alternative and
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TOUYZ
64Current OnCOlOgyVOlume 19, number2, April 2012
Copyright 2012 Multimed Inc. Following publication in Current Oncology, the full text of each article is available immediately and archived in PubMed Central (PMC).
L E T T E R T O T H E E D I T O R
Alternative andorthodox medicineand the odd principle
self-curing. Common colds from viruses are anexample. Also, the placebo effect is very potentwhen faith in belief-of-cure is high. Neurobiol-ogy proves that the central release of endorphins
increases tolerance to pain and transition to con-ditioned reex control of discomforting symp-toms. When alternative medicine is successful,it is vacuous to deny or to argue against obvioussuccess. But objective repetition is essential foracceptance, and once so established, the procedureis no longer deemed alternative. Research resultsderived from double-blind controlled crossoverclinical trials with subjects randomized betweentreatment and placebo regimes, and with neitherthe patient nor the doctor knowing the assignedcategory, would go a long way to verifying alterna-tive therapy claims. Only after results are assessedand subjected to vigorous statistical analysis can
valid conclusions be drawn with regard to signi-cant success.
The Truth
Successful training of health care workers demandsrecognition of variations within ranges of what ishealthy, sustainable, durable, and acceptable. Gooddiscrimination must be taught, recognized, andlearned by all neophyte practitioners. In a word,what is normal? The pathologic then becomesrecognizable. The inability to recognize other, de-monstrable differencesthe odd principleis,at source, of tremendous importance to all medicalpractices, both orthodox and alternative. Early diag-nosis, conrmed by biopsy or special investigation,maximizes subsequent therapy. Procrastination,lack of knowledge, and deciency of diagnosticskills by medicine practitioners of whatever stripe,all contribute to unchecked oncologic progress,with delayed denitive diagnosis and a resultantreduction in optimal outcomes from orthodoxtherapy. Early excision of a lesion without spreadis far preferable to treatment of a orid lesion andsecondary metastasis 2.
The EditorCurrent OncologyNovember 1, 2011
BACKGROUND
Although orthodox medicine trains general medicalpractitioners to comprehensively treat the wholepatient and to refer to specialists only when patientspresent ailments exceeding the knowledge and skillsof the practitioner, specialists continually face chal-lenges in ensuring that their specialty careers aremutually interdependent and intertwined with totalpatient care. Moreover, consumer-led demands foralternative therapies allow many people to seek carefrom a wide variety of traditions, each of which hasits own anecdotal claims of success. These alterna-tive traditions include acupuncture, aromatherapy,
biofeedback, chiropract ic, laying-on of healinghands, herbalism, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, hypno-sis, massage, naturopathy, osteopathy, radiesthesia,reexology, shiatsu, and yoga, among many otherunconventional approaches 1. Frequently, those tra-ditions fail to recognize early changes that heraldneoplastic alterations.
PROBLEMS ARISING AND THE CHALLENGE
Many people have lost faith in orthodox medicine andturn to alternative medicine for therapy. Too manypatients are presenting to orthodox medicine toolate for effective therapy because they have attendedalternative medicine clinics. This situation appliesparticularly to early recognition of neoplastic changeor late-stage carcinoma. Although some successfulreports have been published of alternative medicinein non-orthodox disciplines, including oncology, se-rious comment on these claims of cure is warranted.
DISCUSSION AND COMMENT
Most ailments presenting for orthodox medi-cine (more than 80%) are either self-limiting or
Curr Oncol, Vol. 19, pp. 64-65; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3747/co.19.845
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
65Current OnCOlOgyVOlume 19, number2, April 2012
Copyright 2012 Multimed Inc. Following publication in Current Oncology, the full text of each article is available immediately and archived in PubMed Central (PMC).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Unqualified personnel faking adequate trainingfrequently overlook, ignore, or fail to recognize redags that dictate the necessity for further investiga-tion or referral. Ignorance is bliss is a paradigm for
the well-intentioned but ignorant, and the afictedpay too high a price for mistakes of omission andfor failures of recognition and of treatment. Theysee what they look for, and they recognize only whatthey know. Therefore, applying the odd principle ...thats not so odd.
Louis Z.G. Touyz bdsmsc(dent)mdent(perio&oralmed)Faculty of DentistryMcGill University
Montreal, [email protected]
CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES
The author has no conicts of interest to declare.
REFERENCES
1. Saks M. The contemporary Western alternatives to Western
medicine. In: Porter R, ed. Medicine: A History of Healing.
Ancient Traditions to Modern Practices.Ch. 8. East meets West.
The body in balance. Homeopathy. New York, NY: Marlow and
Co.; 1997: 2048.
2. Abrams DI, Weil AT, eds. Integrative Oncology. New York,
NY: Oxford University Press; 2009:passim.
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