Do you know what they call Alternative Medicine that's been proven to work?

[chriscase]

... Medicine.

-Tim Minchin.

What do you all think? True categorically? Or are there any exceptions?

[Watchman]

See placebo effect. Better than nothing, I guess.

[Exarch]

shouldnt this be in the atheneum?
or are we referring to faith healing?

[chriscase]

I was thinking of it in the category of woo in general. But maybe Athenaeum is more appropriate.

[Exarch]

I was thinking of it in the category of woo in general. But maybe Athenaeum is more appropriate.

what's woo?

[Gromovnik]

Alternative medicine that works is called a fantasy.

[godol shmok]

Wine and poetry are remedies that are proven to work against crookedness of the mind.



Part I and II of Richard Le Gallienne's reading of The Rubaiyat can found on youtube.

[Dayman]

Tim Minchin is correct. He's a bright guy.

Nearly every alternative modality is bogus, and a few are in the gray area, but still have no real efficacy.

[Taiji]

You want to bet on how many doctors don't wash their hands often enough?

Don't blindly believe any authority unless you are too stupid to handle the subject matter.

And if you find an alternative therapy that your doctor thinks will have no effect, try it out if you have the time and inclination. The doctor is telling you it is safe to do so.

[Dayman]

Your post is a bit of a strawman. That's not the point, the point is alternative medicines by far don't work.

It's quackery in a frilly new dress.

[Taiji]

Your post says nothing at all.

[Dayman]

No, you?

You edited your post after I had posted a response. Poor show, I didn't feel like quoting it.

[Taiji]

While I am editing I cannot see what you are doing with yourself... and you couldn't see I was editing, so don't be hard on yourself...

Anyway your response comment is no less content free now than it was before the editing, so what's to complain about?

In other words: You say nothing, does it really matter if it was about a different something?

[Dayman]

Well, we are discussing alternative medicine, so lack of content is to be expected

[Taiji]

By implication we are also discussing conventional medicine so your jibe seems to shoot yourself in the foot (an alternative cure for gangrene of the toe, most likely...)

Are you a medical student or something like that?

edit:

Nearly every alternative modality is bogus, and a few are in the gray area, but still have no real efficacy.

Here you say nothing again, and it's not even clear you're talking about medicine.

Interesting contradiction bit: you point out that those that preside in the 'grey area' have no real efficacy... how can it be a grey area if their efficacy is known? What kind of 'grey' are you talking about?

Without the apparent contradiction you might actually appear to be saying something.

[Dayman]

Are you a medical student or something like that?

No, just a science nerd.

Here you say nothing again, and it's not even clear you're talking about medicine.

Interesting bit here: you point out that those that preside in the 'grey area' have no real efficacy... how can it be a grey area if their efficacy is known?

Well I'm talking about alternative modalities, or altmed, whatever.

Most alternative medicines have zero effect, barring placebo. Some ARE in a gray area, like acupuncture, not because it has the placebo effect (it does) but because it involves human contact it has a calming and relaxing effect like a massage.

Now if you want to talk about real medicinal value, no, most do not have it, and the things like acupuncture can be replaced by things like real physical therapy.

[MaximiIian]

Most alternative medicines have zero effect, barring placebo.

Placebo is a huge effect when it comes to making people feel better in the course of an illness. Medicine isn't solely about making the person get well, it also includes making the person feel well. Discounting the placebo effect is ridiculous.

[Taiji]

Cool, do you think acupuncture should be replaced by physical therapy if it works better for most patients in most situations but not all in all?

Also which convential route should one pursue if placebo is the desired medicine? (since there is plenty of stuff conventional medicine cannot do yet)

[roy34543]

Cool, do you think acupuncture should be replaced by physical therapy if it works better for most patients in most situations but not all in all?

Also which convential route should one pursue if placebo is the desired medicine? (since there is plenty of stuff conventional medicine cannot do yet)

Pretty much everyone uses sugar pills or saline injections for the placebo effect.
Btw, I dont think many things serious enough that you cant fix through conventional medicine can be fixied through the placebo effect . More because conventional medicine can cover nearly everything rather then criticism of the placebo effect. Or maybe thats not quite accurate, there are a lot of things that cant be fixed through conventional medicine, but the number of people that have these problems is usually relatively small.

[Dayman]

Cool, do you think acupuncture should be replaced by physical therapy if it works better for most patients in most situations but not all in all?

Do you mean hypothetically if it did? Because it doesn't. But if it did, I don't see why not. However the premise behind acupuncture is inherently unscientific. And all medicine should be based on science.

Also which convential route should one pursue if placebo is the desired medicine? (since there is plenty of stuff conventional medicine cannot do yet)

If you purely desire a placebo effect? Knowingly seeking out a placebo rules out the placebo effect. And doctors cannot prescribe a placebo because not only is it dishonest, but placebos only work on a level that would ease your aches and pains. A placebo cannot cure a disease, nor can it kill a virus, bacteria, or a parasite.