A fellow heart attack survivor recently praised a miracle heart disease treatment called chondroitin sulfate. This supplement, she said, had been studied by a “brilliant doctor” during the 1970s, but is no longer heard about very much. She attributed this fact to one of those “what your doctor doesn’t want you to know’ alternative medicine conspiracies. Alternative medicine practices are those not typically used in conventional medicine. When an alternative practice is used with conventional therapies, it’s called complementary medicine. Together, these treatments are referred to as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
I’m very interested in CAM, but my skeptical self accepts nothing – especially things my doctor doesn’t want me to know! – without suspicious scrutiny.
Mayo Clinic, for example, warns us that health scammers have perfected ways to convince us that their alternative medicine products – and only theirs, of course – are the best. These opportunists (many are now celebrities with the letters M.D. after their names) often target people who are most vulnerable to their sales pitch.
These include those with chronic conditions like obesity, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, or arthritis.
Mayo experts warn us to be alert for these red flags:
- Big promises. Ads call the product a “miracle cure” or “revolutionary discovery.” If that were true, it would be widely reported in the media, drug companies would be investing heavily, and your doctor would be recommending it.
- Pseudo-medical jargon. Although terms such as “purify,” “detoxify” and “energize” may sound impressive and may even have an element of truth, they’re generally used to cover up a lack of scientific proof.
- Cure-alls. The manufacturer claims that the product can treat a wide range of symptoms, or cure or prevent a number of diseases. No single product can do all this.
- Testimonials. Anecdotes from individuals who have used the product are no substitute for scientific proof. If the product’s claims were backed up with hard evidence, the manufacturer would clearly say so.
- Guarantees and limited offers. These pitches are intended to get you to buy before you can evaluate the product’s claims.
Mayo Clinic experts also remind us to look for solid scientific evidence to back up any CAM treatment claims.
“Do like doctors do. Look for high-quality clinical studies. These large, controlled and randomized trials are published in peer-reviewed journals — journals that only publish articles reviewed by independent experts. The results of these studies are more likely to be solid.
“Be cautious about studies in animals, laboratory studies or studies that include only a small number of people. Their results may or may not hold up when tested in larger clinical trials. Finally, remember that sound health advice is generally based on a body of research, not a single study.”
Beware of opportunists who target people who are overweight or who have chronic medical conditions like multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease or arthritis.
And please remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Here’s how Mayo Clinic experts advise us on becoming savvy CAM health care consumers:
- Be open-minded yet skeptical
- Learn about the potential benefits and risks
- Gather information from a variety of credible sources (i.e. NOT just the M.D. who stands to gain financially by selling you his/her vitamin supplements!)
- Evaluate the information carefully
- Assess the credentials of alternative medicine practitioners
- Talk with your regular doctor before trying any treatment – especially if you take medications or have chronic health problems.
Read more about Mayo Clinic’s Consumer Health Advice on how to evaluate claims of alternative medicine treatment success.
See also:
- When doctors go retail: is it okay to sell products?
- The cardiac miracle cure? Vitamin C, lysine and Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
- Medical quackery revisited
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The Ethical Nag 
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Excellent resource here on alternative therapies. Some may work, but many do not. Thanks.
Thank you for bringing this helpful guideline list from The Mayo Clinic to our attention. THis is information we should ALL be aware of.
I would like to share information about a scam called Madhavbaug in India.
These folks lure heart patients with a promise of an alternative to angiography and bypass surgery. The only treatment they have is exercise and some herbal medicine. There is no cardiologist on staff or any equipment to deal with heart emergencies on the campus, 25+ miles away from a major hospital. They invite patients that have been advised to have angiography or surgery and ask them to exercise. Many patients have had heart attacks and died at the facility. They charge a hefty fee and advertise openly in newspapers. Several Americans are lured to this facility and endanger their lives.
SK,
I looked at the site you mentioned —– and yes it does have a taint about it. But they seemed very proud of the fact that (under Research) there was a poster presentation at a medical conference mentioned in Lancet.
There are also two seemingly separate entities listed on Google—- one was .net and one was .org. I don’t know why.
Regarding poster presentations: PubMed had one interesting article about them.
“At both the national and international meetings, very few delegates (5%) visited posters. Only a minority read them and fewer asked useful questions. Recall of content was so poor that it prevented identification of factors improving their memorability. Factors increasing posters’ visual appeal included their scientific content, pictures/graphs and limited use of words. Few delegates visit posters and those doing so recall little of their content.”
Back to scams: —— a person doesn’t have to look to India or other countries for medical scams! But I’m sure you know that. One is MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution). Jim Humble was the inventor and he still has a web site and I assume many followers.
“Do like doctors do. Look for high-quality clinical studies. These large, controlled and randomized trials are published in peer-reviewed journals — journals that only publish articles reviewed by independent experts. The results of these studies are more likely to be solid.”
This is mayo clinic experts claims for genuine scientific work. One of my family member is a heart patient, who has been benefited by Madhavbaugs Sampurana Hruday Shudhikaran chikitsa, and now she is much healthy than before.
At first even i doubted there treatment , I had personally talked to there doctors and they properly explained there treatment and gave me the link – article no-0249 – of there research
Madhavbaug’s research is published in American Heart Association journal , in oral presentation held in Dubai 2012 ,in World Congress Cardiology Scientific sessions, 2012
My dad is undergoing the treatment here. We are seeing a great improvement and i also stayed at their facility for 6 days with my dad. Whenever someone wants feedback, please reply to my post and i will be able to give feedback.
hi josumiyan, can u pls share feedback . how is ur dad doing after stay and care. it will be useful
i want feedback on this alternative to bypass
Hi, I am planning treatment of my Dad at this place and am located in India. Can somebody suggest about the authenticity.
Hi,
Could anybody provide the feedback of madhavbaug.
Need this information on urgent basis.