Alternative therapy - So wheres the harm?

I often see people writing about that they don't really have a problem with Alternative Therapy's. Even if they think that they don't really work. Besides the fact that a lot of these so called "therapists" take money off naive people (who have know idea how these therapy's are supposed to work in the first place). So you could say they are taking cash under false pretenses. Although, I don't believe that all of them do it purposely. What I mean is, that a lot of these guys believe in the stuff they peddle 100%, they've been influenced just like the rest of us. But looking beyond the fraud, the real problem as I see it is if these therapy's get used instead of real medicine when the illness poses great potential risk. Whether it's done on purpose or not, it can be very dangerous if the client uses these "natural" cures instead of going to a proper medical practitioner. Remember NONE of these alternative therapists are allowed practice true medicine, you'd need to have a proper medical license to do so. Much like a GP would (ie - you need to be a Doctor).

Also, you'll often hear these "therapists" say they have scientific evidence to back up their claims. Well, one should really check out the validity of these so called studies from an objective source and not just on some therapist website. Just have a look at some of the official medical associations views on the matter. Most of them will say that further study is required (under the correct conditions) or that the previous tests were done by the therapists themselves therefore you'll get a bias opinion. Or that the tests work, as one would expect - much like a placebo. Or work in the same range as the body's natural healing rate.

Personally, I'll save my cash and go to a REAL Doctor if I feel ill.

So if you feel like going for a bit of "alternative therapy" - have a scoot over to this website site first:

http://www.quackwatch.com/

From the site itself:

"Quackwatch has grown considerably. To help visitors with special areas of interest, we maintain 21 additional sites for autism, chiropractic, dentistry, multilevel marketing, and many other hot topics. We are also closely affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud, which cosponsors our free weekly newsletter, and with Bioethics Watch, which highlights issues of questionable research on humans. Our Internet Health Pilot site provides links to hundreds of reliable health sites. Our Casewatch site contains a large library of legal cases, licensing board actions, government sanctions, and regulatory actions against questionable medical products."

Interesting point Rob,

sure I mentioned this on another thread,

friend of mine told me about a friend I have not seen in a few years, she is in to crystal healing therapy.

He asked if I saw her would I tell her it's BS!

To which I replied yes but only if asked, I try not to force my judgements down peoples throats if possible, unless I found out she was using crystals to cure something nasty instead of seeing her GP.

Then he asked me what right do I have destroying someone else's belief system?

Unfortunately I do not think I can. I have encountered many 'true believers' that discount the evidence to contrary but if I was given a choice of let someone die painfully of cancer because their faith is in 'new age' not science/medicine, then yes, I would bust my balls to break their faith/belief stranglehold.

It may hurt at first but I can not stand back watching people suffer so that some other person with massive faith in what they do can try to cure them.

I admit theyre not all conmen, but if they are under the delusion that 'new age' is better than science, and evidence proves western medicine correct, I must go with the current evidence.

regards,

Den.