Is being an "anti alternatine medicine activist" actually a religion?!
Question: Is being an "anti alternatine medicine activist" actually a religion!?
Since many things labled as "alternative medicine" actually have rational mechanisms (such as plant alkaloids, manipulation, some vitimins ect!.!.!.)!. Then would not the seeker of truth not damn all the therapies but find the ones that work verses those that do not!?!. But to be "anti-alternative medicine" seems to indicate that the person is living a dogma!. I mean you do not here of many "anti-medical activists"!. Yes there are many people that question standard medical practice but I know of almost none that damn the whole practice!. They attempt to seperate the wheat from the chaff so to speak!. So it would seem that these "anti" are commited not to truth but to a religion of sorts!. What do you think!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Clearly directed at me!. Sorry, atheist here!. And I would actually characterize most of the AltMed practice as "religious" in nature, as it depends heavily on faith in the unseen and unproven!. Most of their "healing" philosophies are completely implausible!.
"alternative medicine" consists entirely of unproven treatments because if they actually are proven to work, they are rapidly adopted by 'conventional' medicine!. AltMed as a community eschews the scientific method, and has a magical and anti-scientific worldview!. Your point about marijuana and psilisobin not being accepted has more to do with politics and the US government's "war on drugs" than evidence of it's efficacy!. Medical marijuana is available and I prescribe it on occasion!. I have also suggested it to patients with chronic pain!. But, whatever health benefits it has/may have!.!.!.!.it is a poor delivery system!. There's lots of good evidence (key word there!.!.!.EVIDENCE)!.!.!.that hallucinogenic drugs probably would be very useful!.!.!.but they are presently illegal for ideological and political reasons!.!.!.not scientific ones
There is no wheat!.!.!.it is all chaff until proven otherwise!.
Many medical treatments are based on traditional herbal things!.!.!.such as ASA derived from willow bark, Tamoxifen from the Yew tree, Penicillin from bread mould for example!. Herbs have been used medicinally for thousands of years!. I'm not denying that!. Are herbs superior to the extracted active ingredient though!? In most cases, no!. Herbs are unregulated, the active ingredient (if even known) can vary tremendously from one plant to the next, and there may be other compounds in the herb that have undesirable properties!. Andrew Weil used to have some useful things to say, but mostly these days he is a shill for whatever product he is endorsing!.
With conventional medicine, there is a solid foundation of biochemical and physiological mechanisms that support why these things work, how they work, and then clinical trials to prove that they actually do work!. All of that is lacking for the entirety of the diverse field of "alternative medicine"!. The last time I checked, there were over 600 different types of alternative therapies available!. Do you really expect scientists to have to individually take on every one of them to prove they DON"T work!? The onus is on the one proposing the idea that goes against conventional wisdom!. If you make a good case,backed up by solid evidence (again that pesky word) we'll be happy to invite you into the club!.
It is important to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out!. When altmed does the groundwork for some of its ideas!.!.!.!.when TCM can prove the existence of qi and meridians, when homeopaths can prove that water "remembers" the chemical that was diluted in it then they can join the scientific community!.
Until then, at best, some of these things are just interesting anecdotes that may need further study!. The plural of anecdote is not data
As an anti-AM activist, it simply means I don't accept AM claims at face value, I don't let you get away with outrageous claims, I don't "give you a pass" and challenge you to do the basic science and prove that what you offer actually works before you sell it to a gullible and trusting public!. And, particularly in your case, I will actively (hence activist) challenge dangerous mis-information such as the type you repeatedly post about alternative cancer diagnosis and treatment!.
Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence!. This applies to claims of AltMed, deities and bigfoot alike!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
"alternative medicine" consists entirely of unproven treatments because if they actually are proven to work, they are rapidly adopted by 'conventional' medicine!. AltMed as a community eschews the scientific method, and has a magical and anti-scientific worldview!. Your point about marijuana and psilisobin not being accepted has more to do with politics and the US government's "war on drugs" than evidence of it's efficacy!. Medical marijuana is available and I prescribe it on occasion!. I have also suggested it to patients with chronic pain!. But, whatever health benefits it has/may have!.!.!.!.it is a poor delivery system!. There's lots of good evidence (key word there!.!.!.EVIDENCE)!.!.!.that hallucinogenic drugs probably would be very useful!.!.!.but they are presently illegal for ideological and political reasons!.!.!.not scientific ones
There is no wheat!.!.!.it is all chaff until proven otherwise!.
Many medical treatments are based on traditional herbal things!.!.!.such as ASA derived from willow bark, Tamoxifen from the Yew tree, Penicillin from bread mould for example!. Herbs have been used medicinally for thousands of years!. I'm not denying that!. Are herbs superior to the extracted active ingredient though!? In most cases, no!. Herbs are unregulated, the active ingredient (if even known) can vary tremendously from one plant to the next, and there may be other compounds in the herb that have undesirable properties!. Andrew Weil used to have some useful things to say, but mostly these days he is a shill for whatever product he is endorsing!.
With conventional medicine, there is a solid foundation of biochemical and physiological mechanisms that support why these things work, how they work, and then clinical trials to prove that they actually do work!. All of that is lacking for the entirety of the diverse field of "alternative medicine"!. The last time I checked, there were over 600 different types of alternative therapies available!. Do you really expect scientists to have to individually take on every one of them to prove they DON"T work!? The onus is on the one proposing the idea that goes against conventional wisdom!. If you make a good case,backed up by solid evidence (again that pesky word) we'll be happy to invite you into the club!.
It is important to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out!. When altmed does the groundwork for some of its ideas!.!.!.!.when TCM can prove the existence of qi and meridians, when homeopaths can prove that water "remembers" the chemical that was diluted in it then they can join the scientific community!.
Until then, at best, some of these things are just interesting anecdotes that may need further study!. The plural of anecdote is not data
As an anti-AM activist, it simply means I don't accept AM claims at face value, I don't let you get away with outrageous claims, I don't "give you a pass" and challenge you to do the basic science and prove that what you offer actually works before you sell it to a gullible and trusting public!. And, particularly in your case, I will actively (hence activist) challenge dangerous mis-information such as the type you repeatedly post about alternative cancer diagnosis and treatment!.
Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence!. This applies to claims of AltMed, deities and bigfoot alike!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Asking for evidence before accepting something as fact is the opposite of religion!.
Most (not all) altmed is alternative - and not mainstream - precisely because there is no evidence to support its use and because it is scientifically improbable!.
In this sense altmed is like religion - it requires faith to believe that water has a memory and that your body has mystical energy channels!.!.!.!. or that Jesus rose from the dead and that Zeus and his brothers run the universe!.
If you hang around on quack website forums, and haven't had much of a scientific education, you risk being indoctrinated into certain illogical belief systems!.!.!. religion works in the same way!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Most (not all) altmed is alternative - and not mainstream - precisely because there is no evidence to support its use and because it is scientifically improbable!.
In this sense altmed is like religion - it requires faith to believe that water has a memory and that your body has mystical energy channels!.!.!.!. or that Jesus rose from the dead and that Zeus and his brothers run the universe!.
If you hang around on quack website forums, and haven't had much of a scientific education, you risk being indoctrinated into certain illogical belief systems!.!.!. religion works in the same way!.Www@Answer-Health@Com