September 03, 2006
Alternative medicine doesn't exist; acupuncture is useless
Reyhan Harmanci in the San Francisco Chronicle:
While his views may not be popular in Northern California, Wallace Sampson, clinical professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University and editor in chief of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, is frank about his thoughts about alternative medicine. "It doesn't exist," he says. "We've looked into most of the practices and, biochemically or physically, their supposed effects lie somewhere between highly improbable and impossible."
There are two major misconceptions about acupuncture, Sampson says, and both contribute to the misunderstanding of its worth as medical treatment. First, most people assume that it's an ancient Chinese cure that has existed, unchanging, for centuries. Not so, says Sampson, noting that "acupuncture was formalized in a complex way over the past 100 years, mostly in Europe and France and after the Communist takeover in China. Before that time there was no consistent formalization of acupuncture points or what each place was supposed to do. It was largely regional, and the thinking varied from city to city."
More here.
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"It exists if my wallet says it exists!"
-Average American Sucker
Posted by: beajerry | Sep 3, 2006 7:14:30 PM
How about some comments by Wallace Sampson about the orthodox quackery in the only approved cancer "treatments" in the United States, all of which are life threatening? Most cancer patients likely die of the treatment, but luckily for the cancer generals in the war on cancer, no autopsy, let alone an objective, truthful and convincing one, proving how and why a cancer patient, taking dangerous toxic drugs or given doses of cancer causing radiation or dangerous surgery, may have died. The presumption in the media is that these patients died of the cancer itself, not the treatment. But when the report uses the code words, "...so and so died of complications of cancer", a red flag is raised or should be raised. For example, suppose the chemotherapy killed the wrong, non cancerous cells in the colon of a breast cancer patient and permitted dangerous bacteria like clostridium septicum, from which most people die in 24 hours, normally found in the bowel, into the bloodstream? If the patient dies from this, the "cause" of death listed on the death certificate by the lying doctor in charge would be "blood poisoning", but the true cause of death would be the cancer "treatment", mistreatment would be a more appropriate description, chemotherapy.
The cancer generals have squandered multi billions of hard earned private and public dollars on a failed war on cancer based on the failed speculation that cancer is genetically caused, when Otto Warburg, M.D., Ph.D., the genius level scientist in Germany proved that cancer is a disease of respiratory impairment, oxygen deficiency to living cells. A recent indictment of the National Cancer Institute exists: "The Truth About Hydrazine Sulfate-Dr. Gold Speaks" by Joseph Gold, M.D., at www.hydrazinesulfate.org. About one person dies every minute either from cancer, treatment or both.
This is a national emergency. But this authority wastes time talking about acupunture, not the criminal medical negligence of the cancer generals, who, not only should and must be fired, but prosecuted for scientific misconduct and criminal fraud.
Posted by: Winfield J. Abbe | Sep 4, 2006 12:31:28 PM
There's a lot of quackery on both sides of the fence, coupled with pharmaceutical company greed. As a rule of thumb, I think Western medicine is good at treating acute, specific diseases, and acupuncture (I won't speak to other forms of alternative medicine) some of the more chronic diseases. My own experience with acupuncture made me think twice about it. I'd gone the western med route and taken 5 years to get a diagnosis of chronic costochondritis (an inflammation of the cartilage in the rib cage that sometimes follows upper respiratory infections). The NSAIDs I was given only made me feel worse and cured nothing. I went into acupuncture in desperating, expecting exactly nothing, and got, instead, the first relief in years. The obvious comeback is that it's coincidental, but it's worked too often with flare-ups, I think, to be merely that.
Whether it's my brain just pumping out the endorphins on its own or in response to applied stimulus, or an actual rebalancing of my immune system doesn't matter. In the end, what counts is that there's some relief or cure and that no harm is done. It sure doesn't hurt that it's cheaper, less painful and less harmful than a lifetime course of dangerous drugs, half of which I took have now been withdrawn from the market.
Posted by: Lee Kottner | Sep 4, 2006 1:08:53 PM
Oh please! Western doctors live up to their credo of "First, do no harm"? This is so ludicrous on the face of it that Mr. Sampson must be a victim of brainwashing. What drug in the PDR doesn't have side effects? Every year thousands of people die needlessly from reactions to prescribed drugs. Also, doctors may be reluctant to touch a patient, but they'll rip out a gall bladder at the drop of a hat.
Posted by: dr who | Sep 4, 2006 1:28:04 PM
Yeah! These commentors know the score about stupid doctors and medicine. I'm never taking my bleeding nub to the ER ever again!
Posted by: Mr. Chemo | Sep 4, 2006 2:42:10 PM
My near death experience was the result of the Asthma med, Prednisone's side effects...the side effects are too many to mention and complain about in this space.
While I am grateful to modern medicine for helping me stay alive and symptom free often enough, I am also aware of the catastrophic pitfalls. My experience with acupuncture is limited, but, my experience with other alternative remedies have complimented modern medicine well enough to keep me alive and help provide a decent quality of life (Yoga in particular). I remeber fighting with doctors and nurses to include my yoga practice in the list of meds. that i incorporate...that has since changed as evidence has shown Yoga has an effect on health.
there is alternative medicine by any other name and it does heal.
Posted by: grace,T | Sep 5, 2006 8:14:18 PM
I think the point is not that alternative medicine does not exist, but that there is no evidence for its efficacy. Unicorns may exist, but there is no evidence for them. If there IS properly controlled and studied evidence for the benefit of a therapy, then it is no longer "alternative," but by definition very much a part of mainstream science and medicine. Unfortunately, people keep wasting their money on things like homeopathy which is exactly as effective as prayer.
In fact, if homeopathy were true, it would destroy our current scientific view of the universe because it would imply that molecules of a substance can have an effect even when they are NOT PRESENT. (That is how dilute homeopathic "drugs" are.)
I think Wallace Sampson's (wasn't he married to Edward VIII? :-) )invocation of the Hypocratic Rule is unfortunate, as scientific medicine obviously routinely does calculated amounts of harm for greater expected benefits, but that doesn't make everything he says wrong.
It would be nice if those supporting alternative therapies in the comments above would provide something more than anecdote and expressions of personal faith. Cite some studies, otherwise you are on shakey ground (because the notorious human tendency to inductively ascribe causal effects to salient aspects of the environment--"I got a cold from eating unripe mangoes twice so I never eat them now"--is well documented and understood. This is why there are about as many cold remedies as there are people who have had colds.
Posted by: Abbas Raza | Sep 5, 2006 8:50:26 PM
According to the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) the third leading cause of death in America, after cancer and heart disease, is from non-accidental prescription of drugs by doctors, i.e., the side effects of 'properly' prescribed medication. Do you really wonder why drug ads in magazines are now accompanied by full pages of tiny print listing these side effects? Anybody have an aspirin...
Posted by: Robert Reiter | Sep 6, 2006 12:52:28 AM
very good blogger site!.I’d like to exchange idea with you about your subject.and by the way, Can I introduce Bristol website to you:www.backachetherapy.co.uk Chinese pain relief acupuncture website to give you a wealth of information about back pain as well as educate you about Chinese backcare therapy.It is about Dr Han--Chinese exarmy hospital doctor,(TCM doctor)specialises in lower back pain relief (eg.sciatica),adopting acupressure massage therapy and acupuncture,he worked in China army hospital over 20 years as medical practitioner.if you like contact him,ring: 0117 9741199. Natural Health Clinic,39 Cotahm Hill,Bristol,BS6 6JY.(Bristol Alternative and complementary medicine)
What do you think about it? Something as follow:
Chinese acupuncture practitioner had almost been accused for website’s ads in Bristol
Dr Zhentong Han is a Chinese registered acupuncturist with twenty years of clinical experience. He is very popular among the patients in the area with outstanding technique. The appointments for him in the clinic in Bradford were always full, however, at Bristol, another place where he set up his business; there were troubles from the competitions in the same field.
It started at the acupunctural website of Dr Han(http://www.backachetherapy.co.uk), which occupied the NO.1 place in a international websites about acupuncture (http://www.passion-4.net/tables/Acupuncture.html). Because of the large number of patients attracted by this website which introduced traditional Chinese acupuncture for backache therapy,and top position in yahoo and google. it caught great attention of other businesses in the same field in a very short time. Some practitioner even registered company names using key words about acupuncture , and notified Dr Han and other practitioners to stop using the some key words for advertising the website. Or else they would probably be charged by the law.
Dr Han claimed that he regretted deeply for the matter, but he didn’t want to get involved in this legal dispute, for the purpose of having a website is not to score high on the network, but to have more patients understand the most veracious Chinese traditional acupunctural techniques through his website, so to help more patients get rid of the pain.
Bristol Chinese Pain relief Acupuncture
www.backachetherapy.co.uk
Posted by: dr han | Sep 11, 2006 8:59:24 AM
Modern medicine...pfft! I almost died of contracting c-dif bacteria the last time I was in the hospital. Afterwards, I found out that the bacteria jumps around hospitals like a kid off his ritalin, and that tons of people catch it (with plenty of deaths thereafter). Just one case of many instances of modern medicine being unable to heal itself.
Posted by: Christopher | Sep 23, 2006 7:46:55 PM
Hi ,Dear Abbas Raza :
Wallace Sampson, (clinical professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University),his idea same as acupuncture concept in some website.I had use his some conclution to discuss with some practitioner and some blog friend,most of them disagree it.
I'm Chinese acupuncturist,I just want to know how west country people think about acupuncture,that's all!
In China ,there are have many reseach about acupuncture,I suggest west country people looking for some China book and website.
Dr Han.Bristol pain relief acupuncture.
Posted by: Dr Han | Sep 28, 2006 11:09:36 AM
I just wanted to ask: which pharmaceutical company is paying you to bash acupuncture?
Obviously your comments are naive and ignorant. You would be amazed at how many people have been getting well with acupuncture. There's only 2 things an MD can do: surgery or drugs; so if you don't have the knowledge about wellness care (which you don't)..don't try to comment on it! For all who's interested to know the truth check out www.naturalcures.com or buy the book....
Posted by: LL | Oct 25, 2006 1:55:21 AM
Acupuncture is a centuries-old chinese method of healing. Acupuncture is the insertion of really fine needles (sometimes in conjunction with electric current). Acupuncture is something that has mystified and baffled scientists researchers and the public for some time. On the average probably no more than 10 points or so can be selected for treatment. Blockage of energy is responsible for pain or disease in the corresponding body part.
Elby
Posted by: Elby | Jan 11, 2007 10:51:48 PM
Are there any serious reactions to the use of prednisone???
Posted by: Jack Patten | May 31, 2007 2:49:56 PM
Homeopathy cures where Conventional Allopathic Medicine (CAM) fails
Posted by: Dr. Nancy Malik | Sep 14, 2008 6:21:33 AM
Oh please. Did any of you take the slightest notice of what Abbas said? Try reading an article or three on the placebo effect. Learn to differentiate between anecdote and clinical evidence. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING evidentially to support ANY of these 'alternative' treatments - not a one. Otherwise, they would not be called alternative, that's the point! Do you think a doctor in his/her right mind is going to leave out of their bag of tricks any available treatment with a proven track record? I'm backing Western medicine, properly applied, every time. Given the health and longevity we enjoy (at least here) courtesy of it's application, it would smack of hypocrisy to do otherwise.
A good starting place would be "Trick or Treatment" by Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh.
Posted by: MattInOz | Sep 14, 2008 9:36:56 AM
"Try reading an article or three on the placebo effect."
You tell 'em! Also remember to consider what Sampson's fellow quackbuster Stephen Barrett said when confronted with solid evidence that acupuncture works on animals: "maybe animals have a placebo effect."
"Learn to differentiate between anecdote and clinical evidence. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING evidentially to support ANY of these 'alternative' treatments - not a one."
Make sure you keep repeating that over and over again while you block your ears to the numerous animal studies that demonstrate acupuncture works. And be sure NOT to look at the Harvard study that showed acupuncture was just as effective -- well over placebo -- as SSRIs for depression.
"Otherwise, they would not be called alternative, that's the point!"
Oh my.
"Do you think a doctor in his/her right mind is going to leave out of their bag of tricks any available treatment with a proven track record?"
Many allopathic doctors have been convinced and have begun using alternative treatments along with their standard treatments. One of the anesthesiologists I work with will soon be introducing acupuncture in our major hospital's pain clinic. Funny thing is though, many physicians who choose this route are subsequently presented with legal proceedings in an effort to shut them down financially, not by dissatisfited patients, but by quackbusters like Sampson.
"I'm backing Western medicine, properly applied, every time."
That's your prerogative. Mine is to use a "complement" of modalities depending on the situation. Otherwise it would not be called "complementary medicine", that's the point!
"Given the health and longevity we enjoy (at least here) courtesy of it's application,"
Our health and longevity is largely due to superior sanitation, clean and plentiful supplies of water and food, and a relatively hazard-free lifestyle.
"it would smack of hypocrisy to do otherwise."
"Hypocrisy?!"
Posted by: brainfan | Sep 26, 2008 5:10:23 AM
Abbas Razza wrote:
"It would be nice if those supporting alternative therapies in the comments above would provide something more than anecdote and expressions of personal faith."
I've lived in four countries and the country I live in now, Germany (falsely reputed to be culturally hyper-rationalist), surprised me by being the most inclined towards faith in homeopathy, "healing" crystals, "energized" water, Geomancy and so on. Easily 30% of the inventory stocked by the average pharmacy here is homeopathic in nature... looking for symptom-relieving cold medicines every winter involves reading the packaging very, very carefully.
The general homeopathic narrative... that "Western" medicine is a form of patriarchal oppression one has a consumer's choice to defy... is just too powerful, in Germany, to ignore: people are buying this fairy dust as a way to be *good*, essentially. Never underestimate the power of a compelling narrative.
Posted by: Steven Augustine | Sep 26, 2008 5:42:26 AM
Ooops.. I've turned Mr. Raza into a comic opera Italian with that extra "z"! Apologies!
Posted by: Steven Augustine | Sep 26, 2008 5:46:11 AM
Brainfan,
The reason I have included some reading in my final suggestion is (surprise, surprise) in case you may want to look further into what I was commenting on. As opposed to shouting down any opposition to your pet theory.
Ernst, co-author of the above cited work (2008), is a Professor of Complementary Medicine and an editor of the journal Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies. If he, along with others, after exhaustive and wide-ranging review of the therapy in question have found no evidence whatsoever for its efficacy (and in some cases, evidence of actual harm), then it might be time to admit the money could be better spent.
I don't see how "oh my" gets around my point that alternative medicine, as pointed out in the article, doesn't exist. If it's a therapy with a indisputable track record, it will simply form part of 'medicine', the word 'alternative' being superfluous.
If the amazing evidence you speak of existed in a robust form, acupuncture would be used to its fullest in all "Western" health systems. The fact remains, it isn't. This is not due to any conspiracy amongst evidence-based practitioners to avoid ancient (and often ignorant) medical customs - it is a simple function of the therapies in question being unable to make their case.
Posted by: MattInOz | Sep 26, 2008 8:30:07 AM
Homeopathy: Micro Doses Mega Results
Posted by: Dr. Nancy Malik | May 17, 2009 2:26:46 PM
I don"t think so that he doesn"t have any right to say anything against this form of treatment which has proved to boon to thousands of people suffering from from pain and paralysis whom i have treated personally with the help of acupuncture and without any nsaid"s
Posted by: Dr. M.A. Londhe | Jun 6, 2009 1:44:11 PM
Homeopathy is evidence based modern medicine for the 21st century
Posted by: Dr. Nancy Malik | Jun 29, 2009 10:34:55 AM
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