Homeopathy and Depression: A Dangerous Mix

I'm on the UK Homeopathy's mailing list. (Hey, it's a good way to keep up with what's going on in the world of woo). They are touting treatment for depression. The e-mail starts off well enough. Discusses the dangerous and hardship of depression. Then we get to the testimony:

Here is what one of my patients had to say:

I recently suffered from really bad anxiety followed by depression. I couldn't work out why I was going through this bad patch as I'm a jolly person and never let stress get the better of me. I went to see my GP and he put me on depression tablets, however I wanted something that cured me and not something that would eliminate it temporarily. I decided to try homoeopathic remedy, so I searched on the Internet and came across Mohamed's website, furthermore, he was the cheapest in comparison to other sites. I managed to see him straight away. When I had my first consultation, I was shaking with nerves particularly my leg. I couldn't sleep for 3 weeks due to panic attacks and fear. The first night I took homoeopathic remedy I slept throughout the night, I was so grateful to Mohamed that I actually had a decent night sleep. Over time I grew stronger and could face going to work and outdoors. Mohamed has been so supportive throughout, I would contact him by email or phone about my progress. What was so comforting, he was there for me when I needed. I'm now a big fan of homoeopathic remedies and have recommended it to my friends. So give it a go, you have nothing to lose, the remedies are natural with no side effects. I would also like to add, Mohamed is a very good counsellor, I always felt so confident and refreshed after our sessions.'

The ravings of one person is not satisfactory evidence. I've heard people say reflexology works but we know that isn't the case. Where are the links to studies proving the effectiveness of homeopathy? Testing, analysis, etc. It's not there because it doesn't exist. You also have the standard bashing of traditional medicines. A "temporary" fix.

It bothers me to think of the people who will receive this e-mail and be convinced to give up their anti-depressants and turn to an alternative treatment with homeopathy. Considering the dangers of untreated depression, homeopathic practitioners are being downright irresponsible by touting a treatment that may do nothing to prevent the depression from worsening.

Sky News: Calls to regulate alternative medicine

Sky News: Calls to regulate alternative medicine

Alternative medicine needs to be regulated, we can't let this happen again:

There are calls for tighter regulation of the alternative medicine industry after a woman's agonising death.

Penelope Dingle died in August 2005 after initially refusing cancer surgery, opting to be treated with alternative remedies instead.

Dingle was treated for rectal cancer by a homeopath who has been blasted by a coroner investigating the case, saying she was an 'incompetent health professional'.

The Cancer Council says the case highlights the desperation of some cancer sufferers.

Spiritual Or Religious?

Spiritual Or Religious?

Tanveer Ahmed has an article on the demand for alternative medicine. I'll highlight the paragraph that concerns me:

Most of my patients - the vast majority - will not admit to being religious. Most will, however, describe themselves as being ''spiritual''. When pressed on the nature of this spirituality, the dominant theme is being free from any institutional or political authority.

By this reckoning, the notion of being spiritual is removed from the taint of power. It is then free to pick up any lost forms of spirituality or any of the new varieties that seem to regularly spring up. In essence, it is a consumerist approach to religion.

The past decade has seen vicious academic assaults on organised religion. It is already on the canvas in secular Western democracies, and the likes of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and the dilettante journalist Christopher Hitchens have continued to intellectually beat it to a pulp.

Religion now hangs by certain proofs and demonstrables, such as the literal acceptance of texts, by which no great religion can ever flourish. Narrowing the definition of religion is increasing its frailty. It is being identified with its most extreme forms. Pushing religion out of the public sphere in the name of rationality has given more room to world views or practices that trivialise the ''felt life'' of human consciousness.

One arena of growth that I see as a doctor is the phenomenal increase in the use of alternative therapies. Estimates on the size of the market vary from $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year.

A survey in 2008 by Cardinal Health found 74 per cent of us had used a vitamin, mineral or herbal supplement in the past year. Companies like Blackmores are expanding around the globe.

Much of the time, the use of vitamins or supplements is unwarranted in healthy people. More often than not, the body will merely expel it. But this does not deter consumers, suggesting rationality has little to do with its use.

The fact many of the treatments have links with ancient Chinese or ayurvedic traditions of the subcontinent only increase its spiritual appeal to the Western consumer.

A session at a recent GP conference highlighted that most patients are concerned with health management and ''wellness'', suggesting there was a growing need to integrate the reality of alternative therapies into the business of being a medical doctor. This is driven by the consumer. It does not come from new developments in knowledge. Many GPs now advertise their credentials in alternative medicine.

While patients might be fleeing the rational reductionism of medicine and its apparent indifference to life's mysteries, organised religion appears to concentrate exclusively on the unknown. In alternative therapies, people have discovered a compromise. They attract patients disaffected by conventional medicine as well as those dissatisfied by religion's solutions.

Alternative therapies are not confined by the limits of testable knowledge, making their potential power of explanation enormous, and leaving patients thinking their troubles have real spiritual significance.

For example, a naturopath will diagnose problems with a mix of genuine biological and physiological terminology, adopting a sense of medical authority. But the problems will be addressed with questionable, untested treatments such as homeopathy or herbal products.

Patients are left reassured they are not dealing with a quack, but retain a link with nature and the spirit. They are told their condition is unique to them and the power to heal exists inside their own bodies.

The sector's influence is only likely to increase when medicine does not pretend to have a cure for a chronic illness. Medicine can only offer ''disease management'', an unsatisfying outcome for many patients.

Humans are not content with essentially material descriptions of reality, but want to know the nature of reality, whether there is meaning in it. We are fundamentally meaning-seeking machines.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said: "Without the transcendent we shall find ourselves unable, sooner or later, to make any sense of the full range of human self-awareness".

A growing number of health and dietary practices seem to be replacing the more profound philosophical and ethical traditions inherent in the major religions. It is unlikely to cure significant illnesses, but it remains to be seen whether the transcendence that religious leaders espouse can be found in such behaviours.

Medical doctors should not be considering alternative therapies, regardless of what the consumer wants. The patient can be wrong. Any responsible doctor would not use untested treatments on their patients, no matter how badly they believe it will work.