Do We Need Doctors as Much as They Need us?

[WeeMadArthur]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

WeeMadArthur

Did you experiment with using green as your power color, or did you simply dismiss it as nonsense becasue it seemed weird to you?

Hmm... I can't say I really experimented much. I was in 4th grade. I thought it was funny. I did wear lots of green though. And I still buy lots of green clothes and had a green car for four years. Never got in any accidents or scrapes or anything. Maybe it worked! I ran into my sister-in-law's car two weeks after I got my shiny new black Prius. I wanted green but they didn't have that as an option.

IMO we give way too much credibility to Science. The outcome of ANY & EVERY scientific experiment is influenced by the beliefs, attitudes, and life experiences of those who conduct the experiment.

I agree with you that outcomes are influenced by the beliefs etc of the experimenter. However, it would still be nice to see some statistics or a study showing that in X number of cases people that took Y felt better (or whatever...) Most people only know what their doctor tells them and a lot of "alternative" medicine seems very bizarre. Why would someone get pins stuck into them? Thats crazy. People trust doctors as a profession. Maybe they shouldn't. The problem with alternative medicines is that their practitioners need to gain the general trust of the public. Thats hard because their practices seem so bizarre. That is where studies start to help.

IMO, we don not give enough credibility to anecdotal evidence. To me, a persons ( especially if it is someone I know personally ) real life experience, carries far more credibility than a scientific experiment conducted under conditions removed from reality.

I don't know... Its one thing to know the person. Its another to come onto a forum and read a message from someone you don't know and then go out and buy some herbal concoction to cure what ails you.

As for me, I don't really trust doctors. I only go when I'm really sick and my wife makes me go. I prefer to not take drugs of any type. I eat healthy, take vitamins, exercise. I'm also skeptical of alternative medicine. I'm not opposed to it. I can't that say I know enough to make a judgment. I have enjoyed reading people's experiences.

[CosmicWizard]

Many of you have probably heard about the severe injury sustained by an NFL football player in a game this past weekend. In these types of injuries a doctor is indispensible. This mans doctors are real heroes. Read the story.

blessings...Franco

[CosmicWizard]

WeeMadArthur wrote:

However, it would still be nice to see some statistics or a study showing that in X number of cases people that took Y felt better (or whatever...)

The statisticas and the study results you seek are probably available somewhere. Since my decisions are not driven by statistics and studies, I'm not in a position to say where you might find what you are looking for. I'm inherently more inclined to lend credibility to alternative practitioners and treatments than to conventional practitioners and treatments, because it just makes more sense to me. I'm intuitively drawn to alternative health care, and I trust my intuition more than a stack of statstics reaching to the moon. My intuition has served me well.


WeeMadArthur also wrote:

I don't know... Its one thing to know the person. Its another to come onto a forum and read a message from someone you don't know and then go out and buy some herbal concoction to cure what ails you.

Good point. I agree. That could be a strategy for disaster. You gotta do your own research too and then follow your intuition.

blessings...Franco

[Mattie Jo]

I don't know... Its one thing to know the person. Its another to come onto a forum and read a message from someone you don't know and then go out and buy some herbal concoction to cure what ails you.

Good point. I agree. That could be a strategy for disaster. You gotta do your own research too and then follow your intuition.

I totally agree. If someone tells me something works I will do research first. Or I will try it if I know it isn't harmful.

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by karen_s

I thank you for posting this! It is truly amazing what natural and alternative types of medical treatments can do. I'm also lucky to have found a medical doctor who is willing to try both approaches - gosh I hope he doesn't retire anytime soon.

One book I recommend highly is "How to Have a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor" - by Dr. Mendelsohn. It is a bit dated in some aspects, but there is so much good information in there - makes you look at routine and sick care for children completely differently.

My mom always has used vitamins, chiropractic, and diet as complementary treatment to her asthma and allergies. That is what started my research into a more natural way of maintaining my health.

Then my brother spent a year in Germany in the 1990s as an exchange student, and his host family turned out to be with a homeopathic physician. Over there, classical homeopathy is a very respected healing profession and my brother came home with a new respect for alternative healing methods.

My older son is on the autism spectrum, and visiting a DAN! doctor who prescribed lots of supplements has helped him more than the harsh meds we had tried in the past. I also had an all-natural pregnancy with #3 free of medical interventions and then had a homebirth - it was absolutely the most wonderful thing I could have done. I also breastfeed much longer than is the "norm" here in the US, it is so wonderful for their little immune systems.

Lastly, a few years ago I tested positive for HPV and had cervical changes noted. I did not want the docs scraping around and burning/freezing my cervix, as we wanted to have one more child. I consulted a respected local naturopath who prescribed various natural treatments to bolster my immune system. I have continued these treatments and cut all the junk out of my diet and I feel better and more active now at 35 than I did at 20...and my Paps are completely normal

Of course I would consult mainstream medicine if I had epilepsy or cancer. But I would see my alternative health practitioners for cooperative care too.

I love the book that you recommended and I read it all the time.
Actually I had been in agreement with you on other topics (vaccinations) as well, I'm glad to find another person here who has similar opinions as mine.
Just wanted to say that.

[jco]

NAR - I totally agree with this article. I recently found out that my BIL was going to college to be a pharmacist (and nearing his finish) when he changed his major. Since he would be making a six figure income right now, I asked him why he would quit. He said: "Because I didn't want to be a legal drug dealer." He then went on to tell me how messed up the drug system is here and how he didn't want any part of it.

[titaniummd]

It is interesting that the website is prefaced with the following quote:

Originally Posted by educate-yourself.org

All information posted on this web site is the opinion of the author and is provided for educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as medical advice. Only a licensed medical doctor can legally offer medical advice in the United States. Consult the healer of your choice for medical care and advice.

If you lead a clean, healthy life with regular diet and exercise, avoiding high risk activities like unprotected intercourse, bungy jumping, motorcycling cruising without helmets or wearing tank tops and Daisy Duke shorts, IV drugs, 'just minding your business', using an ATM machine at night in a poorly lit area, flaunting large wads of cash, borrowing money from non-bank institutions, climbing beyond the step on the ladder that has the warning not to do so, drinking and driving or under the influence of some other pharmacologic agent, eating super-sized meals, driving while sleepy, playing with electricity, diving into shallow pools, copying stunt people at home, sky diving (unless the plane is crashing), parasailing, swimming with sharks or moray eels, not checking your oxygen tank before making that last look, running red lights, outracing trains, not wearing a seat belt, using hair dryers in the bath tub, playing with loaded guns, smoking, doing IV drugs, etc, then you won't need a doctor on a regular basis. Truly, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

However, you will need to be screen for cancers that occur with some regularity (i.e. Cervical, breast, testicular, colon cancer).

This link is funny but if we just do our part to live healthy, then the referenced website, although biased, won't be too far from the truth:

A Picture of Obesity Around the World

The power of the mind is strong and the power of placebo has been known to augment pharmacology in the treatment of disease.

Be cautious, however, since there are a lot of 'unproven' cures out there and 'experts' who have little basis for what they practice.

[Laura707]

All you have to do is look at the list of recalled medicines or stiffer "black box" warnings added on meds to see the big pharmar's are using the public as their real test subjects.

Just try taking their miracle cholesterol drugs and you are a patient forever with the damage that stuff does to your body.