Snake Oil Medicine
Written by Lee Schneider, founder of DocuCinema
I was training for a marathon but my left knee wasn’t along for the ride. It filed a complaint with the rest of my body. There was a long line at the somatic complaint window that day, so by mile 11 nobody in authority was listening to the knee.
KNEE: Hey, brain! Can’t you stop this jerk from running?
BRAIN: Relax, babe. Who’s that, the left knee?
KNEE: Paying attention is supposed to be your job.
BRAIN: Babe, coupla miles, this thing’s over. Focus on that.
KNEE: Hey, you focus on me, babe, because when I quit, you are just a piece of meat. You are a piece of meat on a stick, sitting in a chair, watching TiVO.
BRAIN: You’re being rude. I will now ignore you.
KNEE: Oh, yeah? I am going to mess you up!
Actually, the knee didn’t say that. It said something unprintable here. (Sometimes children read this blog.) But it made its move – it decided to stop working. Suddenly, I was limping. The training run was over and I limped right into three months of physical therapy. I got the ice packs, the weight training, the electrical stimulation, the whole deal.
I didn’t like feeling sick and weak, so I turned to acupuncture. Having somebody stick needles in you – and paying them for it – can sound nuts. I felt at home, however, with the idea of moving qi around and showing my knee how it might heal. It worked. I’m running well again.
There are lots of respectable doctors lining up to say that acupuncture is a sham.
One doc, writing in his Respectful Insolence blog, cites a research study demonstrating that when practitioners faked doing acupuncture it “worked” just as well as the real thing. Doing fake acupuncture meant using specially designed needles that retracted into the needle hub before hitting the skin.
Could acupuncture be nothing more, than “an elaborate and fancy placebo”?
David Gorski, writing in Science-Based Medicine, slammed the methods of one study that suggested acupuncture resulted in changes in the brain but didn’t make pain patients feel better. Harriet Hall, also writing for Science-Based Medicine, pointed out flaws in a study examining acupuncture to treat heartburn. If people felt better, she wrote, it was because they believed in acupuncture, not because the medicine of acupuncture was doing anything.
“It doesn’t matter what you do to the patient; all that matters is what the patient believes you did.”
I get the sense that some of these docs are sorta pissed off. R.W. Donnell, writing in his blog Notes from Dr. RW, refers to researchers’ efforts to understand alternative and integrative medicine as “academic medical woo” and “quackademic medicine.” His terms are catchy, but he references Wikipedia as a source and also quotes a report originally published in 1910. Wikipedia is often wrong; things have changed a tad since 1910.
Nevertheless, all these folks are right to get tough. Why? Anything labeled “therapeutic” had better work and better not harm anybody.
Merck had to withdraw the “therapeutic” painkiller Vioxx following reports that it increased rates of strokes and heart attacks. We want people looking at treatments closely. This benefits everyone.
Acupuncture doesn’t hurt anybody. Many believe that it works. While “believe” might be the operative word there, the evidence to satisfy the skeptics isn’t here yet. Still, their criticism makes the research better.
Have you tried any “alternative” medicine? How’d it work for you?
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Lee,
I am a proponent of acupuncture, being a qigong guy. For years after my health problems I struggled with chronic pain, especially in by back and knee. It wasn’t until a while ago when I had a spectacular weight gain–80 lbs. in four months–that my pain when off the charts due to the “excess gravity.” I had tried a pain clinic in the past; morphine, which helped but made it impossible to move my bowels (that was worse than the back pain).
A tai chi buddy recommended an acupuncturist he used who had trained in Japan. After a few sessions, I no longer had sciatica and the burning in my knee ceased. I still had back pain that was off the charts. He treated me for another six weeks, then told me to go home, practice qigong, and let my body heal. Several weeks later 50% of the pain in my back released and I was able to get back on the computer and work out. Once this sickening weight goes, I expect another chunk of pain will leave.
I had tried a local acupuncturist years earlier but it didn’t help. The guy who trained for five years was a medical miracle himself: Confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident, Western doctors told him he would never walk again. Six months with a renowned Japanese acupuncturist and he was walking miles every night. Like doctors, some acupuncturists are more skilled than others.
I think one problem is the American mindset: Fix me today with a pill or surgery. These ancient healing modalities take time to help facilitate the body’s natural healing abilities. Which I believe was Hippocrates main theory.
Bob
Lee,
One more thing: In the East, acupuncturists treat animals with success. I can’t understand the placebo effect in that context. Unless Chinese dogs are extremely gullible.
Bob
Dear Lee,
I have tried ayurvedic massage therapy and the positive effects have been amazing. Despite my initial reservations about alternative medicine, I quickly began to experience the benefits of Ayurveda, both at a physical and emotional level. I have a rough idea of how it works but I prefer not to research so much as I usually do with almost everything, and just “let it do its job”. I have recommended it to my loved ones and the effects have also been wonderful on all of them.
Thanks for these comments, Cintia. Soon I will do an interview with a doctor in India who specializes in Ayurvedic medicine and will publish the interview in a future blog.
That’s fascinating. I want to ask around and see if there can be a placebo effect in animals.
Is there more to acupuncture than the sharp needles? Is there something about quieting the mind for a certain amount of time and being taken care of in a clean and tighty room? I believe in acupuncture, but I also wonder if the whole process has also something to do with the healing process…
Cheers,
Ingrid
You are right about the quiet room and the healing process. Some research has focused on the therapeutic environment itself – and how that is contributing to the potential effects of the treatment.
Snake Oil Medicine blog entry is now carried on ThoseInMedia.
This is a fascinating article about military doctors using acupuncture, from the Huffington Post.