More than 1/3 of america uses alternative medicine

[Moonburn33]

apparently the public is very trusting of people who lack much scientific evidence for what they do... but then again the scientific community and government suppresses studies on such things...  

what am i saying?  don't be duped into "volcanic rock massage" and "rebirthing" along with all the other junk that's out there...

[Sentential]

To be honest it works via Placebo effect. I know alot of us use that method to achive similar results. There is significant documentaion on Placebo effects

[Moonburn33]

there are less costly and more honest ways to employ the placebo effect, though.

[no_leaf_clover]

Remember that there is no illness that people haven't overcome. There are reports of people overcoming HIV, cancer, etc., and modern medicine wasn't what cured those illnesses. I saw a man on the 700 Club one day that had overcame either AIDs or HIV becoming Christian and asking God for forgiveness, etc. Then on the Sci-Fi I saw a story about a boy who had came down with cancer but was completely cured when his parents enrolled him in a spiritual self-help class. The boy said he just imagined the Ghost-Busters frying the cancer cells in his body and within time the cancer was actually completely removed.

I know if I came down with a serious illness I would want to see a spritiual healer before going through any radiation treatment, etc.

[Moonburn33]

those are exceptional stories- don't get caught up in the romanticism of it all.

i would visit a spiritual healer to supplement my radiation and chemo therapy

[need]

i don't like the idea of explaining everything down to the placebo effect,scientists often do this with homeopathy and apart from double blind trials, homeopathy, the preescription has nothing to do with placebo effect. For most truths an accepted lie is so evident in the world it's difficult to escape.My two cents is that placebo effect so valiantly thrown at anything remotely unexplainable to today's views is a blanket putdown of any view which does not confirm current ideas, and thus should not be accepted so naively.Placebo is used too frquently to influence those who cannot investigate the matter but accept what is enforced by our brilliant scientists

[Moonburn33]

you make a good point.  i spend a lot of the time trying to un-demonize the placebo effect so i tend to forget that there's more going on.

thanks for reminding me

[SpectralDragon]

http://www.comcast.net/News/HEALTHWELLNESS//XML/1500_Health__medical/62f78497-e49f-49ec-aeef-900fa438ffa1.html

Says in here if you include prayer is over 60%