First of all, let me say I got an invitation from Facebook. I'd let Answerpool drop entirely off my radar.

Second, just to reintroduce myself in typical fashion, let me state my opinion that the concept "Alternative Medicine" is an oxymoron. If a treatment, drug, etc, can be shown to work, it's called "Medicine."

In the context of health care, "Alternative" (and "Complementary," for that matter) can be defined as, depending on the modality, "disproved," or "bullsh*t."

Welcome back, sid.
Glad you stopped by. I was just about to start a detox diet. It gets rid of all those toxins that build up in the body, you know (Just wondered if you'd heard about these )

Just flush your kidneys, Fred, have an enema, and call me in the morning.

Very nice to see you again, Sid, but it's sad to hear of your current situation. Have faith; things will get better, and, as I recall, you are about my age, so it's not as if you don't have plenty of time in front of you.
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I think the definition (of Alternative Medicine) used here is "non-traditional medicine, as seen by the Western medical establishment." Even Western medicine has acknowledged the occasional effectiveness of placebos, and isn't the result what counts to the patient? Of course, depending on voodoo as a first response is foolish and often dangerous, but when bogus medicine is the last resort available, and all else has failed, why not try it?

Fred: I've written some things about detox and flushes on my blog, surgeonsblog. And I get emails. I could forward them...

Dorian: I should have realized that my mini-rant (for indeed I've ranted long and hard about the subject, elsewhere) could be taken as criticism of the choice of topic. Didn't mean it that way. Just making a point about what I think of most alternative medicine...

As to why not? Well, when all else has failed, I agree, and have said that, too. Or even, why not do it along side "actual" medicine? In most cases, why not, indeed.

The whole topic of credulity in various belief systems is of interest; particularly since I know some very smart, thoughtful, and data-oriented people who happily ignore it all, most especially in the fields of politics and religion. To me, it says something about how our heads are constructed; ie, with the need to ignore dissonance when it reaches a certain level. Evolutionarily: maybe it's that belief in magic, and the ability to manipulate that belief, is part of what binds people into societies, which helps keep away the tryannosaurs. Oh, wait....

You tell 'em, Sid!

(subscribing to your blog in T minus 3, 2, 1...)