Alternative Medicine (Hint: This is NOT really medicine)

[Kayenneh]

You need a prescription for melatonin? That's some bullshit right there.

Tell that to the Finnish Medicines Agency (our FDA, but only for drugs). But no, you can buy 1mg and 2mg tablets OTC, but it hangs on a technicality. Those are meant for "stabilizing your internal rhythm, battle jet lag and make the time needed to fall asleep shorter" whereas the stronger ones are for insomnia and other medical conditions.

[Bad Writer]

The only good that my son got out of NAET was the training to focus on is body along with the exercises that went with it. Apart from that, no it does not seem to have any validity.

I don't recall there being exercises in NAET, but perhaps this particular practitioner of your son's added some routines in there for good measure.

NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques) is what Dr. Heather (the quack I mentioned at the start of this thread) used to "cure" my sister-in-law of her seasonal and animal allergies. It's funny too because she is a staunch atheist (her words, not mine), and she was even wary of seeing this lady to about her allergies, calling her a "voodoo doctor". I heard about her experiences second hand, but, of course, she used her AK (Applied Kinesiology) techniques to verify the illnesses, placing a small vial of the allergens on her leg while she pushed down on her arm to see if the substance's proximity would trigger a weakness in her muscles. Each session was only $40, but the treatment sessions were many and varied; this of course added up to well over $1000 in the end.

I came to find out that she even tried to cure my wife of her "allergies" as well, but these problems were persistent and didn't want to go away...which is why she was still seeing this doctor until recently.

Pity was that the wait for a Physiotherapist who treated Autistic people was about 2 years, hence this other route.

It is. This is precisely the reason why my wife went to go see the Alternative Medicine practitioner in the first place was because of a lack of apparent progress on the Western Medicine's side of things. She was frustrated, she had hit a wall...but I'm convinced she just didn't have me yet to help her sort through the issues one by one.

I guess it's just my experience that even if these docs are non-invasive, inexpensive, and your last ditch effort at trying something different...then don't go see them anyway. Without science to back their claims, barring the Placebo Effect, it's still a waste of time and money. Raising false hopes in their patients, in my opinion, also seems highly unethical for anyone practicing what they deem to be medicine.

[Kayenneh]

The only good thing I can say about alternative medicine practitioners, are that they usually make enough time for their patients and listen to them. That's something harried medicine professionals should remember. If you meet your patience while stressed and make it obvious that you don't have time for them, I can assure you that the whole treatment/healing process won't work half as well.

[downbeatplumb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

[thesummerqueen]

The only good thing I can say about alternative medicine practitioners, are that they usually make enough time for their patients and listen to them. That's something harried medicine professionals should remember. If you meet your patience while stressed and make it obvious that you don't have time for them, I can assure you that the whole treatment/healing process won't work half as well.

Well, having known some of the people who go to medical professionals for every goddamn cough because they (the people) are dumb shits, I know why they end up being busy.

Some people have no concept of preventative treatments, or maybe just giving their kids a little cough syrup and seeing if it clears up instead of assuming it's pneumonia.

[downbeatplumb]

Alternative medicines persist because people mistake the placebo effect for an actual cure.

And some people will believe any old shit.

[Kayenneh]

Well, having known some of the people who go to medical professionals for every goddamn cough because they (the people) are dumb shits, I know why they end up being busy.

Yeah. But there's still a difference in examining and treating someone with efficiency, and being outright inattentive and rude. Fortunately, most of the nurses and doctors I've worked with fell into the former category, but then there's e.g. my GP, with whom I can't get along, since she has messed up too many times for my taste and is kind of a cunt.

[Bad Writer]

Alternative medicines persist because people mistake the placebo effect for an actual cure.

And some people will believe any old shit.

This may be the truth in many cases, but I did just mention that even though my sister-in-law is very much an atheist and anti-theist, she still believes in the woo NAET because it apparently cured her. Who knows what really happened to her allergies or if they are even truly gone? What we do have here is a case of cognitive dissonance where a person uses rational thinking in one area (religion), but fails to do so in another (medicine).

I think there are people who will believe in any old shit, but this is generally not the case. We don't have many Christians who believe in Islam and Hinduism all at the same time. I think it's more accurate to say that people believe in very specific shit.

[thesummerqueen]

Yeah. But there's still a difference in examining and treating someone with efficiency, and being outright inattentive and rude. Fortunately, most of the nurses and doctors I've worked with fell into the former category, but then there's e.g. my GP, with whom I can't get along, since she has messed up too many times for my taste and is kind of a cunt.

I drop shitty people like that. I don't have enough money to waste on someone who will fuck things up or treat me like crap. I do my own research before I walk in so I expect the doctor to listen to me and discuss it. Mine does, despite also being in a hurry. She's great.

[Kayenneh]

I drop shitty people like that. I don't have enough money to waste on someone who will fuck things up or treat me like crap. I do my own research before I walk in so I expect the doctor to listen to me and discuss it. Mine does, despite also being in a hurry. She's great.

Ah, here comes the downside of heavily subsidized health care and being a Fenno-Swede. I belong to the only district in my town that guarantees Swedish service, and they have two to three doctors on duty, one of them being my GP. It costs me 12€ a year to go there, so money isn't an issue. Fortunately, since I'm a student, I have the right to go to another health care center, and that service is included in my tuition. But the best is that all employers have to provide heath care for their employees, and usually they make a contract with a private health care provider, and our workplace GP is really competent and nice. I only use my GP nowadays to send her my electronic prescriptions to be refilled, she hasn't seen me in person since I was 16