$22 billion a year for unregulated, unproven, uncontrolled dietary supplements?I would suggest it is not. I believe it is the American equivalent of what we contemptuously call "voodoo" or "witch doctoring". Use of these products may even be actively harmful.
Physicians and other allopathic practitioners need to become more "wholistic" in their approach, so that people don't seek magic. Research suggests people turn to this magic when they are unsatisfied with their practitioners. Key suggestions:
1) LISTEN, don't talk; the #1 complaint patients have about their physicians is that they don't listen. If one doesn't listen, one will not understand the patient's real concerns;
2) NEVER, EVER say "There's nothing wrong with you." If the patient says there is, it's so;
3) If you believe that saying, "It's all in your head" is meaningful, you need to get a new profession. The brain is the center of all metabolic and neurologic activity and therefore EVERYTHING is in one's head. This is not a diagnosis, it is a cop-out.
The "complementary and alternative medicine" practitioners have succeeded because they have persuaded lawmakers and patients that their services are meaningful. I would suggest that this is because traditional medicine has failed to address the total needs of patients from both scientific and CARING perspectives, which are NOT incompatible.
Think what $22 billion in spending on scientifically valid prevention and treatment could provide.
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