Alternative Medicine

Some people advocate alternatives to science-based Western medicine, often called alternative medicine, sometimes called holistic, integrative, or complementary medicine. There are different schools of alternative medicine, including herbology, naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, reflexology, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, Reiki, and Ayurvedic.

The biggest achievement of alternative medicine has been forcing Western medicine, including patients, to view disease not as one or more symptoms that need to be treated but as a signal that one or more aspects of the body/mind/soul continuum is out of balance and needs to be rebalanced. The biggest failure has been spreading information about "cures" without credible evidence about efficacy and with rarely any information about safety.

People with health problems are often desperate, willing to give anything a try, and sometimes their desire for a remedy turns into a self-fulfilling prophesy, a phenomenon known as the placebo effect. You think something is going to work, and your positive thinking marshals your body's own natural defenses, independent of any herb or pill. Alternative healers and herb/supplement companies have long exploited this, consciously or not. Problem is, the placebo effect works for only a small percentage of people.

Herb and supplement companies have little incentive to conduct the kinds of efficacy and safety studies required of drug companies, since under the current (U.S.) law they can make or imply all kinds of benefits without having to prove them. Drug companies don't study the efficacy and safety of alternative medicines either, since these substances are in the public domain and aren't likely to produce much profit.

Alternative healers and their patients instead rely on anecdotal reports, which historically have been unreliable. Anecdotal evidence is what doctors for years used as justification for drilling holes in patients' heads to treat headaches and herbalists for years used as justification for using plants such as chaparral and comfrey despite the fact that, as we now know, these herbs can cause liver damage and cancer.

Some people still promote or use nasal sprays and other products containing silver even though it's been shown that silver is toxic. Long-term use can cause irreversible bluish or ashen-gray tinting of the skin, called argyria. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 1999 banned over-the-counter medications containing colloidal silver or silver salt, though silver-containing "dietary supplements" are still on the market.

Manufacturers of natural or herbal medications describe their products as dietary supplements to avoid having to fulfill FDA safety requirements. Herbal medications, however, are drugs just like pharmaceuticals, with side effects and drug interactions. But while the side effects and interactions of pharmaceuticals are usually well documented, those of herbs are often unknown.

The alternative medical community often extols the "natural" qualities of its products as benefits. Just because a substance is found whole in nature, however, doesn't make it healthy. There are plenty of deadly poisons in nature. Some alternative medicine promoters contend that their products are better than pharmaceuticals because they don't contain chemicals. The fact is that all substances in nature are made of chemicals. Just because a product is processed and refined in a laboratory or factory doesn't make the chemicals it contains unhealthy.

The theory, or "science," behind some alternative medical practices strains credibility. Homeopathy, for instance, contradicts the known laws of biology, chemistry, and physics. Its premise is that the best "active" ingredient of a medicine is one that produces the same symptoms as the disease. But because this ingredient typically is toxic, it's diluted to such a great extent ("infinitesimally" is the word homeopaths use) that there are no molecules left in virtually all doses. What's left, say homeopaths, is the "energy" from this ingredient. Problem is, according to the laws of physics and as anybody who's ever built a campfire has observed, energy dissipates quickly over time.

On the other hand, just because an alternative remedy hasn't been subjected to multiple double-blind studies doesn't mean it doesn't work. Some people are great enthusiasts of alternative treatments, reporting beneficial results. The best approach may be to combine up-to-date science-based medicine with credible alternatives.

You can also consciously apply the same mind-body mechanism behind the placebo effect. For sinus infections, employ creative visualization by picturing your white blood cells gobbling up rampant bacteria. For allergy flare-ups, employ progressive relaxation by telling your sinuses, with the same kind of soothing voice you'd use to talk to an upset child, to relax, calm down, take it easy, that everything will be all right. These techniques won't hurt, and though they're not foolproof of course, they might help.

Some sinus patients report good experiences thinning mucus and reducing inflammation using papaya and pineapple enzyme tablets, found in health food stores and as Clear Ease from Hydro Med, at 800-560-9007. Unlike some other products, Clear Ease is made without sugar and will thus not promote tooth decay. It costs considerably more than similar products, however, at $17.95 per package (60 tablets). To be effective the tablets need to be slowly dissolved between the cheek and gum rather than chewed.

Candida

Many in the alternative health community have long believed that the fungus candida (Candida albicans) causes or contributes to a host of health problems, including sinusitis. The importance of candida, however, has been downplayed by most mainstream doctors. According to conventional medical wisdom, candida and other fungi are primarily a problem in immunocompromised people such as AIDS patients and organ transplantees, those with diabetes or leukemia, or those who've been on extended courses of antibiotics or steroids (which can include chronic sinusitis patients).

A recent article in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, however, has brought candida more into the mainstream by reporting that the vast majority of sinusitis patients studied by the Mayo Clinic have fungal growth in their sinuses. Some doctors still dispute the importance of candida and other fungi for sinus patients because the criteria the Mayo researchers used for measuring fungal growth were less stringent than is commonly used and because small amounts of fungi are commonly present even in people not suffering from sinusitis or any other health condition. The Mayo doctors contend that it's not the fungi itself in the sinuses that causes problems but the allergic response to it by some individuals.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are further investigating, including developing possible new treatments.

In the meantime, antifungal drugs such as Sporanox and Amphotericin B are available, though they don't penetrate the sinuses particularly well and frequently have side effects. Also available are antifungal diets, such as the one described in Dr. Ivker's book. It consists primarily of vegetables and non-red-meat sources of protein, eliminating refined sugar, bread and other foods made with yeast, dairy, mushrooms, fried foods, grapes and some other fruit, alcohol, and a number of other foods and drinks.

Substances that are thought to have antifungal properties include garlic, the herbs barberry and oregano, and the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus (in some yogurts or available in pill form in health food stores).

You can read more about Candida at the Candida FAQ.