Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine II – Body Manipulation: Osteopathy and Chiropractic Care

4 May, 2015 by

Probably one of the most widely used and trusted of the alternative medicines are manipulative therapies such as osteopathic and chiropractic interventions. More than 30,000 people visit an osteopath every day, with complaints ranging from back and neck pain to headaches and even asthma. Both practices come with an expensive qualification and official licensing, and many people I have spoken to have simply assumed that these treatments are part of the scientifically proven body of treatments we know as ‘modern medicine’. But both chiropractors and osteopaths in fact practise alternative medicine.
Continue reading →

Alternative Medicine I – The Ultimate Dilute: Homeopathy

3 March, 2015 by

Homeopathy. One of the most popular alternative medicines in the Western world, and perhaps the most widely misunderstood. The science against homeopathy, like the skeptics, is unequivocal. The British Homeopathic association list homeopathy as a possible treatment for long-term chronic problems such as eczema, chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, migraine, IBS and depression, but numerous healthcare bodies agree there is no evidence that homeopathy is effective in treating any health condition.

Continue reading →

The Truth and Lies Behind Alternative Medicine

3 February, 2015 by

Alternative medicine: a phrase that is heavy with connotations, emotions and frankly, a great deal of confusion. Whichever side of the debate you find yourself on, the opinions are usually strong, stubbornly held, and generally backed up with too few facts for any kind of meaningful discussion. It is for these reasons that I usually try to avoid the topic entirely. But avoiding the issue gets us nowhere. So lets do it properly, if we’re going to do it at all. Over the last year I have read no less than 144 scientific papers on seven different so-called “alternative medicines”, in search of the truth behind the hype. From acupuncture to homeopathy, from reiki to hypnotism, I’ve searched high and low to find out what really works, what doesn’t work, what is helpful and what is potentially harmful. This series will explain what I’ve found in a fair and scientific way. It is not meant to offend anybody, merely to arm us all with the facts, so that we can make our own informed decisions.
Continue reading →