Alternative medicine is a con

Institute of Ideas Schools Debating Competition 2002

For: Daniel Marshman, JFS

There are three types of medicine. The first is medicine that has been tested and proven to work, the second is medicine tested and proved not to work. The third is medicine not even tested. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) falls into the last two categories.

When medical science was established in the 18th century, gifted scientists began to show how research and experimentation can yield real knowledge which can be used to treat and cure patients. One by one diseases began to fall, leading to an increase in population. Today every physician is exposed to basic science and clinical research during their training and the links between science and the practice of medicine are strong. Before a physician can prescribe a drug to a patient, that drug must be proven, through many years of stringent research, be safe and effective for specific indications - this is not necessary for CAM.

In the medical community, the activity of all physicians is regulated through licensing, hospital privileges, referrals, and peer reviews. Alternative medicine operates completely outside of this system. They can make claims without the burden of scientific proof, and prescribe therapies without any precautions for their safety. There are several journals devoted exclusively to 'Alternative medicine' but they merely advocate unconventional treatments and rarely asses them objectively

The lack of scientific research means alternative medicine is harmful. Alternative medicine does not go through the testing, research and safety regulations that is required for mainstream science, therefore, consumers may be buying dangerous products. A study of CAM led by Professor Gordon McVie, Joint Director General of Cancer Research, discovered that there have been numerous cases where consumers have suffered from buying medicine from quacks and in some cases proved fatal - one patient with severe skin cancer was treated for 3 months with a buttercup ointment, the cancer spread all over her body and she died a couple of weeks later.

Alternative medicine is harmful to people because practitioners of CAM use the placebo effect, where their patients feel better mentally but not physically. This has detrimental effects in the long-run because a patient could have cancer and not feel pain, yet their body cells are slowly being eaten and will die.

America has a long tradition of 'medicine shows', 'cure-alls', and 'snake-oil salesmen'. These people are skilled conmen, they know what the public want and give it to them, in a bright attractive package and a shower of dubious testimonials. Many cite mythical, ancient and biblical texts. Others take a more paranoid line such as 'What the doctors don't want you to know!' or 'No more doctors!' Alternative medicine is referred to as 'natural' and 'holistic' - these adjectives have been so broadly applied as to become virtually meaningless.

Many people and practitioners of CAM are demanding that alternative medicine should be intertwined with alternative medicine. If we are to spend more money on researching alternative medicine (which many governments currently do) we are sacrificing the progression of developing new cures to diseases such as AIDS and cancer. There is an opportunity cost, and by spending taxpayers money on testing alternative medicine, society's scarce resources are being drained.

It is not the case that mainstream science is against incorporating alternative medicine into their industries, as quite a few therapies originating from alternative medicine have been investigated and proven to be beneficial eg. osteopaths use massage in the NHS. However, this is no longer alternative medicine if it is used by the mainstream science as it is subjected to the normal rules and regulations. What doctors and scientists are against is integrating touch-healing or crystallization which are not based on evidence.

Some people reject modern society and science because of wars, nuclear disasters like Chernobyl, mad cow disease, and other health scares. People felt that doctors were unsympathetic to their causes, and intimidated by their scientific terminology and being subjected to tests with wires and needles sticking out of their arms. The decade of the 60s were a time of experimentation and rebelling. Role models such as the Beatles went to India in order to find alternatives, and this encouraged others.

But only in Western society there is a choice of science and alternative medicine, and rich people have diverted to CAM because they have the assurance that if something ('G-d forbid') goes wrong they can be treated in Harley Street. In Third World countries they only have high death rates and diseases compared to Western society - they would kill for a health system like the NHS with qualified doctors with proven, scientific medicine to cure them.

Ignorance causes problems, whereas reason (science) can solve problems.

Against: Lucie Potter, Graveney School

Most people thought complementary and alternative medicines were to fade back into New Age mysticism. In 1986 they were described as a 'passing fashion', but in 2002 these methods are still increasing in popularity. One in five adults in Britain have used a complementary medicine in the past year and the vast majority claim an improvement. Surely thousands of people who use these therapies again and again are not just deluding themselves.

Practitioners of complementary medicines are not trying to con people - patients are not deceived that a therapy will definitely work. But the fact is, numerous clinical trials have shown that certain complementary treatments can be effective for all these health problems.

I'm sure every single person reading this suffers from, or knows somebody who suffers from one of these, which could be improved by using complementary medicines. Clinical tests have shown that things like acupuncture osteopathy, chiropractic and herbal medicine can really make a difference and now these are being practised within the NHS alongside traditional medicine.

It's true, some of the wackier therapies seem a bit dubious, but, a Government report on complementary medicine said - 'mechanisms of action are of secondary importance to efficacy' ie. the fact that a treatment works is more important than how it works.

Sometimes a mechanism exists but we have yet to find it, an example of this is acupuncture. The traditional explanation was that it worked by affecting energy meridians. This completely contradicts scientific understanding and so acupuncture was rejected by the mainstream. But as the benefits of acupuncture became clear, research was done, and another quite likely reason has emerged - the effect on the central nervous system and stimulation of endorphin receptors. So if a mechanism for a treatment hasn't been found, maybe it just hasn't been found yet.

Some people argue that the effects of complementary medicine are just the placebo effect. But the statement 'just the placebo effect' is a contradiction in terms, because the placebo effect is very powerful medicine. If everyone reading this article were suffering from a migraine and ? gave you all a sugar pill and ? told you that it was just a sugar pill but it might help you; statistically, one third of you would still feel better after taking it.

Even if every single complementary medicine were proved to be 'just the placebo effect', they would still help people and so would still be a legitimate form of treatment. Fundamentally, if it's known to be safe, it would be against clinical freedom to prevent patients from having access to such therapies. Complementary medicine has worked for thousands of people. Established doctors have seen its effect and decided to integrate it into the NHS to improve orthodox medicine.

I believe it would be stupid to ignore such approaches when they can really help people.