Natural Medicine vs. Orthodox Medicine

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By Karen Bradstreet, Woodland Publishing, Inc. 1998

Introduction

Today's health care consumer fortunate because more options are now available in both natural and orthodox health care than ever before. It is also heartening that in recent years the various methods of health care have begun to merge. It is not unusual, for instance, for cancer patients electing to undergo chemotherapy to also fortify their immune system with herbs and other supplements before and/or after treatment. Clearly, today's consumer cannery the best of all types of medicine, but to take advantage of the benefits of various forms of health care, consumers must be wise. In today's health care environment it is essential to have a basic understanding of the philosophies, strengths and weaknesses of both orthodox and natural health care. This booklet will help you make wise decisions by providing you with that basic information.

The Growth of Natural Health Care
It is hard to ignore the tremendous growth of natural health care in recent years. According to the Herb Research Foundation, sales of herbs doubled from 1981 - 1991 to more than $1.3 billion annually. Health clinics that offer alternative care are springing up nationwide. Practices considered outdated for the better part of the 20th century, such as midwifery and homeopathy, are gaining respect for their effectiveness and safety. According to a study published n the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989, today's Americans spend more out-of-pocket money on alternative care than on orthodox medical care.

The practice of using dietary supplements is also on the rise. Until recently, natural health advocates were ignored because it was thought one could get all the nutrients you need from the average diet. Medical doctors generally downplayed the value of using nutritional supplements. Today, however, prominent doctors promote the virtues of vitamins and minerals. The average diet is now a leading suspect in many of the diseases that plague us today, cancer and heart disease to name just two. Recognition that diet is related to disease is causing people to look to nutritional measures rather than drug to treat illness.

Herbs are also making headlines. For instance, a June 27, 1997 edition of the news program 20/20 featured a powerful story on the benefits of the herb St. John's Wort in treating mild to moderate depression. Tests have shown it to be as effective as the drug Prozac in treating depression without causing side effects. It is findings like these that lead many medical doctors, disillusioned with the disregard for nutrition and the mind-body relationship in orthodox medicine, to incorporate natural medicine into their practices and become advocates of natural healing.

Scores of books by medical doctors who have embraced natural health care are on the market. Examples are Harvard graduate Jonathan Wright's Guide to Healing with Nutrition series, and How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Robert Mendelsohn. Increasing numbers of orthodox practitioners are taking into account the mind-body relationship, something that has traditionally been the domain of the natural health field. Many such doctors enjoy widespread popularity, such as cancer doctor/author/lecturer Bernie Siegel, who addresses the link between emotions and cancer; author/medical doctor Andrew Weil, who promotes the importance of the mind-body relationship in healing; and countless others.

Medical publications are writing more about vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other exciting nutrients these days. For instance, a newsletter concerning cardiovascular health, CardiSense, is presided over by a group of medical doctors who recently recommended a diet of unprocessed food for cardiovascular health. CardiSense advocates eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and very little meat, supplementing the diet with vitamins A, C and E, and maintaining healthy relationships. Natural health enthusiasts have advocated these practices for years.

Several medical schools now offer courses in alternative medicine, including Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown and Duke. And to educate doctors and pharmacists about herbal medicine, the American Botanical Council in recent years sponsored an international program in the Amazon rain forests. Insurance companies are also beginning to cover alternative health methods. Blue Cross in Alaska and Washington launched a pilot program called Alterna-Path that offers access to state-licensed naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, and homeopaths. American Western Life Insurance has a plan that offers holistic treatments, and claims to save 31 and 78 percent on claims by allowing the use of natural treatments for ailments like arthritis and high blood pressure.

Finally, health care centers that mingle alternative care with conventional care are on the rise. These trends are largely the result of a more educated public demanding a broader approach to, and more involvement in, their health care.

Orthodox Medicine: A Discussion

Unlike orthodox medicine, natural health care has always existed. It's as old as the human race. For centuries humans have turned to special diets, plants, the human touch, fasting, acupuncture, and a wide variety of other natural healing modalities. Even animals instinctively seek plants and other natural methods to heal themselves when sick. However, in some societies, particularly in the United States, natural methods  of health care have been overshadowed since the late 19th century by what is termed "orthodox" medicine.  The most accurate term would be allopathic medicine, but "orthodox" medicine has come to mean Western, standard, or scientific medicine. (Some refer to "orthodox" medicine as traditional medicine, although this is  a misnomer. True traditional medicine is a holistic and natural form of health care, in use for thousands of years and passed down through generations.)

Orthodox medicine is an outgrowth of scientific inquiry and the technological revolution with its test tubes, use of laboratory-synthesized chemicals, and high-tech diagnostic equipment. Science has brought many victories to orthodox health care, successfully dealing with maladies once considered untreatable. Heart attack victims, premature babies, victims of traumatic accidents, and some victims of infectious diseases - all are beneficiaries of orthodox medicine.

However, scientific medicine is always evolving and the public often pays the price for experimental techniques. Although the common perception is that orthodox medicine is scientifically backed and more reliable than other forms of health care, the truth is a full 80 percent of medical treatments in use today are not backed by scientific data.¹ Dr. David Edd asserts that "very little of medicine has been carefully evaluated  in well designed, well controlled studies. It's really quite amazing, but after hundreds of years, in fact, I would estimate only 10 to 20 percent of medical practices have been evaluated properly. What that means for the patient - and not just the patient but for the physician - is that for a large proportion of practices we really don't know what the outcomes or what the effects are."²

Orthodox medicine is frighteningly experimental in many areas. Drugs once though to be safe are often taken off the market for causing severe side-effects and even fatalities. The thalidomide fiasco of the 1950s and '60s is a tragic example. Hundreds of pregnant women given thalidomide for morning sickness gave birth to severely deformed babies. Another example is the weight-loss drug combination phen-fen. Just months after its introduction, millions who used it were alerted that it can cause fatal heart problems. It is not surprising to learn that prescription drugs are responsible for more than 100,000 deaths a year.

The development of antibiotics illustrates another of the two-edged swords of orthodox medicine. Antibiotics created the false hope that modern medical science could eradicate bacterial diseases. Although antibiotics do effectively kill many disease-causing organisms, they also kill the body's beneficial bacteria, which naturally keep harmful bacterial in check. In the long run, antibiotics actually reduce the body's resistance to harmful bacteria. A good illustration of this is that children who are given antibiotics for ear infections run a higher risk of recurrent infection. Further, overuse of antibiotics creates ever-stronger strains of bacteria, some for which there are currently no antibiotics strong enough, paving the way for possible plagues in the future.

Drugs aren't the only potentially dangerous aspect of orthodox care. The safety of hospitals is also questionable. In his book The Great White Lie, Pulitzer prize winner Walt Bogdanich describes shocking practices that occur inside hospital walls. Many short-handed hospitals hire temporary nurses with little or no experience, increasing the risk of medical mistakes. Financial concerns of the hospital often take precedence over the needs of patients. Rugged strains of microbes run rampant in hospitals, often infecting patients during surgery and other procedures. Such infections kill more than 20,000 people every year.³

Bogdanich cites dozens of shocking cases of mismanagement and botched health care - all of which illustrate why many Americans increasingly mistrust orthodox care and turn to alternative methods.

Admittedly, many people who wouldn't have had a chance at life before the advent of orthodox medicine owe their lives to technological advances in health care. However, overconfidence in orthodox medicine can be fatal. That's why it is essential for today's consumer to understand the pros and cons of orthodox health care.  Many turning to natural health care today feel the pendulum of orthodox medicine has swung too far, terming it "technological overkill." Common complaints about orthodox medicine include its cost, its increasingly impersonal approach, and the overuse of harmful drugs that sometimes create side-effects worse than the disease being treated.

Although for decades orthodox medicine has created an air of being scientifically based and superior to other forms of health care, it is relatively new on the world scene. As Dr. Melvin Konner says, "Think of medicine not as a sleek space shuttle rocketed into the perfect clarity of the stratosphere, but as a small and rickety aircraft taking off from a backwoods airstrip. Imagine that the ceiling is very low, and that not long after takeoff we are flying in the clouds. There is equipment for flying, of course, but it is not as effective as it looks. You can learn to copilot, or you can sit back and let the doctor take the controls; but either way, for much of the time, you will not know where you are or where you are going."4

Natural Health Care: A Discussion

Unlike orthodox medicine, natural medicine claims thousands of years of use as proof of its value. More recently, many natural methods can claim scientific validation also. Consider the use of herbs in health care. Some of the first writings about herbal use in treating sickness date back 4.000 years. The Sumerians recorded herbal medicines that included opium, licorice, and thyme. The ancient Babylonians wrote about using senna leaves, saffron, coriander, cinnamon and garlic to make salves, extracts, poultices, and other healing preparations.5  The Chinese, Jews, Greeks, Arabs, and ancient inhabitants of the American continents all enjoyed sophisticated use of herbs in the treatment of disease. Other records of herbal use come from the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian document believed to be written in the 16th century BC, which refers to more than 800 herbal recipes and 700 drugs. It includes a recipe that suggests a treatment for diabetes, and recommends mud or moldy bread to keep sores from becoming infected. Although these records would be considered unscientific by orthodox medicine, many such ancient treatments have been validated by modern science, among them the use of mold to create the antibiotic penicillin.

Other natural practices are as old as mankind: the belief in the healing power of touch, such as massage therapy; the use of hot and cold water to stimulate circulation, such as hydrotherapy and mineral baths; and manipulation of the body's energy fields to promote self-healing, such as acupuncture and chiropractic.

Tested in the laboratory of human experience, many of these age-old methods are now becoming scientifically documented and attracting millions of adherents. The fact that natural health care is rooted in human experience and tradition does not mean that science has no place in natural health care, or that the two are at odds. An understanding of the relationship between specific nutrients and diseases would be impossible without modern methods of research. The discovery and development of vitamin and mineral supplements was made possible by modern science. The ability to ensure purity and safety in encapsulated herbs, vitamins and minerals for mass production is possible thanks to modern technology. Many of the diagnostic tests used by some natural practitioners are a result of science. In short, science has offered many benefits to those seeking natural health care.

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