Comments on: Alternative Medicine…

By: Dr Mary Zennett

Dr Mary Zennett — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:14:21 +0000

Millions of Americans know the value of Complementary/Alternative Medicine- either alone or integrated with their conventional health care. We could likely save billions in health care costs by offering CAM, for treatment of chronic health conditions and to prevent illness in the first place. It’s really an idea whose time has come- thanks for bringing it up!

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:38:04 +0000

It’s nice to see open discussion of alternative, complementary health care. I have long felt that a mojor problem is the A.M.A. Although I sure the organization does a lot of good things, they are also a polically powerful monopoly. And they display all the faults that such entities tend to exhibit: stifling competition, silencing dissention, jealously guarding their power and influence. And they tend to behave like petty, third-world dicatotors whenever anyone dares to suggest that they have too much power and influnce.
I would like to see the insurance companies do more to try to level the playing field, and bring more positive balance into this situation.

By: college athlete

college athlete — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:44:25 +0000

after reading through all the blogs- and having worked for both a chiropractor and massage therapist i am in definite favor of alternative medicine. But if this is considered a policy issue in our healthcare system what are some proposed solutions or suggestions?

By: dragonfly

dragonfly — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:11:47 +0000

Karen C is right. Acupuncture and Chinese herb medicine is amazing! Many states have a licensing board so you can check to make sure you go to someone licensed.

As for yoga, etc…If you’re a newbie, just make sure the yoga instructor is educated and seasoned. Some forms of yoga and some instructors don’t understand proper ranges of motion. My hands started going numb after doing Bikram yoga religiously (3xweek) due to over-extension of my neck. I don’t do Bikram anymore.

By: Marcia Polese

Marcia Polese — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:02:59 +0000

Charlie,
I love your post about alternative / complementary approaches to health issues. What a breath of fresh air!
Americans are spending hundreds of millions out-of-pocket per year on these types of treatments, because they get results.
Although not purported to be “scientific” we need to consider this fact: studies show that it takes at least 50 years for new scientific discoveries to be integrated into our standard ways of doing things. Physics has already demonstrated the power of “vibrational” or “energy” in healing, but it will take the established medical community a while to get around to it….What do we do in the meantime? I love the fact that you are raising these issues in your post. As you say, there are lots of challenges around managing / pricing & regulating, but the only way to begin solving these problems is to start talking about them. Thanks for your courage in speaking up! Oh, by the way, have you read John Robbins new book: Healthy at 100? If not, it’s worth the read.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:19:18 +0000

I have spent the last three weeks dealing with my husbands neck pain. This is one of those ‘what did I do” injuries. He took the maximum dose of ibuprophen for a week. Then the pain became so great that he begrudgingly went to his PCP and was told that the pain is a neck muscle injury. He gave him naproxin and a muscle relaxor. After three more days of increasing pain, I took him to the urgent care clinic on Saturday. The on call physician told him to try to do exercises and changed his muscle relaxor to a “stronger” one. My father in law suggested a chiropractor and we obtained a referral to the one that practices at Harvard Vanguard. Yesterday, we saw the chiropractor. He examined my husband in ways that indicated that he new what he was doing. He was able to explain how he came up with his diagnosis and his justifications seemed plausible. His neck was adjusted and he gave us a neck brace to use. While my husband is still in some pain, he is much more mobile on much less ibuprophen. My opinion of the two PCP’s is that they didn’t think, ” Why is this person getting worse?” I wonder how bad the pain would have had to get before they would have done anything else? Oh and by the way, A MRI was mentioned with the caveat that we should wait because that is an expensive procedure. How much would an MRI have cost?

By: Karen C

Karen C — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:16:56 +0000

When going through each of the topics on the blog, I was excited to see the topic of alternative medicine was broached. However, one piece of that puzzle was not mentioned, Chinese medicine doctors.

After going through 5 years of Prednison and Methotrexate therapy, I had major problems with nauseau and lack of appetite. After several visits to MD specialists and invasive testing, the MDs were unable to locate a problem and were unable to provide me with any relief from my symptoms. Since I was only in my 30s, I was determined not to go the rest of my life with these issues. Fortunately, I knew a very practical, knowledgeable coworker who recommended a Chinese medicine doctor that she had seen for her dietary and arthritis problems. I also found out that this particular Chinese medicine doctor was also an MD who worked with a reputable hospital regularly. Once hearing that, I was convinced to go and see him.

Well, let me tell you, going to a Chinese medicine doctor is a whole lot different than a Western doctor. One of the major differences is the patient questionnaire that I had to fill out. I was asked questions about my physical health that I had never been asked by a Western doctor before.

When I went to this doctor’s office for the first time, I was impressed to see that the herbal medications were stored behind the receptionist desk and could not be bought without a prescription by the doctor. The doctor himself looked at my whole health and prescribed several herbs that I would need to take for 2-3 months. At the end of just one month, I was seeing notable changes. After 3 months, my symptoms were gone. My relief was great. The only negative was the cost of the herbs, because they were not covered by my insurance.

From having that experience, I definitely believe alternative/complementary medicine should be a regular part of patient treatment. Fortunately, for me, my Western MD was very encouraging of this treatment and has even referred some of his patients to the Chinese doctor after hearing my experience.

I believe what is lacking in our current healthcare system is complemented well by alternative medicine. However, finding a reputable alternative medicine doctor is very difficult and risky. If hospitals, the government and insurance companies started to certify these practioners and their treatments as strictly as our current Western medicine doctors, people could start to have a better chance at finding solutions for their care that minimize high cost surgeries and life long prescriptions.

By: Charlie Baker

Charlie Baker — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:04:37 +0000

So I talked to my friend Dr. Anne about the neck/stroke thing. She had three pretty interesting comments…
1) If there was a significant risk of stroke associated with neck manipulation by chiropractors, their malpractice insurers wouldn’t let them do it (which they do).
2) Strokes can be caused by many medical interventions, including medications.
3) There might be a diagnostic issue that needs further investigation (i.e., was the person who sought chiro services someone presenting symptoms that would imply the beginnings of a stroke in the first place?).

Pretty good observations - off the top of her head - while she was working over my hip.

By: Michael D. Miller, MD

Michael D. Miller, MD — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:28:54 +0000

Charlie - FYI, there are many, many versions (or as I like to say “flavors”) of yoga. I have a friend with long-standing back problems who has even done some informal yoga mostly sitting in a beach chair. Like all exercises, the key is finding what is appropriate and helpful for the individual. We’re all not running marathons, standing on our head or certainly sitting in the lotus position wrapped in a wet sheet on the top of a mountain.

By: Kimber

Kimber — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 01:12:07 +0000

One great thing about the Svaroopa yoga is that you don’t have to be limber for it to be beneficial. And there are no “contortion” type of positions. After taking this type yoga for a while I took a class at my gym. Well that was very interesting… I found it difficult and completely uninteresting. I never took another one…

Dori, I agree with you that men, in general, haven’t jumped on the yoga bandwagon. But knowing Charlie, he wouldn’t be as self-conscious as some other men if he were the only one in the class. (Charlie, this is a compliment)