Alternative medicine

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m (Benign)
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==Somewhat benign, occasionally dangerous==
 
==Somewhat benign, occasionally dangerous==
 
*[[Chiropractic]] — to cure anything else.
 
*[[Chiropractic]] — to cure anything else.
*[[DMSO]] — an industrial solvent by-product of paper manufacture, used topically for a variety of health claims
+
*[[Colloidal silver]] — an alleged "natural" antibiotic, its only possible use is for that very tiny segment of the population that has a burning desire to look like a smurf.
 +
*[[DMSO]] — an industrial solvent by-product of paper manufacture, used topically for a variety of health claims.
  
 
==Ridiculous==
 
==Ridiculous==
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*Black salve — a paste made from bloodroot that is said to "draw out" cancer cells in tumors; known for causing massive disfiguration. If chemotherapy is slash'n'burn, this stuff is a West Coast thousand-acre wildfire.
 
*Black salve — a paste made from bloodroot that is said to "draw out" cancer cells in tumors; known for causing massive disfiguration. If chemotherapy is slash'n'burn, this stuff is a West Coast thousand-acre wildfire.
 
*[[Laetrile]] — attempting to cure cancer using cyanogen compounds found in stonefruit pits, particularly apricots.
 
*[[Laetrile]] — attempting to cure cancer using cyanogen compounds found in stonefruit pits, particularly apricots.
*[[Colloidal silver]] — an alleged "natural" antibiotic, its only possible use is for that very tiny segment of the population that has a burning desire to look like a smurf.
 
 
*[[Trepanation]] — Intentionally drilling a hole in one's head.
 
*[[Trepanation]] — Intentionally drilling a hole in one's head.
*Sun gazing - staring at the sun cures all ills.  Actually it will more likely damage your eyesight.
+
*Sun gazing staring at the sun cures all ills.  Actually it will more likely damage your eyesight.
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 02:25, 6 May 2009

Pseudoscience Alert
This topic is a pseudoscience, and is not accepted by the scientific community as a valid discipline.
Although it may use scientific terminology, it does not use scientific methodology.
Remember: just because it sounds right doesn't mean it's actually right.
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Once a treatment has scientifically proven its efficacy in the treatment of a disease or condition it becomes mainstream.

Everything else is alternative medicine. Alternative medicine also includes traditional medicines (i.e. medicinal systems rooted in non-Western, non-scientific traditions) which are based on systems of knowledge which are not contingent on scientific analysis.

Alternative medicines, or therapies, range from the potentially provable, to the benign, to the ridiculous. In the case of being "potentially provable", it is still likely that the reasons given by practitioners for the treatment's effectiveness are not correct. Benign treatments have the advantage of not actually injuring a patient, however, using them may cause an unwell person to forgo useful treatments. The ridiculous cannot possibly have any medical effects (beyond that of the placebo effect), or may be actively dangerous to the patient.

Since alternative medicines are, more or less by definition, unproven, many advocates (known, to some, as "alties") tend to appeal to "health freedom" rather than actually try to prove that their nostrums work.

Many practitioners exploit vulnerable patients. They give false hope to people who are incurably sick and frequently charge high prices for useless treatments. The belief that alternative medicines are somehow "less risky" or "less harsh" than conventional medicine has led some to take alternative medicine over conventional medicine. While this may often be true (though don't say that to someone who's lost skin or body parts to "black salves" sometimes used for skin cancers), the potential health risks of not taking conventional medicine for an illness far outweigh the risks from the side effects of these medicines.

Contents

Potentially provable

Benign

  • Aromatherapy — smelling nice has some advantages.
  • Reflexology — as a massage therapy, not an alternative to conventional medicine.
  • Male enhancement capsules — To cure the desire to buy a large SUV.

Somewhat benign, occasionally dangerous

  • Chiropractic — to cure anything else.
  • Colloidal silver — an alleged "natural" antibiotic, its only possible use is for that very tiny segment of the population that has a burning desire to look like a smurf.
  • DMSO — an industrial solvent by-product of paper manufacture, used topically for a variety of health claims.

Ridiculous

Inefficacious

  • Homeopathy — using dilute solutions with no remaining active ingredient to treat conditions.

Dangerous

  • Black salve — a paste made from bloodroot that is said to "draw out" cancer cells in tumors; known for causing massive disfiguration. If chemotherapy is slash'n'burn, this stuff is a West Coast thousand-acre wildfire.
  • Laetrile — attempting to cure cancer using cyanogen compounds found in stonefruit pits, particularly apricots.
  • Trepanation — Intentionally drilling a hole in one's head.
  • Sun gazing — staring at the sun cures all ills. Actually it will more likely damage your eyesight.

See also

Alternative medicine articles on RationalWiki
Acupuncture - Aromatherapy - Apitherapy - Autism and pseudoscience - Bloodletting/Leeching - Chelation therapy - Chiropractic - Cleanse - Colloidal silver - Colonic - Color therapy - DMSO - Dynamiclear - Ear candling - Faith healing - Fasting - Folk remedy - Geier family - Hair analysis - Health freedom - Heel (company) - Herbal supplement - Heroic medicine (Humorism) - Homeopathy - Kombucha - Laetrile - Lupron therapy - Macrobiotics - Magnetic therapy - Medical marijuana - National Health Federation - Narconon - Oil pulling - Oxygen therapy - Q-Ray - Reflexology - Reiki - Rolfing - Shark cartilage - Shiitake mushroom - Tetrasil - Therapeutic touch - Trepanation - Unani

Promoters: Hulda Clark - Mehmet Oz - Kevin Trudeau
Alternative diets: Alkaline diet - Blood type diet - Ephedrine - Fad diet - Food woo - Human chorionic gonadotrophin - Inedia - Jesus Diet - Lemonade diet- Low-carb diet - Organic food - Paleo diet - Raw foodism - Self help - Weigh down diet

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