[Turambar]

Who says medicine works?

medicine works.

[Rick James]

Who says medicine works?

medicine works.

Medicine is a science, and like all other sciences a cornerstone of medical technique is that results can be replicated with reliability. True, there are some treatments that lack in effectiveness, but just because a given medical technique doesn't work on some individuals does not mean it shouldn't be used on others.

Alternative medicine, however, cannot replicate results with reliability and at the very least does nothing to actually treat the problem. In this day and age of ludicrous co-pays, this creates an environment of medical charlatans who prey on the financially and medically desperate.

[BloodEagle]

Who says medicine works?

medicine works.

Medicine is a science, and like all other sciences a cornerstone of medical technique is that results can be replicated with reliability. True, there are some treatments that lack in effectiveness, but just because a given medical technique doesn't work on some individuals does not mean it shouldn't be used on others.

Alternative medicine, however, cannot replicate results with reliability and at the very least does nothing to actually treat the problem. In this day and age of ludicrous co-pays, this creates and environment of medical charlatans who prey on the financially and medically desperate.

Do maggots count as 'alternative medicine'? Because they never fail at their intended purpose, and they're cheap as Hell.

[Rick James]

Do maggots count as 'alternative medicine'? Because they never fail at their intended purpose, and they're cheap as Hell.

They're used frequently by doctors to remove necrotic flesh from burn victims, so no.

[Mongoose]

"Alternative" in the sense that most other treatments don't squick you the hell out, but not in any other sense.

[Colonol Dekker]

Squick?

[Mongoose]

Squick.  A rather varied term.

[NGTM-1R]

Squick.

[iamzack]

NO.

[Colonol Dekker]

I've gotta say, i know the NHS is under a lot of pressure at the moment with the swine flu and everything, but you've gotta admire the staff who work 14 hour shifts dealing with vagrant young idiots getting drunk and fighting.

[Nuke]

maybe they should leegalize marijuana so that the drunk idiots will be too stoned to fight.

[IceFire]

Who says medicine works? I think if often times doesn't and the goverment wants to keep natural cures or remedies a secret so they can give you a pill that if it works, it only does so temporarily like a magic spell. Seems a lot of these medicines help you by hurting you and causing other problems (severe side effects and some medicine basically being rat poison (coumadin), maybe so they can get you to buy medicine for those new problems created by that other medicine. Maybe those bad effects were purposely put into the medicine to make you buy more medicine to make more money even at the expense of your health.

They won't encourage you just to change your diet, huh? that would prevent having to buy certain medicines to begin with by helping to prevent certain problems. Only the doctor encourages that, I suppose, but maybe even they do not as much as they should and they may not care either. You know you can buy natural foods and some other things that are much cheaper that don't have the nasty side effects? You can use banana peels to help your skin, for example. I would trust that more than these comapines that just want your money. That is why Japanese live so long and have less health problems while America seems to have diseases more commonly. Because they eat smarter than people here and have enough self respect and discipline to take care of their health, on average.

Now it makes sense, the word syndrome is going around more so these days to trick people in thinking something is wrong with them so they will buy more medicine and they make more money. It is very selfish to the point that it is heartless. No wonder many people start to think USA is evil since that is one of multiple reasons I would think so. But it isn't just the government you have to watch for but the way the average citizen here thinks and behaves and what they support. You got many blinded by patriotism and more. This was something I saw yesterday that was disturbing:

http://themoralcollapseofamerica.blogspot.com/

The most disturbing thing in this article is the pic you see of that innocent baby as you scroll down from the top of the page. Nevermind the parts that seem religious though.

Never let a good conspiracy theory get in the way of reality.

Facts are that:
- drugs developed work for maybe 50% of people because each individual is different
- drugs do work, are tested, and can be of significant help to people suffering from all sorts of ailments
- medicine in general works well...people are living longer and staying healthier than ever before
- people are overmedicated in many cases because they opt to take the medication rather than using preventative methods (regular checkups, exercise, proper diet, etc.)

One thing that resonates with me is that yes syndromes are on the rise.  But only because we're effectively able to understand and study the various things that make people the way they are whereas in the past we had no understanding or capability of monitoring. For instance we now know the chemical processes and where they take place in the brain for someone who has attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) thanks to years of research.  Most people who deal with ADD...myself included...do not need medication.  many people who you would diagnose as being ADD are otherwise at a normal baseline.  Some people do because the symptoms are so extreme...its a disorder versus the baseline but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who was fully "normal".  Its just an average.

But its not a conspiracy of massive proportions....thats insane.

[SpardaSon21]

I can attest to the effectiveness of modern medicine.  I have a psychological disorder (I'm not saying which), and when I don't take my medication I can't do anything.  I get to where I have no attention span, I can't interact properly with other people, and am generally trapped inside the prison of my own mind where I create this beautiful little dream world.  I forget to eat, I barely sleep, and I am just out of touch with reality.  In other worlds, pure hell.

[Kosh]

Who says medicine works?

How many diseases have "alternatives" wiped out? Zero. Have any of these "alternatives" cured cancer? Nope. Case closed.

[High Max]

It's not about curing; it's about preventing and making smart choices before you get diseases. Prevention is the best cure to a problem. Cancer can be prevented in most cases, I feel. Eating healthy and getting your nutrition naturally can help chemical inbalances, I am pretty sure. That should be focused on first before considering medication. After all, vitamins are protiens that make your body produce the chemicals it needs and regulates normal function and it is much better to get it out of real food instead of tablets that they sell that aren't as good as eating real fruits and veggies. I feel that oral medication should be a last resort. Things don't just happen from nothing. Also, normal is relative, unless you mean normal bodily functions and health.

Medicine when having a cold can surpress symptoms, making your body not able to rid itself of the infection as easily. It isn't good to alter your body to not cough and sneeze when you are sick. So in half of the cases, medicine is not needed and isn't good. Only sometimes.

Funny that I never take medication or vitamins and I am so healthy just with lifestyle choices and knowledge, even more so than many kids half my age. A 26 year old healthier than many 13 years olds and it is strange that it seems my health is getting even better as I get older. I am very flexible with my body and I'm told that many people cannot do what I can do with my body. It is sad many people rely on meds and not making lifestyle choices. It would save a lot of pain and money. A lot of people also die younger because of bad chemicals and bad choices. Maybe they think as long as they have medicine, they don't have to take care of themselves? Any addiction is a sign of weakness. I have a tendency to make myself tough certain things out and deal with certain pain. Keep myself strong as long as I know not to push too hard.

I stay away from second hand smoke, aspertame, Splenda, phospheric acid in pop most of the time (almost never drink pop these days), and try to get a lot of fresh air by keeping a window or door cracked if I feel it needed. Even hair dye, make-up, and certain products containing triclosin are no-no's and air fresheners can be bad for you to breath. I use regular Crest toothpaste and not the tartar control that can damage the roots or the artificial whiteners that damage enamel. I do eat junk sometimes, but certain junk I stay away from and only 30% of my diet would be junk while the average person here would have 80% of their diet being junk and too much fried food and not enough white meats and veggies and fruits.

I'm not going to say that they purposely make medicine hurt others, but I will go as far as to be realistic and say that most of them probably don't care and they want your money. Being too trusting is not realistic.

[Ghostavo]

Funny that I never take medication or vitamins and I am so healthy just with lifestyle choices and knowledge, even more so than many kids half my age. A 26 year old healthier than many 13 years olds and it is strange that it seems my health is getting even better as I get older.

I don't want to reply to the rest of your rant, but I found this bit curious.

Tell me, why shouldn't a 26 year old adult be healthier than a 13 year old kid? I would be very worried if the opposite were true since the immune system of an adult should be extremely more powerful than that of a child. Hell, a few deceases are dangerous precisely because of this. Perhaps you are confusing activity with health.

[High Max]

Because I can put my foot behind my head and scratch my own back and hop high like a frog and about 3 feet off the ground in a frog pose when pretending to be a frog for my 2 year old niece without any pain but many people young or old can't. Men my age aren't supposed to be able to do that or be extremely flexible. Part of getting your physical aging speed tested is a flexibility test.

[Ghostavo]

Congratulations, you exercise regularly and seem to be more flexible than average. How does this make you healthier than the average healthy adult is beyond me.

[High Max]

I can also ride my bike miles non-stop at a fast speed without coasting, good at balance, I almost never cough, I am very alert and have quick reflexes, I almost never get sick, etc. Not including my mental strengths in this. Over all health and balance is what I aim for. But enough about me. I don't want to come across as someone who thinks he is invincible when I know I'm still only human no matter what I can do or how hard I try and I know time will win in the end. Yes, I am aware of my limitations. But I like to fight the test of time.

This is about health care though and I drove it too far off topic. I do feel that if people live healthier, health care resources can go to more people who couldn't avoid problems instead of being wasted on people who made bad lifestyle choices. There would be more resources for it that way since less people would be in the hospital.

[Ghostavo]

But medicine isn't just about pills and operations. Where do you think knowledge of those "healthy lifestyles" came from?

Regarding the most of what you said, any healthy adult should be able to accomplish those tasks. Except the foot behind the head thing. That's just freaky.