Alternative Vs. Conventional: Why Doctors Don't Get It

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Alternative Vs. Conventional: Why Doctors Don't Get It

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Laina Krisik

 

If you live in the United States and need medical care

or treatment for a disease, you can follow one of two

paths to better health: conventional or alternative.

In making this decision it is important to know the

differences between the two practices.

 

A Comparison of Conventional to Alternative Medicine

 

Conventional (Disease-based Model) Offers the best

medicine in surgeries or trauma care

 

* Treatment of immune health-related conditions

routinely consists of prescribing drugs or

recommending medical procedures, which are often

invasive

* Targets treating symptoms, not the underlying

causes

* Treats the human body in parts, not as a whole·

Medical schools are set up by organ-specific

departments that don't share any kind of relationship

with one another

* The shaping of conventional medical doctors is

based upon using " rescue medicine, " not finding

treatment and prevention alternatives for illnesses

 

 

 

Alternative Medicine

 

(Prevention-based Model)

 

# Approaches medical treatment by placing its focus

primarily on proactive measures

 

# Treats the condition, not the symptoms · More

cost-effective

 

# Treatment targets the whole body

 

A growing number of people are turning to alternative

therapies, more and more now the chosen form of

medical treatment among Americans.

 

Consider these statistics:

 

· One in every three Americans uses some kind of

alternative medicine.

 

· Between 1990 and 1997 there was a 47 percent

increase in visits to alternative practitioners, from

427 million to 629 million, bypassing the estimated

total number of visits made to all conventional

primary-care doctors in 1997.

 

Since these statistics reveal the rapidly increasing

number of people choosing alternative therapies, the

debated question among the health care industry is,

" Why don't more conventional doctors recommend

alternative medicine? "

 

Pharmaceutical Ties

The driving force behind the continuing growth of

conventional medicine has been the pharmaceutical

industry, embraced by both doctors and pharmacists,

who calculate their worth through treating disease by

prescribing medications. For example, if a patient is

diagnosed with breast cancer, the protocol for the

doctor is sometimes to prescribe tamoxifen. If a

patient is diagnosed with schizophrenia, clozaril is

prescribed.

 

Medical Schools Receive Funding From Drug Companies

Most medical schools receive a huge chunk of funding

from the pharmaceutical industry which has a vested

interest in marketing their medicines. Evidence of

this can be seen in Pfizer Inc, a company that

develops, produces and markets the leading

prescription medications and offers several

scholarships and grants to American Medical Schools.

 

The Media Favors Drug Advertising

Just as pharmaceutical companies are about profits, so

too is the media in the realm of advertising. The

public is routinely exposed to drug commercials every

day. The number of these has exploded over the past

few years. In 1999, drug companies spent $1.8 billion

on direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription

drugs. Even more disturbing, it was discovered that

around 10 percent of the people who watched the

commercials enquired to their doctor about the

specific drugs.

 

Even the American Medical Association maintains a

relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. Just a

brief visit will see a sizable advertisement for the

statin drug, Crestor.

 

Research Discrepancies

The scale for funding of medical research is

disproportionately tipped to favor conventional

medicine over alternative medicine. An example of this

can be seen in the 0.08 percent of the British

National Health Service research budget set aside for

alternative research. Also, out of $12 billion

allocated every year by Congress to the National

Institutes of Health, a mere $5.4 million goes to the

Office of Alternative Medicine to investigate the

claims of approximately 50 therapies.

 

The lack of alternative medicine research funding

results in three critical consequences:

 

· The prevention of relevant research projects

· Prevents the creation of a research infrastructure

similar to the conventional medicine model

· Deters well-trained career scientists from entering

the field

 

Questionable Research

One of the chief complaints against alternative

medicine is the lack of scientific research to support

its practices. But then, much of the research on

conventional medicine has also raised speculation over

validity issues. Examples of this are the hundreds of

articles published in top medical journals claimed to

be written by academic researchers, but in fact

crafted by ghostwriters working for agencies, which

receive large amounts of money from pharmaceutical

companies to market their products. These are the very

journals medical professionals rely on when

determining treatment options.

 

Over 60 percent of clinical studies involving human

participants receive financial backing from drug

companies and not from the federal government. Studies

also show it is common for companies to hold off

publication of data which might reveal that their

drugs are ineffective.

 

Conclusion

The conventional medical model is largely

profit-driven by the pharmaceutical industry that

influences the media through drug advertisements.

Evidence that the American public has become

discouraged can be clearly seen in the aforesaid

figures revealing the numbers now turning to

alternative treatments.

 

Convincing doctors and the media of the value of

alternative medicine might be some way off yet,

considering their ties with the drug industry.

Profit-hungry corporations will never make the move to

change the attitude of conventional doctors unless

brought under heavier pressure. Too much money to

make. Too much money to lose. Which leaves it up to

the public to take control over their own health and

continue making their choices.

Healthy News You Can Use, 21st July 2004, issue 552

www.mercola.com

 

Further Resources

Health Wars by Phillip Day

Wake up to Health in the 21st Century by Steven Ransom