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The quick fix

I would like to share the following article written by  Daniel Weber: 

“Recently, I was asked to help my son’s friend, whose mother had suffered a stroke. I asked for some blood tests to determine the underlying issue, so as to treat more effectively. The response was; ‘all we want is some medicine to fix the problem, we don’t want to go through all the problems with testing, isn’t there a simple fix?’

This is becoming increasingly common in our age, where everyone has access to medical information on the internet. The internet promises a simple disease/treatment paradigm, where everything has an answer. We know after years of study and practice, it’s just not that simple.

Both pharmaceutical bio-medicine and the alternative, commercial internet distributors promise quick fixes to complex and chronic diseases. This isn’t working. Combined with this issue is the hostility and suspicion that exists between the world of evidence-based Medicine and complementary alternative medicine (CAM). The patient feels empowered to make their own choices, but in fact, only well informed choices, based on a full understanding of the disease, its dynamics and the nature of treatment are really choosing.

In a world where Evidence-based medicine (EBM) and Traditional Medicine are often at odds with each other, where there are polarized positions, in which practitioners are themselves conflicted, we need clarity. I found these simple and enlightening quotations, which helps define the paradox, and perhaps lessen the conflict.

In the view of at least some commenters, the rise of alternative medicine is a quest for a more compassionate, personalized, and comprehensive health care. The trend is almost certainly also fuelled by a growing faith in so-called natural products as intrinsically good and safe, which is not at all a valid assumption. This faith is easy to exploit commercially. It is less easy to exploit when traditional medicine is in the hands of properly trained, experienced, and licensed practitioners performing an ancient, culturally respected, and useful art of compassionate care and healing“. (Margaret Chan, Director General of WHO, WHO World Congress on Traditional Medicine, Beijing 2008).

Efficacy and Effectiveness; The former denotation refers to outcomes of research sanctioned by the international biomedical and pharmacological research community while the latter implies the worth of treatments on the ground, i.e. for patients who make use of them“. (Bode M, Payyappppallimana U. Evidence Based Traditional Medicine: For Whom and to What End? eJournal of Indian Medicine Volume 6 (2013), 1–20). 

Practitioners need both efficacy and effectiveness to help patients make the proper choices.”

Unless the underlying cause is identified and addressed, there will be no lasting relief.  It is not only the Internet which is filled with sites offering the latest magic pill or potion for sale, but also multi-level marketing companies trying to sell supplements to help people ‘regain their health’.  Licensed qualified Naturopaths and Nutritionists study for many years in order to help you regain your health.  Utilise their knowledge and resist self-prescribing or purchasing products from untrained individuals.