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Natural Alternatives Presenting evidence for the practical benefits of natural alternatives to synthetic chemicals. Debunking Not Always What It Seems Newspapers across the U.S. headlined the story this way: "Alternative Remedies Fail Government Tests." Here is how the Associated Press chose to begin its article on February 26, 2006: "For years, millions of Americans have spent billions of dollars on alternative remedies with unproven effects. Now, rigorous science is starting to test those treatments and mostly find them lacking. Last week, major government-funded research indicated that two wildly popular arthritis pills, glucosamine and chondroitin, did no better than dummy pills at relieving mild arthritic pain." If you examine the study in question, you will find the way it was portrayed by headline writers to be a travesty and the way journalists reported the story to be a study in omission, obfuscation, and downright lazy reporting.  The study found these two natural supplements DID, in fact, help to relieve the pain of people with severe arthritis -- 79 percent of them reported benefits. It was only people with mild forms of arthritis who didn't seem to derive significant pain relief. Not only that, but most of the media failed to report how all five of the medical researchers who conducted this study have potential conflicts of interest because they have financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, Pfizer, the maker of Celebrex, an arthritis drug that competes with the natural supplements, has funded four of the five study authors, each of whom has also served on Pfizer's medical advisory boards. The preceding information comes from Dr. Jay Gordon, a physician who writes an online blog. "The doctors and scientists who conducted this study receive millions from the companies whose (pharmaceutical) drugs they studied," observed Gordon, who periodically points out possible bias in medical study results. Despite these pharmaceutical ties, at least one of the study authors was remarkably candid about their personal experiences with the supplements. "If someone tells me this is working for them, I'm not going to tell them not to take it," said Dr. Thomas Schnitzer, a Northwestern University arthritis researcher. Other arthritis experts extoll the virtues of natural supplements. "In my patient population I have found very good results," commented Dr. Andrew Feldman, Chief of Sports Medicine at St. Vincent's Medical Center in New York City.  Miracle Cures That Work A study of patients diagnosed with 'incurable' lung cancer who were given only weeks to live found statistical evidence that those who used 'alternative' treatments such as raw foods diets and faith healing had higher chances of survival than those who used only the conventional cancer therapies. Appearing in Cancer, the online medical journal of the American Cancer Society, this study conducted in Australia tracked 2,337 paitents with advanced stages of the disease. Of that number, 43 patients tried alternative remedies and survived beyond five years and achieved apparent cures. These were considered 'miracle' cures. When these results were published on January 23, 2006, the study authors declared their amazement that treatments "not normally considered to have any curative potential whatsoever" would have positive impacts on health and survival. As readers of The Hundred Year Lie will discover, these sorts of 'miracle cures' that confound Western medical practitioners are much more common than anyone may realize.
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