IS ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE A SCAM?

DETERMINING IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

When you hear that a very simple alternative medicine treatment can help you cure your particular disease or that it can be the answer to all of your problems, you might be skeptical.

And with good reason.

Though alternative medicine can offer you a number of benefits, the truth is that nothing is going to cure everything.  And not everything works for everyone.

When you see the latest alternative medicine advertised in a magazine or on the internet, there are several ways you can determine the validity of their promises.

• Does it sound too good to be true?  While it's a bit clichéd, those that offer you the moon and the stars are often offering little more than the promise that their product 'could' work.  If someone is saying that the product is a wonder drug, chances are good that news outlets would also be reporting this fact.  When you haven't seen any supporting reports, this is probably false advertising.

• Does it promise immediate results?  Even traditional medications can often take days or months to work on certain conditions, so if you are promised immediate results, you might be looking at a scam.

• Is it vague about the actual process in which it works?  Those who are convinced their product works should be willing to share with others just how it works.  If they aren't disclosing this information, it may be because their logic is false.

• Is there anyone that you can contact?  You want to be able to talk to a real live person if you have questions.  If there is no contact information on their website or on their product, you might be dealing with a weak product.

• Is there a doctor or medical professional that is associated with the product? Though many herbal supplements can get a doctor to promote their product, take a few minutes to find out if this doctor is legitimate.  If they are, you might want to give the product another chance.

• Have there been complaints about the product?  Hearing bad press about a product should be a red flag that you might be the next complaint if you try the product too.

• Is the price extremely low?  While everyone likes a deal, a product with an extremely low price tag often signifies a lower value.

• Are there studies that support the product's effectiveness?  While any copywriter could make up studies to make the product sound more effective than it is, double checking the studies will help you determine their validity.

• Who ran these studies?  It only makes sense that an independent lab or organization should be the one running the studies in order to guarantee their truthfulness.  Anyone that might stand to profit from the sales of the product should not be involved in the trials.

• Do the studies make sense?  For a moment, think about what the study is telling you and how it came to that conclusion.  If something doesn't make sense, you might want to stay away.

• Are the ingredients safe?  The ingredients they list should be known to be safe. 

• Do you believe the testimonials?  If you're looking at an advertisement or a website, you will probably find testimonials that support the product you are looking at.  Take a few minutes to read them and to decide whether or not they sound manufactured to you.

Alternative medicine often seems to make bold claims or get a bold word of mouth reputation.  And while it's tempting to simply believe all that you hear and that you read, when you're trying to do something for your health, it's a better idea to take some time to research the claims you are reading.

Part of the patient's responsibility is making sure that any therapy – conventional or otherwise – is the best choice for them.

You simply can't believe everything you see, just because you want to believe it.  Instead, look at every alternative medicine treatment as though it were any other prescription that you might want to take.

If you feel comfortable with it, then you should go ahead and use that treatment, with the blessing of your doctor, of course.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU NEED TO GO?

The next question after, "What should I take?" and "Does it work? Is "How often do I need to follow the treatment regimen?"

People want a quick fix in all forms of medicine, even alternative therapies.

But the truth is that even natural medicines take time.  When you talk to the practitioner, there are several things that will factor into the length of your treatment schedule:

• The severity of your condition
• The effectiveness of the treatment
• The goals of your treatment
• The advice of your advising therapist

For most people, the average treatment regimen will require that they have an initial period of intense therapy, followed by a less intense maintenance period once they have reached their goals.

With alternative medicine therapies, it's very important to stick to a regular schedule as the main concern is prevention of future problems, rather than simply treating a problem.

If you can get into the habit of following your prescribed treatment plan, you will ensure that your body will continue to improve and to gain benefits.

For some people, this means they can never stop their chosen alternative therapy – or they will need to follow some sort of at home version on most days.

In terms of herbal remedies, you might only need to take the remedy until your condition is cured.  Or you might not be able to take the remedy long term as your body will become accustomed to it and lose effectiveness.  Echinacea is like this.  You can only take it for up to eight weeks and still see the immune boosting benefits.

Other factors will affect the length of your treatment:

• Your metabolism
• Your gender
• Your diet
• Your activity level
• Your adherence to the treatment schedule

Most alternative medicine therapies require that you follow a certain schedule in order to get the most from the treatment. 

If you skip days of treatment or you don't follow the therapy exactly, you might not see the results you want in the time period that you want.  That's incentive enough to stick to it.

In the end, the length of your treatment depends on you.

You get to make the call as to whether to continue to follow your regimen or not.  You might begin to feel great and realize that you don't need the alternative medicine anymore.  On the other hand, you might feel as though you need more time before you can transition off the therapy and into your 'normal' life again.

In order to help your treatment, you will want to not only want to follow the directions, but also:

• Eat right
• Drink lots of water
• Exercise on a daily basis
• Not mix medications without medical supervision

These simple steps can help ensure that you don't have to continue your treatment forever – plus you will be healthier for these changes anyway.

 
ADDING TO YOUR CURRENT TREATMENT REGIMEN

The main use of alternative medicine today is to supplement a standard treatment for a diagnosed medical condition.

People turn to alternative medicine to help them with:

• Colds
• The flu
• Chronic pain
• Chronic breathing troubles
• Cancers
• Long term illnesses
• Drug rehabilitation

No matter what kind of disease you might have, alternative medicine can help you both speed up the healing process and make the symptoms more manageable.

When you are diagnosed with a particular condition, you will want to ask your doctor if there are any alternative therapies they might suggest.  You'd be surprised how many doctors are open to other ways of handling pain and debilitating side effects.

Think of your doctor as someone that is managing your health and your condition, but that you're a partner in this process and not just someone that needs to follow everything they say without question.

Once you have determined the best course of treatment, you can begin selecting alternative therapies that might help you.

For example, those with cancers often utilize yoga and meditation to help with chronic pain and to keep them from having to take large doses of pain medications.

There are acupressure and massage techniques that can also help with joint pain and swelling from conditions like arthritis.

The only concern with adding therapies is that you don't want to add on anything that might interfere with your current treatment regimen.  Likewise, you don't want to stop your current conventional therapies just because you're feeling better since starting an alternative method.

These therapies will only work together if you let them work together.

If you want to try an alternative therapy on your own, make sure to let your doctor know so that they can document it in your medical file.  On the slim chance that you might have troubles with your disease, it will be shown what you are doing so that the doctors can factor those actions into diagnosing troubles.

Keeping things like herbal supplements away from your doctor's attention can cause serious risks to your health in combination with other drugs or treatments.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The reason why many people don't believe in alternative medicine is because study after study seems to show that these therapies are only have a placebo effect.

This means they are not actually healing the problem, but since the mind thinks they are, it heals the problem on its own.

To a scientist, this is a worthless therapy then.

But if you are the patient who is feeing better, do you really care how you might be feeling better?

The mind works in ways we still do not understand.  For example, when you close your eyes and picture a certain thing, your brain's receptors and nerves light up as though that thing is in the room with you – even if it isn't.

This simple fact illustrates the idea that your mind is capable of believing in something that is not true – and then creating its own reality in which it becomes true.

You mind is capable too of creating the right antibodies and other disease fighting chemicals if it thinks that it can.

Without becoming too New Age-y, if you were to put into your mind the thought that going to yoga everyday was going to help you reduce your back pain, chances are good that you will reduce your back pain.  If you sincerely believe that yoga will help, it will.

Now, whether this is because you believe and thus you go to yoga religiously, that's anyone's guess.

In order to make any medicine work, you do need to have a little faith that it will because the body can work in the opposite direction too.  If you were to believe that something was a bunch of hogwash, chances are pretty high that nothing would happen and your brain would make sure of it.

Does creating the placebo effect really diminish the power of alternative medicine?  Hardly.

While the ingredients themselves or the healing process itself might not be directly causing the body to become healed, the fact that these therapies allow the mind to take over the healing process is a pretty compelling argument for using the alternative medicine in the first place.

Results are what matter when you are sick and feelings awful.  And so long as the therapy isn't making you sicker, perhaps alternative medicine is just what your body (and mind) really need.