HEALTH
treatments will NOT have large, expensive, class
3, double blind, placebo-controlled studies—the
kind the FDA requires to give its approval—since
a majority of those studies are conducted by the
pharmaceutical companies that stand to profit
from them. And pharmaceutical companies are
not likely to want to put money into studying natural treatments, or those that are too inexpensive.
In HONEST MEDICINE, David Gluck, MD contributes
a fascinating chapter in which he explains the Big
Pharma-FDA-Trial connection. I’d be happy to send
this chapter as a PDF to anyone who writes to me
at [email protected]. Please put “Dr.
Gluck’s chapter” in the subject line.
But many promising, so-called “alternative” treatments do have smaller studies performed on them.
For instance, a recent check on PubMed showed
numerous studies conducted on the treatments
profiled in my book: e.g., 95 on Low Dose Naltrexone, 13 on Silverlon, 1584 on the Ketogenic Diet,
and 2017 on alpha lipoic acid.
Some people are surprised when they learn that
a large number of nutritional supplements have
been put through similar small studies, some conducted in foreign countries, but reputable studies
nonetheless. (Try searching for studies on melatonin, magnesium, gaba, and some of the supplements you take. You may be pleasantly surprised!)
CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS
Just as there are signs to watch for in the alternative medicine world, there are also signs to watch
for with conventional treatments—even in cases of
treatments offered by some of our “best” medical
institutions, and touted by some well known physicians. The reason for this is that some physicians
and medical institutions receive financial support
from pharmaceutical and medical device companies, which can lead to conflicts of interest.
So, again: “Patient, beware!”
Tip #1: W
atch out for Major Medical
Institutions with Financial Ties.
Chances are, if your doctor knows you will want
to research your condition or treatment, he or she
will most likely steer you to a website or websites
that are considered by conventional medical practitioners to be