Posted by Klavot on April 6, 2007, at 8:34:01
In reply to Advantages to alternative meds?, posted by football on April 5, 2007, at 1:57:06
> I'm not trying to come off as rude, but what advantages are their to alternative meds compared to prescribed meds?
>
> Alternative meds often have been studied very little and may not only be ineffective, but potentially dangerous.Some alternative "medicines" are totally useless, for example homeopathy. Homeopathy not only defies scientific explanation, it actually violates some basic laws in chemistry and physics. For example, homeopathic preparations are routinely diluted to the point where the active ingredient *vanishes*. To circumvent this awkward little detail, homeopaths then incorrectly invoke the principle of preservation of information in quantum physics by arguing that the preparation has a "memory" of the active ingredient that was once present.
It all becomes somewhat more tragic when alternative practitioners - who, for the most part, have little medical training - start to seriously misdiagnose patients. I can relate one incident that happened to a fifty-something year old woman that I know who had a problem with excessive thirst. Her trusted homeopath told her it was OK to drink lots of water since it cleanses the body, and she needn't worry about it. Well, it turns out she actually had diabetes, a fact discovered when she eventually was admitted to hospital having entered a diabetic coma. An orthodox doctor would immediately have investigated the diagnosis of diabetes faced with a patient suffering excessive thirst - it really is a textbook case.
Klavot
poster:Klavot
thread:747132
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070320/msgs/747473.html