It is about time we had a REALLY intelligent debate about alternative medicine. It is a fact that it has been around a lot longer than orthodox (allopathic) medicine. The trouble with the science is that it is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by demanding strict scientific evidence criteria from alternative medicine. IF everything was a level playing field – perhaps it would have some chance of providing it – but conventional medicine (or mostly drugs companies) makes sure that a level playing field is never really reached – and the goal posts keep changing. Scientists who come up with evidence that goes against the interests of big business also fall by the wayside by disinformation and downright obstruction by the powers that be in telling the truth.
Alternative practitioners do not have access to expensive labs, and multi-million pound research facilities to produce the evidence they ask for – hence it becomes “unproven” Anecdotal evidence is all what most alternative practitioners have to give as evidence – and whether it be hundreds or thousands of satisfied patients and satisfactory outcomes – it is dismissed – hence Its like trying to fight with one hand tied behind your back. They also have to put up with the small studies they have taken part in being sabotaged by using the wrong criteria and/or dosages. Then on top of that usually the statistics are manipulated in the wrong way to disprove alternative medicine. One example was the so-called “study” to find out if B17 worked.
In the sixties, the American public started to become more interested in a substance called Laetrile (B17). So the Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital of New York – a “leading authority” on cancer (and completely funded by the drugs companies) – thought they’d settle the debate once and for all by appointing the world’s most accredited cancer doctor- Kanematsu Sugiura- to investigate this “quackery” and dismiss it…. or so they hoped.
His final report was a huge embarrassment to the hospital. His extensive five-year study concluded that:
Laetrile inhibited the growth of tumours.
Laetrile stopped the spreading of cancer in mice.
It relieved pain.
It prevented cancer forming.
It improved overall health.
Several other eminent doctors verified this research. The hospital management insisted that the whole experiment had been bungled. Many doctors rebelled and/or resigned. Any further research into Laetrile has been banned.
The eminent expert Dr. Sugiura stuck to his word. Then, this whole episode just stayed swept under the carpet and is still the case to this day. Why don’t the government and media do something? You tell me. I have read of alternative practitioners being raided, (“Alive and Well” Dr Phillip Binzel) their files confiscated, and being hauled before the courts – just because they had the temerity to treat cancer patients with B17. WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF? It’s no wonder that there is the mistrust and aggression between alternative practitioners and conventional medicine.
Another example was Johanna Budwig. Dr Budwig appears to have discovered one of the most important secrets of regaining and maintaining health. Her research revealed that when we compare a healthy heart with one that has suffered a heart attack, the diseased heart is over burdened with an accumulation of fat. An arthritis sufferer carries excessive fatty deposits in joints and muscles, but a healthy person does not.
An organ attacked by cancer commonly shows an infiltration of yellowish white fat globules and the first visible symptom of cancer is the separation of lipids (fats) from the surrounding tissue. Our over use of saturated, hydrogenated, chemically processed and hardened fats can actually act as a chemical carcinogen within the body.
Dr Budwig’s research shows that the trouble begins when the protein bound fats become separated from their protein carriers (unlike the essential oils like flaxseed oil) and end up as unhealthy deposits in various parts of the body. Science has proved that fats play an important part in the way our bodies function, and are vital for all growth, renewal of cells, brain and nerve function, the health of sensory organs (eyes and ears) and the way our body responds to temperature changes. Our energy resources in fact are totally dependent on essential fatty acids.
Dr Budwig also discovered that many of the foods we commonly eat are lacking in both essential fatty acids and amino acids. The essential amino acids are proteins that are abundant in foods such as cottage cheese, whole wheat, fish, and lean meats. The essential fatty acids the body hungers for are found in a rich supply in crude, unrefined linseed oil, soy lecithin, egg yolks, and some vegetable oils. The problem with most of the commercially produced processed oils on supermarket shelves is that they are heated, refined, hydrogenated, and full of chemical preservatives. Because the essential fatty acids are particularly sensitive to heat and oxidation, margarines and processed vegetable oils no longer carry their content of these EFAs (essential fatty acids) that the body needs.
Johanna Budwig preached against the use of what she called “pseudo” fats. In order to extend shelf life, and provide the market with an attractive range of liquid and artificially hardened fats (margarines) manufacturers use chemical processes that make their products harmful to the body. These fats may be labelled “polyunsaturated” but they are damaging to the body just the same.
The chemical processing of healthy oils to turn them into harmful fats destroys the vital electron contained in the oils, which are important to every cell in the body. Once these electrons have been removed, these fats can no longer bind with oxygen and actually become an obstacle to the breathing process.
The heart rejects these fats and they end up as inorganic fatty deposits in the heart muscle itself. This leads to heart disease and clogged arteries. Chemically processed fats are not water-soluble when bound in protein. They end up blocking circulation, damage heart action and inhibit the renewal of cells. They also interfere with the free flow of blood and lymph fluids. The whole body action eventually slows down and can become completely paralysed.
It is hard to believe that science has not discovered the root of the problem of so much disease in modern times. The body rejects chemically processed fats because their composition has been so radically changed from what nature intended and causes untold damage to the body in the process. It is interesting to note that Russia outlawed the chemical saturation of fats to harden them artificially as long ago as 1902.
Unfortunately in the modern world, big business has got in the way of some of our most ancient healing traditions. Dr Budwig’s findings were met with ferocious opposition from various powers in the food industry, particularly from margarine producers. She was the first scientist to oppose the modern practice of altering oils for commercial distribution.
According to Dr Budwig, she was bribed with money to keep her from publicizing her findings. When she refused the bribe she was denied the use of the research facilities of where she was working on her theories. When she tried to move to another institute to continue her research, she found her access blocked by what she felt as an industry wide conspiracy against her.
Somehow the margarine industry moguls had mobilized and found a way of keeping her from continuing her work in modern scientific laboratories. She also found herself blocked from publicizing her work in scientific journals. The only course open to her was to write books and share her information that way.
Denied research facilities, she spent more time treating cancer patients with her specialised diet of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese as the mainstay and achieved excellent results. It is unfortunate that she was not able to continue in her research, as it may have given us an even better understanding of fat metabolism and its connection with serious illnesses like cancer. Dr Budwig died after a fall at the age of 94 in 2003.
The crazy thing is – aren’t we both supposed to be on the same side? Don’t we all want what’s best for the patient – no matter what? If someone came to me as a nutritional therapist and I wasn’t able to help them I would direct them to their doctor – or someone who I thought would help them better than I could. In any case I would certainly advise them to keep their doctor informed of any diet treatment. However, the average GP would either dismiss the alternative approach out of hand (I have personal experience of this) or would not even tell their patients where they could get different help than what he or she was proposing – even if they were helped by it. There lies the difference.
Ideally, conventional medicine and naturopathy would work side by side for the benefit of the patient. But facing the current reality – the scientific criteria that is demanded for alternative medicine is usually scuppered before it begins.
Susan Insole, BSYA (N Th.) is a former NHS nurse and is now a nutritional therapist in the field of natural health. She worked in a health care setting for 16 years, firstly in the field of rehabilitation and then as a welfare officer and secretary within a hospital setting. She was also an advisor for weight loss in 2001 – 2003. She achieved a diploma in 2006 for nutritional therapy. She is the author of a downloadable eBook, What Works in Health. H
Her website is: [http://www.naturalhealthbenefits.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Insole