From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: On pre-scientific traditions of medicine (was: Use of term
Date: 20 Aug 92 02:09:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Aug20.020904.22932
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

In article <1992Aug20.005948.4969@news.Hawaii.Edu> lady@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Lee Lady) writes:
>I started taking zinc lozenges last winter to suppress cold symptoms on
>the basis of articles posted on the net and the recommendation of a
>couple of personal friends.  Maybe in five or ten years there will be a
>scientific study proving their effectiveness, but in the meantime
>you'll be having colds and I won't.  They work fantastically well.

Well, there have been some studies pointing to a beneficial effect
though I frankly don't know what the current consensus is, but anyway,
this is an example of an inexpensive and harmless therapy being taken
for an inconsequential (but inconvenient and annoying) illness.  Big deal.
Listen, Gordon doesn't get colds anyway, because he takes 500mg/day of
vitamin C.  :-\  The point is that that level of supplementation is
somewhat analogous to your using zinc lozenges: it can't hurt, and it's
cheap.

>Getting rolfed didn't offer me all the benefits I'd hoped for but I have
>no regrets about having given it a try.  Besides, everybody I knew
>started telling me that I looked a whole lot better and my posture had
>improved.  

So?  I don't understand what you are attempting to address here.
I don't think traditional medicine has much against Rolfing if it's
considered a kind of massage therapy (modulo the bruises.)  If it
were said to cure dandruff, that would be a different matter.

>A couple of years ago when my energy level was at a real low point, I
>bought a bottle of tablets called Extra Energy Enzymes.  They are
>allegedly made from sprouts and increase the body's supply of super-oxide
>dismutase and catalase.  (I think they may be sold only in Hawaii, to
>avoid problems with the FDA.)  It cost $20 for enough for two weeks and
>if you read the package insert really carefully you got the idea that
>there really wasn't any need to continue beyond that two weeks.
>Anyway, they didn't make me feel wonderful but they did restore me to the
>point where I was functional again.  Maybe it was just a placebo, but it
>was a lot more effective than going to a physician and being given all
>sorts of expensive tests and then told there was nothing he could do for
>me because there was nothing wrong.  I've had 0% success with that route.

I think it's a shame doctors don't prescribe Ritalin anymore
to people who come forward with complaints about feeling blah.
Now that was an "active placebo". :-)

>You wouldn't have done any of these things, since you (according to what
>you say) place a high value on playing it safe.  I can't say you're wrong,
>but I think I should be allowed to make up my own mind on my own values.

And this is MY complaint with many of the anti-medicine whiners: they think
they're back in their adolescence talking back to Daddy.  I mean, c'mon,
we're all supposed to be grown-ups here.  No one is "disallowing" you
from making up your own mind on your own values.  Obviously.
But you're actually demanding something different: respect from the
scientific community about therapies which don't necessarily deserve
such respect, and that will be granted on a case-by-case basis, based
on the facts which are available.  If someone advocates colon irrigation
or (as is seen in rec.food.veg today) a fasting/herbal laxative treatment
for "impacted feces" and the ills of the world which go with that, someone
schooled in traditional medicine (and hopefully a lot of other individuals)
certainly OUGHT to withhold their approval.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Newsgroups: sci.med