Citta said:
Saidin, this is just not completely true. How much do you really know about modern medicine? Have you noticed the stunning fact that we can expect to live to the age of 80 instead of 30? That our vaccines keep us free from a lot of diseases? For example small pox, that was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century? Noticed that small pox is as good as gone because of our vaccines now? Here are some other deadly diseases that is prevented by vaccines: Chickenpox, Diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b, Hepatitis: Hep A, Hep B, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection, Measles (Rubeola), Meningococcal, Mumps, Pertussis, Pneumococcal, Polio, Rabies, Rotavirus, Rubella, Shingles, Tetanus. The list goes on...
I know enough about modern medicine. Though not a doctor myself, my brother is one as is one of my best friends, I have a brain, I read, I converse with knowledgeable people, I've gone to see the pill pushers from time to time, etc, etc...So don't attempt an Ad Hominem attack to bolster your opinion by falsely implying that I don't know what I'm talking about.
The stunning fact is that people for thousands of years have lived to the age of 80 or more. The fact that we have better methods of treating diseases, as well as injuries that would have killed people in the past is a great testament to the progress of medicine. That being said, those 'treatments' have nothing to do with preventing causes. Sure its a lot easier to live longer when tumors can be cut out, or irridated, or burned with chemicals. Or a broken leg, or abcesed tooth can be mended or fixed. But my ponit stands, modern medicine has done pitifully little to address the causes of many of these problems. They are fantasitic at dealing with things after the fact, but almost completelly ignore the root causes for the problems that they treat.
Did you know that in the majority of medical schools there are no courses on nutrition? The one singular thing that has been proven time and time again to be the basis for the overwhelming majority of health problems is completely ignored by the 'modern' medical establishment.
Vaccines are great in some senses but they themselves have spawned other problems. Some of the disorders and diseases that have been scientifically proven to be linked to vaccinations and vaccine injury include: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; ALS; Lupis; Crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis; Stephen-Johnson Syndrome; Fibromyalgia; Adult and Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes; Bells Palsy; Crohn's Disease; Autism. Just to name a few. Plus the vast majority of cases you see of mumps, measles and the like occur in people
who have been vaccinated!
And what about all the other illnesses that were incurable in the past, but that we can fix now? Tubercolosis, Syphilis, Appendicitis, Bacterial Meningitis, Heart Attack, Detached Retina, Scarlet Fever and Strep Throat, certain types of cancer and the list goes on and on. I could continue all day with examples of how modern medicine works and cures. It does not only treat, Saidin, and if you think so you clearly don't know medicine. Modern medicine saves millions of lives worldwide. Diseases thought incurable can now be cured through the technology and development of modern medicine. Many horrible diseases have now found a place in the list of curable or preventive diseases, and the list grows as more research and hard work is being done in the various fields connected to medicine, such as biology and chemistry.
How does modern medicine prevent any of the things you mentioned? All it does is treat. After the fact, reactive. Where is the proactive branch of 'modern' medicine that works to prevent any of these issues from happening in the first place? It doesn't, for that you have to look to 'alternative' medicine. What diseases have been cured, and not simply been put into remission or maintained through a costly and potentially equally harmful regimen of phamaceutical drugs?
Alternative medicine has done nothing of this for us. If it had, we would have used it a lot more and it wouldn't have been alternative medicine, simple as that. There is no big conspiracy going on. Sure, some corruption here and there and bad politics and human error, so we have a long way to go still, but no big overall damn conspiracy. Go talk to some doctors at popular hospitals, they probably can't count how many lives they have saved with modern medicine. See with your own eyes how people are not only treated, but are saved and get well again! Open your eyes to the real world, cmon!
How can you possibly say this with any true conviction? You cannot possibly know what alternative medicine has or has not done for people over the thousands of years its been practiced. The fact that it has been, and continues to be practiced proves that it does have benefit for some. Maybe not you, and that's fine, but every person is different and what works for one does not necessairly mean it will work for another.
And sure, I can go to a hospital and see the great things that modern medicine does. My friend is an ER surgeon, and does amazing things and saves lives everyday. But it remains true that is is reactive, after the fact, non-preventitive. Maybe if they had taken some herbs from a chinese medicine practioner, or gotten acupuncture, done hypnotheapy, or seen a naturopathic doctor they wouldn't have ended up there in the emergency room being treated for something that could have been prevented.
I say this for the n-th time: Alternative medicine has been proven, again and again to not work in any significant degree except for placebo.
And what is the placebo effect anyway? Mind over matter, simple belief facilitating healing. Sounds pretty alternative to me...
