7 ms·

Citation provided. You'd be crazy to only use alt med for cancer treatment, but as an addition studies have shown it to be effective. http://www.cancer.org/tr

by analog 14y ago

Citation provided. You'd be crazy to only use alt med for cancer treatment, but as an addition studies have shown it to be effective. http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/naturopathic-medicine http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/com...

Nursie 14y ago
"Available scientific evidence does not support claims that naturopathic medicine is effective for most health problems." I wouldn't call that supporting evidence that CAM works, in fact I'd say that whole page doesn't give it any support at all, nor does it excuse naturopathy from having harmful effects - "Substances used in alternative medical practices may have not been thoroughly tested to find out how they interact with medicines, foods, or dietary supplements. Even though some reports of interactions and harmful effects may be published, full studies of interactions and effects are not often available. There may also be lesser-known methods used, other than the ones discussed here, which could potentially cause harm. Because of these limitations, any information on ill effects below should be considered incomplete."
- analog 14y ago
  Nice use of selective quoting. Heres another. "Other aspects of naturopathic medicine, like healthy nutrition, have been shown to lower the risk of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Some aspects of naturopathic medicine may be useful when used along with conventional medical treatment." Like I said, you're simply choosing to ignore the evidence. If you'd like to stay ignorant of it then that's your right and your privilege.
  - Nursie 14y ago
    Claiming decent nutrition or exercise as an aspect of CAM is disingenuous at best, and at worst a way to propagate charlatanry. "Look, we do this common sense thing, therefore the rest of our stuff must be true!" Eating well, getting rest and exercise, these things are not alt med, not naturopathic, not 'integrative', they are well supported aspects of evidence based medicine.
    - analog 14y ago
      Well I suggest you take up your objections with the American Cancer Society because that's where the quote is from. Here's their contact form. http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/contactus/index http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/contactus/index
      - Nursie 14y ago
        I'm not American, so it's not really for me to bother them. Also it's not really false, is it? "Other aspects of naturopathic medicine, like healthy nutrition, have been shown..." Perfectly true information. Just irrelevant because those are aspects of mainstream medicine too. --edit-- but were I american and had medical credentials to my name, yes I absolutely would be writing to them to protest the existence of that page in its entirety. As it stands I'm just a British skeptic.
      - dalke 14y ago
        Just to be clear, your primary reference is The American Cancer Society, which is a non-profit charity. You know it's not a scientific research organization, right? And one which has a rather mediocre rating, as charities go? Why do you pick specifically that reference, which sits very carefully on the fence in order to find something good about naturopathic therapies? ("good diet" and "counseling" are, of course, quite common recommendations of any doctor) Why not reference an actual research organization which also has patient outreach? I'm thinking specifically of The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, of the NIH, at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cancer/camcancer.htm http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cancer/camcancer.htm . They've gotten into political hot water because it was started and funded to find how if CAM is useful, only to report that no, it nearly isn't useful at all. That site NCCA describes only on the treatments which are specific to CAM, and not shared with standard medical practice.
        analog 14y ago
        I did a quick google search and it was one of the first references that came up. I only have to provide a citation that CAM sometimes works to disprove Nursies assertion that CAM "doesn't work".
  - dalke 14y ago
    You do realize that many doctors who don't follow naturopathic medicine also recommend "healthy nutrition", right? And that many also recommend "counseling"? These are not the sole provenance of naturopathic medicine. They all probably recommend getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. In a related question, what is "healthy nutrition"? When Ayurveda says that onions "stimulate the central nervous system, and can disturb vows of celibacy" and should not be eaten as food (at least not by yogis), while nutritionists and researchers find no evidence that onions have those non-nutritional effects on the body and recommend that you can eat them if you like the taste, then whose advice should be followed, and why?

by analog 14y ago

Nursie 14y ago

"Available scientific evidence does not support claims that naturopathic medicine is effective for most health problems." I wouldn't call that supporting evidence that CAM works, in fact I'd say that whole page doesn't give it any support at all, nor does it excuse naturopathy from having harmful effects - "Substances used in alternative medical practices may have not been thoroughly tested to find out how they interact with medicines, foods, or dietary supplements. Even though some reports of interactions and harmful effects may be published, full studies of interactions and effects are not often available. There may also be lesser-known methods used, other than the ones discussed here, which could potentially cause harm. Because of these limitations, any information on ill effects below should be considered incomplete."

analog 14y ago
Nice use of selective quoting. Heres another. "Other aspects of naturopathic medicine, like healthy nutrition, have been shown to lower the risk of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Some aspects of naturopathic medicine may be useful when used along with conventional medical treatment." Like I said, you're simply choosing to ignore the evidence. If you'd like to stay ignorant of it then that's your right and your privilege.
- Nursie 14y ago
  Claiming decent nutrition or exercise as an aspect of CAM is disingenuous at best, and at worst a way to propagate charlatanry. "Look, we do this common sense thing, therefore the rest of our stuff must be true!" Eating well, getting rest and exercise, these things are not alt med, not naturopathic, not 'integrative', they are well supported aspects of evidence based medicine.
  - analog 14y ago
    Well I suggest you take up your objections with the American Cancer Society because that's where the quote is from. Here's their contact form. http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/contactus/index http://www.cancer.org/aboutus/howwehelpyou/contactus/index
    - Nursie 14y ago
      I'm not American, so it's not really for me to bother them. Also it's not really false, is it? "Other aspects of naturopathic medicine, like healthy nutrition, have been shown..." Perfectly true information. Just irrelevant because those are aspects of mainstream medicine too. --edit-- but were I american and had medical credentials to my name, yes I absolutely would be writing to them to protest the existence of that page in its entirety. As it stands I'm just a British skeptic.
    - dalke 14y ago
      Just to be clear, your primary reference is The American Cancer Society, which is a non-profit charity. You know it's not a scientific research organization, right? And one which has a rather mediocre rating, as charities go? Why do you pick specifically that reference, which sits very carefully on the fence in order to find something good about naturopathic therapies? ("good diet" and "counseling" are, of course, quite common recommendations of any doctor) Why not reference an actual research organization which also has patient outreach? I'm thinking specifically of The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, of the NIH, at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cancer/camcancer.htm http://nccam.nih.gov/health/cancer/camcancer.htm . They've gotten into political hot water because it was started and funded to find how if CAM is useful, only to report that no, it nearly isn't useful at all. That site NCCA describes only on the treatments which are specific to CAM, and not shared with standard medical practice.
      - analog 14y ago
        I did a quick google search and it was one of the first references that came up. I only have to provide a citation that CAM sometimes works to disprove Nursies assertion that CAM "doesn't work".
- dalke 14y ago
  You do realize that many doctors who don't follow naturopathic medicine also recommend "healthy nutrition", right? And that many also recommend "counseling"? These are not the sole provenance of naturopathic medicine. They all probably recommend getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. In a related question, what is "healthy nutrition"? When Ayurveda says that onions "stimulate the central nervous system, and can disturb vows of celibacy" and should not be eaten as food (at least not by yogis), while nutritionists and researchers find no evidence that onions have those non-nutritional effects on the body and recommend that you can eat them if you like the taste, then whose advice should be followed, and why?