(no subject)
Something that really irritates me is all these "quack" remedies. Yes, I realize that doctors don't have all the answers all the time, and that many medical treatments do have side effects. But some would have you "throw out the baby with the bathwater" and forego scientific medical treatment altogether.
These quackeries range from semi-effective, to total bullshit.
Here are some examples:
Chiropractors-- The basis for their profession was this one guy in the 19th century who believed he could cure physical ailments by realigning your spinal vertebrae. He wrote about "subluxations" which would supposedly cause all kinds of disorders. This model is still used today unfortunately, although modern chiropractors have toned down the angle that they can cure all diseases. Modern chiropractors focus on the spine and back pain (and sometimes pain from compressed nerves). They use tissue manipulation and a few other techniques to relieve pain and hopefully restore range of motion. They also use some other devices which have no scientific basis at all, and are no better than a placebo. People do find relief from chiropractic, but this is likely due to the deep tissue manipulation, which is very similar to massage therapy. It kind of makes you wonder: why go to a chiropractor when all you really need is a massage? I should add that if vertebrae are severely misaligned or damaged, no amount of manual manipulation will fix that. Surgery and or physiotherapy are the only cure.
Homeopathy-- The science of pharmacology has shown us that the more of a drug you take, the more effect it will have (whether good or bad). Drugs have specific mechanisms of action, related to their chemical properties and how they behave in the body. Homeopathy is the total opposite: homeopaths say that a substance will be more effective, the more dilute it is. What the hell? Just look at some of the dilutions they use. The standards for dilution make their "treatments" so dilute that many people won't get a single molecule of it. Avogadro's number states that there are a certain amount of molecules in a certain quantity of a substance. If you keep diluting this substance, you'll get to a point where you will have NO molecules left. Proponents of homeopathy say that it doesn't matter if there are molecules in there or not-- some sort of magical thing happens to the solvent to make it effective... Or something... This is just the placebo effect, plain and simple. If a patient gets better, homeopathy must've worked!-- yeah right... A good chunk of diseases will get better without medical intervention anyway. Just because the patient gets better doesn't mean the treatment worked...
Christian Science-- There really shouldn't be "science" in this term at all... These are a bunch of religious nutjobs who think that medical treatment should be avoided and all diseases can be cured by prayer and shit like that. There have been horror stories of people dying of diseases that would be easily curable, but their "faith" prevents seeking treatment. Actually, come to think of it, it's kind of self-limiting isn't it? These nutters will die from relatively minor illnesses, leaving the rest of us in peace. Or something like that...
The main danger from "alternative" treatments is that you'll delay effective treatment, and let your condition get worse. Sure, if you're already undergoing conventional treatment and want to try something in addition to it, go ahead. Just don't give up on real medicine, and don't be too disappointed when your alternative cure doesn't work.
For more information on this, go to www.quackwatch.org
These quackeries range from semi-effective, to total bullshit.
Here are some examples:
Chiropractors-- The basis for their profession was this one guy in the 19th century who believed he could cure physical ailments by realigning your spinal vertebrae. He wrote about "subluxations" which would supposedly cause all kinds of disorders. This model is still used today unfortunately, although modern chiropractors have toned down the angle that they can cure all diseases. Modern chiropractors focus on the spine and back pain (and sometimes pain from compressed nerves). They use tissue manipulation and a few other techniques to relieve pain and hopefully restore range of motion. They also use some other devices which have no scientific basis at all, and are no better than a placebo. People do find relief from chiropractic, but this is likely due to the deep tissue manipulation, which is very similar to massage therapy. It kind of makes you wonder: why go to a chiropractor when all you really need is a massage? I should add that if vertebrae are severely misaligned or damaged, no amount of manual manipulation will fix that. Surgery and or physiotherapy are the only cure.
Homeopathy-- The science of pharmacology has shown us that the more of a drug you take, the more effect it will have (whether good or bad). Drugs have specific mechanisms of action, related to their chemical properties and how they behave in the body. Homeopathy is the total opposite: homeopaths say that a substance will be more effective, the more dilute it is. What the hell? Just look at some of the dilutions they use. The standards for dilution make their "treatments" so dilute that many people won't get a single molecule of it. Avogadro's number states that there are a certain amount of molecules in a certain quantity of a substance. If you keep diluting this substance, you'll get to a point where you will have NO molecules left. Proponents of homeopathy say that it doesn't matter if there are molecules in there or not-- some sort of magical thing happens to the solvent to make it effective... Or something... This is just the placebo effect, plain and simple. If a patient gets better, homeopathy must've worked!-- yeah right... A good chunk of diseases will get better without medical intervention anyway. Just because the patient gets better doesn't mean the treatment worked...
Christian Science-- There really shouldn't be "science" in this term at all... These are a bunch of religious nutjobs who think that medical treatment should be avoided and all diseases can be cured by prayer and shit like that. There have been horror stories of people dying of diseases that would be easily curable, but their "faith" prevents seeking treatment. Actually, come to think of it, it's kind of self-limiting isn't it? These nutters will die from relatively minor illnesses, leaving the rest of us in peace. Or something like that...
The main danger from "alternative" treatments is that you'll delay effective treatment, and let your condition get worse. Sure, if you're already undergoing conventional treatment and want to try something in addition to it, go ahead. Just don't give up on real medicine, and don't be too disappointed when your alternative cure doesn't work.
For more information on this, go to www.quackwatch.org