Alternative Medicine: Exploring Your Treatment Options
How can you save yourself from being quacked? Here are some useful pointers by Dr. Stephen Barrett from his Quackwatch Web site (at http://www.quackwatch.com.)
- Forget about 'secret cures'. True scientists share their knowledge as part of the process of scientific development. Quacks often keep their methods secret to prevent others from decisively demonstrating that they don't work. No one who actually discovered a cure for infertility would have reason to keep it secret. If a method really works, the discoverer would gain enormous fame, fortune and personal satisfaction by sharing the discovery with others.
- Remember that quackery often garbs itself in a cloak of pseudo-scientific respectability and its promoters often use scientific terms and quote (or misquote) from scientific references. Be equally wary of pseudo-medical jargon. Instead of offering to treat your infertility, some quacks will promise to 'detoxify' your body, 'balance' its chemistry, and release its 'nerve energy' or 'bring it in harmony with nature'. The use of concepts that are impossible to measure or quantify enables success to be claimed even though nothing has actually been accomplished.
- Ignore any practitioner who says that infertility is caused by faulty nutrition or can be remedied by taking supplements. Although some diseases are related to diet, most are not. Moreover, in most cases where diet actually is a factor in a person's health problem, the solution is not to take vitamins but to alter the diet.
- Be wary of catchy anecdotes and testimonials. If someone claims to have conceived after using an unorthodox remedy, there is often a rational explanation. Some patients with long-standing unexplained infertility do get pregnant on their own - and they may erroneously give credit to the treatment. Some testimonials, of course, are complete fabrications!
- Don't let desperation cloud your judgement! It is true that infertile couples are very susceptible to being quacked, but if you feel that your doctor isn't doing enough to help you, don't stray from scientific health care in a desperate attempt to find a solution. Instead, discuss your feelings with your doctor and consider a consultation with a recognized expert.
The best way you can protect yourself from being taken for a ride is to make sure you are well informed about your infertility. The 'take-home message' is simple: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't!
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
