Alternative medicines : when good things can lead to charlatanism (part II)

In my last post, I was concerned about the misuse or drifts of non-conventional medicines. Disclaimer: before thinking that I want to go on a witch hunt, I would like to emphasize that I have seriously tried to understand the phenomenon of alternative medicines and their use in our current society.

Alternative medicines in Europe

Since I am living in Europe, I have often been amazed to see how alternative practices were integrated into conventional medicine. I worked several years in a university hospital and it was frequent to see them used in health, even for some considered more as the domain of beliefs (placebo effects). It ranges from a phone call to a burn healer to soothe the burns; the use of hypnosis during a particularly painful care, of homeopathy or acupuncture for ailments of everyday life or the worries of pregnant women; and of course, many others.

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All of this led me to wonder about the different therapeutic practices and my own vision of health care. When I had to pick up a topic for an essay to write, I did not seek it too long...

The situation in France

I discovered many things: the sense given by different naming (in French, many terms exist to identify "other medical practices"), the French laws attached to these methods, their use, their frequency and their enormous diversity. I also learned a lot about the different vision of a disease, the cares and many other aspects of these “other medicines”.

For the naming, I retained the one that was adopted by European Parliament. It keeps a kind of neutrality: conventional and unconventional medicine. Unconventional practices are designating the practices that are not recognized by conventional modern medicine and are including, among others, traditional Asian medicine approaches.

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For the legal part, four of these practices are recognized and authorized by the Colleges of Physicians in France as a complement to conventional practice: acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and mesotherapy.

For the others, they are either taught in universities, giving access to a university degree, or taught in training schools. Some are connected to associations, as it is the case for the Professional Association of the French Naturopaths or the Societe Francaise de Sophrologie. Even taught and practiced freely in France, these practices are not considered as medical or paramedical practices, and many organizations monitor them closely. As long as there is no risk for the public health or for therapeutic sectarian drifts, they are, let say, tolerated. Some scholars in university hospitals are even studying the interest of some approaches combined with conventional therapies.

Of course, the situation is very different elsewhere. Traditional Chinese medicine is still widely widespread in Asian countries and not considered as suspicious as in the West. Some traditional medical practices from other countries are in contrast, here, considered as heresy or charlatanism, such as Vaudou. Our conventional medicine is far from being unanimously accepted and despite the great faith that we can have in progress and technologies, one cannot heal all, cure all and we are far from understanding everything...

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The representations of a disease, and the different therapeutic approaches

One very interesting reading consists of the Anthropology of the disease by Francois Laplantine. In his book, he connects the different visions of a disease and the therapeutic approaches. This book helped me to have a better understanding of the different currents that drive conventional and non-conventional medicines. I learned how, for example, the beneficial followers of homeopathy are far from rejecting the concept of vaccination as it goes in the same direction as homeopathy: inoculating a small dose (of a disease here) that the body will then fight …

I realized that opposing conventional and non-conventional medicines was somehow a "nonsense". I also better understand how some people, yet convinced by conventional medicine could, at one time or another, "slip" to a different representation and move towards other types of practice. This "sliding" is often accompanied by fragility and big questions: if conventional medicine cannot bring solutions, they will find them elsewhere.

The different types of practice

It is surprising to discover the number and extreme diversity of non-conventional medicines. Some practices, far from seeking to heal the person, simply move towards being better. They base their methods on relaxation, stress management, emotions, anxiety and fears and seeking to restore a balance between the body and the mind.

Other methods have a clearly more medical approach: from observed symptoms they will establish a diagnosis and a treatment. Sometimes they are considering the direct environment of the person (diet, lifestyle ...), sometimes it is more the personality / or relational problems, sometimes they even rely on natural phenomena, astrology, waves or karma. The treatments, in contrast, are as varied as the causes and the methods employed: creams, ointments, plants, tablets or granules, spiritual meetings, prayers, laying on the hands, stones, gems, needles ...

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Regardless of the methods, their goals and purposes, they are considered as "non-conventional" because current science can not yet understand exactly how they function. Despite this, some have shown to be very effective in many situations and are used in conjunction with conventional medicine.

For the others, I think we must remain cautious. Not because they are all dangerous, but because we do not know it yet ...

In summary

All these readings and my research enabled me to demystify the phenomenon of alternative practices and the reasons that lead people to use them. I do not pretend to have all the answers: the human being is extremely complex, both in his physiognomy and psychology. But isn't accepting not to have all the answers already the beginning of an answer?

With people who travel around the world and the Internet, we now have access to very diverse and varied practices. I think that opening our minds to new practices can enrich us. However, as I have already said, we must remain vigilant. Despite the great attractiveness of some practices, all the proposed methods are neither necessarily safe nor fully tested...

In my next post, I will tell you how a practice can drift into sectarian.

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