In fact, resources such as The Skeptics Dictionary, call alternative health quackery outright, with no qualifications, because there is a lack of documentation being recognized by the medical profession which shows alternative health formulas to be as effective, or nearly as effective, as comparable allopathic medicines.
Are Natural Remedies Safe?
There are two prongs to this question. With natural remedies, as with prescription drugs, the competency of the person making the suggestion or writing the prescription is at least as important as the safety of what is being suggested or prescribed. Scrutiny in either case is very important.There are those who think "if it's natural, it can't hurt me". From that premise it then becomes unnecessary to be overly vigilant about the skill of the health store staff that is suggesting a remedy for this or that. While most natural, whole plant remedies are very safe compared to most prescription drugs, natural does not equal safe in all cases. One example is magnesium. Magnesium is a vital mineral for cardiovascular functioning and most people are deficient but if you happen to be one that has a surplus, then taking more could be dangerous.
On the other hand, there are those who think "it's a doctor; they must know what they are doing". The reality is that many doctors are taking chances with prescriptions that may put you at greater risk of harmful side effects. Other doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics, which may put you at risk for antibiotic resistance and also, digestive and gastrointestinal problems in the future.
Are alternative health care providers quacks? In some cases, yes.
Just as there are most assuredly incompetent doctors who practice bad allopathic medicine, there are alternative medicine practitioners who practice bad alternative health care.
However, I think even a scientist or doctor must acknowledge that the chances of death resulting from the wrong truly natural remedy (not to be confused with chemically altered formulas which, while having natural sources, are no longer natural remedies) is tremendously lower than your chances of dying if prescribed the wrong prescription drug.
There are over 100,000 deaths a year as a result of prescription drugs-related complications. Many believe that numbers should be far higher, due to under-reported cases. Most resources I consulted varied in the statistics but all were over 100,000 a year so that's a good marker to keep in mind.
In fact, every case I've ever read about involved either contamination (which is absolutely no reflection on the safety of the same formula in uncontaminated form), massive overdose, or a chemically enhanced version of some natural substance.
In spite of these contrasting statistics, sites like the skeptic dictionary focus on the one case of pneumonia-related death which occurred with someone who chose homeopathy to address their illness or the two cases in accupunture which were blamed for cases of hepatitis. Does that seem logical to anyone reading this? Since a needle cannot cause hepatitis, no matter where you inject it, the issue here is contamination again, not risks inherently associated with acupuncture as an alternative health therapy.
And as for the statistics on complications reported by GP's (a very small study, by the way) on this same site.....I wonder how many of those were due to interactions with prescription drugs the patient was also taking? The degree of potential dangerous interaction between prescription drugs is mortally high, in my opinion. Add to that possible complications from natural remedies, and you've made an already dangerous situation more so.
I don't mean to keep harping on one website but the skeptics dictionary really does seem to represent the prevelant view among scientists and medical doctors so it's as good a reference for counter-argument as I can find. I'll refer to it's findings once more with regard to cancer:
We read on the dictionary site that cancer diagnosis was delayed by those using alternative health care remedies. Obviously, if a person takes a natural remedy for suspected cancer, INSTEAD of getting a diagnosis and knowing for sure, the diagnosis would be delayed.
A responsible homeopath or herbalist or naturopath is not going to tell a person not to get a diagnosis. They are going to say, regardless of how a person chooses to address their health care, a person should always be fully informed as to the medical conditions involved. This requires medical testing. I'm a firm believer in medical testing, so that a person knows exactly what is wrong.
After medical testing and medical diagnosis, in this land of the free, people still have the option of self-treatment.
I haven't seen any statistics that prove a person with cancer has a better chance of surviving the disease with chemotherapy and radiation than they would if they chose to treat the cancer alternatively. It would be useful if someone would do a double-blind study that documented people with similar cancers, at similar stages of development, and compared the results between those who went through chemo and radiation and those who used anti-cancer substances of an alternative nature.
I do know there was a woman with a remarkable record of curing cancer without chemo, radiation or surgery. She was a woman of courage and conviction.
The Caisse Legacy:
Caution about Essiac: Many who read of the Caisse legacy with cancer choose to find and take essiac tea. There are now dozens of Essiac Tea formulas out there but most of them are NOT the original Rene Caisse formula or they are NOT manufactured to her very specific instructions. Quite simply, they don't work because they've been changed or produced incorrectly.
Dr. Caisse had very, very specific instructions on how to make the tea, and what to include in it. If you are interested in the original Essiac, that information has been made public through the diligence of a Dr. Gary Glum. You can find the original recipe, including some very important tips on proper preparation, here
The original Essiac Tea formula, which the Ojibwa Indians used long before Caisse did, is still considered to contain some of the most effective, natural anti-cancer properties of any herbal formulation, by the alternative health community.
So what is the answer? Never take a prescription drug? Don't use any alternative health care products? Discontinue even taking vitamins or minerals? Or can two so radically different camps of healthcare possibly learn to respect one another and work together?
We cannot as long as scientists and doctors continue dismissing everyone involved in alternative or complementary medicine, as quacks. That's as polarized and just plain wrong as the natural healing supporters who call all doctors butchers or dismiss them as simply operating from greed.
We cannot support one another as long as either camp refuses to educate themselves on the validity of the other approach, and the patient is the one who truly loses.
Health Disclaimer: The information contained in any alternative health care / spiritual healing article or material on this site is not intended to take the place of personal medical advice from your health care professional. Any action taken based on the contents found in this or any educational health care information on Ask a Healer is at the sole discretion of the reader. Please consult with your chosen healthcare professional matters relating to your health and well-being.