Amateur Hour

I’ve touched on my suspicion of most “alternative” medical treatments in a couple of past posts, most recently in my posts titled Common Scents http://beckypalmer.thecomputerguy.bz/2016/01/common-scents/  and It’s Not that Simple http://beckypalmer.thecomputerguy.bz/2016/02/its-not-that-simple/

I’ve noticed there are a couple quick, simple guidelines that tell me right away I should steer clear of some products:

#1 The label says “this product is not designed to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease”. Well then what’s the point?  I could make pills from the dirt in my front yard and claim they cured cancer and as long I put that warning on the side of the bottle I could legally sell them in Walgreens.  Sad, but 100% true.

#2 The product uses vague words that don’t mean anything.   Take “Detoxify” or “Cleanse”.   Meaningless.  The inside of the human body is sterile unless you are very, very ill. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t need operating rooms- we could perform surgeries in the cafeteria.   Take “Herbal” or “All- Natural”.  I could truthfully claim my dirt pills were both of those things, but that doesn’t mean you should eat them.

Even given all this, a couple of months ago I decided to give probiotics a try.   Their packaging (at least the name brand ones) fall into both of my “warning” categories, so I should have known better.  But, I take a daily medication that can have digestive side effects and I was having those effects in spades.  Alas, 2 months and more money than I care to admit later I’m forced to admit that they do nothing for me.  I probably would have been better off with my dirt pills.  Turns out that there’s no proof they work for anyone!  Zip.  Nada.  It’s all based on theory that’s never been proven or even attempted to be proven in any serious way.   That’s probably why my doctor never suggested them, even during conversations about my digestive issues.

So, with the exception of my chiropractor appointments, I’m done with anything my doctor doesn’t recommend.  He went to medical school and I didn’t.  He’s the pro and I’m the amateur.