What is the appeal of "all natural" products? Why do people automatically think that something is better for you if it is "all natural"? Why do people refuse medications and vaccines because they are synthetic, yet put full trust in all-natural remedies?
Yes, Mother Nature made some great stuff. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, fish, etc. You know what else Mother Nature made? Tetanus, botulism, cobra venom, arsenic...
If I bottle some dirt, call it "Regolith," tell you it "has been used by the aboriginal tribes of the Amazon rainforest to help prevent cancer," and slap an "ALL NATURAL!" label on the bottle, I guarantee people would buy it. For the next 20 years, most of them wouldn't get cancer. They'd tell you all about how wonderful Regolith is and how well it staves off cancer. Don't worry about getting that Pap smear, mammogram, or colonoscopy! You're fighting off cancer with natural minerals!
Does bottled mountain spring water have a different chemical formula than the water I get from my kitchen sink? It's all H20. And Arrowhead isn't "all natural." You know why I don't drink "all natural" water? Giardia. Blow-out diarrhea. I prefer good old artificially cleansed water, thank you very much.
One of my favorite "all natural" peddlers is Kevin Trudeau. If you have spent any time channel surfing late at night you have seen infomercials for his book, "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About." He tells you that the FDA and the drug companies are involved in a huge conspiracy. Supposedly, they want to keep everyone sick so they can keep making a fortune selling their drugs. Millions of suckers have bought this hogwash. I've personally argued with co-workers who were completely convinced. Well, watch this video.
The medical community isn't perfect but, like it or not, it's the best we've got.
"Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odors -- oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called 'City Fathers' who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about 'What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?'" --Homer Simpson
I and those who comment on my blog shall become the city fathers of our own community. We shall sit in council clucking our tongues, stroking our beards, and talking about "what's to be done with [person/topic]."
I and those who comment on my blog shall become the city fathers of our own community. We shall sit in council clucking our tongues, stroking our beards, and talking about "what's to be done with [person/topic]."
3 comments:
I can't tell you how many times I find myself talking with a patient and thinking to myself "what can I prescribe so this patient won't get better and will keep coming back to me?" He's got elevated LDLs? Maybe I'll give him a statin. It's not like they've been studied and proven to lower that number or raise HDL. High blood pressure? No problem...I know that beta blockers or ACEIs don't work so I'll give him one of those. It's all about the money.
great episode of seinfeld. amen about all natural stuff.
jo would die if she read this
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