Intersting observation...Placebos?

[Guest guest]

Recently after listening to some lectures from a very charismatic

speaker, they led me to contemplate our medicine and issues surrounding efficacy,

placebo, studies etc.

numerous times, as any lecturer/teacher does, specific anecdotal case

studies were presented: patient A comes in with complaint B- is a given formula

C and is cured (conclusion formula C works for complaint B) … or patient A

comes in with complaint B is given formula C it doesn't work then is given

formula D and the patient’s symptoms are relieved (conclusion formula D worked etc)

… at one point to my life these stories excited me as I jotted down formulas

for various complaints... I guess now I am jaded and unclear of the purpose of

these stories -- this speaker really made me think because he is known to use

tinctures (not extracts) of Chinese formulas at around 30-40 drops (or so) per

dose… there is a question here -- how do we effectively make use of our

clinical experience –without a) believing what we want to believe –i.e. they

got better because of ‘our’ herbal selection -when in the actuality we do not

know what happened -- especially since it is known that practitioner/ patient placebo

rates can be 60 percent and higher (especially depending on the practitioner) …

b) making detailed charts and really discussing details with the patient. I asked him on his rationale for using

tinctures, his reply " they seem to work for me and the companies make sure

that the amounts are correct”. No

comment needed there. One does not

have to doubt the sincerity of these anecdotal stories, but wonder how they

apply to our profession. How do we make use of them is unclear to me.

So

many times I have heard the response that it doesn't matter, they got better- ‘we

want placebo…’ I am having trouble understanding this line of thinking. I am of course looking for formulas and

preparations that work (for real)…

so...

I have been extremely surprised with patient stories from practitioners using a)

interesting diagnostic systems, b) nontraditional preparations and herbal

formulas and proclaiming results.

What do these results mean?

And how can I use them? Are there other patients that never returned because

they didn’t get better? How can we as a profession legitimately incorporate our

clinical data? Is it

possible? I am unclear why there

is not more research being done in the west -- especially with so much

deviation from standard Chinese medical practices -- I am a huge proponent of

research, but would like to discuss how clinical experience can be

incorporated... There's much more than I can say on this topic but if the group

is interested maybe this will get the ball rolling on a conversation...

 

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