08/19/2018
My patients know that nearly every time I prescribe a medication or some other treatment, I explain which studies showed what about which treatments. More importantly, we discuss what these studies do NOT show. Understandably, my patients generally have a few questions:
"Does this drug work?"
"Is it safe?"
"How does this drug work? What does it DO exactly?"
These seem like simple questions, but we have drugs that we've been using for decades, that we continue to study, without being able to answer those questions for certain yet. Controlling variables is complicated. Isolating specific aspects of multifactorial processes is complicated. Discerning between rare side effects and random events is complicated.
This is why doctors continue to argue about questions that lay people might think are fairly simple and should have been resolved by now.
My point is that even though interpreting medical studies and applying research is difficult, we should make every effort to use whatever facts we have at our disposal. There are medications out there for which the research is fairly spotty, in my opinion. I tend to avoid those medicines if possible, as you might imagine. If I'm not sure how I medication works, or what its impact on the body is likely to be, that is a treatment that should be used only in rare circumstances, and only with great caution.
Which brings us to "wellness medicine." The research behind most such therapies could never withstand the scrutiny of peer review or FDA inquiry. The science and the math behind these products is very weak, which is why they are sold as supplements etc rather than FDA approved pharmaceuticals.
This is not to say that none of these therapies work. My point is that we just don't know.
I have patients that use such therapies, and I think that's fine. It's a personal choice.
But as your physician, I feel that I must limit my recommendations to therapies which have some evidence of effectiveness and safety. If there is no such evidence, then what am I basing my medical practice on? My opinion? That's not good enough.
So understand that my recommendations will be based on extensive medical research whenever possible. If you prefer another approach, that is no problem at all - just let me know. I'm just a hired consultant. You're in charge. It's your body. I'm happy to help however I can.
Sorry for the long introduction. This is an article from The New York Times that I thought you might find interesting.
As always, if you know anyone who might be interested, feel free to share...
Charcoal, “toxins” and other forms of nonsense are the backbone of the wellness-industrial complex.
