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Post by Cindy on Sept 5, 2015 9:18:15 GMT -5
Why one naturopath quit after watching her peers treat cancer patients
You don't often hear about people transitioning from alternative healing to science-based medicine or vice versa. That's what makes someone like Dr. Oz — a highly credentialed surgeon who also believes in "energy healing" — so interesting. It's also why, when I stumbled across Britt Hermes's blog — Confessions of a Naturopathic Doctor — I was immediately hooked.
Hermes studied naturopathy, a type of alternative medicine focused on "natural" treatments like herbs and homeopathy, at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. She then practiced for three years in Washington and Arizona — all while becoming increasingly disillusioned with her chosen profession.
"Naturopathic medicine is not what I was led to believe," she wrote on her blog. "I discovered that the profession functions as a system of indoctrination based on discredited ideas about health and medicine, full of anti-science rhetoric with many ineffective and dangerous practices."
Last year, Hermes left naturopathy behind and enrolled in a Master of Science program in Germany. On her blog, she's been myth-busting alternative medicine, and writing about everything from the gaps in regulation to what it's like to find cancer in a patient as a young ND.
Her crusade is not only personal; it's about protecting public health. In a number of states, NDs can prescribe pharmaceuticals, do minor surgery, and essentially act as primary care physicians.* The problem is that they have only a fraction of the clinical training that medical doctors do, and their education, as Hermes and others have pointed out, is peppered with dangerously pseudoscientific health claims. This is her story.
Julia Belluz: Why did you go into naturopathy?
Britt Hermes: I started with really high aspirations and a really idealistic point of view. During my education at Bastyr, some of that was upheld. I felt quite motivated, like I was choosing the right path. I had a lot of perception bias and self-fulfilling prophecies. I saw myself getting better, friends having healing experiences, that now in hindsight I realize was due to other things — self-limiting conditions, evidence-based medicine sprinkled in with the naturopathic medicine we were doing.
I graduated from Bastyr and wanted to do a residency. They are so rare, and I thought a residency would give me a leg up. So I worked in an outpatient clinic, and it was rewarding. I administered vaccines, dispensed antibiotics, tried to stick to the standard of care as much as possible by referring evidence-based sources like UpToDate.
JB: Wait a second ... You were a naturopathic doctor, and you were essentially doing the work of a primary care physician?
BH: In the US, there are 20 states and territories that allow licensed naturopaths to practice some form of medicine. Within those, the jurisdiction around naturopathy varies widely — but the states that allow naturopaths to do the most include Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Vermont, California, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Montana, and Utah. [NDs can effectively practice as primary care providers in Vermont, Oregon, and Washington — see note at bottom.]
more:www.vox.com/2015/9/2/9248713/britt-hermesHer blog:www.naturopathicdiaries.com/
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Post by Daniel on Sept 5, 2015 12:29:22 GMT -5
"Naturopathic medicine is not what I was led to believe," she wrote on her blog. "I discovered that the profession functions as a system of indoctrination based on discredited ideas about health and medicine, full of anti-science rhetoric with many ineffective and dangerous practices."
This may be a little off topic, but I've been thinking lately how many in the world, in increasing number, would consider themselves to be non-religious, but the world is just as religious today as it always has been and maybe even more-so as there are, I'm quite sure, more existing ism's than there ever has been. Now this article informs us of a Naturopathic-ism, yet another indoctrination or religion of the day. I suppose it can be added to the never ending list of Scientism, Environmental-ism, New Age-ism, Atheism, Humanism, Occultism, Vegan-ism, Evolution-ism, Globalism, Satanism, Terrorism, Abortion-ism, Leftism, Politically Correct-ism, Tolerant-ism, Communism, Progressive-ism, Marxism, Leninism, Pope-ism, Another Gospel-ism, Positive-ism, Compromise-ism, Demagogue-ism, Double Standard-ism, Global Warming or Climate Change-ism, etc. Perhaps I'm getting a little carried away, but ALL claim to be non-religious, yet ALL have a 'system of indoctrination' based on their 'beliefs'.
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. -Judges 17:6
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. -Proverbs 14:12
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 7,630
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Post by fearnot on Sept 5, 2015 17:17:46 GMT -5
I certainly agree with almost all of this. I remember being so disappointed in the past because in order to really do any alternative medicine, I soon discovered you basically have to be fairly well off to afford all the health food medicines, and everything that goes with it!!
I do remember a quote from an alternative person who said, do you really think your body is sick ( not the exact word they used but you get the idea) because it doesn't have----------- fill in the prescription medicine you PC doctor prescribed? I was quite impressed with that.....except guess what? The alternative 'medicine' would cost me ever so much more!! Today most of my meds on medicare cost me around $2.00 ( except for some which might be $9.00)...I could not buy anything at the health stores for $2.00, they would laugh me out of there...well no they would explain how BIG PHARM is poison etc etc etc and there stuff is natural and miraculous etc. well worth the $30, $40, $50, $60, $70 and up dollars!!!
But there is one thing I do wonder about....some of my mom's old cures ( and inexpensive to boot) do seem to work sometimes as well or better than something the doctor may prescribe. For example for poison ivy mom used calamine lotion or baking soda for various issues etc. Does that fall into the same category as alternative medicine do you think? Oh and plain old ice for various things
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Post by Cindy on Sept 6, 2015 11:22:15 GMT -5
Sadly most alternative medicine often goes against God's Word. It often uses new age, or Eastern religious principals, and some of it is just plain quackery. They put down the science of medicine, but the very prescriptions they put down are all based on God's natural products or learned from them. The big difference is that they are tested and regulated and the so called "natural" stuff they recommend isn't. On top of that the so called natural stuff they recommend is often no more natural then the medicine a doctor would prescribe. It's made in labs the same way prescriptions are, except without the controls that are on prescription medicines. Another thing they like to say is that the big pharmaceutical companies are just out to make money, which is quite true. What they seem to have forgotten or refuse to look at is that all the companies that put out vitamins, supplements homeopathic medicines and such things, are also in business to make money every bit as much as the pharmaceutical companies. Again, the big difference is the lack of oversight in them.
Obviously, some of the old cures do work, just like the soap I use to stop cramps, spasms and arthritic pain, or the Vicks to stop coughing. They work great for some and not for others, because we're all different. That's the same reason there's so many different medicines for the same illness, because we're all different, so one thing won't work for everyone. And we need to be careful of some of the old cures too in order to be sure they're not going against God's Word, although most I've seen don't. But we can't just assume that none of them do either. Often the old cures that work are the very things that the medical cures are based on. We have to remember too that those old wives tales or cures were used at the barest beginning of something being wrong, not after it had gone on for awhile because by then a doctor was often needed.
That's the big thing that most people today are not used to doing. They aren't used to thinking about God or His Word in conjunction with their health concerns - unless of course they need a miracle because the doctors can't help them. But when we get sick, we think of basic medicine, like aspirin or cough syrup, and if we get sicker, we think of going to the doctor. We don't generally think about God right away. It just shows how we've disassociated many parts of our lives from God, even though He never wanted us to.
The other thing we tend to do is make excuses for those things we like or that we think work for us. Whether it's yoga or whatever. We disregard the warnings and consider those who write or speak of them as being somewhat fanatical because we certainly don't worship any other God so why should we be concerned that certain poses are meant to honor a false God? (or whatever the case may be with what we're making excuses about) We forget that the Lord obliges us not to cause anyone to stumble and forget that these kind of things are very much the same as the problem they early Christians had with eating meat that had been offered to idols. We forget too that the Lord tells us to avoid even the appearance of evil, and to have nothing to do with anything false, or anyone teaching something false, so that others won't assume that we're giving the nod of approval to it or them. That's why we're told not to even invite them into our home to discuss it. I know we tend to do these things, because I've done so myself, before the Lord showed me different. It's amazing how as we grow we discover that God really does know what He's talking about and means exactly what He says; and that often, those "fanatics" are right!
The bottom line is that we need to bring God into this area of our lives and we need to search His Word and ask Him for wisdom about what to do for our health, making sure that just like everything else it's not going to go against His Word. This calls for research as well in order to determine these things. So like everything else, God calls us to use discernment and the only way we can truly have that discernment is to know His Word well in the first place.
I've posted a great deal about alternative therapies in the past and shown that it's often against God's Word, and also simply not safe. (stands to reason since God loves us and wants what is best for us) One of my books divides the alternative therapies it discusses into 5 categories which alone says a lot about them, and they usually fall into more then one category:
Complementary therapies—therapies such as diet, exercise, and stress reduction that address broader lifestyle issues.
Scientifically unproven therapies—therapies, such as many herbal remedies, with a foundation in established medical and scientific principles but for which very little scientific evidence exists.
Scientifically questionable therapies—therapies, such as homeopathy, based on principles that contradict well-established scientific principles or that cannot be easily verified.
Life-energy therapies—therapies, such as therapeutic touch or Reiki, that assume the existence of “life energy” that can be manipulated by a variety of techniques.
Quackery and fraud—therapies that have been shown to have no reasonable benefit but that are still promoted by committed adherents. Fraud can occur with any therapy but especially with alternative therapies because they usually lack adequate research and rely on patient testimonials for validation.
We need not accept or reject alternative therapies as a whole, but we can evaluate each therapy based on the category or categories to which it belongs. Complementary therapies generally seem to play an important role in promoting health, whereas quackery should always be exposed and rejected. Christians should reject, on theological grounds, therapies based on life energy. Decisions about scientifically unproven therapies and scientifically questionable therapies will have to be made case-by-case with reliance on the best scientific evidence available. Stewart, G. (1998). Basic questions on alternative medicine: What is good and what is not?
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fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 7,630
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Post by fearnot on Sept 6, 2015 23:44:56 GMT -5
That was very helpful. I especially liked the part about not everything works the same for everybody. It stood out because this Fri I have to go to a 2 hour pain class and one of the questions ( I hope I get a chance to ask) is in fact, does everybody feel pain the same way or to the same degree. While I imagine some of their ways of dealing with pain besides narcotic pain med may work... Will it work for everyone? In other words maybe some people have a low tolerance for a certain kind of pain, but high for a different pain....so doing yoga ( which I will NOT do!!!) perhaps will help someones pinched nerves very well, but maybe not someone else. In fact, I wonder if perhaps someone with much more mangled pinched nerves, may not feel in as much pain as someone whose nerves are not nearly as squished. Maybe in part because one person has 2 or 3 health issues whereas another has 50 ( so, tho, maybe their nerves are not as pinched... but because they don't get quality sleep, digestion is terrible, etc etc. they can no longer handle medium pain... in fact, in the past they may have been very stoic, but way back they only had a few problems.
I do take Big Pharm meds but I do sometimes wonder when I read all the dire things up to and including death that could happen.
I do understand even too much water could kill a person so if one person died from a med they prob by law have to say it might cause death.
But I also heard that there is no stardard placebo pill and that when testing a new drug the pharm company makes the control itself and does not have to state what is in the placebo....which is a wee bit disconcerting. Not so much as to stop taking meds... Do you know if that is true about placebos?
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