Alternative medicine

Press, 30 August 1988, Page 20

Alternative medicine

Sir, —You have published articles denigrating alternative medicines such as homeopathy, vitamin supplementation and electro-acupuncture. These treatments are bringing relief and hope to hundreds of desperate New Zealanders. Homeopathic vaccinations are carefully tested to benefit the patient’s system, unlike hepatitis B vaccinations where one strength is given to all children regardless of their physical condition. The principle is exactly the same, but the latter is considered traditional medicine, to be accepted, while the former is '“fringe.” Women who have been on the pill and their children who have hyperactivity problems brought about by a lowered immune system respond to vitamin supplementation, as described in Dr Ellen Grant’s book. As for electroacupuncture, surely it is a derivative of acceptable acupuncture treatment. We must all remember the story of the courageous doctor who insisted that doctors should wash their hands. If a treatment works, let us repeat it. —Yours, etc.,

JULIENNE S. LAW. August 23, 1988.

Sir, —The Skeptics may smugly dismiss practitioners of alternative medicine, but what can they offer when orthodox medicine fails to achieve any improvement in health? I am one of many who have been successfully diagnosed by the scorned electro-acupuncture method and successfully treated by homeopathic injections. The Skeptics say such cures are achieved by placebo effect. How do they account for the failure of previous orthodox treatments to achieve the same result? Most people who consult doctors practising alternative medicine only do so when they have tried everything else. Can the Skeptics confidently say that doctors understand how every treatment used by orthodox medicine works?—Yours, etc.,

ROSEMARY BARNES. August 25, 1988.