Before we get into this week's topic a couple announcements..First watch your emails for this months Halloween Promotions and second we are having a natural book sale on Saturday 10/27 from 9:30 until the books are gone.  These are books from my collection and priced to MOVE...I must thin the herd! Hope you'll join us ...great fall and winter reading material at bottom prices.

The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this month that an obscure federal agency, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, has spent $1.4 billion over the last 12 years studying folk remedies as coffee enemas, acupuncture and ginkgo biloba.
Some critics say much of the money has been misspent looking at cures so obviously ridiculous that no research should be necessary. The coffee enemas – purported to treat pancreatic cancer – are an example.

Actually, the money may be well-spent – but according to the government, only to the degree it subjects outside-the-mainstream therapies to rigorous, skeptical review. Tens of millions of Americans dump $34 billion a year into alternative medicine, according to a 2007 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Not all of the money is wasted. “Alternative medicine” is an overbroad label that covers just about any treatment that doesn't originate in a physician's office or hospital. Some of those treatments have track records of efficacy: Acupuncture, for example, is demonstrably effective in relieving back pain. Yoga can be a powerful stress-reliever.
It is a governmental concern that many of those billions of dollars wind up in the pockets of people peddling dubious alternative nostrums. The United States may lead the rest of the world in Nobel prizes, but legions of skeptical Americans are suspicious of “complementary medicine” and believe consumers, suckers for cures rooted in ludicrous notions – think homeopathy – or outright mysticism.
Remedies from China – herbal mixtures and manipulations of mysterious energy flows – seem especially alluring to the credulous. Alternative medicine can be harmful as well as a waste of money. Some Chinese potions, for example, have been shown to be toxic.
More often, the concern is the danger comes from diverting patients from maligned conventional treatments that might heal them or save their lives. 

I have practiced alternative medicine, IE nutrition and herbal medicine, supplements, flower essence therapy, acupuncture and Chinese medicine for 15 years and have seen it work frequently.  I have also seen many clients throw a lot of money away due to their own issues and that is today's topic of discussion.  I wanted to summarize some of the ways my unsuccessful clients waste their time and money on alternative medicine.  I hope you will not join this population.

#1.  Be a “doctor hopper”:  These clients flit from expert to expert and modality to modality committing to nothing and no one.  These folks are intent upon gathering opinions, and never doing anything about their problem.  They return from time to time to “check in” and flit off again.

#2. Believing that MLM companies can help them.  Multi Level Marketing companies provide anecdotal information regarding their product: supplement, herb, magnet, etc…and the gullibility factor as well as laziness factor has many people believing that they are participating in some level of alternative care and treatment where instead they are just buying snake oil which reported heals everything wrong with the world.  If it sounds too good to be true…well it is!

#3 Becoming an expert on your problem.  This person is so fixated on their problem they have little time or interest in getting a resolution.  They have attached to their illness and label and spend all their time gathering the latest data about it.  They may check out an alternative provider from time to time as they will any expert but have no interest in solving their problem. Remember your health problem is not health resolution.  You will need to seek out someone who has a track record in health resolution...IE treatment.

#4 Treating oneself.  most, if not all people  (and even professionals) should not attempt to treat themselves and their families. First, they do not have the knowledge, and clinical expertise which takes many years.  Second they lack objectivity, with respect to their issue and this is true even of professionals.  Occasionally, a person arrives at my clinic with their own erroneous plan of treatment which they would like me to put a magical stamp on….this is a waste of time and money.

So in conclusion, the government may help to protect you from unscrupulous people to a degree but who can save you from yourself?  When using alternative treatments effectively it is important to form a therapeutic alliance with a person of experience and clinical success in the area you require help.  Make certain your personalities meld, and that you commit fully to your plan of treatment and do your part to the best of your ability.  Then, I believe you will find complementary medicine a great ally and a bargain to boot in your health quest.

Best & Blessings,

Visit our Natural Product Pharmacy for top prices and FREE SHIPPING on hundreds of natural products from professional brands like: Metagenics, Douglas Laboratories, Pure Encapsulations, Integrative Therapeutics, Thorne Research, and Carlson Labs!

Taryn DeCicco, ND, LAc, LDN

Naturopath

Acupuncturist

Clinical Nutritionist

Professional Vitamins and Supplements

Chinese Herbs

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Arlington Heights, IL

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