4/16/12. Evidenced based medicine is not the holy grail of treatment. Evidence for etiology, diagnosis, treatments, and course of illness must be evaluated by professionals with their good judgment and clinical experience. What is good practice for one patient may not be good practice for another.
(see Dr. Jerome Groopman's et al. article on the paternalism of best practices: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577311641531125820.html?KEYWORDS=groopman )
Alternative medicine fills strong patient needs --- to be acknowledged, listened to, and understood. Some alternative medicine treatments are placebos, some are dangerous, some strange, others funny.
An example. Many years ago I evaluated an 8 year old boy who was doing poorly in school. After a work-up, ruling out anxiety, depression, and learning disabilities, I found that this youngster fit the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. As part of treatment, I recommended the parents consult their child's physician to consider pharmacotherapy. The child's mother objected to my recommendation to consider a carefully monitored trial of medication to treat her son's ADHD and took her son to an M.D. holistic doctor. Several months later, the parents returned and when I asked what the holistic doctor recommended they said, "First the doctor put our son on a very strict diet - so strict it was impossible to follow. When the diet didn't work, the doctor recommended caffeine suppositories for our son --- that's when we decided to come back to you."
The child's schoolwork and self-esteem improved with medication, psychological education and psychology therapy for the child.
Be careful choosing alternative medicine - without getting a second opinion. It is good to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552554
(see Dr. Jerome Groopman's et al. article on the paternalism of best practices: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303404704577311641531125820.html?KEYWORDS=groopman )
Alternative medicine fills strong patient needs --- to be acknowledged, listened to, and understood. Some alternative medicine treatments are placebos, some are dangerous, some strange, others funny.
An example. Many years ago I evaluated an 8 year old boy who was doing poorly in school. After a work-up, ruling out anxiety, depression, and learning disabilities, I found that this youngster fit the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. As part of treatment, I recommended the parents consult their child's physician to consider pharmacotherapy. The child's mother objected to my recommendation to consider a carefully monitored trial of medication to treat her son's ADHD and took her son to an M.D. holistic doctor. Several months later, the parents returned and when I asked what the holistic doctor recommended they said, "First the doctor put our son on a very strict diet - so strict it was impossible to follow. When the diet didn't work, the doctor recommended caffeine suppositories for our son --- that's when we decided to come back to you."
The child's schoolwork and self-esteem improved with medication, psychological education and psychology therapy for the child.
Be careful choosing alternative medicine - without getting a second opinion. It is good to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552554
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