From our UK-based affiliate, Alliance for Natural Health
ARE WE BEING HOODWINKED BY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE – OR BY ONE OF ITS PROFESSORS?
A leading Harley Street physician, also President of the British Society for Ecological Medicine and Medical Director of the Alliance for Natural Health, claims that Professor Ernst, the UK’s first professor of complementary medicine, is unscientific in his approach.
Dr Damien Downing, responding to a flood of media last week in advance of a new book by Professor Ernst, which slams the vast majority of complementary medicine modalities, said, “Professor Ernst must know how bad, how unscientific, is much of the literature on which he relies. After all he wrote some of it. He should speak out against the deliberate bias in many studies – but that might not boost sales of his new book.”
Last week, Professor Edzard Ernst, the UK’s first professor of Complementary Medicine, received widespread publicity for his forthcoming book ‘Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial’. The book is co-authored with Simon Singh, described as a ‘leading scientist and documentary maker.’ The Daily Mail wrote on 8 April, “They have produced a definitive – if controversial – guide to what works, and what doesn’t. It makes indispensable, if sometimes alarming, reading.”
In the same week, Professor Ernst published a Guest Editorial in the mainstream medical journal, BMJ Clinical Evidence. In it, Ernst says that ‘patients are being continuously and seriously misled by both sides of the debate on complementary medicine’. In his editorial, he claims that skeptics often ignore the evidence for complementary medicine and despite thousands of clinical trials and hundreds of systematic reviews, mainstream journals rarely publish positive findings, giving the impression that little serious research is being done in this field, or that the findings show complementary medicine to be useless or even dangerous. Ernst concludes that patients are the real losers in this controversy.
The Alliance for Natural Health has released today an article by Dr. Downing on its website, at www.anhcampaign.org, which exposes some of the poor science relied upon by Professor Ernst.
Dr Robert Verkerk, Executive and Scientific Director of the Alliance for Natural Health, said, “Evidence-based medicine was always meant to include clinical experience and the patient’s view; Ernst has no current experience of either. He bases his arguments entirely on the so-called scientific literature, which he says himself is biased.”
A professional G. nurse wrote to me this testimony after taking Activated Liquid Calcium which I have invented although I am not a doctor neither scientist and this have been patented in the UK. Now I would like to ask our ‘clever’ scientists if they can give me alternative to my calcium supplement conventional medicine that can do the same. If you cannot then I would like to advice you throw your diploma into the rubbish bin. Diploma is just a paper but we need your passion, honesty and professionalism dear scientist.
HERE IS THE EVIDENCE THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY PARTICIPANT
Once when I experienced unbearable pain radiating from outer hip to the knee I have been seen my G.P. and was diagnosed with the following fracture to the R. neck of the femur in 1994. I have been taking Fosamax for more than 10 years. I had a hysterectomy and have used oestrogen HRT patches since 2001. Even so, I have experienced severe constant pain, particularly in my R. hip and lower back on more than one occasion without any relief. My hip become so painful I couldn’t touch. Doctor prescribed me strong analgesia patches (opiated), which I was off as it was no benefit, then prescribed oral analgesia which I gain some benefit from after a period of 3 month, but then pain subsidized gradually and become unbearable.
I become very upset, depressed. I didn’t know what to do I thought it is going to last forever. I have been groaned a lot. It affects my walking, even driving was difficult. I didn’t know where to go whom to beg for help. I just wanted go to bed, unscrew my hip and take my leg off and get some rest. Sleepless nights, at mornings tired, but need to go to work. Come to work exhausted, tired and miserable. People was nice to me that kept a bit up probably because luckily having permanent position, regular stuff understand my feeling and wasn’t complain.
People don’t really want to hear others problems, complains about pain, and it is embarrassing because you are a nurse supposed to be supportive to other people.
I really understand and realised it well recently when I experienced hearing a nurse colleague complained about pains and aches that once I have been behaving in the same manner. Also I am happy to realise how lucky I become being offered a liquid calcium supplement.
My colleague A.Aleeva asked me if I would try her activated liquid calcium that she had made, however it was difficult for me to accept and believe her claims as I thought if prescribed medication cannot help over all this time, why should some homemade calcium help? But she gave me such a convincing argument that I decided to try it.
At the beginning I was apprehensive about taking the formula as I didn’t know what was in it, but after sometime of taking (period of 2 weeks) my pain become to subside, I started to get a tremendous relief from my pain hence disappeared. I can now lie on my R. side which I never could before and I realise that it has helped me because I am now more mobile due to the relief from pain.
Since 1994 I have been in the continuing care of the metabolic consultant who used to prescribe synthetic (laughing now) calcium ‘’Calcium Chew’’, which also was nauseate (caused nausea) and have no benefit and blood test proved so. That was my experience before I started taking activated liquid calcium, also I was very sceptical at the beginning, and probably agreed because it was free and of pleasant test. Last time (March 2009) when I see my consultant he wasn’t surprised that I am not complaining of pain any more, although I was complaining from year to year while seeing him. He said pain is gone lets do the blood check that was done after 5 month since I stop taking calcium. He just said’ fine’ he checked blood test and then contacted me to have a vitamin D injection as there were vitamin D level law and he prescribed it. As soon as I left him I was thinking we are patients just the number to them, he has no interests whatsoever to be interested if I change my diet or lifestyle or if I have something else done. He was not much involved or interested in my personal case that made me think again why we are so naïve and rely on them so much. If I wouldn’t become lucky having this liquid calcium I probably would be long ago suicidal, because I couldn’t see any option or relief from constant pain.
Now I think again all over what was happening and how I am now and realise that I wasn’t disbelieving her but I have not have evidence to prove is as good as we told. Because we are very much believe when we see it on TV or newspaper.
However, even though almost a year passes and at present I am pain free I feel responsibility to take this calcium on a regular basis to prevent myself from pain come back and experience nightmare again. It is dictated by my feeling of living pain free and able to move around freely and enjoy normal life.
I was at a meeting with my colleague and she asked me to accompany her walking to the station which was approximately 500 metres only. It was a struggle to reach that point even my colleague it although I wanted to hide my feeling.
Today I have no problem thankfully to liquid calcium. My colleagues still remember when I was during that time hobbling along, grimacing with pain, have difficulty to stand up from chair and every so often my discomfort try to put on environment, inconvenience and so on and they describing how I was I am laughing loudly today but I think at that time if I hear this I could be very sad and disappointed.
I am glad I have had this opportunity to try invented by A.Aleeva activated liquid calcium and I certainly recommend to anyone who wishes to get relief from their pain. I am very happy now and still can not believe I have got long lasting pain relief.
i CANNOT STAND ANY MORE DEPENDENT SCIENTISTS WHO EITHER LUCK OF KNOWLEDGE OR CORRUPTED AND SAYING NONSENSE. Any scientist respect public he work for he would know that any conventional medicine is the copy to natural drug created by nature. The plant studied, certain medicinal properties derived, found out its molecules and structures and created similar but artificial. But human being have right to use medicine from natural drug stores because it is fresh and well accepted by human organism. Plants and human have a little differentiation. This seem to be something new to our scientists who taken from us right to decide for ourselves what we want and don’t want. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A SCIENTIST TO UNDERSTAND THAT human body a living organism and need to be given pure water not coca cola, pesticides and antibiotics free animal proteins but not homogenized milk but seems they dont know things that ordinary person knows well. why I should take their words into consideration where is none of their evidence or conclusion last more than a year. For 50 years WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT VITAMIN c CANNOT BE SYNTHESISED BY BODY BUT VITAL FOR HUMAN BODY THEREFORE WE SHOULD TRY TO GET IT FROM THE FOOD. Today we are given info that it is false.