacturers are playing games to drive up prices on old, generic drugs. I had a problem recently too (though it was not an antibiotic) that involved a drug shortage and ended up going off something without being able to taper off, which was dangerous, because there was no coverage for the brand name and I didn't have $750.

[Galactus]

As an aside, the very term "Placebo" is often misleading too. To most it means "ineffective" whilst the whole point of it is that it IS effective, we just don't know why, and try, through trial design, to mean "any effect beyond what we're trying to isolate out"

No, the point with placebo is that it is not effective because of the treatment itself, ANY treatment could have worked. (which means that you start getting into what kind of side-effects an essentially useless treatment has)

You'd literally be just as well off taking a sugar pill. That's what placebo means.

[Ixodes]

I'm not sure where your prescription fees are going to, but the pricing data I have suggests a cost per 100 mg pill of 39 cents.

It's impossible to get doxycycline for 39 cents in the US due to manufacturers back order. The price went through the roof about one year ago when they stopped producing it for reasons not disclosed. My distributors won't even sell a bottle to veterinary clinics since it is so limited in supply. It used to be I could get it for 10 cents a pill.

Drug shortages are a major headache these past years.

[eyenon15]

Would medicinal marijuana be a case of alternative medicine gone "legit" ?