The Holiday Press Alternative medicine flourishing

Press, 5 January 1987, Page 19

The Holiday Press Alternative medicine flourishing

Alternative, or “complementary" medicine Is flourishing in Britain — yet as more and more of us turn to osteopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicine and so on, the more it seems that the “establishment,” including the top medical authorities and the Government, seek to clamp down on both its practitioners, and those of us who want to try it. At least four million people a year in Britain now use some form of alternative medicine, and that figure excludes the thousands who turn to faith-healers and those who treat themselves with various "home remedies.” Alternative medicine was given a great morale booster when Prince Charles made a point of asking doctors to look for themselves at alternative medicine — when he was elected President of the British Medical Association three years ago. The British Medical Association (8.M.A.) has responded to the public’s interest by setting up an inquiry into alternative health. It has already taken two years. Meanwhile, leading mem-

bers of the main alternative therapies — all of which have internationally recognised qualifications and registration systems — decided they should band together to help protect the public and at the same time protect themselves against an “establishment” clampdown. The Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (C.C.A.M.) was launched at the House of Commons, and Lord Home, whose daughter is an acupuncturist, gave the new umbrella group his blessing. The members of C.C.A.M. have not given any evidence to the B.M.A.’s working party. They say that the inquiry is not independent and that the 8.M.A., as the trade union which represents the country’s orthodox doctors, is an “inappropriate” body to conduct the investigation. But C.C.A.M. has called on the Government to set up a Royal Commission or a Parliamentary committee to examine the main branches of alternative medicine. The B.M.A. group has been looking at the way medical science has developed over the past 100 years

and comparing some of the possible alternative therapies with what conventional medicine has to offer. "Orthodox medicine is very good at treating certain conditions, like fractures and infectious diseases, but it is not so successful in chronic disease like arthritis — for which we have still not yet found a cure — or Multiple Sclerosis,” said Dr John Dawson, the B.M.A.’s scientific head, and a member of the study group.

“But conventional medicine is very good at diagnosis, and from a treatment point of view, getting the right diagnosis at the beginning is absolutely crucial. Often it may take six months for a doctor to reach the correct diagnosis!” Professor James Payne, of the Royal College of Surgeons and The London Hospital, is chairman of the B.M.A.’s working party and he believes the main reason people turn to alternative practitioners is because they have time to listen to their problems:

“An average GP with say 2000 on his register in a bad winter will be fully occupied and have precious little time to talk through things a patient is worried about,” he says.

"By comparison, a private practice will be able to spare that time — which can make all the difference in helping patients recover." But the professor adds: “There is the world of difference between a therapist who has gone off and done a fortnight's course and comes back clutching a handful of needles ready to stick into people, and those who have had a full fouryear training." Although both he and Dr Dawson were careful not to discuss any conclusions the inquiry might reach, it seems likely that while the more established disciplines like homeopathy and osteopathy will come out well, the B.M.A. remains sceptical of the other branches.