Americans turning en-masse to holistic therapies.

[Guest guest]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

February 3, 2006

(Article courtesy SSRI Research)

 

Being a Patient:

When Trust in Doctors Erodes,

Other Treatments Fill the Void

 

By BENEDICT CAREY

 

[This article should prompt governments all over the world to make available

holistic methods to patients asking for the same instead of preventing them,

rebuking them and making fun of their efforts to return to good health. This

process has already started in India with the Government slowly taking

cognisance of the traditional methods as well as homeopathy. The media should

also play its role and not try to malign the holistic systems, trying to

"expose" them as most are doing now, perhaps at the bidding of Big Pharma.

 

The SSRI Report points out:

 

"The public is wiser for being distrustful after they've learned that:

* doctors are "on the take" (they get paid to "seed the market" which they

pretend is post-marketing research);

* drug labels conceal the most serious side effects;

* the most potent therapeutic effect of widely prescribed psychotropic drugs is

the placebo effect;

* clinical trial reports in the most prestigious medical journals have been

shown to have been ghostwritten--and therefore not credible;

* companies and the academic based physicians they contract, have concealed the

negative findings, publishing fraudulent claims of "safety and efficacy";

*doctors' "education" about the medicines they prescribe comes from visiting

cheerleaders--who've been hired by drug companies to serve as sales reps".]

 

 

A few moments before boarding a plane from Los Angeles to New York in January,

Charlene Solomon performed her usual preflight ritual: she chewed a small tablet

that contained trace amounts of several herbs, including extracts from daisy and

chamomile plants.

 

Ms. Solomon, 56, said she had no way to know whether the tablet, an herb-based

remedy for jet lag, worked as advertised. Researchers have found no evidence

that such preparations are effective, and Ms. Solomon knows that most doctors

would scoff that she was wasting her money.

 

Yet she swears by the tablets, as well as other alternative remedies, for

reasons she acknowledges are partly psychological.

 

"I guess I do believe in the power of simply paying attention to your health,

which in a way is what I'm doing," said Ms. Solomon, who runs a Web consulting

business in Los Angeles. "But I also believe there are simply a lot of unknowns

when it comes to staying healthy, and if there's a possibility something will

help I'm willing to try it."

 

Besides, she added, "whatever I'm doing is working, so I'm going to keep doing

it."

 

The most telling evidence of Americans' dissatisfaction with traditional health

care is the more than $27 billion they spend annually on alternative and

complementary medicine, according to government estimates. In ways large and

small, millions of people are taking active steps to venture outside the

mainstream, whether by

taking the herbal remedy echinacea for a cold or by placing their last hopes for

cancer cure in alternative treatment, as did Coretta Scott King, who died this

week at an alternative hospice clinic in Mexico. [Page A3.]

 

They do not appear to care that there is little, if any, evidence that many of

the therapies work. Nor do they seem to mind that alternative therapy

practitioners have a fraction of the training mainstream doctors do or that

vitamin and herb makers are as profit-driven as drug makers.

 

This straying from conventional medicine is often rooted in a sense of

disappointment, even betrayal, many patients and experts say. When patients see

conventional medicine's inadequacies up close - a misdiagnosis, an intolerable

drug, failed surgery, even a dismissive doctor - many find the experience

profoundly disillusioning, or at

least eye-opening.

 

Haggles with insurance providers, conflicting findings from medical studies and

news reports of drug makers' covering up product side effects all feed their

disaffection, to the point where many people begin to question not only the

health care system but also the science behind it. Soon, intuition and the

personal experience of friends and

family may seem as trustworthy as advice from a doctor in diagnosing an illness

or judging a treatment.

 

Experts say that people with serious medical problems like diabetes or cancer

are least likely to take their chances with natural medicine, unless their

illness is terminal. Consumers generally know that quackery is widespread in

alternative practices, that there is virtually no government oversight of

so-called natural remedies and

that some treatments, like enemas, can be dangerous.

 

Still, 48 percent of American adults used at least one alternative or

complementary therapy in 2004, up from 42 percent a decade ago, a figure that

includes students and retirees, soccer moms and truckers, New Age seekers and

religious conservatives. The numbers continue to grow, experts say, for reasons

that have as much to do with increasing distrust of mainstream medicine and the

psychological appeal of nontraditional approaches as with the therapeutic

properties of herbs or other supplements.

 

"I think there is a powerful element of nostalgia at work for many people, for

home remedies - for what healing is supposed to be - combined with an idealized

vision of what is natural and whole and good, " said Dr. Linda Barnes, a medical

anthropologist at Boston University School of Medicine.

 

Dr. Barnes added, "People look around and feel that the conventional system does

not measure up, and that something deeper about their well-being is not being

addressed at all."

 

Healthy and Dabbling

 

Ms. Solomon's first small steps outside the mainstream came in 1991, after she

watched her mother die of complications from a hysterectomy.

 

"I saw doctors struggling to save her," she said. "They were trying really hard,

and I have great respect for what they do, but at that point I realized the

doctors could only do so much."

 

She decided then that she needed to take more responsibility for her own health,

by eating better, exercising more and seeking out health aids that she thought

of as natural, meaning not prescribed by a doctor or developed by a

pharmaceutical company.

 

"I usually stay away from drugs if I can, because the side effects even of cough

and cold medicines can be pretty strong," she said. The herbal preparations she

uses, she said, "have no side effects, and the difference in my view is that

they help support my own body's natural capability, to fight off disease" rather

than treat symptoms.

 

If these sentiments are present in someone like Ms. Solomon, who regularly

consults her internist and describes herself as "pretty mainstream," they run

far deeper in millions of other people who use nontraditional therapies more

often.

 

In interviews and surveys, these patients often described prescription drugs as

poisons that mostly mask symptoms without improving their underlying cause.

 

Many extend their suspicions further. In a 2004 study, researchers at the

University of Arizona conducted interviews with a group of men and women in

Tucson who suffered from chronic arthritis, most of whom regularly used

alternative therapies. Those who used alternative methods exclusively valued the

treatments on the "rightness of fit"

above other factors, and they were inherently skeptical of the health care

system.

 

Distrust in the medical industrial complex, as some patients call it, stems in

part from suspicions that insurers warp medical decision making, and in part

from the belief that drug companies are out to sell as many drugs as possible,

regardless of patients' needs, interviews show.

 

"I do partly blame the drug companies and the money they make" for the breakdown

in trust in the medical system, said Joyce Newman, 74, of Lynnwood Wash., who

sees a natural medicine specialist as her primary doctor. "The time when you

would listen to your doctor and do whatever he said - that time is long gone, in

my opinion. You have to learn to use your own head."

 

>From here it is a small step to begin doubting medical science. If Western

medicine is imperfect and sometimes corrupt, then mainstream doctors may not be

the best judge of treatments after all, many patients conclude. People's actual

experience - the personal testimony of friends and family, in particular - feels

more truthful.

 

To best way to validate this, said Ms. Newman and many others who regularly use

nontraditional therapies, is simply to try a remedy "and listen to your own

body."

 

Opting Out

Cynthia Riley effectively opted out of mainstream medicine when it seemed that

doctors were not listening to her.During a nine-year period that ended in 2004,

Ms. Riley, 47, visited almost 20 doctors, for a variety of intermittent and

strange health

complaints: blurred vision, urinary difficulties, balance problems so severe

that at times she wobbled like a drunk.

 

She felt unwell most of the time, but doctors could not figure out what she had.

 

Each specialist ordered different tests, depending on the symptom, Ms. Riley

said, but they were usually rushed and seemed to solicit her views only as a

formality.

 

Undeterred, Ms. Riley, an event planner who lives near New London, Conn., typed

out a four-page description of her ordeal, including her suspicion that she

suffered from lead poisoning. One neurologist waved the report away as if

insulted; another barely skimmed it, she said.

 

"I remember sitting in one doctor's office and realizing, 'He thinks I'm crazy,'

" Ms. Riley said. "I was getting absolutely nowhere in conventional medicine,

and I was determined to get to the root of my problems."

 

Through word of mouth, Ms. Riley heard about Deirdre O'Connor, a naturopath with

a thriving practice in nearby Mystic, Conn., and made an appointment.

 

In recent years, people searching for something outside of conventional medicine

have increasingly turned to naturopaths, herbal specialists who must complete a

degree that includes some standard medical training in order to be licensed,

experts say. Fourteen states, including California and Connecticut, now license

naturopaths to practice medicine. Natural medicine groups are pushing for

similar legislation in other states, including New York.

 

Licensed naturopaths can prescribe drugs from an approved list in some states,

but have no prescribing rights in others.

 

Right away, Ms. Riley said, she noticed a difference in the level of service.

Before even visiting the office, she received a fat envelope in the mail

containing a four-page questionnaire, she said. In addition to asking detailed

questions about medical history - standard information - it asked about energy

level, foods she craved, sensitivity to weather and self-image: "Please list

adjectives that describe you," read one item.

 

"It felt right, from the beginning," Ms. Riley said. Her first visit lasted an

hour and a half, and Ms. O'Connor, the naturopath, agreed that metal exposure

was a possible cause of her symptoms. It emerged in their interview that Ms.

Riley had worked in

the steel industry, and tests of her hair and urine showed elevated levels of

both lead and mercury, Ms. O'Connor said.

 

After taking a combination of herbs, vitamins and regular doses of a drug called

dimercaptosuccinic acid, or DMSA, to treat lead poisoning, Ms. Riley said, she

began to feel better, and the symptoms subsided.

 

Along the way, Ms. O'Connor explained the treatments to Ms. Riley, sometimes

using drawings, and called her patient regularly to check in, especially during

the first few months, Ms. Riley said.

 

Other doctors said they could not comment on Ms. Riley's case because they had

not examined her. Researchers who specialize in lead poisoning say that it is

rare in adults but that it can cause neurological symptoms and bladder problems

and is often missed by primary care doctors.

 

Dr. Herbert Needleman, a psychiatrist who directs the lead research group at the

University of Pittsburgh, said DMSA was the pharmaceutical treatment of choice

for high blood lead levels.

 

Researchers say there is little or no evidence that vitamins or herbs can

relieve symptoms like Ms. Riley's. Still, she said, "I look and feel better than

I have in years."

 

Life and Death

 

Diane Paradise bet her life on the uncertain benefits of natural medicine, after

being burned physically and emotionally by conventional doctors.

 

In 1995, doctors told Ms. Paradise, now 35, that she had Hodgkin's disease.

After a six-month course of chemotherapy and radiation, she said, she was

declared cancer free, and she remained healthy for five years.

 

But in 2001 the cancer reappeared, more advanced, and her doctors recommended a

10-month course of drugs and radiation, plus a marrow transplant, she said.

 

Ms. Paradise, a marketing consultant in Rochester, N.Y., balked. "I was burned

badly the first time around, third-degree burns, and now they were talking about

10 months," she said in an interview, "and they were giving me no guarantees;

they said it was experimental. That's when I started looking around. I really

had nothing to lose,

and I was focused on quality of life at that point, not quantity."

 

When she told one of her doctors that she was considering an alternative

treatment in Arizona, the man exploded, she said.

 

"His exact words were, 'That's not treatment, that's a vacation -you're wasting

your time!' " she said. And so ended the relationship. With help from friends,

Ms. Paradise

raised about $40,000 to pay for the Arizona clinic's treatment, plus living

expenses while there.

 

"I had absolutely no scientific reason for choosing this route, none," she said.

"I just think there are times in our life when we are asked to make decisions

based on our intuition, on our gut instinct, not based on evidence put in front

of us, and for me this was one of those moments."

 

Cancer researchers say that there is no evidence that vitamins, herbs or other

alternative therapies can cure cancer, and they caution that some regimens may

worsen the disease.

 

But Ms. Paradise said that her relationship with the natural medicine specialist

in Arizona had been collaborative and that she had felt "more empowered, more

involved" in the treatment plan, which included large doses of vitamins, as well

as changes in diet and sleep routines. After four months on the regimen, she

said, she felt much

better.

 

But the cancer was not cured. It has resurfaced recently and spread, and this

time Ms. Paradise has started an experimental treatment with an oncologist in

New York.

 

She is complementing this treatment, she said, with another course of

alternative therapy in Arizona. She moved in with friends near Phoenix and

started the alternative regime in January.

 

"It's 79 degrees and beautiful here," she said by phone in mid-January. "Let's

hope that's a good sign."

 

For all their suspicions and questions about conventional medicine, those who

venture outside the mainstream tend to have one thing in abundance, experts say:

hope. In a 1998 survey of more than 1,000 adults from around the country,

researchers found that having an interest in "personal growth or spirituality"

predicted alternative medicine use.

 

Nontraditional healers know this, and they often offer some spiritual element in

their practice, if they think it is appropriate. David Wood, a naturopath who

with his wife, Cheryl, runs a large, Christian-oriented practice in Lynnwood,

Wash., said he treated

patients of all faiths.

 

"We pray with patients, with their permission," said Mr. Wood, who also works

with local medical doctors when necessary. "If patients would not like us to

pray for them, we don't, but it's there if needed."

 

He added, "Our goal here is to help people get really well, not merely free of

symptoms."

 

That is exactly the sentiment that many Americans say they feel is missing from

conventional medicine. Whatever the benefits and risks of its many concoctions

and methods, alternative medicine offers them at least the promise of

affectionate care, unhurried service, freedom from prescription drug side

effects and the potential for feeling not just better but also spiritually

recharged.

 

"I don't hate doctors or anything," Ms. Newman said. "I just know they can make

mistakes, and so often they refer you on to see another doctor, and another."

 

Seeing a naturopath, she said, "I feel I'm known, they see me as a whole person,

they listen to what I say."

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[Guest guest]

Most of the people I know who do alternative medicines have chronic health

problems and cannot afford doctors and medications. To read the newspapers

here about the health care debate, one would think it is just a matter of

utilizing insurance and that all workers have insurance. I assure you, that

is not the case. Jobs are being pieced out so employers are not required to

pay benefits; I have seen employers hire 2 people at half time rather than

hire 1 person to do the job, just so they do not have to pay benefits. Also,

many people are unemployed, especially here in Louisiana since the 2

hurricanes. With most health care tied to employment, that means that lots

of people are not getting any kind of coverage.

 

Even when a job offers health insurance, the premiums are often too much to

afford. If I am a single mom making $1200 a month, then in this part of the

country my rent (let's say for 1 child) is around $500 a month, utilities

are $100-200 a month, food is about $200 a month, child care is $nearly $100

a week, we need clothes and the school is always wanting money for something

and also spend $100 or more a month on gas to get to work. Now we are

supposed to take $200 or $300 a month and pay for health care? The numbers

just don't add up. Like my folklore professor says, most of the world is

made up of peasants, the US included--and I know plenty of people who are

working with these kinds of pay and expenses. Access is a severe problem

and getting worse. Our politicians are mostly from the moneyed classes and

have no idea how the rest of us struggle.

 

Also, our strength in healthcare is in emergency care, and even that is

getting to be less available as emergency rooms across the country are shut

down for lack of funds. Our weakness is in caring for chronic conditions

that are mostly a matter of maintenance and prevention.

[Guest guest]

Darla

 

you descriptions of the numbers is shocking... what can we do to help?

P.

 

Darla Wells <lethe9 wrote: Most of the people I know who do

alternative medicines have chronic health

problems and cannot afford doctors and medications. To read the newspapers

here about the health care debate, one would think it is just a matter of

utilizing insurance and that all workers have insurance. I assure you, that

is not the case.

[Guest guest]

Vote for people who will try to get good health care legislation. I think

the political level is a good place to attack this problem.

Darla

 

On 2/6/06, p s <tightbrwn76 wrote:

> you descriptions of the numbers is shocking... what can we do to help?

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 6 Feb 2006, Darla Wells wrote:

 

> Vote for people who will try to get good health care legislation. I think

> the political level is a good place to attack this problem.

> Darla

 

 

please check up:

 

http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[Guest guest]

You can join "campaign"

to reform healthcare at:

 

http://store.mercola.com/champion/

 

ayurveda, cory wrote:

>

> > Vote for people who will try to get good health care legislation. I

think

> > the political level is a good place to attack this problem.

> please check up:

> http://www.blackboxvoting.org