There are, in fact, two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.
-Hippocrates of Cos
I just finished reading a book by Dr. Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh. Dr. Ernst began his career practicing in a homeopathic hospital in Munich. He is the first professor of alternative medicine in the world, and the only one in the UK. And, he chose to begin his book with this quote. The rest of the book continues in this spirit. Throughout the book, in (mostly) engaging prose, he examines various “alternative” approaches to health. He wishes to dismiss nothing out of hand, and sees value in some areas of alternative medicine. Repeatedly, however, he asks (and answers) several basic questions:
- How is an approach claimed to work?
- What is the evidence for a therapy’s efficacy? What is the quality of the evidence?
- What risks are involved in a therapy?
Along the way and throughout the book, he provides numerous anecdotes to illustrate his point. He talks of James Lind, who conducted one of the first documented clinical trials and determined an effective cure for scurvy. He tells of various “mavericks” in medical history, such as the man who lost a libel case when he criticized bloodletting, a process which eminent doctor Benjamin Rush used freely. (He also notes that many mavericks were not “ahead of their time”, but simply wrong.) He describes the methods that exist for determining a treatment’s efficacy, leads his readers through the reasoning behind these methods, and examines numerous “complementary and alternative” therapies through the lens of evidence. Though it can get a little long, it’s written engagingly, and with an open-minded, inquiring, but thoroughly evidence-based approach. I enjoyed the book, and I’m guessing some of my acquaintances would enjoy it as well–even those who like alternative medicine much more than I.
From an initial chapter titled “How Do You Determine The Truth?”, the book proceeds through chapters on acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic therapy (the history of the field is fascinating!), and herbal medicine. A number of other therapies, including aromatherapy, “energy” treatments, and others, are treated much more concisely in an appendix. After finishing this book, you’ll be much better equipped than before to evaluate existing or new kinds of “alternative” medicine.
Highly recommended: Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. It’s available via Amazon or the alternate bookstore of your choice.
For further reading, see this article about Ernst.
