Friday, May 23, 2003

James Gordon, MD, is a visionary for the future of the medical profession, and author of Manifesto for a New Medicine. He shares his view of the current state of medical research and the randomized controlled tests (RCTs): Too many researchers are like Mulla Nasruddin, the fool in the old Sufi story. When his friend found him late at night, Mulla was crawling on his hands and knees under a streetlight. "What are you doing there?" the friend asked. "I'm looking for my keys," Mulla replied. "Did you lose them there?" "No," he answered, "but I'm looking here because this is where the light is." Dr. Gordon cites the many problems with the RCT, including the fact that it is hard to have a "double-blind" test for things like surgery, exercise, hands-on healing, bodywork, etc. He also points out that RCTs are good for understanding how one drug can have an effect on one particular condition, but they cannot help us understand wellness issues, where several factors can have a profound effect on a whole person. 2:17:14 PM     Five Steps to Selecting the Best Alternative Medicine The best book I've found to guide a person trying to choose good holistic health practitioners is called Five Steps to Selecting the Best Alternative Medicine. It is a few years old, but it is really thorough and checklist-oriented. It explains how to sort through the confusion of the holistic health world. 12:49:16 PM

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