Quackery in Medicine: An Introduction

I am a big proponent for patients taking charge of their own health, becoming informed about their bodies rather than simply relying on authority figures to tell them what is going wrong. However, many people don't have the science background to really understand what is being told to them, and so they'll tend to rely on those authority figures regardless. While one of my goals as a (hopefully) future physician is to make sure my patients know what is going on and focus on preventative medicine, rather than treatment, I am going to start that a little early with this new series.

As more and more people turn towards 'natural' ways of healing themselves, there has developed a market aimed at meeting these desires. Countless remedies have popped up, and complementary and alternative medicines (CAM for short) has taken a foothold in American society. I have been interested in these treatments for some time, as I, too, have become uneasy with the trend in allopathic medicine to treat the symptoms of a disease, rather than the whole patient.

That being said, though, much contained in the field of CAM is pure quackery. It is either unfounded or goes completely against what we know about modern science. And while many of these treatments are harmless, several of them can be very dangerous. Informing the public about them is one of the only weapons we have against these treatments, though, since by nature they go unregulated by the FDA and other government organizations (though please, keep complaints about government regulation out of this series).

In another blog, I was asked to expose some of these more dangerous treatments. I haven't done much in the way of research for this series yet, but I plan to cover several of the well-known treatments. I haven't yet decided whether I should cover treatments proven to work, or only treatments proven not to work. I will cover a wide range of topics, though.

In some ways, I am asking for your help. If you have a question, feel free to post it here, and I will do my best to research and address the claims. To be fair, though, I should list my credentials now. As of present, I have a Bachelor of Science in Biology, with some additional training in the allied health careers. I am currently applying to medical school with the hopes of getting in. Should I gain admission to some school, I will begin basic science classes again next Fall (Fall 2010). If I continue this series after that point, the arguments expressed will likely have more scientific backing.

I look forward to starting this series, and hope that everyone can gain something from it.