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One of the main criticisms I hear from skeptics regarding nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, etc. is that these methods of healing are unscientific.  Now, I could debate that point on many specific alternative medicine treatments, but what I must object to is the HUGE double standard being applied. 

What those who are hung up on the science (or lack thereof) behind alternative medicine seem to be completely oblivious to is the fact that conventional medicine is far from scientific.  In fact, if you restricted healthcare to only those treatments and practices that have been verified as being effective and safe by a consensus of extensive amounts of research, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of healthcare of any kind going on!  Have you ever noticed how many times the popular media will report on the findings of some large-scale study only to report on the exact opposite findings from another large scale study within a few months or a few years later? 

But let me get a little “multiple personality disorder” here and argue one of the points that the conventional medicine afficionados always seem to fall back on: “But ALL medications undergo rigorous scientific evaluation as to their safety and efficacy before they are approved for sale.  Nutritional supplements and herbs aren’t regulated at all.”  Well, if that’s true, what’s been going on lately with the drugs getting pulled off the market because of “minor” little side-effects, such as a high rate of DEATH when they start being used by the general public?  Yes, all drugs must go through a long testing process before they are cleared by the FDA for sale in the U.S. (and by similar agencies in other countries).  The problem is that there is a strong temptation to falsify research results when there are billions of dollars on the line.  This temptation might be stifled if the FDA was a better watchdog over drug trials, but the FDA has been deficient in it’s policing of the drug industry.

Among other things, “The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded and its scientific organizational structure is weak.”  In addition “The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific workforce does not have sufficient capacity and capability.”  Now, you may think I’m being harsh with those statements, but you’ll notice that they were in quotes.  Where did those quotes come from?  They were from a 60 page report entitled “FDA Science And Mission At Risk.” Is this the work of some conspiracy-theory nut-job?  Perhaps it’s from some alternative medicine political action committee?  No!  The report was prepared by the FDA itself on the request of FDA commissioner Edward Von Eschenbach! 

But then, we don’t really NEED the FDA to police the pharmaceutical industry.  If you can’t trust a multibillion dollar industry to put truth and public health above profits, who can you trust?

Is a conventional medical treatment supported by tainted research any more reliable than an alternative medicine treatment that has little to no research supporting it? Again, if we limit healthcare to only those interventions that are truly scientific, there’s not going to be much healthcare of any kind going on.

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The title of today’s post is a comment that one of my patients received from her medical doctor when she asked him if there was any kind of diet that might help her fibromyalgia symptoms.  Her doctor replied that there were things she could do diet-wise that would probably help, but then told her that it really wasn’t worth discussing because…

“You don’t want to go through life never eating a cookie, do you?”

Now, of course there are people who have no motivation to change their diet, or try to make their lifestyle any healthier in any way, shape, or form, and those people would no doubt agree with that statement.  But this was an answer to a question from a person who had been suffering for some time with fibromyalgia and who was seeking something she could do to help herself.  It would have been one thing if the doctor really didn’t know anything about nutrition and either didn’t think or didn’t know that dietary changes can have a profound impact on fibromyalgia symptoms for many people.  But this doctor apparently (judging by the first part of his response) KNEW that diet could make a difference and dismissed this woman’s question as if suffering daily was of no more consequence than eating a cookie. 

Fortunately, not all doctors have the attitude that the doctor in this story did and many do encourage their patients to learn and do all they can to live a healthy lifestyle.  But it seems that many more medical doctors, probably the majority from what my patients tell me, consider diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors to be of minimal importance in their care and advice to their patients.  But let me not pick solely on medical doctors - chiropractors, physical therapists, and any number of other healthcare providers can be dismissive of these issues too. 

Now, as a practicing clinician, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t volunteer self-care and lifestyle recommendations to every patient I see - there simply isn’t enough time in the day to do that.  There are also many patients who are not receptive to hearing about things they can do to help themselves - or at least are not interested in making any changes, so to lecture to them about diet, exercise, etc. is simply wasted time.  But when a patient asks for help in this area, I believe that all healthcare practitioners have a duty to assist in whatever way they can. 

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