In a message dated 8/12/2003 4:02:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
Within a month he was feeling better and discarded his conventional treatments.
Praise the lord, he was cured! Unfortunately for him, two months later, he was dead.
vivek araujo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote earlier:
she made me kneel to recite three hail mary our father and hail holy queen gave me
some holy water and requested that I pray the rosary , went home and prayed the
rosary with faith ,tears rolled down my eyes and I could feel the touch of the Good
lord who as though touched me and said I heal you in the name of lord , had some
holy water, and the next morning till date I never had a problem.
It is always a bad idea to discontinue modern scientific medical treatment, and opt
for some untested, supernatural treatment. In case people are wondering why bogus
treatments such as the ones cited in the above excerpts often seem to work, at least
for a short period of time, here is a nice article by Dr. Barry Beyerstein, a
biopsychologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Cheers,
Santosh
WHY BOGUS THERAPIES OFTEN SEEM TO WORK
Barry L. Beyerstein, Ph.D.
Subtle forces can lead intelligent people (both patients and therapists) to think that
a treatment has helped someone when it has not. This is true for new treatments in
scientific medicine, as well as for nostrums in folk medicine, fringe practices in
alternative medicine, and the ministrations of faith healers.
Many dubious methods remain on the market primarily because satisfied customers offer
testimonials to their worth. Essentially, these people say: I tried it, and I got
better, so it must be effective. The electronic and print media typically portray
testimonials as valid evidence. But without proper testing, it is difficult or
impossible to determine whether this is so.
This article describes seven reasons why people may erroneously conclude that an
ineffective therapy works.
1. The disease may have run its natural course.
Many diseases are self-limiting. If the condition is not chronic or fatal, the body's
own recuperative processes usually restore the sufferer to health. Thus, to
demonstrate that a therapy is effective, its proponents must show that the number of
patients listed as improved exceeds the number expected to recover without any
treatment at all (or that they recover reliably faster than if left untreated).
Without detailed records of successes and failures for a large enough number of
patients with the same complaint, someone cannot legitimately claim to have exceeded
the published norms for unaided recovery.
2. Many diseases are cyclical.
Such conditions as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, allergies, and gastrointestinal
problems normally have ups and downs. Naturally, sufferers tend to seek therapy
during the downturn of any given cycle. In this way, a bogus treatment will have
repeated opportunities to coincide with upturns that would have happened anyway.
3. The placebo effect may be responsible.
Through suggestion, belief, expectancy, cognitive reinterpretation, and diversion of
attention, patients given biologically useless treatments often experience measurable
relief. Some placebo responses produce actual changes in the physical condition;
others are subjective changes that make patients feel better even though there has
been no objective change in the underlying pathology.
4. People who hedge their bets credit the wrong thing.
If improvement occurs after someone has had both alternative and science-based
treatment, the fringe practice often gets a disproportionate share of the credit.
5. The original diagnosis or prognosis may have been incorrect.
Scientifically trained physicians are not infallible. A mistaken diagnosis, followed
by a trip to a shrine or an alternative healer, can lead to a glowing testimonial
for curing a condition that would have resolved by itself. In other cases, the
diagnosis may be correct but the time frame, which is inherently difficult to predict,
might prove inaccurate.
6. Temporary mood improvement can be confused with cure.
Alternative healers often have forceful, charismatic personalities. To the extent that
patients are swept up by the messianic aspects of alternative medicine,
psychological uplift may ensue.
7. Psychological needs can distort what people perceive and do.
Even when no objective improvement occurs, people with a strong psychological
investment in alternative medicine can convince themselves they have been helped.
According to cognitive dissonance theory, when experiences contradict existing
attitudes, feelings, or knowledge, mental distress is produced. People tend to
alleviate this discord by reinterpreting (distorting) the offending information. If no
relief occurs after committing time, money, and face to an alternate course of
treatment (and perhaps to the worldview of which it is a
