Aging Begins at 30

Caveat Emptor. Is it Alternative And Is It Medicine?

Roberta was a charming, beautiful, white-haired lady of 80. She had had a "liberal education" which in her case was an oxymoron (a contradictory expression) as she had never studied science. Because of this, she was subject to fear and claims of miracles. She relied on testimonials, and felt the medical profession conspired against her. She was kind enough to exclude me from the latter category. "A natural cancer cure can't be dangerous, can it?" she asked. Fortunately, she never developed cancer and we didn't have to discuss the harm done by laetrile, krebiozen, Hoxsey's herbal cure or the Greek cancer cure.

Proponents call it "alternative medicine." Critics call it health fraud or quackery. The one pervasive characteristic of "alternative" medicine is that it is unproven. Testimonials galore, best selling book backing perhaps, but cold, hard, rigorous scientific proof is absent. Not that it may not work. Digitalis started as a natural cure, a soupy bath that amongst many other things contained foxglove from which digitalis was extracted. You take your chances and these are a lot worse than in the lottery. For example, you may die.

Unfortunately, although the elderly comprise 14% of the population, they provide 40% of the victims of quackery.

Quacks or quack salvers are named from quicksilver (mercury) ointment peddlers who treated syphilis in the 16th centaury. Not all "alternative" medicine advocates, however, are quacks. Many are misguided zealots. Others, as immigrants from other cultures, are isolated from modern science. Quacks have mastered the art of medicine in engendering trust, false hope and faith but disdain the modern science of medicine as man-made. Let's not weaken consumer protection laws.

The rules for truth in science (not just in medicine) are well established and have been accepted world-wide for more than a century. Hypothesize, experiment, observe, record and statistically analyze, submit for publication, and wait for independent verification. It's time consuming and expensive, but it's the only way to approach the truth.

Acupuncture means reliance on non-existent anatomical structures and homeopathy acceptance of the effects of absent molecules. There is no scientific evidence that either has influenced the course of any disease. You can get hepatitis, eschars, or pneumothorax from acupuncture and lose your money better used for other proven treatments from the use of either. Licensure of practitioners of these pseudosciences is often treated as endorsement and as a gateway to greater privileges.

Christian Science spiritual healing practitioners can be certified after a two week training period. Many law cases of failed treatment have posed religious liberty rights against the rights of children and the latter have won. Graduates of the Christian Science Principia College have a higher death rate than matched University of Kansas or Loma Linda University graduates in two different studies.

Many people who do not believe in magic are prepared to accept it packaged as science. Only trustworthy, carefully trained people should be granted the privilege of offering treatment, like airline pilots who also hold the lives of strangers in their hands.

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See related Patient Topics Acupuncture, Alternative Medicine, Health Fraud, Procedures and Therapies or Wellness and Lifestyle.

See related Provider Topics Procedures and Therapies or Wellness and Lifestyle.

All contents copyright © 1992-2004 the Author(s) and The University of Iowa. All rights reserved.

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