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3 Reasons Why You Should Be Careful About Alternative Arthritis Treatments
September 3, 2007 |
As a patient of arthritis, your doctors usually recommend conventional treatments such as pain medications. You may consider alternative treatments for arthritis if
- the pain medications cannot provide the relief you want,
- you could not afford to bear the rising costs of prescription medicines,
- you worry about the side effects from the use of the drugs, and
- you believe that holistic therapy can do a better job than pain medications.
However, do alternative arthritis treatments really help to ease your suffering?
Many people practice alternative treatments nowadays. They are not new. In fact, ancient people use it for various healing purposes. Based on their accounts, the therapies seem to help them.
Alternative therapies can be categorized into six groups namely,
- bioelectromagnetic applications,
- touch and manipulation,
- mind-body intervention,
- pharmacological and biological medicine,
- herbal preparation, and
- holistic medical practice.
If you intend to choose holistic treatments, find one that is simple and make sure your doctor has approved it. However, this may be difficult. Many doctors are not open to these alternative approaches. They may not provide sufficient information on various types of holistic therapies. It is hard to find a doctor who is well versed in both Western medicine and holistic practice.
You should be cautious if you opt for complementary treatment for arthritis.
- You cannot find many studies to support their claims. Many holistic practitioners do not have big budgets for clinical tests like those that large pharmaceutical companies do. Most of the times, the effectiveness of alternative therapies depend on anecdotal studies. Sometimes, these may be good enough to convince you to try them.
- Unlike conventional treatment, the Food and Drug Administration do not approve alternative treatments to be used in medical field. In some studies, subjects who take placebo experience relief from arthritis even though the relief is only temporary. In addition, the difference of success between those who take placebo and holistic products is small. Theretofore, it brings up a question of competence but these studies do not cover all forms of holistic practices.
- The manufacturers of natural-based products are not obligated to follow any quality standard since no regulatory body is available to establish a universal benchmark for quality. Therefore, the quality for each product of the same brand varies. Another reason for non-uniform quality is because the presence of the discrepancy in the quantity of active ingredients. As a result, the effectiveness of these formulations remains questionable.
Alternative treatments for arthritis still need more clinical studies to determine both short-term and long-term advantages and disadvantages. It is not easy to determine which alternative method will work for you. Although they may look safe, but you should consult with your doctors provided they understand how these unorthodox methods work in treating arthritis.
Internal tags:alternative treatment arthritis treatment holistic treatments
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