Dear Milo,
I concur in your well-reasoned letter. It may seem like hucksterism
because of the plethora of off-beat products, but I prefer that to the smug
ignorance of physicians mis-prescribing and overdosing patients with
"accepted" pharmaceuticals from giant multinational drug manufacturers who
care mainly about margins of profit.
Gene
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Date: Sun, 6 Oct 1996 14:31:33 -0400
From: "Milo V.Anderson" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re:
bernardo klainberg wrote:
>
> Hello PD'ERS
>
> as you peruse through the deluge of messages sent to you daily, do you not
> notice the growing
>
> number of naturalists, alternative pushers, herbal recommenders ????/ who
> casually mention
>
> a phletora of products, capsules, fish juices, prairie growths, snake
> droppings, etc....???
>
> ==They can be found in all other disease support groups, why even my own
> brother , retired and is now
>
> peddling and recommending mysterious roots and teas he knows nothing
about.....
>
> I might be wrong on some, but thru the years, I remember the hoopla
> over; Royal queen bee jellly,
>
> ,,,Mink Oil, ..Musk of (that ugly animal on Northern exposure.....must get
> back to my work, bye...
>
> don bernardo
don,
I feel the need to balance the picture a bit with regard to alternative
medicine. There are at least three reasons for having a legitamate
interest in alternative medicine:
1. A person might be in a position like I am in right now. I have an
atypical parkinsonism for which the standard medical practice has
nothing to offer. They do not know what causes it nor do they
anything to do for it. I have tried 6 medications. Nothing works.
2. Seveal years ago I was visiting with my allergist. I said, "Why is
it that you only prescribe drugs. Don't you have any advise about
diet, the environment or life style? He leaned back chair, smiled
and said, "It is a matter of Suttons Law". I said, What is Suttons
Law"? He explained that when the famous bank robber, Sutton was in
prison, a psychologist was intervewing him and asked, "Why do you
robb banks"? Whereupon Sutton immediately responded, "Because that's
where the money is!" My allergist said, "That is also the answer to
your question". He went on to explain that all of the medical
research in the US is funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and
they are in it for profit. There may be many home remedies and
lifestyle changes that are useful and good, but noone will ever know
because noone is willing to fund the necessary research.
3. The third reason is in some ways a more serious charge because it is
a charge directed at the medical profession. It is inherent in the
education of our physicians. Most of them have had little or no
training in nutrition. Yet we trust them with the most detailed
questions. Another serious problem is that they and the
pharmaceutical industry assume that the human body is a chemical
machine. It is not! In fact it is an electro-chemo-mechanical system
which is complicated by the interaction with the free will of the
mind. The true nature of the human machine should be pointed out in
with a bit mre emphasis in medical school.
In fact it may be dangerous to depend on altrnative medicical
practitioners but it makes sense for some of us who have no alternatives
and those who want to go to the trouble to study the matter out for
themselves and judiciously try those things they have decided are not
dangerous. In spite of its weaknesses I do support traditional medical
practice. We in the US have the best in the world, but I would like to se
it improved along the lines suggested above.
---Milo
--
Milo V. Anderson, Ph.D. Knowledge is free at the library;
Box 417 bring your own contianer.
Angwin, CA 94508
voice 707 965 2508 ODE TO A METAPHOR
fax 707 965 3148 Ilustrations are useful,
e-mail [log in to unmask] Or what's a meta-FOR.
