Talk about health

I don't know how they do it. How do the conventional "experts" manage to get such widespread publicity for their views? Today, some professor of pharmacology says that all complementary and alternative therapies should be banned from the NHS in the UK because they don't work.

It makes my blood boil. His view is that there is no scientific proof that CAM works, while conventional drugs do. It makes me wonder which drug company sponsors his research. He didn't mention it and no one has asked him, yet. He clearly thinks that the vastly expensive and occasionally fatal drugs of today cure disease.

Being an expert, I suppose he is aware of the damage drugs can do. Thousands of people die each year as a consequence of overzealous or faulty prescribing, and many more suffer side effects.

And the good Professor reckons that we could save enormous amounts of cash that could then be spent prescribing more powerful medication.

I can't deny the many good things about conventional medicine, but neither can I ignore the evidence that CAM does many good things too. The Professor called for scientific evidence that CAM does any good at all. But, it isn't the be-all-and-end-all. Clinical trials need lots of money to do properly. Who is going to provide it? Certainly not the drug companies. They won't make profits from natural remedies.

Do we really need such trials when there is so much anecdotal evidence around. To me, all the people who have been successfully treated by CAM speaks volumes. They are the basis for the success of alternative medicine. Yes, we should have some scientific evidence as well. And that will come, given time.

Just remember how many people have been harmed by side effects and the rest, mainly due to conventional therapy. And check on the benefits of the alternatives to satisy yourself that it might be just the thing for you. In the scheme of things, alternative therapies are not expensive.

Perhaps we need a review of all therapies to discover what is necessary and what the costs are. Only then should we decide what will be available on the NHS and what each individual needs to pay for himself or herself. For instance, is plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons to be included in a FREE service when cancer therapy is denied. It all depends on your point of view.

Dismissing all complementary and alternative therapies is not, I repeat not, the answer.