From Wall St. to Washington, D.C., alternative medicine is under attack
That’s Entertainment!
The Wall St. Journal editors have a bizarre concept of “Arts and Entertainment.”
Recently the Journal ran a blistering slam of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Apparently WSJ has no Health section, so the article was posted in the newspaper’s Arts and Entertainment section.
I haven’t been so entertained since the last time I hit my thumb with a hammer.
Bowl of cherries
Actually, the WSJ article is a pretty typical CAM takedown. We’ve seen it all before.
The author starts off by cherry picking some fringe CAM therapies (such as “DNA activation”) that make the entire CAM field seem frivolous. Then he offers disparaging quotes from a couple of people with impressive titles. And of course he claims that CAM therapies bypass “customary peer review, controlled studies and other hallmarks of sound medicine.” Which simply isn’t true. But we know what he’s getting at by “sound medicine.” (Vioxx anyone?)
And then he goes cherry picking again – this time to discredit the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which he clearly sees as a waste of federal funds. “Proving” his point, he notes that two large studies (one sponsored by NCCAM) showed that St. John’s wort was no more effective than placebo in treating major depression.
Naturally, he ignores a 2008 Cochrane Collaboration review that examined 30 St. John’s wort studies in which the herb was found to be significantly more effective than placebo. It was even more effective than antidepressant drugs in alleviating symptoms of major depression. (See the e-Alert “Shape of Things to Come” 10/28/08).
Whenever I read this type of derision directed toward the entire field of CAM, I always wonder if the author would feel comfortable telling his wife to forget about taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy. Prevention of neural tube birth defects with a vitamin supplement? Obviously just another CAM scam.
General mainstream
Now for the bad news: Sanjay Gupta, M.D., would probably agree with the WSJ article.
In case you missed the rumor going around, Dr. Gupta – a high-profile television personality – may become the next U.S. Surgeon General.
The SG no longer actually performs any military-like duties – he’s more like a figurehead who promotes general health programs. So with Dr. Gupta’s handsome mug (he was once named one of People Magazine’s sexiest men alive), he seems like a perfect choice to play a celebrity spokesmodel role in the new administration. The problem: Dr. Gupta is a seriously mainstream guy who will most likely not be inclined to speak well of CAM therapies.
In the e-Alert “Treating the Treatments” (6/14/07), I told you about one of Dr. Gupta’s Time columns in which he actually made this outrageous comment: “Researchers found that the most common mistake users of herbal remedies make is believing that the substances they take actually work.”
In Dr. Gupta’s view, herbal supplement users are “putting themselves at risk.” Why? Because most herbal remedies have not been clinically proven. That is, they haven’t received randomized, controlled trials, which Dr. Gupta calls “the gold standard for establishing a drug’s usefulness and safety.”
But as Dr. Gupta surely knows, there have been many randomized, controlled trials that demonstrate the usefulness of ginkgo biloba, St. John’s wort, echinachea, etc. It’s not like these trials are hidden away somewhere.
If Dr. Gupta does take on the Surgeon General position, I hope he’ll come around and realize he’s no longer just a Time columnist and CNN talking head – he’ll be representing all of us, and there’s a vast nation of serious CAM users whose needs deserve to be treated with respect.
Sources:
“The Touch That Doesn’t Heal” Wall St. Journal, 12/25/08, s.wsj.net
“Herbal Remedies’ Potential Dangers” Sanjay Gupta, M.D., Time Magazine, 5/24/07, time.com
