There's a new book out that discusses the alternative medicine industry (yes, it's big business), and it's getting a fair amount of press. The book is titled "Do You Believe in Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine", and it's written by Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious medicine at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.
For an in-depth look at the book and the topic it covers, I recommend this article from USA Today, "Book raises alarms about alternative medicine:"
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/book-raises-alarms-about-alternative-medicine/2429385/
Here are a couple of excerpts:
QUOTE:
Many consumers view alternative medicine industry as more altruistic and home-spun than Big Pharma. But in his book, Offit paints a picture of an aggressive, $34 billion a year industry whose key players are adept at using lawsuits, lobbyists and legislation to protect their market."
QUOTE:
"Apple founder Steve Jobs' faith in alternative medicine likely cost him his life, says Barrie Cassileth, chief of integrative medicine at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. But Jobs, revered as one of the brightest minds on the planet, chose to delay surgery, the only treatment that had a chance to save his life, Cassileth says.
For nine months after his diagnosis, Offit writes, Jobs treated his cancer with acupuncture, herbs, bowel cleansings and a special diet of carrots and fruit juices.
Jobs eventually had surgery, and even a liver transplant. But it was too late.
He died in 2011, eight years after diagnosis.
"He had the only kind of pancreatic cancer that is treatable and curable," Cassileth says. "He essentially committed suicide."
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Re: New book on alternative therapies (not multiple myeloma
Right off the bat, that remark by Cassileth is BS: If you read the book on Jobs and medical accounts concerning his disease, many believe that his cancer has already spread at a low, low level - or that at a minimum, such a spread could NOT be excluded.
I am fine with such books - but is this an ALL or NONE book? Do they finding ANYTHING to merit for alternative medicine? If not, it is truly a bunch of propanganda. After all, alternative medicine can, on occasion, be traditional medicine at an earlier stage. It may well rely on active ingredients that just have not been fully recognized or isolated yet.
But yes, approaches that rely on such measures, as skin brushing, meditation, and colonic cleansing, can only go so far.... For the record, I currently do not follow any alternative medicine approach - but nor I do completely discount it either.
I am fine with such books - but is this an ALL or NONE book? Do they finding ANYTHING to merit for alternative medicine? If not, it is truly a bunch of propanganda. After all, alternative medicine can, on occasion, be traditional medicine at an earlier stage. It may well rely on active ingredients that just have not been fully recognized or isolated yet.
But yes, approaches that rely on such measures, as skin brushing, meditation, and colonic cleansing, can only go so far.... For the record, I currently do not follow any alternative medicine approach - but nor I do completely discount it either.
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Bobby Sox
Re: New book on alternative therapies (not multiple myeloma
I'm not in a position to judge whether Cassileth is correctly describing what happened to Steve Jobs. Cassileth is, however, the chief of *integrative" medicine at Sloan-Kettering, so he isn't someone likely to immediately dismiss alternative/integrative approaches such as those Jobs pursued.
I'm also not sure how well-informed, and critical, the author of Jobs's authorized biography is when it comes to these issues. He doesn't have Cassileth's expertise when it comes to these matters. He's also likely to have been influenced by Jobs's own rationalization for the treatment he pursued, given the "more than forty interviews" (from the book blurb) the biographer conducted with Jobs as part of his research for the book.
Finally, I don't think the new book on alternative medicine is an all-or-nothing take on the subject. The review makes the following comment, for example:
"About one-third of conventional drugs are derived from plants ... Pharmaceutical companies still make Digoxin, a heart drug, from the foxglove flower ..."
I think one of the key points, however, is that the makers of alternative therapies either implicitly or explicitly make efficacy and safety claims about their products that just are not supported by any substantial body of evidence.
I'm also not sure how well-informed, and critical, the author of Jobs's authorized biography is when it comes to these issues. He doesn't have Cassileth's expertise when it comes to these matters. He's also likely to have been influenced by Jobs's own rationalization for the treatment he pursued, given the "more than forty interviews" (from the book blurb) the biographer conducted with Jobs as part of his research for the book.
Finally, I don't think the new book on alternative medicine is an all-or-nothing take on the subject. The review makes the following comment, for example:
"About one-third of conventional drugs are derived from plants ... Pharmaceutical companies still make Digoxin, a heart drug, from the foxglove flower ..."
I think one of the key points, however, is that the makers of alternative therapies either implicitly or explicitly make efficacy and safety claims about their products that just are not supported by any substantial body of evidence.
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JimNY
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