There is no such thing as alternative medicine. There is medicine that's been shown to be effective and safe. There is medicine that has not been proven to be safe and effective. There is medicine that has been shown to be ineffective and/or unsafe. https://twitter.com/BriaUnkudu/status/1138447995995938820 …
-
This Tweet is unavailable.Show this thread
-
Alternative medicine BY DEFINITION consists of the last two kinds of medicine listed above. When a medicine is shown by science to be safe and effective, it ceases to be "alternative" and becomes just medicine.
4 replies 15 retweets 108 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @gorskon
Overall I agree w you, but in medicine, the alternative label is used for herbal therapies even when they have been shown effective. I understand why so many patients reach outside of what "we" offer, and I don't have great answers for them. Sadly, many MD are just not curious.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @drtwillett
If an herbal medicine "works" it's because there's a drug (or drugs) in it. The whole reason pharmacology arose is because drugs in herbal medicine are adulterated, impure, and of unreliable efficacy and safety because of lot to lot variability in content of active ingredient.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @gorskon @drtwillett
Indeed, there's a whole branch of pharmacology devoted to finding the drugs in herbal medicines and natural products, pharmacognosy.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @gorskon @drtwillett
Of course, the best majority of herbal medicines promoted as alternative medicine or traditional medicine do not work. The chaff-to-wheat ratio is astronomical.
2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
The vast majority.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.