Talk:Asthma

a comment

Hi all, I am 60 yours old, and when in my early 30's, I was subject to severe asthma. My tribulations are detailed in a blog, here: http://harbormist.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-saga-seeking-better-health-this-is.html . If you read that, you'll find that standard "Western medicine", while able to control my symptoms in the short term, over time only made my condition worse. But in both my crisis times, I was able to turn my health around and fully reverse the asthma by pursuing alternative treatments, including eating a very good diet, regular acupuncture and massage, and also exercise and regular sleep and just generally being good to myself. Based on everything I've learned during my life, I'd like to provide information about these alternatives to people, because they work, or can work, for many asthma sufferers. The problem is, there has never been, nor ever will be (in the current medical research funding situation), any "proof" that acupuncture can help with asthma. That's because almost all medical research is being funded by drug companies, and they have no interest in finding solutions that do not involve selling drugs. Also, the state of contention about how to eat remains very chaotic. I tried just about everything out there, but the only diet that ever made me feel good, kept my weight down, and also controlled my asthma was to be mostly macrobiotic. Which is far different from vegan, because it has me completely avoiding sugar and dairy, but also eating some kinds of fish on occasion. Anyway, since I doubt anyone would allow this information in the article itself, since it is basically anecdotal, I thought I'd mention it here. By the way, anyone who has studied about or knows much about acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine would agree that, in their model of doing things, asthma is just an imbalance that can be corrected with diet and lifestyle. This is so radically different from Western medicine's approach to asthma that it boggles the mind. When I first came across that claim, I didn't believe it either. But eventually, I became desperate enough to break out of the "kill the symptoms with drugs" cycle to investigate further. Pat Palmer 13:39, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

The problem with this sort of thing is the placebo effect. If the patient believes, subconsciously, that a treatment, orthodox or otherwise, will work, that substantially improves the prognosis. Indeed, just going to see the doctor does that, even without any treatment. The only way you can tell whether impovements are due to treatment, placebo effect or just natural recovery is randomized controlled trial. And there may indeed be the sort of funding difficulties you mention, in which case you can't get a definite answer. Peter Jackson 09:18, 31 May 2014 (UTC)