There is no alternative medicine, pt 1

One Chris Salerno, a self-proclaimed sham watcher, wrote a scathing article in the Wall Street Journal recently. The thrust of the article was that any medicine that does not conform to today's standard's of scientific validity, and which does not have rigorous scientific validation is a sham. This article presents some very interesting biases that have plagued medical schools, hospitals and the National Institute of Health (the single largest investor in medical research in the world) for over 100 years.

Mr. Salerno quotes a former editor of the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Dr. Lundberg as saying, "There's no alternative medicine. There is only scientifically proven, evidence-based medicine supported by solid data."

There is a monumental presumption of arrogance that Dr. Lundberg typifies and which has been falling apart at the seems for quite some time. What Dr. Lundberg, and the author by quoting him are saying is "It ain't medicine until I say it's medicine."

Au contraire, you may say. Surely, there must be some standards, right? Of course, there are standards, but when the people setting the standards used duplicity, the bully pulpit of government and economic sabotage, as the American Medical Association did in the late 1800's and early 1900's to become THE standard bearer of medicine, there is something wrong here.

Since the time of the Greeks, there has been a tug of war between the two schools of medicine: "rationalists" and "empiricists" and this continues even up until today. I will summarize it here, but for those who are really interested in this subject, I highly recommend Harris Coulter's Divided Legacy, volume IV.

Rationalists use deductive reasoning, meaning, they look at a big picture, break it down into its smaller parts, and then treat the parts. This is why we have diagnosis, that relies on symptoms. For example, a person comes to their doctor and says, "I'm depressed." The doctor asks some questions, and finds out that the person doesn't enjoy things they used to like, can't get out of bed, has increased appetite, trouble falling asleep at night, and has lost interest in sex. So, he prescribes an anti-depressant, a diet pill, a sleeping pill, and something for the sex issues. In this approach, depression is depression and once you're labeled as "depressed" you get an anti-depressant. End of discussion. Allopathic ("Western" or "Mainstream") medicine is best described this way.

Empiricists use inductive reasoning. This is where you take individual signs and build it up into a single diagnosis specific for that person. For example, in the case of depression, it is can be viewed as depression with loss of appetite, with increased appetite, with too much sleep or insomnia, etc. Each one is a separate illness and a single treatment may address all the symptoms which are related to each other. Homeopathy best fits this camp.

I was trained by the first school, the rationalist school, as all MD's and DO's are, but in truth, the more material science explores life at the level of hormones, and the vibratory, steiric and electromagnetic levels of receptor-chemical interaction, the more it validates what the empiricists were saying.

So, when Dr. Lundgren said that there is no "alternative medicine" he was right for the wrong reasons. There is only one type of medicine: a medicine that is an enterprise of healing not hurt, of health care not sick care, of prevention in its primacy, but which has answers for emergencies, a medicine that understands anatomy and physiology, but also appreciates the impact of emotions and spirit on the body. There is no alternative to healing and helping. It either works for an individual or it doesn't.

The lack of caring by busy MD's cannot make up for cure. In fact, because of the pressures put on doctors, they are forced to peg people into tidy little diagnoses and just give them some pill and get them out the door. This is why people are seeking "alternatives"--alternatives to factory medicine.

Let me give you a real example. I woman told me she was diagnosed with a thyroid problem and fatigue. She had the thyroid removed, which gave her a new disease: celiac's disease. She was given one drug for her fatigue, which gave her side effects, so they gave her another drug, which gave her side effects, so they prescribed a third drug to deal with the side effects of the second drug. Is this the medicine for which there is no alternative?

In my practice, I spend 60-90 minutes on the first visit because, as Hippocrates said over 2500 years ago, "The person who has the disease is more important than the disease the person has."

As a final note, "alternative" medicine is one of those colonial terms given by the medical establishment, like a dictator calling every dissenting voice "upstarts and rebels."

The term "complimentary" medicine came about by peace makers and medical "diplomats" if you will, who said, "Maybe this stuff isn't so bad. We should at least take a look at it." They thought, "Hey, we can use some zinc and antibiotics for colds, or massage therapy and Prozac when a person is depressed. The one compliments the other," hence "complimentary medicine. This was the uncle Tom approach. The house negro, if you will, the one who was good and compliant and tried to explain all the "alternative" therapies with purely biomechanical explanations that pleased his master at the NIH and prestigious medical schools.

Now, there is "integrative medicine" which was an addage coined by MD's and DO's who were not afraid to admit that they believed in vibrational medicine, acupuncture, and surgery at the same time, and wanted to integrate both approaches--rational and empirical--as two equals in a "power sharing agreement" if you will.

This is a really good start, but it is still not integrative because many of these MD's are still using a organ-based approach and a symptoms based approach and treating every symptom their patient has using a bag full of vitamins, herbs, massage and supplement in place of a bag full of prescription medication. Truly integrative medicine requires the ability to look at the causative factors of disease--the ultimate cause--and take an approach that restores the entire body to equilibrium by crafting a truly individualized plan to treat body, mind and spirit from the cell to the soul.

In part 2, I will take one a few of the more outlandish statements that Mr. Salerno made in his article.

Fresh Air: A report on Asthma Medications

The New York Times reported that the FDA published a warning about the use of combination asthma medication in children. These medications combine a beta-agonist that opens the airways with a steroid, that reduces swelling. Advair and Symbicort are the best selling versions of these drugs.

The FDA has been expressing its concern for some years now (read it here) that children who uses these medications are at risk of dying as a result of it. Other studies have shown that even using "rescue inhalers" like albuterol frequently increases the risk of dying and can actually worsen wheezing.

Over 10 years ago, the FDA expressed concern about the risk of death related to the use of Serevent, its maker, GlaxcoSmithKline did an internal study which is refused to publish the results of. It then took this potentially dangerous product and combined it with a steroid to get Advair now the biggest selling drug in its class. Then, in 2003, years later, it published the report which said that the FDA was right on this.

Aromatherapy can be amazingly effectively for treating mild asthma flare-ups in addition to treating the problems of asthma. For flare-ups, I nebulize the essential oils directly into the lungs. This should be arranged with a doctor experiences in this type of treatment. The convenient thing about aromatherapy is that it is effective inhaled on the skin (rub it on the chest for mild asthma flare ups) and taken internally.

I like to use a medical aromatherapy product called Aroma Aid as a compliment to my total treatment plan for Asthma. It contains lavender essential oil, which reduce histamine release that leads to swelling in the airways. It also has frankincense essential oil, which has a naturally occurring compound (leukotriene inhibitor) similar to medications like Singulair, without the side effects that those medications have. This decreases the cascade of inflammation. To deal with mucous and inflammation, Aroma Aid has peppermint essential oil.

DO NOT STOP ANY TREATMENT BEFORE CONSULTING WITH YOUR DOCTOR. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A PLAN TO DEAL WITH ASTHMA EMERGENCIES BEFORE STARTING TO DEAL WITH THE ROOT CAUSES OF ASTHMA. Here is a passage from my soon-to-be-published book, "Natural Cures for your child's cold and flu":

Asthma has become a national epidemic in the United States. There are many powerful medications to treat the symptoms of asthma and they can be life saving and give good relief of the discomforts of asthma. If you are interested in trying to reduce the number of asthma attacks your child suffers from go Natural treatments, below. They usually take a few months to reach their peak effects, so, continue with the treatment plan your doctor has worked out with you.

A treatment plan is more than a prescription for medication. It should include a clear, step-by-step treatment plan which includes “peak flows” for kids who are old enough to check how deep a breath they can take. For example, It would say: “If Miguel’s peak flow is less than 200, start giving him albuterol every 4 hours. If his peak flow is less than 180, start steroids and give the albuterol every 3 hours. If his peak flow is less than 150, please call my office, and go to an urgent care center or emergency department immediately.

Ultimately, it's important that the causes of your child's asthma are addressed, not just his or her symptoms. Children who suffer from asthma can have too much inflammation, too much mucous, or tight airways, or, a combination of all three factors. These factors themselves, arise from an imbalance in natural steroids, of a diet high in unhealthy foods, stress, a deficiency in key nutrients, like selenium, magnesium or vitamin C can play a role too.

To ensure that your child gets the best care possible, a pediatrician with experience in integrative medicine, or, a naturopath experienced in the care of children should be consulted to address diet, lifestyle, stress and other issues related to your child's health.