Hear hear. An alarming amount of people around me have had serious health scares directly caused by manipulation. A friend of a friend was nearly left paraplegic after a sports "straightening" by a well-known local specialist.

A close friend who had an extremely aggressive breast cancer at 35 (and is given to natural cures etc etc) took up acupuncture as a secondary treatment. All well and good until the third session, when the acupuncture people tried to get her to drop out of chemo and radiotherapy to fully commit to their treatments. Alternative medicine as a term should be considered fraud and its more radical practitioners thrown in jail immediately.

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wiglaf1979 a day ago | parent | next [-]

I forget which comedian said it in a bit they did but it's always stuck with me.

Something along the lines of "If alternative medicine worked we would just call it medicine."

	▲	MaMa a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		"By definition", I begin "Alternative Medicine", I continue "Has either not been proved to work, Or been proved not to work. You know what they call "alternative medicine" That’s been proved to work? Medicine." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Minchin%27s_Law
	▲	cwillu a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U?t=178 (The whole thing is worth rewatching)
	▲	ColinWright a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Tim Minchin
	▲	a day ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		[deleted]
	▲	bitwize a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		"Alternative medicine was either not proved to work, or proved not to work. Do you know what we call alternative medicine that's been proved to work? Medicine." —Tim Minchin

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pragma_x a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yikes. I've tried accupuncture. It _can_ work wonders for pain. But as a cure-all? Total quackery. Sorry your friend was approached like that in a time of need.

	▲	RajT88 a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I have tried it a couple of times. For muscle tightness, there is some science behind why it works (and indeed this worked for me). Did it work better than a very painful massage session? No. But it was a lot less painful!
	▲	zemvpferreira a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Appreciate your kindness. Unfortunately it’s very hard to understand if a woo-woo provider is waiting to prey on you when you’re at your weakest. I prefer not to support any pseudoscientific treatment modality if I can help it. Stick to disciplines who are subject to a higher degree of effectiveness and scrutiny and you’ll be saving yourself and others. Anything called mecidine and anyone called a doctor must uphold the highest standards.

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silverlinex a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[dead]

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ChemoKills a day ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

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stickfigure a day ago | parent [-]

"I personally know more skydivers injured by parachutes than whatever they are supposed to prevent"

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silverlinex a day ago | parent | next [-]

[dead]

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cyanregiment a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[dead]

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ChemoKills a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I said killed

Stickfigure changed his comment from “drivers”/“airbags” to “skydivers”/“parachutes”

What I would say to “parachutes” is that evidently so many people do not go skydiving - why?

If doctors were peddling skydiving as a cure to anything, I would be just as skeptical as when they suggest radiating yourself to death.

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onraglanroad a day ago | parent [-]

> millions are radiated to death through capitalist medical systems that drive sales and prioritize profit over cures

This would be a reasonable belief if the USA was the only developed country to use chemo and none of the more Socialist European countries did. In fact, I'd be very wary of any such treatment.

But the reality is that all countries use it as a last resort. So the idea that doctors are recommending it for profit is obviously wrong: a Scottish doctor makes zero more money whatever treatment they recommend, so your theory is obviously wrong.

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ChemoKills a day ago | parent [-]

Having nationalized medicine does not mean drug sales don’t occur, it just means the doctor is not the dealer, and often doesn’t run a private practice.

The facilities still purchase drugs and equipment from private manufacturers.

In your example of a socialist country where the doctor is not incentivized to sell Drug A - someone above him still is.

After all, big pharma sells their drugs to government sponsored health systems and hospitals too.

You are running with the idea of socialized medicine to mean that the country actually produces all its own manufacturing, research, etc. and that no capitalism occurs when that’s nowhere near the reality.

There is no such thing as a health system that focuses on preventative care and actually caring for people. The ones that do exist, people like you call “alternative” or wacky while chomping amphetamine pills and going bald from radiation poisoning.

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onraglanroad a day ago | parent [-]

But the doctor doesn't have any incentive to push whatever the purchasers recommend.

The Scottish NHS really does care about treating people. I know several people who work there.

Your "people like me" spiel is a little lame because you are rather obviously ignorant of the world. Why don't you expand your knowledge rather than continuing here?

	▲	ChemoKills a day ago \| parent [-]
		[flagged]