All very true. But explain to me how you are going to test the effect of the mind on healing in a double-blind study? This isn't something from the National Enquirer we're talking about... this is Lancet. Ergo, the science is sound, or they would not have published it. On a slightly different topic there is also a problem with the current paradigm in that drug companies are being relied on for research. Based on my adventures in the land of coumadin, I can assure you that a similar effect can be had with either ginko balboa or gingseng. However, there is an issue of standardizing the dose, one, and monitoring the very considerable side effects. Therefore, people with clotting issues are given a substance best known for being a rat poison, rather than a substance best known for improving memory, because there is a patent on the former and not the latter. Dana On 7/18/05, Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Dana [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 5:57 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: the mechanism of action is unknown > > > > A google of the above phrase turns up references to oral > > anticoagulants, interferon, anti-epileptic medication, mood > > stabilizers, and treatments for breast cancer, parkinson's and > > tuberculosis.... > > > > conclusion - just cause it's not understood doesn't mean it's not > > medecine. > > Just because some things that work are not understood doesn't mean that > all > things that aren't understood work. ;^) > > I know I'm harping on this but this is the reason for double-blind studies > and control groups. People who don't know if their getting the real > medicine are dosed by doctors that don't know if they're giving the real > medicine. > > It's to link the results to the proper cause: did the drug do what its > supposed to do? If there's little difference between the test and the > control groups then it seems clear that the drug just isn't doing much. > > The actual method of action isn't as important. Determining that for any > drug can be insanely painstaking as you're hunting down very specific > bio-chemical effects in a vast system. > > What frustrates me is the blanket being thrown up: because some things > aren't understood anything is possible. > > Comparing a well-tested, well-defined, double-blind proven drug to any of > the ill-tested, loosely-defined therapies out there based simply on the > lack > of complete understanding of the former is just unfair. > > Jim Davis > > > > >
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