Announcements
Current Announcement:
April 14, 2009
Alternative Health - Now You See It, Now You Don't
Alternative health is under assault, but not in the way people think. I'm not talking about some imagined government conspiracy or obsessing over some exposé of medical cabals actively suppressing secret cures for cancer. Besides not being true, that line of thought is pretty much unproductive and, in the end, facilitates the very result you're trying to avoid. No, what I'm talking about is a series of unconnected, below the radar, events that mean very little by themselves but when taken as a whole, have a devastating impact on your ability to access the supplements you want and need.
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April 5, 2009
Alternative medicine enjoys healthy businessSome chiropractors, acupuncturists, health food stores thriving By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer FAIRBORN — Despite the recession, Terry McCoskey's business is anything but out of joint. Alternative medicine hasn't been immune to the layoffs wracking the Dayton region or shaking consumer confidence. But several local businesses say they're holding their own and, in cases like McCoskey's, even thriving. At Health Foods Unlimited in Centerville, shoppers' demand for everything from homeopathics and herbals to vitamins and supplements has held steady, though brand loyalty has eroded as customers seek the best deals, said the store's Thom McDonald. And more customers are checking prices by phone. "People look for value, but they also look for a proactive way to stay healthy," McDonald said. An Oprah endorsement still brings in traffic, he said, and doctors are looking at alternatives to prescriptions to keep patients well. |
http://www.daytondailynews.com/b/content/oh/story/business/2009/04/05/ddn040509altmedicine.html
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February 5, 2009
Professional Accreditation, Credentials and Licensure
by T. Colin Campbell, PhD
For almost 50 years, I have designed and directed large research projects in the areas of nutrition and health. As a result of this experience, I have come to realize that most nutrition and health information is very misleading. It is no coincidence that we now have a health care crisis which is very expensive and which compromises the quality of life for millions of Americans and others living on a Western-style diet.
The reason for this nutrition misinformation is largely due to who controls its development and dissemination. During the last several years—a time when our book The China Study (co-authored with my son, Tom) was published—I have spent much of my time trying to understand why diet and health information is so misleading and confusing. I especially have wanted to understand how the line that divides government's responsibility to promote health and industry's responsibility to make a profit have been blurred.
One of my most rewarding experiences has been to meet practitioners who are using the information described in our book (and related books) to help patients to regain their health, in spite of the fact that they have little or no training in nutrition. I have learned of hundreds of cases in which the progression of serious conditions like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes has been stopped, and in some cases completely reversed, as a result of using this information.
However, my contact with these health care professionals has brought to light another serious problem, namely that Americans are relying on medical information that, like nutrition information, also is terribly misguided. The reasons in both cases primarily involve the aggressive influence of private industry and special interest groups in the training of those medical practitioners who are then licensed to offer advice about health and healing to an unsuspecting public.
Many health care consumers have become disillusioned with traditional health care. Similarly, individuals entering the health care field as professionals have become equally disillusioned with traditional health education strategies. I also have known would-be professionals interested in nutrition who do not want to pursue traditional dietetics programs because they strongly disagree with the American Dietetic Association who shamelessly promotes an industry-friendly but unhealthy dietary message. Even some people with a sincere interest in medical practice, do not do so because they disagree with the reductionist approach to health care taught in traditional medical schools (using out-of-context drugs and supplements to treat symptoms, rather than a wholistic approach of diet and lifestyle to address the cause of the condition). Because of this troubling environment, an increasing number of people are seeking education programs outside of traditional medical and nutrition education. They are becoming nutritionists instead of traditional dietitians, and naturopaths, chiropractors and osteopaths instead of medical doctors, for example.
I have known about the main health care occupations that are licensed and recognized (nurses, doctors and dietitians, for example) but relatively recently learned of still more. Coming down from my ivory tower, I have been more than pleasantly surprised at the exceptional knowledge and competence of many of these people.
On the history of health care regulation in the U.S., an interesting pattern has emerged to show that health care practice groups seek licensure not only to regulate and promote high quality practice, but also to keep others from engaging in their practice as competitors, an age-old human foible. Medical doctors achieved licensure, and as a group, then spent enormous amounts of time and money to discredit osteopaths. Once osteopaths gained licensure status, they joined with the MD’s to discredit chiropractors. Chiropractors eventually gained licensure, and have joined with the MD’s and DO’s to discredit naturopaths and other health care occupations that are still not licensed or regulated in most states. As history has shown (osteopaths and chiropractors were never a threat to public health), the attempt to discredit those who have different medical philosophies and training is simply to protect turf and titles.
During my lengthy career, I have been faced with many difficult decisions concerning scientific evidence that too often is confounded by this question of who is professionally entitled to say what to whom. Often it has come down to my questioning of the widely accepted polices and standards that determine professional credentials and institutional accreditation, although I fully acknowledge the need to establish these standards. Indeed, I want to make abundantly clear that I endorse the need for standards that make clear who is legitimized to professionally participate in the health professions. But I am also increasingly concerned that too often we are relying on people because of their professional credentials than on their knowledge and competence. There are others, like myself, who also have similar concerns. If not acknowledged and seriously discussed, I fear that the standards that give professional structure to our system will begin to erode the system itself.
I know well people with highly credentialed degrees that entitle them to positions of power and public responsibility but who make contrary decisions against the public's interests in favor of their own interests. In contrast, I also know people who are making outstanding health contributions in the best interest of the public but who do not meet the guidelines and standards of professional credentials and accreditation. These contrary examples represent a serious miscarriage of professional justice and responsibility.
Nowhere is this problem more acute than it is when speaking about nutrition Medical schools who train the individuals with the most widely recognized medical and health credentials (MDs) offer no teaching or training in nutrition and treat the topic, at best, as 'alternative'. Fundamentally, the science of nutrition, at its most fundamental level, is the antithesis of the science and practice of medicine. Further, professionally accredited nutrition schools who award graduate degrees (MS, PhD) teach nutrition and do research that heavily favors a reductionist approach to biology—rather similar to a pharmacological approach—that has little no relevance to public health and, for that matter, even little relevance to nutrition. Even the nutrition curriculum established for the training of registered dietitians (RDs) at accredited institutions who offer this degree is controlled by the American Dietetic Association which is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the food and drug industries.
This presents a serious dilemma for the public as well as for my colleagues and me, as we develop this website. If we wish to use within our website the most talented and productive practitioners in nutrition, must we limit ourselves only to those individuals with credentialed degrees (MD, PhD, RD) obtained from institutions and programs that ignore and even eschew nutrition as a serious science? Or do we go beyond this imperial castle to seek the services of those who have gained knowledge of the subject and who have obtained superior clinical results? This is a painful dilemma, for why should we feel constrained, either legally or through public perception, to maintain our reputation by working only with state-sanctioned professionals when their training is either non-existent or is professionally biased in favor of the for-profit industry?
Insofar as nutrition is concerned, the contemporary standards used to establish professional credentials and institutional accreditation are indeed very blurred and have come close to being a mockery of public health. We can do better. My views of professional nutrition legitimacy in no way can be decided solely by the present professional standards. The only criterion that we will use to seek professional participation in this website will be on the basis of an individual's demonstrated performance in providing reliable nutrition information and service to the public. We will, of course, honor professional credentials but will do so in a transparent manner. Although we will appropriately take advantage of professional credentials and accredited institutions, we will not be held hostage to them.
Standards of education and training in the health sciences are important in preparing an individual for professional service. However, I believe that we have too often abused the use of these standards for determining important issues like curricula, licensure and agency directorships (for example, and with one exception, why must directors of NIH and FDA be limited only to those who have an MD?). In this instance, the public needs to know that nutrition (based on whole plant-based foods) is the chief contributing factor to good health and good medical practice (both physical and mental) but, regrettably and notably, it is almost completely ignored as a legitimate biomedical science by those perceived to have the 'highest' medical credentials but who have no training in this subject. For the credentialed and accredited institutions of medical practice and biomedical research to label nutrition using pejorative language is worse than unconscionable. It is immoral.
In summary, I challenge the way we too often use credentials and accreditations to determine professional legitimacy and participation in the health sciences. I do not mean to scrap the present system but simply to improve on it. And in this effort, we would do well to begin thinking about the fundamental bases upon which our medical disciplines are constructed. In doing so, we could better evaluate the use and misuse of our standards.
http://www.plantbasednutrition.org/plant-based-nutrition/credentials-and-accreditation/
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January 9, 2009
Wall Street Journal "'Alternative' Medicine Is Mainstream"
The evidence is mounting that diet and lifestyle are the best cures for our worst afflictions.
By DEEPAK CHOPRA , DEAN ORNISH , RUSTUM ROY and ANDREW WEIL
In mid-February, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the Bravewell Collaborative are convening a "Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public." This is a watershed in the evolution of integrative medicine, a holistic approach to health care that uses the best of conventional and alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture and herbal remedies. Many of these therapies are now scientifically documented to be not only medically effective but also cost effective.
President-elect Barack Obama and former Sen. Tom Daschle (the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services) understand that if we want to make affordable health care available to the 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance, then we need to address the fundamental causes of health and illness, and provide incentives for healthy ways of living rather than reimbursing only drugs and surgery.
Heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity account for 75% of health-care costs, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle. As Mr. Obama states in his health plan, unveiled during his campaign: "This nation is facing a true epidemic of chronic disease. An increasing number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of which can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely."
The latest scientific studies show that our bodies have a remarkable capacity to begin healing, and much more quickly than we had once realized, if we address the lifestyle factors that often cause these chronic diseases. These studies show that integrative medicine can make a powerful difference in our health and well-being, how quickly these changes may occur, and how dynamic these mechanisms can be.
Many people tend to think of breakthroughs in medicine as a new drug, laser or high-tech surgical procedure. They often have a hard time believing that the simple choices that we make in our lifestyle -- what we eat, how we respond to stress, whether or not we smoke cigarettes, how much exercise we get, and the quality of our relationships and social support -- can be as powerful as drugs and surgery. But they often are. And in many instances, they're even more powerful.
These studies often used high-tech, state-of-the-art measures to prove the power of simple, low-tech, and low-cost interventions. Integrative medicine approaches such as plant-based diets, yoga, meditation and psychosocial support may stop or even reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer, obesity, hypercholesterolemia and other chronic conditions.
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that these approaches may even change gene expression in hundreds of genes in only a few months. Genes associated with cancer, heart disease and inflammation were downregulated or "turned off" whereas protective genes were upregulated or "turned on." A study published in The Lancet Oncology reported that these changes increase telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. Even drugs have not been shown to do this.
Our "health-care system" is primarily a disease-care system. Last year, $2.1 trillion was spent in the U.S. on medical care, or 16.5% of the gross national product. Of these trillions, 95 cents of every dollar was spent to treat disease after it had already occurred. At least 75% of these costs were spent on treating chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, that are preventable or even reversible.
The choices are especially clear in cardiology. In 2006, for example, according to data provided by the American Heart Association, 1.3 million coronary angioplasty procedures were performed at an average cost of $48,399 each, or more than $60 billion; and 448,000 coronary bypass operations were performed at a cost of $99,743 each, or more than $44 billion. In other words, Americans spent more than $100 billion in 2006 for these two procedures alone.
Despite these costs, a randomized controlled trial published in April 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine found that angioplasties and stents do not prolong life or even prevent heart attacks in stable patients (i.e., 95% of those who receive them). Coronary bypass surgery prolongs life in less than 3% of patients who receive it. So, Medicare and other insurers and individuals pay billions for surgical procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery that are usually dangerous, invasive, expensive and largely ineffective. Yet they pay very little -- if any money at all -- for integrative medicine approaches that have been proven to reverse and prevent most chronic diseases that account for at least 75% of health-care costs. The INTERHEART study, published in September 2004 in The Lancet, followed 30,000 men and women on six continents and found that changing lifestyle could prevent at least 90% of all heart disease.
That bears repeating: The disease that accounts for more premature deaths and costs Americans more than any other illness is almost completely preventable simply by changing diet and lifestyle. And the same lifestyle changes that can prevent or even reverse heart disease also help prevent or reverse many other chronic diseases as well. Chronic pain is one of the major sources of worker's compensation claims costs, yet studies show that it is often susceptible to acupuncture and Qi Gong. Herbs usually have far fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals.
Joy, pleasure and freedom are sustainable, deprivation and austerity are not. When you eat a healthier diet, quit smoking, exercise, meditate and have more love in your life, then your brain receives more blood and oxygen, so you think more clearly, have more energy, need less sleep. Your brain may grow so many new neurons that it could get measurably bigger in only a few months. Your face gets more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. Your heart gets more blood flow, so you have more stamina and can even begin to reverse heart disease. Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more potent -- similar to the way that circulation-increasing drugs like Viagra work. For many people, these are choices worth making -- not just to live longer, but also to live better.
It's time to move past the debate of alternative medicine versus traditional medicine, and to focus on what works, what doesn't, for whom, and under which circumstances. It will take serious government funding to find out, but these findings may help reduce costs and increase health.
Integrative medicine approaches bring together those in red states and blue states, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, because these are human issues. They are both medically effective and, important in our current economic climate, cost effective. These approaches emphasize both personal responsibility and the opportunity to make affordable, quality health care available to those who most need it. Mr. Obama should make them an integral part of his health plan as soon as possible.
Dr. Chopra, the author of more than 50 books on the mind, body and spirit, is guest faculty at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ornish is clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Mr. Roy is professor emeritus of materials science at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Weil is director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
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