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teachingmyown
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| Posted: April 18 2009 at 3:11pm | IP Logged
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How do we discern which sources to trust when researching health information on the internet or in books? Someone mentioned in another thread about the volumes of conflicting information about nutrition. I am researching about thyroid and adrenal issues and again I am finding so much out there. One site says one thing and warns against trusting other sites making claims and vice versa.
I am fortunate to have a good friend who has already done so much research from which I can benefit, but as I dig deeper or research other health topics, I just don't know whom to believe! 
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 19 2009 at 11:07pm | IP Logged
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Realize that every site is going to have a bias. What you want to look for is what their bias is and how strong do you consider it.
for instance, looking at a pro-vaccine website you're probably going to find a very strong bias against vaccines causing any kind of damage to children.
But on the other hand.. it could be a good source for knowing the arguments for vaccinating.
I usually try and use real medical sites knowing that they'll be biased that way.. as a good starting point.
I have a few sites that I trust on their own. for instance Dr. Hale's website on medicines that transfer into breastmilk for instance.. and the kellymom site that gets her info direct from Dr. Hale.
Dr. Hale is THE leading expert in this field.
And he doesn't just claim it.. but refers to studies and somewhat explains his answer.. so it's not just "is such and so ok? yes or no" but he'll say things like this study shows this transfer rate (or lack of ability to transfer because of..) so we would find that things to be ok (or not).
And I think that's the other thing.. who do they claim as the expert. Are they just saying that this is the way it is.. or are they citing sources (that you can check!) and who are those sources.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 19 2009 at 11:12pm | IP Logged
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Oh I thought of one other thing..
Look for fallacies in their arguments.. and emotional triggers.
For instance I really dislike some of the medical information out there on vaccines because they use those emotional triggers.. they don't care to convince you intellectually, they're out to convince you at any level.. so you'll find people who talk about remembering this or that person with polio and how eager everyone was to stand in lines to get their vaccines.. and on the official handout type papers.. they'll say things like "the risk is very very small" (small is a subjective judgement)
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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BrendaPeter
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Hi Molly,
I am extremely blessed to be married to a physician. One of my closest friends is a vet and she usually always says the same thing as my husband when it comes to these issues. If it weren't for them, I'd be taken in by everyone who claims anything! They have helped me alot.
One thing they have taught me is to make sure that whatever claim you come across is scientific, i.e. backed by good studies. So much is just plain hearsay. For instance, I recently took out the Sally Fallon book from the library and was so struck by how so much of it was simply her opinion yet people follow her ideas like it's gospel truth. It kind of reminds me of our wonderful faith and the incredible importance of an AUTHORITY. That's kind of what good studies are. It's not a perfect answer but it helps a majority of the time.
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Brenda (mom to 6)
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aussieannie
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The trouble is studies are often biased and sponsered by drug companies and this is in the name of science, I sadly shake my head at that.
So called scientific studies can be seriously flawed in their methodology.
In a perfect world science would not be manipulated to give an outcome already decided upon before undertaking..I think we have good reason to be wary.
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aussieannie
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Just sharing an example.
When Australians have their blood taken at medical pathology, you receive a sheet with your stats and then the comments and advice given for the doctors to likewise advise their patients.
A few years ago the stats and 'normal' range for cholesterol was no higher than 5.6 If you came over that limit you would be recommended to take cholesterol lowering drugs.
Then suddenly it was dropped considerably, from 5.6 down to 4 - overnight, that that is a HUGH drop. So patients are now being advised to take the drug if over 4.
What EVERYONE doesn't know, unless you did quite a bit of research (and who does that?) that just before the change was made they had a new director take over...he was in some way connected to a drug company whose number one seller is...a cholesterol lowering drug. 
In this world we deal with fallible, weak people and we can only put our complete trust in the infalliblity of the Holy Father...sadly I don't see any connection to the medical community to the Church in this regards especially now that it provides for abortions, contraception and much more in the name of 'good science' but then again I don't see that necessarily either in the alternative world..there is just no comparison.
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BrendaPeter
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aussieannie wrote:
The trouble is studies are often biased and sponsered by drug companies and this is in the name of science, I sadly shake my head at that.
So called scientific studies can be seriously flawed in their methodology.
In a perfect world science would not be manipulated to give an outcome already decided upon before undertaking..I think we have good reason to be wary. |
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Yes, this is true but there are still decent studies out there. As a physician, my husband certainly has to base his practice of medicine on something solid, not just his personal "hunches".
If we really want to examine the whole issue, we can mention that there are also doctors out there who lack integrity and are not so scientifically based. My husband happens to be very academic and prides himself on keeping up with the medical journals. He has been practicing medicine for 15 years and has an excellent reputation (thanks be to God!). I trust him implicitly just knowing that he tries his absolute best. But I also know that he is human. No doubt it is a fallen world.
However, from my perspective, especially with the explosion of information we find on the internet, I most often come across people who have decided that government agencies are in a conspiracy and they are all wrong about things like pasteurized milk, vaccinations, etc. While I'm not a big fan of the government and realize they do make mistakes (lots of 'em!), we always need to look at the science. Most people making these claims have no scientific background to speak of. My husband has gone round and round with some of our good friends who think they know better than medical doctors. Obviously doctors are human but they have worked very hard to learn things that the general population is not aware of. For instance, on several occasions I have brought questions to my husband about the human body that I thought I understood only to learn that I was completely wrong. The human body is extremely complex and without the background of medical school, internship and residency coupled with years of experience we fool ourselves into thinking we have the same level of knowledge.
I'm sure we can agree that while it's helpful to have practical solutions, our most important resource is to prayer. If there is really something that you're not sure about and need an answer then God will certainly help you find one!
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Brenda (mom to 6)
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aussieannie
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I think too...what does science often want to explore?..the things that make money. The focus is on drugs and medicine and studies for them because at the end of the day hugh profits are to be made.
I'm not knocking that per se. What I'm disappointed in is who wants to invest equal amounts of money into research on herbs for instance, that GOD has provided us with?
Where the money is, so goes the interest and focus and then everything else is labeled 'no evidence' (well there is evidence but medical minded people scoff at that)..I think that the world is much poorer for that sort of attitude.
Do you think I might be passionate about this?? 
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aussieannie
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I am not referring to good, moral doctors or researchers, the world needs more of them.
I am referring to those who manipulate the world of science and medicine for money and for other malicious reasons.
How easy is it for the average person to work out what is good science, what study had good methodology and what hasn't?
The name of science has been abused terribly because of the things I mentioned before and it is also used to keep any other voices quiet (not referring to you Brenda but I can't count how many doctors had scoffed at the use of herbs as useless..what a shame.)
The study of the body by doctors is invaluable and when I see my herbalist we are both relying on their expertise in tests for the body etc. they have their invaluable place but it is not all or nothing, I'm afraid as some would have it.
Brenda you are right, prayer is of primary importance and I have had those prayers answered by the good care of both the medical establishment and the alternative world for my life, health and wellbeing.
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teachingmyown
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Well, that clears it up!
These are really the issues that I struggle with. On the one hand, many doctors do tout "the party line" and quickly hand out a pill rather than look deeper for alternatives or reasons for why a person is having a problem. Even doctors who are open to alternatives have little training here in the US. A doctor I used to work for when I was a practicing RN told that himself. He couldn't even tell me if Echinacea was safe to use.
A lot of scientific research is sponsored by those with profit motives. I will not totally bash the pharmaceutical industry though because they do do much good.
On the other side, there is little research in the fields of alternative medicine or nutrition. As Annie said, there is not a lot of incentive there financially. Then you have the passionate and not very objective advocates of alternative treatments or nutritional approaches who, as Brenda said, speak more out of opinion than fact. Many cite what could be construed as fact, but we all know that you can take any study or statistics and make them say what you want.
This is so evident in the world of nutrition and diets. Everyone has a different spin on what is good for you and how to lose weight, and they all claim to have science on their side. So, short of reading the latest journals of the medical world ourselves, we are left sifting through the "facts" presented and deciding (again based on what?) whom we are to believe.
Sally Fallon lost me years ago when she told me to feed my four month old raw eggs and that it was safer to give my kids the Cheerios box to eat rather than the Cheerios! I am wary of the whole organization based on my personal meeting with her. Maybe that isn't fair, but she did strike me as someone on a mission who maybe wasn't always objective. I probably shouldn't "throw the baby out with the bath water" as far as her foundation goes, but I am certainly more skeptical.
Please continue giving your opinion on this matter as I am far from resolving the question myself.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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molly
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It is a scientific fact, that a bumble bee cannot fly!
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aussieannie
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Heresay is not to be completely condemned either when I think of it. The world has had heresay since Adam, all sorts of traditions passed down orally over centuries. With that heresay has come the primitive form of science and scientific experiment, they learnt through centuries through trial and error building up experience.
Herbal knowledge has been around longer than drugs and today's sophisticated form of science as we know it but today's advances didn't make that previous knowledge and substance defunct. New things have definately been learnt with the gift of advanced technologies but quite often they supported traditional understandings of things but with more precision. Sadly though, many old practises and home remedies and wisdoms have been lost in the last 100 years, like a rift and it is very hard to rebuild that.
Maybe that is why Europe is more alternative and herb orientated than the USA and Australia? Families were split and extended families separated with people moving to different continents, travelling to the other side of the world with a totally new climate and natural surroundings even. No older member of the family to pass on their life's experiences to the younger generation, collected down the family line over time...knowledge was fragmented that way or just put aside with initial excitement of the advent of technology. That same technology that would not have had the interest to gather scientific validation as they know it, for these bygone remedies, so they were lost.
The best herbalists are ones with years and years of experience and when you think of it so are the best doctors. Everyone is a bit shy of a new medical registrar and would prefer the doctor who has dedicated his whole life to his field through experience, putting his knowledge into practise and use. We refuse to go to our local hospital which has a reputation as a 'training hospital' now for precisely this reason, we have had a few awful medical malpractise experiences because of it. Give me experience any day rather than someone who may have brilliant knowledge learnt but not the time to have applied it in the field for very long. The trouble is that is the only way it is going to build up and develop! 
When I experience some powerful healing experience with a particular herb, I like to share it. People have helped me this way and vis versa, I see this as something very valid as well.
I don't know if I've shied a bit off topic with all that rambling but certainly the question you ask Molly has made me think more deeply about this today. What do I base my trust in? The truth is I trust both camps to varying degrees but with certain limitations and criteria that I have formed through my own personal experiences in life. I trust what I see to be honest and good, whether that be a doctor or a natural therapist.
On the whole I put more trust in alternative things for the area of wellness in my everyday living and for acute accidents and health crises that I can acknowledge have gone beyond the relm of a natural remedy, I am then grateful for the gift of the advances of surgery and drugs. One area I tend to use more than the other obviously and I feel that is how it should be but one dosen't rule out the other because of that, they are equally important in the way I rely on them. Though I do believe the systematic and regular use of natural, alternative things can help reduce the incidents of needing to rely on life-saving drugs and surgery but it is not an absolute guarantee, nothing is in life but our personal experience has been that it has made an enormous difference.
I think this is what makes me sad. For some people and practioners, it is all one or the other but I believe that balance is always wise no matter what field it touches on in life.
What I have learnt Molly, especially in the field of alternative health, is not to dabble in something that you are not sure of. What it is based upon? What gives it it's healing power? And I suppose I am referring to it's scientific base for while I lament there is not enough money given to alternative practises in this area, it is certainly not devoid of it.
Prayer, experience and having an open mind, they are my three words.
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MarilynW
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This is something that I have had to (painfully) learn a lot about during the last few years.
I will start by saying that I believe that natural and alternative medication are right up at the top with healthy living - prevention is so much better than cure. If we lived more naturally, ate better, reduced stress - there would be less need for conventional medication. So many of our modern illnesses are caused by stress, poor eating, taking too many conventional medications etc. I fully agree with Anne on the healing power of herbs etc - when properly researched or using a trained practitioner.
I think that conventional medicine has sometimes got a bad name because of doctors and pharmaceutical companies that push drugs. I have unfortunately seen too many doctors who are already writing the prescription as I walk in the door - and are not interested in trying to take in the whole picture. In the last year I have had to see several different doctors for chronic health issues - and in most cases each one has disagreed with the medication given by another - very confusing and frustrating. In countries with a national health system it is so much worse as the doctors have little motivation and patients no choice.
BUT - an important lesson I have learned is to appreciate how life saving conventional medicine is. eg antiobiotics are very powerful healers if prescribed and used properly - it is overuse and overprescription that has led to problems. I had very preemie twins whose lives were saved because of steroids and preterm labor drugs and the RSV vaccine. I have learned that conventional medicine is necessary and good to treat and get conditions under control for a short period of time. The aim should be thought to try and use lifestyle and alternative means to avoid using medication for years and years. (obviously not true for things like diabetes and some thyroid issues etc)
The ideal is to have a conventional doctor who is open to alternative therapies and a healthy lifestyle and works with you to achieve a healthy balance. Just my (very long) 2 cents!
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CrunchyMom
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I think that for me, I go with my gut and what makes sense "philosophically" to me. I'm not anti-science or studies, but I don't necessarily trust them more than I do tradition and I try to balance and weigh it all when making a decision.
Take breastfeeding. There are lots of studies people use on both sides: "its absolutely the best thing and infinitely better than formula" or "its not as much better than formula as some have claimed." *For me* (not trying to insult anyone who formula feeds, really!), I believe it must be best because it seems so obvious to me that God designed feeding our babies to be such an incredible system that contributes to their physical and emotional well-being in a way that a human invention couldn't. At this point, I could care less what studies come out that might "prove" that formula feeding is just as good, I wouldn't believe them regardless of "science."
I make many of my dietary choices on who to believe based on my philosophical beliefs. Doctors could tell me all day that vegetable oil is better than coconut because it is lower in fat, but I just can't believe that God would create a world where, in order to produce the foods needed for optimum health, we need a chemical processing plant that has only been invented in the past century or so.
I'm not saying that there aren't philosophies that are valid to take the opposite side, I'm just trying to express how I choose which sources I trust.
I try not to discount wisdom that has been passed down through tradition when interpreting modern science. The studies that interest me most are those that seem to correspond to ancient wisdom (Hippocrates said it, but now a modern study introduces it as a "new" finding) and fall into what seems to me as more "natural." Sometimes I make a choice because I hear about a study "proving" a particular activity to be healthy, but mostly, I tend to see these things as rather subjective since it doesn't seem possible or necessary for science to "prove" before I make a choice, though, it is certainly a factor in forming my opinion.
I also try to decide what is *best* and then weigh it with "life" and figure out what my compromise is. I don't pretend to be able to make the best choice every single time or even achieve the best always even when I'm convinced of what best would be, yk? I firmly believe it would be best for my family's health if we never ate another grain of white flour or sugar, but, well, I can assure you that we will
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Lindsay
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Topic: Which sources to trust?
