OPINION & EDITORIAL
No ‘alternative’ to funding, just stop
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Also by Corey Sheahan:
- It's the economy, Clinton! (April 1, 2008)
- Dawkins reveals beauty of science (March 11, 2008)
- No 'alternative' to funding, just stop (February 26, 2008)
- Darwin Day: Triumph of evolution (February 12, 2008)
- Stimulus needed for legislators' minds, not economy (January 29, 2008)
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- Couric best pick for network news (September 7, 2006)
- An indictment of cable news (January 22, 2004)
- Veto override a shortsighted victory (September 29, 2005)
- Taxpayers, students deserve UW accountability (August 31, 2007)
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by Corey Sheahan
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
If I told you that in 2008, more than $121 million in taxpayer money will be spent studying energy medicine, magnetic therapy and colon enemas, you probably wouldn’t believe me, would you?
Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the government is not spending $121 million on colon enemas. The bad news is that in 2008, the National Institutes of Health appropriated more than $121 million to the study of what’s euphemistically known as “Complementary and Alternative Medicine,” or CAM — practices that include those mentioned above. I say CAM is a euphemism because the majority of complementary and alternative “medicine” is hardly recognizable as medicine when held to modern standards. I know that in recent years a number of prominent medical institutions have studied the effectiveness of CAM, but I believe they’re wasting their time and our money.
Many of you may be familiar with homeopathy, herbal therapy, massage therapy, reflexology, magnet therapy and naturopathy (the one that includes enemas). Many of these treatments claim to treat the entire body, and most include pseudoscientific ideas that lend them false legitimacy. For example, homeopathy sounds a bit like viral inoculation, since it uses small doses of substances that cause similar symptoms as those the patient is experiencing. When I say “small,” however, I really should say “nonexistent.” The homeopathic remedies are nothing more than water. Seriously. Supporters will say water “remembers” the diluted substance — one has to wonder if water “remembers” all the dangerous and toxic molecules that it undoubtedly mixed with at some point in the past.
One thing needs to be made clear from the beginning: There has never been any sound evidence that alternative medicine works. Homeopathy is just one of many ludicrous alternative medicinal practices. Yoga and massage therapy are supported by good evidence, but that should be no surprise. Yoga is good exercise, and it’s no newsflash that exercise is good for your health. Massage therapy reduces stress, but there isn’t any evidence that it is effective at combating any specific disease.
Advocates of alternative medicine will try to tell you otherwise. They’ll argue “Western” medicine is incomplete, and “Eastern” and traditional practices can be just as helpful as modern medicine. Since acupuncture, herbal therapy and homeopathy have been around for a long time, they must work, right?
Wrong. The very fact that these practices have been around for centuries and that they failed where modern medicine has had incredible success — in extending life expectancy, lowering the death rate in childbirth, inoculation against disease, etc. — is evidence for their ineffectiveness.
Another common argument is that alternative medicine is often a last resort for terminally ill patients who are hoping for a miracle — why shouldn’t they be allowed to seek every possible cure? Well, in all honesty, they should be. I don’t think the government should be in the business of robbing people of hope.
However, the government does not have a responsibility to support false hopes. If someone wants try alternative medicine as a last resort, that’s his or her choice. However, taxpayer money should not be used in the process. And furthermore, to those that make this argument, I ask this: What’s worse — giving someone straight answers about their condition or giving them false hope and encouraging them to waste their time and money on quackery?
Lastly, another argument for alternative medicine is that if it doesn’t hurt anyone, and if it provides some comfort and alleviates stress for some patients, what’s the harm?
“Alternative medicine is not hurting patients” isn’t much of an argument in its favor. And secondly, I contend that the public funding of alternative medicine actually does harm society by robbing legitimate science of research dollars. Public funding gives alternative medicine practitioners undeserved credibility and may cause people to seek alternative health care instead of the research-based, scientific modern medicine.
If alternative medicine could prove to have significant benefits in double-blind, methodologically sound studies, then I would absolutely support government funded alternative medicine studies. However, since nearly every “alternative” medicinal practice fails to meet the basic standards of legitimate science, I have this message for the National Institutes of Heath: Stop wasting my money.
Corey Sheahan (csheahan@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in history and economics.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 2:56am):
Science progress is also about disproving other ideas. The National Institutes of Health is a research organization and it should research alternative medicine. A 121 million dollars may sound like a lot but it is less than .5% of the total National Institutes of Health budget. Besides there are a lot of other things the government wastes money on.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 9:43am):
Do you even pay taxes?
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 10:32am):
Prove that people are *specifically dying* as a result of *specific* AMA-unethical approaches, and **maybe** Congress will vote to stop funding research into them.
If they aren't dying, or being put into clearly-evident-to-them-and-everyone-around-them dangerous situations, allow them the right to use the approach of their choice.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 11:04am):
2:56 -- "Besides there are a lot of other things the government wastes money on."
That's no reason to encourage it. Government research dollars should not go to any project or practitioner with an outside chance of producing results--it should be funneled to the most promising and potentially beneficial research.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 11:25am):
Exactly- science IS about disproving other ideas. Supporters of alternative medicine contend that they shouldn't be held to the same standards of modern science and medicine.
By asking for exemption from the peer-reviewed, double blind process, funding alternative medicine is just a waste of money.
And just because the government wastes money in other sectors, this doesn't give the NIH the right to waste money on this kind of quackery. $121 mil might be a small percentage of the NIH budget, but it's still $121 mil.
-Corey Sheahan
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 11:34am):
I think you need to look up all the studies that have taken place through the NIH testing the efficacy of TCM (including acupuncture and herbal medicine) You should do your research
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 12:21pm):
I can't believe you wasted your own time writing this article. There are a lot of things that would have been a better use of time, like smoking crack or playing GameCube.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 2:47pm):
Corey,
Maybe you should consider sticking to commentary on history and economics because your knowledge about "complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)" is lacking.
I hereby reiterate the suggestion above to do some reading of the existing research available through NIH and CAM (nccam.nih.gov). There are literally hundreds of scientific studies which provide solid evidence that therapies such as acupuncture and magnetic therapy can be effective.
The "energy medicine" that you deride would include therapies such as magnetic field therapy (PEMF) and light therapy. You must've been hiding under a rock for the past year not to have heard about the many benefits of "energy medicine" which would include SUNLIGHT (i.e. electromagnetic waves). Get out from under that rock and get some sun or else you'll likely develop a vitamin D deficiency. Look it up.
You're also welcome to read some of the articles I posted myself in the Articles section of Wellness5.com.
None of the above should be construed as an attack. My goal is simply to provide some education and to encourage you to do some honest, objective investigation before publishing this type of defamatory article in a public forum.
Keep Well,
Rob Vanden Heuvel
robvh(at)wellness5(dot)com
P.S. If you believe in the value of vitamin antioxidants, then you must also believe in the value of alkaline food/water as well as negative ions (so-called "alternative medicine"). Or do I need to give you a chemistry lesson to show you that some of the very same chemical processes are taking place? I'd be glad to.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 3:17pm):
Uh, I did my research.
Here's what I found:
-The study results on acupuncture varied depending on the countries in which they were conducted: in Asia, acupuncture had the best results. In our own superstitious country, the results were less promising, but still ambiguous. In Europe, the results were mostly negative.
This tells us that these studies are probably not being conducted scientifically (i.e., double-blind with control groups).
Furthermore, 'professional' acupuncture and fake acupuncture return similar 'results.' Conclusion: acupuncture is mostly placebo.
11:04 gets it- the true cost of alternative medicine isn't that it is the cause of negative health outcomes (though it sometimes is), but rather it robs more promising research of the necessary time and money for the advancement of legitimate health care.
-Corey Sheahan
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 5:06pm):
It is not the governments place to spend it citizens tax dollars on research.
Think we need more medical research? There are thousands of charitable organizations that would love your donation. It is amazing how much more is done when research dollars aren't filtered through the inefficiencies of government bureaucracy.
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 5:51pm):
More promising research like the drugs and surgery that combined kill hundreds of thousands of people a year in North America? THAT promising research?
Never mind that a simple $60 pair of magnetic insoles have helped thousands of people with nerve issues in their feet to recover with no side effects and thereby avoid lower limb amputation. That's not "promising". Oh, and that was a double-blind, placebo controlled study right here in North America.
It sounds like you did your research at such "pillars of science" as Snopes, Quackwatch, or Skeptic Magagzine! I hope you didn't simply Google "alternative medicine scam" to formulate an unbiased point of view. Please visit the NIH and NCCAM websites and do some more research.
"A lifestyle deficient in adequate amounts of man-made pharmaceutical drugs" is NOT the root cause of ANY disease (though I'm sure Pfizer and Merck lobbyists are working to change that). Instead, it is a departure from natural foods and environments that is making us sick in record numbers.
It's in the public's best interests to validate the value of reintroducing proper nutrition, clean air, healthful water, quality sleep and exercise into everyone's lives. There's no money in proving that veggies help cure disease because you can't patent it. So the only way much of this research will happen is if the government finances it. Sadly, this is because of the horrible bureaucracy known as the FDA, ironically of its own making.
I'd like to see all taxes gathered from pharmaceutical company profits put toward quality research into CAM. Then we might achieve some balance and maybe even avoid becoming a society of toxic pill poppers.
Keep Well,
Rob Vanden Heuvel
robvh(at)wellness5(dot)com
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 9:50pm):
I love the fact that this guy is standing in front of a Coca Cola machine. Tell him to look me up when he gets diabetes. I will put him up on a whole foods diet.
Jonathan Burgess, MD
Harvard Medical School
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 10:29pm):
Do they teach logic at HMS? I drink diet soda. (Maybe diet soda causes diabetes as well- I don't know. Point is, I watch what I eat/drink. Save the lecture, Doc).
-Corey Sheahan
Anonymous (February 26, 2008 @ 10:35pm):
Rob- you make some good points. Proper diet and exercise are undeniably important when it comes to proper health.
However, you can't possibly tell me that acupuncture is based on anything but hocus pocus. Just read it's description on the NIH CAM website. Here's an excerpt:
"In TCM, the body is seen as a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yangThe concept of two opposing yet complementary forces described in traditional Chinese medicine. Yin represents cold, slow, or passive aspects of the person, while yang represents hot, excited, or active aspects. A major theory is that health is achieved through balancing yin and yang and disease is caused by an imbalance leading to a blockage in the flow of qi.. Yin represents the cold, slow, or passive principle, while yang represents the hot, excited, or active principle. According to TCM, health is achieved by maintaining the body in a "balanced state"; disease is due to an internal imbalance of yin and yang. This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of qiIn traditional Chinese medicine, the vital energy or life force proposed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang. (vital energy) along pathways known as meridians. Qi can be unblocked, according to TCM, by using acupuncture at certain points on the body that connect with these meridians. Sources vary on the number of meridians, with numbers ranging from 14 to 20."
Active principle? Qi? Yin/Yang? What is this, the 18th century? Not to sound like John Stossel, but give me a break.
-Corey Sheahan
Anonymous (February 27, 2008 @ 12:59pm):
Hi Corey,
I'm completely with you in that I don't buy into the "hocus pocus" "explanations" that have been concocted to explain how or why acupuncture and magnetic therapies work. That's why it's very encouraging to see Western medicine investigating these modalities using our orbust scientific investigation methods.
There are thousands of years and millions of success stories that tell us that SOMETHING positive is happening when certain "alternative therapies" are applied. It would be great know WHY that is. That's what Western medicine can do to everyone's benefit, to legitimize the effective approaches and even further them through a better understanding of the mechanisms of action.
Sadly, the evidence of the past several decades suggests that when a mechanism of action is understood, the ultimate goal is the development of an expensive and recurring drug or treatment to improve the medical company's bottom line. However, there are also other organizations and companies out there (two of which I respect and advocate) which aim to stick to the natural approach rather than trying to "outsmart God and nature".
Keep Well,
Rob Vanden Heuvel
robvh(at)wellness5(dot)com
P.S. I highly recommend that you Google artificial sweeteners and diet soda. The evidence suggests that these sweeteners are harmful excitotoxins and do not lead to weight loss (quite the opposite in fact). The presence of benzene, a carcinogen, is another reason to steer clear of soda... or "pop" as it's known here in Canada. Keep well!
Anonymous (February 28, 2008 @ 8:59am):
I really wish that the Anti-CAM people would stop including Herbal Medicine alongside 'energy therapies' with an unexplained (and/or highly unlikely) mode of action like reflexology, magnet therapy and homeopathy.
Pharmacognosy (the study of Botanical and Herbal Medicine) is a rigid, scientifically robust and very serious field in both research and practice that deserves much more respect. It's biochemistry plain and simple - not peculiar energies or forces.
The fact that some western governments allow everyone and anyone (with absolutely no medical training) to supply and prescribe natural products of dubious quality and efficacy should not reflect badly on those of us who study hard for 5 long years to properly diagnose patients' illnesses and prescribe only pharmaceutical grade botanicals.
And it's utter codswollop to suggest that none of it's been tested properly.
Anonymous (February 28, 2008 @ 2:06pm):
I agree with the herbal medicine advocate above that we shouldn't lump all CAM therapies together. After all, there are bound to be some dubious ones, and also some very valuable ones. It would be a tragedy to throw the baby out with the bath water, as they say.
I get the impression that this same individual is of the opinion that magnetic therapy is dubious. This is not at all true. I will concede however, that some people's pseudo-scientific explanation of "how it works" is indeed dubious (much like the yin & yang "explanation" for acupunture's effects). These people and their hokey explanations do more harm than good to the CAM cause.
To the herbalist, I would suggest that biochemistry is quite intricately intertwined with "energy therapy", or more accurately, bioelectric energy. After all, chemistry has everything to do with molecules, atoms and electrons. Electricity and [electro]magnetism likewise deal with these forces.
If magnetism had no effect on the structures in the human body, then I guess we might as well throw out all those MRI machines which are dependent on it...
By the way, magnetic energy has been used for decades right here in the west to treat non-healing bone fractures. Most people don't know that. It's only recently that Western medicine has started to wake up to the myriad other benefits of introducing this natural energy to the body... an energy which our current living environment and lifestyle tends to distort and rob us of. I suspect most of us would think twice about buying a house beneath high voltage power lines.
A final thought now that we've established quite clearly that there is a entirely valid scientific premise why magnetic therapy can indeed affect the body and why it's worthy of investigation:
free radicals, antioxidant = ions = electromagnetic energy
biochemistry = electromagnetic energy
light = electromagnetic energy
magnetism = electromagnetic energy
'nuff said.
Keep Well,
Rob Vanden Heuvel
robvh(at)wellness5(dot)com
www.wellness5.com
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