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- May 13, 2010
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You're certainly preaching, but it isn't the truth.
You're right. It's the Truth. You need to brush up on those reading skills.
You're certainly preaching, but it isn't the truth.
You're like a textbook definition of projection. I'm not going to bother with you anymore. After all, once you fail your patients, it means more business for me.This is the definition of arrogance, in case there was any doubt.
Patients are indeed more than numbers, and I would never take a patient to task for using CAM modalities unless they were at serious risk of direct harms. The discussion, however, is not about what patients think or do but what happens in medical education. The plural of anecdote is not data, and placebo effects can lead patients to believe they're getting better when they're actually getting worse. Pain medicine is incredibly complex and we have an incredibly limited tool set with which to address the needs of chronic pain patients, but that doesn't mean we should turn to modalities that are comparable in efficacy to twirling a toothpick on the skin. Perhaps you might want to peruse the Cochrane database and get a handle on how poor the evidence base is for the efficacy of acupuncture in managing pain in the long term. While the reviews are frequently charitable in their conclusions about the efficacy of acupuncture in pain management for a variety of disorders, they are also frequently accompanied by the caveat that the studies to date are of insufficient quality to make hard recommendations.
Naturopaths reject empirical evidence as the means for justifying treatments. They reject germ theory, vaccines, and prescribe water and think magical energy fields can be manipulated by thought. This is explicitly stated in their educational materials, which you might want to leaf through before defending them. Why should I trust the dietary advice of a practitioner who thinks diluting medicine makes it stronger, that disease comes from within and can only be purged by detoxification and frankly denies basic scientific findings that disagree with their clinical opinion? Beyond eating less red meat and increasing my vegetable intake, what else can these professionals teach me about nutrition? And what about their ubiquitous endorsement of supplements? The burgeoning consensus is that healthy, functioning people don't need supplementation, but the backbone of naturopath is prescribing a hodgepodge of homeopathic remedies and unregulated supplements and herbal remedies.
It's published, guys. It must be true.We are off topic now but yeah. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23067573 . Took me a 2 second search. As with anything alternative of course more research is needed. No one is arguing that. But yes it works. All the time? No. But nothing does. Seeing is believing for me I suppose.
You sound like you're real fun at parties. ;/You're like a textbook definition of projection. I'm not going to bother with you anymore. After all, once you fail your patients, it means more business for me.
I beg to differ. Here's my evidence:You sound like you're real fun at parties. ;/
The first two years of SCNM was exactly the same as the first two years of my Osteopathic Education.
I beg to differ. Here's my evidence:
EDiT: Somehow I got TOS violation for inappropriate behavior due to this specific post. I can't even have a conversation about it with the mod to know what is inappropriate with this because he/she doesn't accept conversations. Until explained, I see no reason to edit my post.
That level of PC makes my head explode.Probably because there's a racist joke about a nation not quite known for their sense of humor (even when it's a compliment).
Well... I was violated a few years ago for posting a perfectly "innocent" picture from the kid's show "Lazy Town." I mean, it wasn't photoshopped or nothin... peoples' heads were just in the gutter that day. (searching for "lazy town meme" should bring it up).That level of PC makes my head explode.
As a resident I am consistently discussing new treatments and modalities to my attendings, and often they change their stance and make adjustments (just recently the use of tranexamic acid has become standard with our attendings due to our group of residents pushing for its use because new research was pointing to its benefit, plus we got tired of the bloody post op dressings and pulling drains). Oh we use dakins solutions all the time in orthopedics (wasnt that a CAM therapy a previous poster bashed on???? broaden the mind)
Yes I think it should be required to learn about CAM therapy, its positive and negative effects (as was discussed in a previous post about the metastatic breast cancer).
Regardless of how it was presented, in the real world patients do ask about alternative medicine and herbals ALL THE TIME. I honestly wish I had even one lecture on what ND's do because your patients flock to those types of providers. I get a lot of elderly patients who only want "natural" medicine who think DO=ND and want me to tell them what to take to cure their ails without writing an Rx.
Honest question. I still cannot wrap my head around the thought process of continuing to do the same thing over and over when its apparent that it isn't working.
That's it, i'm convinced. all of my future patients will only be recommended crystal therapy, ayahuasca spirit quests, and I will be only prescribe tiger paw and rhino horn. and i will be even watering down my placebos to 1 ppm for maximum effectiveness
What do they say when you tell them the course they're taking is killing/has killed them?I'm doing a mastectomy today on a young woman with a fungating chest wall mass which her "doctor" has been "treating" with IV Vitamin C, etc. She clearly has metastatic disease with positive axillary and supraclav nodes but refuses any adjuvant treatment.
It frustrates me that we work diligently to take care of people, all the while facing the real possibility of litigation when things don't go well (or even if they do), and there are NDs out there (and we have loads here because we have some schools in town) *killing* patients with these unproven treatments. Despite what I do today in the OR, this women will almost assuredly die of her metastatic breast cancer before age 50. 🙁
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/arnicaThere is a very prominent ENT/Plastics doctor in town who tells patients to use Arnica Gel post surgery to help with scarring/bruising/swelling. Isn't that, like, voodoo or something?
I'm tempted to reply to this with a pic from "Rejected" buy I think it is bordering on bad taste.There sure is a lot of butthurt on this thread...
A lot of medicine might as well be voodoo. Every time I get an order for CPT for a pleural effusion I seriosuly want to slap someone.There is a very prominent ENT/Plastics doctor in town who tells patients to use Arnica Gel post surgery to help with scarring/bruising/swelling. Isn't that, like, voodoo or something?
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/arnica
"Some lab experiments suggest that arnica might kill bacteria and ease swelling. But the effects in people aren’t clear.
Studies of topical arnica gels and ointments for bruising and arthritis symptoms -- like pain and swelling -- have had unclear results. So far, research suggests that arnica skin treatments don’t ease muscle pain.
If eaten, the actual herb is toxic and can be fatal. However, some oral supplements contain highly diluted arnica. These are considered homeopathic treatments. These low-dose arnica tablets are safe to use and have been studied for blood clots, diarrhea, diabetic eye damage, and swelling and pain after surgery. More research needs to be done to establish effectiveness for those problems. A study of children with cancer, however, found that homeopathic low-dose arnica may help reduce mouth ulcers related to chemotherapy.
Because of the risks of pure arnica, the FDA classifies it as an unsafe herb. Doctors who practice complementary medicine generally advise against using arnica in any form other than in a highly diluted homeopathic form"
Where I'm from we have used arnica gel for swelling/bruising for as long as I can remember.There is a very prominent ENT/Plastics doctor in town who tells patients to use Arnica Gel post surgery to help with scarring/bruising/swelling. Isn't that, like, voodoo or something?
It's not blind hatred. My cousin is dead because of a brain tumor she decided to treat with homeopathic bullcrap.I can google too, but the point of my post is to illustrate that CAM treatments/therapy are prevalent despite your blind hatred for anything other than mainstream medicine.
It would behoove you to in erase your exposure.
It's not blind hatred. My cousin is dead because of a brain tumor she decided to treat with homeopathic bullcrap.
I haven't bought an iPhone since. My world has become less wonderful because of homeopathic "medicine"Plus Steve Jobs
It's not blind hatred. My cousin is dead because of a brain tumor she decided to treat with homeopathic bullcrap.
Just skimmed through this thread and, wow, both sides make a very compelling argument. However, I think I lean a little toward the "skeptical" group mainly because I think med students don't have much luxury in terms of time and energy to endure a lecture full of low-yield material. I think dedicating the time and effort to educate medical students about the economics and politics of medicine would be a much better use of resources.
This is why I like this guy. Always thinking outside the box. That would be great if we were made more aware of the economics and politics in medicine.Just skimmed through this thread and, wow, both sides make a very compelling argument. However, I think I lean a little toward the "skeptical" group mainly because I think med students don't have much luxury in terms of time and energy to endure a lecture full of low-yield material. I think dedicating the time and effort to educate medical students about the economics and politics of medicine would be a much better use of resources.
The school is not endorsing ND's. If they bring in a Spiritual Healer who removed disease over the phone, I'll attend that lecture the same as I would a prominent Oncologist who just cured cancer.
It's information.
This is why I like this guy. Always thinking outside the box. That would be great if we were made more aware of the economics and politics in medicine.
I'm extremely conflicted about this. On one hand I would be visibly upset that my school is wasting time introducing me to a side of medicine that I am fundamentally against. On the other hand I would kind of want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. I've personally seen a small handful of incredibly ridiculous damage done by ND's and the like. The "practitioners" I have had the displeasure of dealing with were at best scam artists and at worst negligent criminals. Part of me wants to believe there is some good in that field.
Just skimmed through this thread and, wow, both sides make a very compelling argument. However, I think I lean a little toward the "skeptical" group mainly because I think med students don't have much luxury in terms of time and energy to endure a lecture full of low-yield material. I think dedicating the time and effort to educate medical students about the economics and politics of medicine would be a much better use of resources.
It's important that med students learn that being a physician isn't about your own personal beliefs. There are students fundamentally against abortion. Should that subject be banned from curriculum? There are students fundamentally against birth control. Banned? Not so much. I had a classmate fundamentally against benzo use because his mom and sister became addicted to them and he was convinced they serve no useful purpose for anyone, except maybe someone in acute alcohol withdrawal. The bottom line is, as long as patients are using them, you NEED to know about it. Put your beliefs aside and open your mind to what your patients are taking. It's your job as a physician to be exposed to these things, whether you agree with them or not.
That's it, i'm convinced. all of my future patients will only be recommended crystal therapy, ayahuasca spirit quests, and I will be only prescribe tiger paw and rhino horn. and i will be even watering down my placebos to 1 ppm for maximum effectiveness
So we just had a naturopathic doctor come in at my DO school today and give us a lecture on naturopathic medicine as well as homeopathy and other forms of alternative medicine. And no this wasn't some kind of optional seminar for people interested, it was part of our normal curriculum. This lecture focused on herbal remedies, general intro to CAM, etc. and was ended with a prayer/meditation session.
Throughout the lecture, the ND kept lumping NDs and DOs into the same group, saying things like "we as physicians" (referring to NDs and DOs as a group) and remarking on the similarities between osteopathic and naturopathic medicine and how the MD's don't practice holistically like "us" (propaganda proliferated commonly at my school that I also disagree with). I found it all very offensive to the modern and evidence-based nature of osteopathic medicine today and feel like things like this just continue to hold back the profession.
Am I overreacting? I asked several people in my class what they thought of it, and no one seemed to think it was a big deal. A lot of students in my class are into alternative medicine and we have a CAM interest group. We also take a required CAM block taught by an ND during our second year. Is this common at other schools? And no, we aren't one of the newer schools....we're actually at one of the more established and respected DO schools, which is another reason I find all of this especially embarrassing.
Sometimes I wish I had a law license so I could air malpractice commercials back to back with ads like this.I just heard a commercial on the radio with a chiropractor advertising treatment for Hashimoto's.
The patients are not experts and thus trust in people who claim to be experts to provide their care. When you've got one guy saying he can fix your tumor with magic water rather than surgery, promises he's had success in the past, and tells you you'll have no scars or side effects, and another guy says I'm going to hit you with radiation, you'll lose all your hair, we'll probably have to remove half of your skull and surgically resect the tumor, you'll have a decent amount of scarring, and you very well might die, it's pretty damn easy to defer to the sweet talking "expert" as opposed to the straight-talking physician. By allowing CAM practitioners to come and speak at medical schools, you're providing them with even more ammunition by which they can embellish their claims. "My methods are so effective, medical schools are allowing me to lecture at their facilities to teach medical students more about them." is just one more thing they can tack on to their "I can cure your cancer with diluted uranium water better than they can with chemotherapy" sales pitch. The ones that practice out of scope and kill their patients deserve jail time, not lecture time.I'm sorry about your cousin. That is unfortunate. She, like Steve Jobs chose a treatment method that is in no shape or form designed to help Cancer.
Is this an indictment of a profession or is this an incident of personal choice? The patient is the boss and they make the final decision in regards to their care whether we agree with it or not.
If an Oncologist treats a cancer with the inappropriate drugs and the patient passes, do we claim medicine is crap and in effective and a waste of time?
Patients are going to flock to CAM treatments as more and more of society questions science. It's our job to understand these CAM treatments and educate ourselves to speak to them on their terms. This brings me back to my original point: to attend any CAM lecturer the school brings in to better understand where your future patients are coming from.
The patients are not experts and thus trust in people who claim to be experts to provide their care. When you've got one guy saying he can fix your tumor with magic water rather than surgery, promises he's had success in the past, and tells you you'll have no scars or side effects, and another guy says I'm going to hit you with radiation, you'll lose all your hair, we'll probably have to remove half of your skull and surgically resect the tumor, you'll have a decent amount of scarring, and you very well might die, it's pretty damn easy to defer to the sweet talking "expert" as opposed to the straight-talking physician. By allowing CAM practitioners to come and speak at medical schools, you're providing them with even more ammunition by which they can embellish their claims. "My methods are so effective, medical schools are allowing me to lecture at their facilities to teach medical students more about them." is just one more thing they can tack on to their "I can cure your cancer with diluted uranium water better than they can with chemotherapy" sales pitch. The ones that practice out of scope and kill their patients deserve jail time, not lecture time.
"The ones that practice out of scope and kill their patients deserve jail time, not lecture time. "You're implying that all NDs are purposely deceitful which is not true. Just look up further in this thread in relation to orthojoe and how he used to practice as an ND. I'm sure some NDs are deceitful but not all of them but no profession is immune of that - even MD/DO