7 ms·

Can you share an example of an unproven treatment that works better than standard care?

heisenbit 4y ago
Adoption of new methods takes a considerable time in medicine. Some methods may be considered unproven by the majority but are being adopted by pioneers. Now if you could distinguish pioneers from quacks easily…
aantix 4y ago
Rinsing with baby shampoo and iodine for the treatment of sinus inflammation. Vs antibiotics and/or saline rinses.
GistNoesis 4y ago
Getting to the root causes is often preferable. For example if your air quality is bad and/or ventilation is bad and may cause sleep apnea (like high CO2 concentration often makes you feel drowsy). But the seller of CPAP machine will not monitor your air environment. With medical problems there are often multiple factors, and when a solution is found that fix the symptoms, care is no longer taken to find the other causes, specially if the solution is generating recurring revenues.
Out_of_Characte 4y ago
I can come up with examples but know its ironic to try to proof treatments that are, scientifically or medically, not verified. Theres diet, sleep, exercise. Which require no studies to know that taking better care of yourself will help you regardless of the pathology. Then there's the somewhat strange case of orthodontist John Mew, who advocates for setting your tongue posture to the roof of your mouth in order to close the jaw properly, to prevent standard treatment of various braces, teeth alignment issues and corrective jaw surgery. Other strange therapies that I've come across that seem unhealthy but have some backing are intentional sleep deprivation to improve depressive symptoms. prolonged fasting to reduce scar tissue. Or one I personally use alot, extremely cold showers after allergene exposure. There are alot of silly things the human body can do that at first glance might seem irresponsible or dangerous but are about as dangerous as people in the 1900's might imagine airplanes would be. One more thing I might add, standard care does not mean 'in your best interest' some standard practise might be too cruel to accept, like chemotherapy. Even though its proven to extend your life, it might not be proven to be in your best interest.
- theriddlr 4y ago
  Mew is right. Jaw position actually fixes sleep apnea. The cause of sleep apnea is the airway collapsing when supine. Fix the cause not the symptom. Either surgery or expanders to allow the lower jaw to be forward.
- SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  I would say that diet, sleep, and exercise have been proven to help many conditions and it would be non-controversial and not anti-scientific to suggest them.
Levitz 4y ago
Research is currently being done and this is of course anecdotal (I mean, if it wasn't it would be proven treatment, wouldn't it?) That said, my depression was improved more by a couple of magic mushrooms trips than by more than a year of psychology. The results have been so good that it feels wrong to share it, makes it sound like some miracle stuff and I think any depressed person would go for it in a heartbeat completely ignoring risks.
- tayo42 4y ago
  Yeah idk if that's the same, psychedelics are getting mainstream attention as helping depression. And like you said real research is being done. Research used to be done before the governments got in the way. I think the stuff people are talking about are like when Steve Jobs did the fruit diet thing to cure cancer
sawyna 4y ago
I used to have pretty bad sinus. I used to take antibiotics for 10 days a month and would be good for 20 days and this goes on each month. After 6 months, my immunity has gone to shit. The doctor recommended clearing out my sinus by a surgery but apparently that doesn't solve the root cause. It can happen again and again. I tried multiple doctors, treatments, tips etc and etc nothing worked. I finally visited a homeo doctor who diagnosed it right. It's deviated septum which is causing sinus infections because of regular coconut water intake. I just stopped drinking coconut water and it's been 10+ years and not another recurrence of sinus so far. Proper diagnosis is hard and requires skill. The OP figured it by himself and in my case, someone did.
- hutzlibu 4y ago
  "homeo doctor" Homeopathy doctor?
  - OOPMan 4y ago
    I.e. a quack Seems even a quack can get some things right XD
- Weatebob 4y ago
  [flagged]
- CapstanRoller 4y ago
  How does coconut water deviate one's septum or cause sinus infections? What's the mechanism behind this?
  - goldenkey 4y ago
    It tends to spoil or already be spoiled. Even the pink phenolic young coconut travels a long way to its final consumption. It's overall just not really meant to be consumed so far from the source. Sourness means bacteria, and sinuses are infamous for falling prey to weaker or sparse bacteria in the orifices.
Spooky23 4y ago
One of the issues with specialty medical care is that you aren’t seen as a whole person. The orthopedic guy sees you as a candidate for surgery a, b or c. He may miss that something else is going on. A treatment may be “unproven” for a symptom, but perfectly acceptable for a root cause.
ipaddr 4y ago
Reducing salt vs taking blood pressure meds. Aloe vs cortisol for skin issues.
- hirvi74 4y ago
  What evidence do you have that either of these methods are more efficacious than standard care? While anecdota tend to be of little value, I can at least attest to the latter not working well -- at least for my condition.

Adoption of new methods takes a considerable time in medicine. Some methods may be considered unproven by the majority but are being adopted by pioneers. Now if you could distinguish pioneers from quacks easily…

aantix 4y ago

Rinsing with baby shampoo and iodine for the treatment of sinus inflammation. Vs antibiotics and/or saline rinses.

GistNoesis 4y ago

Getting to the root causes is often preferable. For example if your air quality is bad and/or ventilation is bad and may cause sleep apnea (like high CO2 concentration often makes you feel drowsy). But the seller of CPAP machine will not monitor your air environment. With medical problems there are often multiple factors, and when a solution is found that fix the symptoms, care is no longer taken to find the other causes, specially if the solution is generating recurring revenues.

Out_of_Characte 4y ago

I can come up with examples but know its ironic to try to proof treatments that are, scientifically or medically, not verified. Theres diet, sleep, exercise. Which require no studies to know that taking better care of yourself will help you regardless of the pathology. Then there's the somewhat strange case of orthodontist John Mew, who advocates for setting your tongue posture to the roof of your mouth in order to close the jaw properly, to prevent standard treatment of various braces, teeth alignment issues and corrective jaw surgery. Other strange therapies that I've come across that seem unhealthy but have some backing are intentional sleep deprivation to improve depressive symptoms. prolonged fasting to reduce scar tissue. Or one I personally use alot, extremely cold showers after allergene exposure. There are alot of silly things the human body can do that at first glance might seem irresponsible or dangerous but are about as dangerous as people in the 1900's might imagine airplanes would be. One more thing I might add, standard care does not mean 'in your best interest' some standard practise might be too cruel to accept, like chemotherapy. Even though its proven to extend your life, it might not be proven to be in your best interest.

theriddlr 4y ago
Mew is right. Jaw position actually fixes sleep apnea. The cause of sleep apnea is the airway collapsing when supine. Fix the cause not the symptom. Either surgery or expanders to allow the lower jaw to be forward.
SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
I would say that diet, sleep, and exercise have been proven to help many conditions and it would be non-controversial and not anti-scientific to suggest them.

Levitz 4y ago

Research is currently being done and this is of course anecdotal (I mean, if it wasn't it would be proven treatment, wouldn't it?) That said, my depression was improved more by a couple of magic mushrooms trips than by more than a year of psychology. The results have been so good that it feels wrong to share it, makes it sound like some miracle stuff and I think any depressed person would go for it in a heartbeat completely ignoring risks.

tayo42 4y ago
Yeah idk if that's the same, psychedelics are getting mainstream attention as helping depression. And like you said real research is being done. Research used to be done before the governments got in the way. I think the stuff people are talking about are like when Steve Jobs did the fruit diet thing to cure cancer

sawyna 4y ago

I used to have pretty bad sinus. I used to take antibiotics for 10 days a month and would be good for 20 days and this goes on each month. After 6 months, my immunity has gone to shit. The doctor recommended clearing out my sinus by a surgery but apparently that doesn't solve the root cause. It can happen again and again. I tried multiple doctors, treatments, tips etc and etc nothing worked. I finally visited a homeo doctor who diagnosed it right. It's deviated septum which is causing sinus infections because of regular coconut water intake. I just stopped drinking coconut water and it's been 10+ years and not another recurrence of sinus so far. Proper diagnosis is hard and requires skill. The OP figured it by himself and in my case, someone did.

hutzlibu 4y ago
"homeo doctor" Homeopathy doctor?
- OOPMan 4y ago
  I.e. a quack Seems even a quack can get some things right XD
Weatebob 4y ago
[flagged]
CapstanRoller 4y ago
How does coconut water deviate one's septum or cause sinus infections? What's the mechanism behind this?
- goldenkey 4y ago
  It tends to spoil or already be spoiled. Even the pink phenolic young coconut travels a long way to its final consumption. It's overall just not really meant to be consumed so far from the source. Sourness means bacteria, and sinuses are infamous for falling prey to weaker or sparse bacteria in the orifices.

Spooky23 4y ago

One of the issues with specialty medical care is that you aren’t seen as a whole person. The orthopedic guy sees you as a candidate for surgery a, b or c. He may miss that something else is going on. A treatment may be “unproven” for a symptom, but perfectly acceptable for a root cause.

ipaddr 4y ago

Reducing salt vs taking blood pressure meds. Aloe vs cortisol for skin issues.

hirvi74 4y ago
What evidence do you have that either of these methods are more efficacious than standard care? While anecdota tend to be of little value, I can at least attest to the latter not working well -- at least for my condition.