Exercise 3: Is alternative medicine really an ‘alternative’? 3

 Is alternative medicine really an ‘alternative’? 3

3Choose the correct answers. 

Recently the Swiss government gave in to public pressure and decided that, for a limited period of time, the next five years, state-backed health insurance should pay for five specific types of 'alternative' medical treatment. The time period was limited while scientists evaluated how effective these treatments are. However, in the past, scientists and doctors who favour conventional medicine have often seemed determined to prove that the evidence does not support alternative therapies. Is there any reason to suppose that this evaluation will be any different? Then again, what is the reality? Do alternative treatments work? Do they always work? Or just sometimes? Alternative therapists do take a more holistic approach, look more at the whole person and generally spend longer with their patients. Perhaps patients just benefit from the greater attention they receive.

Take, for example, Jenny Wardle, a 35-year old office worker from north London, who started exploring alternative therapies when conventional medicine failed her. After several courses of antibiotics over six months for a kidney infection, she ended up in the consulting rooms of Ben Lee, a therapist with considerable experience of treating what he calls 'city diseases' – headaches, back pain and kidney infections. 'People in cities drink coffee to wake up, alcohol to relax, and they take painkillers and antibiotics when they get ill,' says Lee. 'After a while, this lifestyle has a bad effect on people's health.' After a 45-minute acupuncture treatment and a two-week detox (no coffee, no alcohol, no salt – and drinking plenty of water), Jenny felt better. She wasn't cured, but the difference was enough to make her want to continue the treatment. A month later, after two more treatments and more detox, she was cured. Of course, one might argue that this was the effect of six weeks' detox. But then the response might be: why didn't the doctor recommend that in the first place?

The other side of the coin is the case of Mike Newbiggin, 29, an office manager from Gloucester. Mike was intending to spend a month travelling through West Africa, an area widely affected by a dangerous form of malaria. On previous trips to Africa Mike had experienced unpleasant side effects from conventional malaria tablets so he decided to see if there was an 'alternative' protection that he could use. He was advised that there was – so he took the tablets offered. Mid-trip, Mike was flown back to the UK suffering from a very serious attack of malaria. He spent two months in intensive care and is lucky to be alive. Instead of consulting alternative therapists, he should have spoken to a conventional travel clinic. They would have told him that side effects are not unusual with malaria tablets; that there are a range of different options so he could have tried a different tablet. They would also have explained just how dangerous malaria can be.

These two case studies demonstrate the opposite ends of the argument over 'alternative' medicine. In the first case, conventional medicine is seen to fail and the 'alternative' provides a solution. The second case demonstrates there are certain areas of health and illness where you ignore conventional medicine at your peril. The fact that two-thirds of doctors in Britain believe that some forms of 'alternative' treatment should be available through the National Health Service suggests that current thinking is changing. In fact, 10% of health centres in Britain are already making selected treatments available to their patients. Perhaps these approved treatments would benefit from a change of name. We should not call them 'alternative' any longer, since that implies you can only choose one or the other: alternative or conventional. We should maybe refer to them as 'complementary' since they work alongside more conventional treatments, providing a different but nonetheless effective solution to certain health problems.

• 1Why did the Swiss government decide to allow some alternative treatments to be paid for by the state-backed health insurance?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 2Why was the payment for alternative treatment in Switzerland limited to five years?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 3Why did Jenny Wardle go to see Ben Lee?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 4Why did Ben Lee suggest Jenny should detox?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 5Why did Mike Newbiggin try alternative protection against malaria?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 6Why should he have taken a different conventional protection?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 7Why do current attitudes seem to be changing?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.

• 8Why does the writer think a change of name for some treatments is necessary?

  Because the government is not sure the evaluation will prove the treatments work.Because the people put pressure on the government.Because he experienced side effects from conventional protection.Because he could see she was drinking too much coffee and alcohol, and taking too many painkillers and antibiotics.Because malaria is very dangerous, and the alternative protection he was given didn't work.Because some treatments are not alternative – they are used alongside conventional medicine.Because two-thirds of doctors think some alternative treatments should be available to patients.Because antibiotics weren't helping her.