I know that some will disagree with me, but I do think that research into all forms of treatment is very important, especially those that do not have a scientific explanation of how they work. One of the veterinary professors I know talks about how for many years blood-letting was THE standard way of treating almost every disease. Old text books are full of statements by doctors and veterinarians about how they KNOW blood-letting works to cure illness and injury, and patients would testify to the success of the treatments. When someone eventually decided to do a research study on this (this was a human doctor, who did the study to convince more people that it was worth coming to him and paying for blood-letting) he was stunned to find that the data actually showed blood-letting did more harm than good. When he published that result, other doctors were horrified and angry - they had seen how successful blood-letting was, they knew it healed people. It is
 fascinating to read what they have to say. 

But, you know, they were wrong. 

The professor points out that we need to be very careful of our own biases and interpretations. Healing is complex. With most medical conditions, some people will recover even if we do nothing.If that happens to coincide with a treatment, we may attribute it to that treatment. 

We know that the human mind also influences recovery, so if people expect a particular treatment or medication to cure them (perhaps because the doctor speaks enthusiastically about the treatment), they will do better. And I am quite sure there are other factors involved that we don't yet understand. 

To me, this speaks to the need for more careful research. We can devise good trials for these various treatments if we give it some thought. While we sometimes assume that alternative treatments are, at worst, harmless, that may not be true. They may get in the way of the person finding more effecting treatment. And they cost money. 

Medical care is complicated, and current approaches are far from perfect. But I do feel strongly that well-planned research is our best hope for learning more and being able to provide good care. 

Teresa Pitman

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome