How Do You Feel About Acupuncture?

I guess if you have no problem with playing around with eastern religions, then go ahead.
I think chridstianity needs to make a difference in our lives, and how we interact with the rest of the world.

 

Oboy, here we go with the unlearned equations between Eastern religions and Christianity. Medical science, as anyone knows is a modern science, and not at all attributable to Christianity.

Medicine was being practiced by other "religions" long before Christianity came along. So, please, let's leave other religions out of the equation when discussing medical science.

Thank you,

Jim

 

Dr. Bob, if your remarks about Canada's supposedly 'Communist' medical system were in response to my posts, then I want to clarify that my only dispute is not with alternative medicine on any broad scale, only with homeopathy.

I think Ransom goes too far in his characterizations of acupuncture.

Just like a company producing a product, there has to be a balance between cost and efficacy. Some herbal treatments work, sure, others do not. I mentioned that acupuncture is being studied by some leading teaching and reseach hospitals here. Perhaps eventually, some therapies that are viewed right now as 'alternative' may be funded by the medical system, but just like a company, it's a difficult job to find a balance that funds treatments that work. Results have to be proven before a company invests in a new procedure or process or equipment, and likewise, before a treatment is included in the list for funding, it's efficacy must be established. When money is public, the responsibility is great, it is a fiduciary duty similar to other situations where a legal trust is established, ie financial advisors, investors, and anyone to whom you would either individually or corporately entrust your money. Legal trusts and fiduciaries are certainly not 'communist' instruments.

As for homeopathy, I don't know why people become so attached to a system like this and defend it so, when there are no clear examples that is works on it's own. I don't think most people really know what the heck it is; they think it is 'herbs' or 'natural' or something. They don't realize that what it involves is taking a substance that would otherwise make you sick or worse, diluting it until nothing is there and nothing is left, and then diluting it some more.

I was glancing through the Ladies forum where homeopathy was discussed on one thread. Someone mentioned that homeopathy involved
'extreme concentrations'. Another mentioned that a homeopathic remedy was helpful for a condition involving sprains basically, but the homeopathy was coupled with massage and rest. I'd say it's a the surer bet that the rest and massage is what treated the sprain, not the diluted out of existence homeopathic solution.

This shows that there is a general lack of understanding, for it is accepted fact that in homeopathy the 'concentrations' are nil, and this is in fact the defining feature of the homeopathic system.

When the spokesperson for the French company 'Boiron', the makers of 'Oscillococcinum', the homeopathic remedy for flu, was interviewed and asked if the product was safe, she responded that of course it must be safe because there is nothing in it! And this comes from the manufacturer of this particular product, not it's detractors.

[ November 05, 2002, 12:38 AM: Message edited by: Baptist Vine ]

 

Ben, I can totally vouch for the effectiveness of accupunture! It did wonders for me back in the early 1980's after I was injured in an auto accident. They used it on my left knee and my lower back. I would still be using it today, but it is very hard to find anyone in our area that does accupuncture. I would recommend it and don't find anything scripturally wrong with it.

AJL

 

I feel that I've given western medicine plenty of chances to prove itself for my family and myself, but it has been herbal, chiropratic and now accupuncture that have given results.

I just recently started seeing an accupuncturist and would feel worse the next day after seeing him, then I would be better. In fact I made sure I had someone to drive me home after my appts. It's scary when you can't walk, you have fatigue so bad you can't lift your arms and numbness and tremors cause you to be a virtual prisoner. After a couple vists for accupuncture I can walk without assistance and the fatigue and tremors have ceased. Is it a plecebo? I don't know...time will tell. But I know that it is relief and it was without medications and that is more than western medicine could do.

 

Here is an interesting link about doctor's(conventional therapy) on Mercola.com

Dr Mercola - Doctors 3rd leading cause of death

Here's the link directly to the Journal of the American Medical Association article referenced on Dr Mercola's website.

JAMA

I personally am very distrustful of the convential therapies and pharmaceutical medicines. I believe in preventative nutrition and excercise.

 

Well I have never done it but some of my friends have and they say it is great. As posted above some might feel it is in some way "New Age" but I don't think so. It is mmore natural then what a lot of people try and use to heal their bodies.
Love in Christ Angie

 

I'm on pins and needles waiting to see the next post....

 

Oh, you're such a stickler for getting the point in such piercing fashion.

 

Perhaps we should just stick to the subject?

 

I have had acupressure and chiropractic ...but I've never had acupuncture. I believe that unblocking the energy chanels in the body works. Western Medicine has made my condition somewhat worse...probably because it took several doctors, what seemed like hundreds of blood tests and quite a bit of time to discover my illness. Adding to the delay in diagnosis was that the male doctors (my experience) I saw seem to think every illness that a woman has is all in her head. It was quite funny when the last one that gave me that attitude didn't believe that I only had one medical file. And not several, which apparently is the norm.

I think if I had an illness that could be helped by acupucture, I would do it. Eastern Medicine is quite a bit older, and it lasts longer. They fix the root of the problem, instead of medicating the symptoms of it.

And that is how I feel about Acupuncture.

 

I too had my doubts about homeopathic cures, but I have to say, that the stuff they have out for prevention of cold and flu does work. My pharmacist recommended them to me and I have been using them for the last 2 years. As far chiropractors go, some are flakes and some aren't. The ones that aren't stick to neck and back pain, period. I use some of their basic moves to fix my own neck now as well as my wife's back. It makes a big difference in our quality of life when something goes out.

So if it really doesn't work, then fine, I'll continue to do something that doesn't work that makes me and my wife feel better.

 

What financial benefits do the AMA/FDA get by approving these types of treatments? None. It's much more profitable to pronounce all other methods of treatment other than perscription meds of no value or consequence.
And the people buy into it.
It's laughable to me that any person in their right mind would think I'm practicing an eastern religion if I give my daughter a homeopathic remedy for an ear infection first (contains passion flower, chamomilla, belladonna) instead of drugging her with commercial anti-biotics. Only once has it not worked. I take them to the doctor for diagnosis, and then treat them at home. One doctor was ticked that I would do this, we switched and the one we have now thinks it's good and asks me questions on what works and what doesn't. LOL.
But..it's a well published fact that the overperscription of anti-biotics has allowed for new anti-biotic resistant strains of infections, so that some common illnesses are now becoming deadly or threaten permanent physical damage.
But people just don't get it.
I wonder what medicines were acceptable in Bible times? What was used? Is there biblical evidence of any medications used? And would it now be wrong to use them because we have modern medications?
We used to buy tobacco at a restaurant I worked at, for the cooks. We used it on cuts since most of the workers (chinese) refused to go to American hospitals for treatment. Was that wrong and evil, or just common sense?
By the way, I'd NEVER go to an acupuncturist. But only because I hate needles.
Gina

 

Wisdomseeker said:

I believe that unblocking the energy chanels in the body works.

Do you believe in invisible pink unicorns too? Because there is just as much evidence for the existence of invisible pink unicorns as "energy channels."

Earlier, jim1999 said:

Oboy, here we go with the unlearned equations between Eastern religions and Christianity.

Nope, only the known associations of Eastern religion and Eastern pseudo-medicine. The very foundation of acupuncture is Eastern mysticism. There is no reason - scientific, empirical, Christian, or otherwise - to believe that these energy "meridians" exist, or that they are located where the acupuncturists claim they are. Meridians are an assumption of the practitioners, that they took for granted.

Medical science, as anyone knows is a modern science, and not at all attributable to Christianity.

No, but it is not a coincidence that the scientific method came to be in Christian Europe, where the early scientists believed in a rational God whose handiwork would reflect his rationality. Science may have all but abandoned its Christian theistic roots, but it would never have come to be without the Christian worldview.

And the practice of modern medicine is at least compatible with the scientific method and the Christian worldview. Quackupuncture, on the other hand, has neither on its side.

 

Chrysoprasus said:

It's laughable to me that any person in their right mind would think I'm practicing an eastern religion if I give my daughter a homeopathic remedy for an ear infection first (contains passion flower, chamomilla, belladonna)

One funny thing about these con men is that they can't even get their terminology straight.

A "homeopathic remedy" should not contain passion flower, chamomilla, or belladonna. By definition, a "homeopathic remedy" is one that has been diluted so much that it contains no molecules of the original substance. Only its alleged "energy" remains.

Incidentally, another name for belladonna is deadly nightshade. And, as its name suggests, it is quite deadly. In fact, it raises the question: if homeopathy works, why doesn't homeopathic nightshade kill you?

[ November 18, 2002, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: Ransom ]

 

It also contains other ingredients, those are the primary ones I've found to help with ear infections. For herbal medication echinacia and goldenseal works for my other daughter. Belladonna alkaloid is used by physicians in hospitals, medication is made from it, why don't the patients die of poisoning if it is real? My doctor gave me a belladonna/phenobarbital medication, it worked very well for pain, and here I am, alive and typing.
Gina

[ November 18, 2002, 01:52 PM: Message edited by: Chrysoprasus ]

 

Chrysoprasus said:

Belladonna alkaloid is used by physicians in hospitals, medication is made from it, why don't the patients die of poisoning if it is real?

If homeopathy is real, they should, because homeopaths claim that even if you dilute the substance infinitesimally, it will still retain its "energy."

Therefore, it stands to reason that if full strength belladonna kills you, then homeopathic belladonna ought to have the same effect.

The fact that smaller (but not infinitesimal) quantities of belladonna are used as medicine, not as poison, refutes homeopathy and exposes it for the fraud that it is.

 

ROFL! Why is it poison when a person doesn't used it by a physicians perscription? What are the amounts in comparison to the homeopathic and the perscription?
Gina

 

Well, I gotta run, so when you get done playing with your good friend eaglewings here's a conversion table you can use to give you an idea of how much a grain is. The most common way belladonna is used is for atropine, that stuff the eyedoctor drops in your eyes to dilate them. I think about 1/200 of a grain is used?
Gina

 

Chrysoprasus asked:

Why is it poison when a person doesn't used it by a physicians perscription? What are the amounts in comparison to the homeopathic and the perscription?

You miss my point.

One quantity of nightshade kills you.
Another quantity of it will heal you.

So why is "homeopathic" nightshade a medicine, and not a poison? Once you've diluted it down to practically nothing, how does it "know" whether it is supposed to be a medicine or a poison?