Alternative medicine research methodology
Steve Crisp
practicioners and advocates of alternative medicine generally perform
so-called studies on their claims.
Several decades ago, a researcher was told about a group of people
living in the Ukraine, some of whose members seemed to live to an
extraordinary age. Upon investigation, he discovered that there were
seemingly many who claimed ages in excess of 110 years old -- some
claimed to be over 140. So he set out to discover if there was a common
link that would result in an increased longevity. At the onset of his
study, he had already made two mistakes, either one of which invalidates
any subsequent results.
One, he assumed that the reported and unverified ages of those claiming
to be over 110 years old were indeed valid. He ignored the fact that
many of those who appeared old intentionally inflated their age so as
not to have to serve in WW1. And of those who presented the appearance
of old age in excess of what is normally found in Western society, even
after giving them the benefit of the doubt, he failed to determine if
the cohort who claimed to be in excess of 90 to 100 years old was
present in any greater percentage than any other societal group. But he
proceeded anyway.
He used interview techniques involved in the study of cultural
anthropology to determine if there were any common factors among those
claiming excessive age. He found that all those who claimed to be in
excess of 100 years old ate yogurt as a staple in their diet. He then
drew the conclusion that yogurt contained some sort of medicinal
property that produced extreme longevity. He has now made several more
fatal mistakes.
One, he neglected to report that yogurt is a staple food in everyone's
diet within that culture and that those who died young also ate yogurt.
Two, he made a preconceived hypothesis that yogurt was responsible in
and of itself for increased longevity (remember, even assuming that some
statistical variation existed to begin with.) And three, he utterly
failed to eliminate any other factor as confounding.
But with his "discovery", he published a popular book that claimed
yogurt increased human longevity and recommended that people eat the
stuff. That book remained a best seller for months. Magazines and news
journalists reported the findings. People started to believe the link.
One manufacturer actually started showing images of old, wrinkled people
in their print and TV ads and tied one possible reason for their old age
as their having eaten yogurt. The FDA and FCC let is slide since,
although they were skirting dangerously close to making a medical claim,
they did not step over that line.
Today, some twenty years later, it is "common knowledge" among lay
people that eating yogurt assists in increasing longevity. Yet there is
not one single shred of evidence indicating that eating yogurt has a
single thing to do with an individual's longevity.
It is interesting to note that at the time his book appeared, it was at
the beginning of the alternative medical movement among US popular
culture in the mid-1970s. That was a time when all sorts of claims were
being made about natural foods and healing techniques. The overwhelming
majority of those claims made then have failed to be proven true in
empirical studies. In fact, most of the claims of which I am aware have
been proven to be false. Yet people continue to believe those
non-scientific claims that were made 20 to 30 years ago by the (then)
radical counter-culture.
The only people who have benefited by the yogurt "discovery" are the
author of the study himself via book royalities, publishers of magazines
who used the "discovery" to increase readership, and yogurt manufactures
and retailers.
Now, for those of you who would claim that there must be something to
the link, follow-up studies have shown no link at all. Indeed, further
studies have shown that there is no statistical variation from the
standard deviation with regard to longevity in that Ukraine population.
The whole yogurt link is a complete crock. But how many of you make sure
that you eat your compliment of yogurt to live a long life?
I stated all that to illustrate how most alternative medical lore is
derived. That is not to say that plants do not contain chemicals which
do assist in the human healing process, but those chemicals must be
identified and their actions quantified by science before one can
determine that something is actually occuring. We all know that there
are plants which, when eaten, provide pain relief. And after rigerous
scientific investigation, we have isolated salicylic acid, or aspirin,
as the active ingredient in those plants. We also know that there are
other plants which provide the same relief, but we now know their active
ingredient to be cocaine.
Until those investigations are performed, any claim made by
practicioners of alternative medicine are just shooting in the wind.
Don't believe what they claim. Don't rely on their products for relief.
And certainly don't abandon or even alter one iota any legitimate
medical treatment as a result -- no matter how apparently convincing the
witch doctors may appear at any given moment.
Steve Crisp
ATeasd5941
writes:
>
>The only people who have benefited by the yogurt "discovery" are the
>author of the study himself via book royalities, publishers of magazines
>who used the "discovery" to increase readership, and yogurt manufactures
>and retailers.
A little like synthetic T4 eh Steve, who really got the benefit from
the wonderful science?
>>>>Don't believe what they claim. Don't rely on their products for relief.
And certainly don't abandon or even alter one iota any legitimate
medical treatment as a result -- no matter how apparently convincing the
witch doctors may appear at any given moment.<<<
Apparently the medical profession has been using a procedure to
treat burns victims for 50 years. They have just discovered that not only
is it ineffective it has probably cost many, many lives. That was not
' alternative ' medicine Steve, that was run of the mill medicine used
on burns victims. What is more effective, apparently a simple
saline solution instead, strange that.?
Carol T
Simon Waters
>Apparently the medical profession has been using a procedure to
>treat burns victims for 50 years. They have just discovered that not only
>is it ineffective it has probably cost many, many lives. That was not
>' alternative ' medicine Steve, that was run of the mill medicine used
>on burns victims. What is more effective, apparently a simple
>saline solution instead, strange that.?
I think the lesson we should gain from this episode is that medical science,
should be that, a science.
The problem with this treatment was that it was never properly tested, this
is typical of many old established medical procedures, when it started
receiving proper tests people started realising it was not too hot.
It is still the case that a large number of orthodox medical procedures are
not properly tested, the main exception being drugs, where proper testing
methodologies are now established in the medical culture.
But I do not think these failings of orthodox medicine are any reason to
give credence to "alternative" therapies many of which have had either less
testing, or have been shown to be of limited worth (or dangerous).
The important thing is the testing, done properly it is blind to whether a
treatment has come from orthodox or alternative streams of thought.
Simon
MD5X
not properly tested,
I agree. It is almost an inverse form of quackery.
lori solomon
yogurt guy made assumptions) that current medical "science" (in fact,
merely OPINION) is ALWAYS right. Whenever people are misdiagnosed, it is
their own fault for not having a "competent" doctor. But, what research
has been done into what constitutes a "competent" doctor? What is a
valid medical opinion? There have been so many times that patients have
been harmed by "conventional" practitioners, yet we never get any advice
on how to protect ourselves from this risk- only exhortatons to look no
further. If the doctor says we should feel well and we don't, we are
complaining, weak-willed women who need a diagnosis to hide behind
instead of realizing that we are just nuts. Quacks are just as prevalent
in "mainstream" medicine as in alternative and complementary medicine,
and probably much more dangerous, as we are discouraged from questioning
them. Skepticism about "medical science" is blasphemy, yet all
alternative medicine is evil. The world, even in medicine, is not so
black and white. Acupunture, which I am sure would be considered
"quackery" by Mr. Crisp, is being found effective by those looney,
liberal nuts at the FDA. I would not be surprised if other
"alternative" therapies eventually enter the "mainstream." Also,
"conventional" medical wisdom like placing babies on their stomahs to
sleep is being linked to SIDS. So much for the art of medicine ( they
call them medical arts buildings for a reason, you know) being an
inflexible, infallible science...
Respetfully,
Lori.