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Are We Fooling Ourselves When We Believe in Alternative Medicine?

Last week I wrote about the theory of homeopathy. Homeopathy is the practice of prescribing specially prepared homeopathic remedies made from extremely dilute natural substances. In many cases, a remedy… Read More

Homeopathy: What Is It and Does It Work?

One of the earliest inspirations that prompted me to go into medicine was a book called The Science of Homeopathy by George Vithoulkas. Of all the many modalities of mainstream… Read More

Six Steps for Quitting Smoking

The other day a friend took out a cigarette and started smoking it in front of me. It was a bit of a surprise, and it made me reflect on… Read More

The Magic is in Your Nose

I was wandering around in a hardware store the other day, feeling rather hot and stuffy in my mask – and also a little anxious – when I realized my… Read More

Empower Your Health during Coronavirus … and Always. (audio cast)

Check out this interview I did on The Raw and Wild Hearts Podcast! We talk about how to strengthen your immune system, keep infections mild, and manage the psychological, emotional,… Read More

Neti: the missing link in your immune routine

My 12-year-old is always asking me to tell her stories from my childhood, so I recently described the time when I got into big trouble for making long-distance calls to… Read More

Eat more warm, cooked foods. Soups and stews are great. An ideal one is kitchari, made from rice and mung beans (there are lots of recipes online). If you have some of the kapha / damp challenges described above, you can add plenty of warming spices, including ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, fenugreek, caraway, nutmeg, and black pepper. As the world gets warmer, start incorporating more fresh local produce.
Avoid heavy, cold, and sweetened foods. These all tend to be cloying. Also, stop eating before you’re full, and let yourself get hungry between meals (don’t snack).
Do some movement every day. Kapha / dampness tends to congeal in us when we’re immobile, sometimes making us feel achy, heavy, phlegmy, or groggy in the morning, after we’ve been horizontal for several hours. Daily movement, ideally with enough vigor to break a sweat, will help.
Try a dry sauna. If you have access to a dry sauna, it can help counteract the effects of a damp environment. It doesn’t need to be too hot. You shouldn’t be pouring sweat. More sustainable is to have longer sessions in which your skin is just glistening.
If you tend to get spring allergies, this is the time to prepare by babying your digestive system (eat slowly, deliberately, and only easily-digested foods) and taking some things to stabilize your immune system. Some of my favorites are quercetin (500mg twice a day), nettles (pick and steam your own if you can), local bee pollen, and homeopathic preparations of the things you’re allergic to. As for this last item, it’s akin to the old-school method of desensitization. There are companies that make super-dilute tinctures common allergens, such as tree pollen, grass pollen, animal hair, mold, dust, etc. I’ve had good experiences with ones made by a company called BioAllers.

For everyone – including those who have no particular challenge with the transition to spring – it’s worthwhile to pay attention to what’s happening in nature. Be fascinated by the return of new life. Notice the boisterous energy in the flowers and birds. Admire the vigor in the shoots that push their way through the crusted soil. The rising energy and lengthening days make it the ideal time for: planning, visualizing, cleansing, and shedding. Wishing you a harmonious junction and beyond, Peter [post_title] => How to Optimize the Transition to Spring [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => how-to-optimize-the-transition-to-spring [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-03-20 16:09:24 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-03-20 16:09:24 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8577 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 5 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8140 [post_author] => 1 [post_date] => 2020-12-24 22:23:26 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-12-24 22:23:26 [post_content] => If you’re interested in health and breathing, you’ve probably heard of Wim Hof, AKA the Iceman. He’s best known as that crazy Dutch guy who has broken all sorts of world records for exposure to cold, such as fastest barefoot half marathon in snow, longest swim under ice, and longest time in direct, full-body contact with ice. His secret is a special breathing method based on a Tibetan Buddhist practice called tummo. In one study, monks practicing tummo were able to raise the temperature of their fingers and toes by as much as 14.9 degrees Fahrenheit! Dramatic impacts from breathing are also common among anyone who’s done “hypnobirthing” or Lamaze. The Lamaze Technique was developed by French doctor Fernand Lamaze about 70 years ago as a method for giving birth more naturally. It was based on earlier techniques used by women for centuries to manage – or even completely transform – the pain of childbirth with breathing techniques and reframing. Since he founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn has been guiding people to get out of pain using mindfulness techniques, of which intentional focus on the breath is central. Moreover, many of the patients in this clinic are dealing with terminal illness and the majority report experiencing greater peace about their condition through these practices. There’s an abundance of evidence that simply changing the way we breathe can have a dramatic impact on pain – whether it’s the pain of prolonged exposure to extreme cold, the pain of childbirth, or the pain of cancer. In my online pain management course, Live Pain Free, I teach many breathing techniques for pain relief. A good place to start is by simply bringing your attention to your breath throughout the day. Breathing can be completely unconscious, which, for most modern humans, means it’s shallow and rapid – a terrible combination for pain and its associated stress. As soon as we notice it, the breath becomes longer and deeper, even without intending it. If we do bring some intention to it, the breath becomes a magnificent always-available tool for shifting consciousness and altering sensory perception. Take a moment to bring all of your attention to a single breath. See how well you can give the whole of your focus to that breath. I’ll wait. Isn’t it amazing (and unfortunate) how the mind can wander during the space of one breath?! It’s a tricky but simple practice: pay complete attention to the inhale and exhale. Then keep going. If you notice you’re distracted, bring yourself back to the breath. Spend no time or energy following the trains of thought that arise or pondering they keep showing up. It’s just the nature of the mind. This in itself is enough of a practice to calm your whole system, to expand your awareness, and to alleviate pain. As an optional second step, try inviting the experience of whatever pain you may be experiencing – physical pain, emotional pain, the pain of worrisome thoughts about the world, etc. – into the space of your breath. Let your pain be here without fighting it. As you inhale, intend that you’re becoming more and more open (you can even try mentally repeating “open… open… open… open…”. As you exhale, intend that you’re releasing any pain, resistance, or stagnation. Be curious about what you find and feel. Refrain from judging or resisting. Just “turn toward” whatever you discover, and keep breathing slow and deep. Allow the inhale to draw breath way down into the base of the belly. Allow the exhale to carry out the air from the deepest pockets of your lungs – and all the little nooks of your being. Be well, Dr. Peter Borten [post_title] => Mind (Breath) Over Pain [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => mind-breath-over-pain [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-12-24 22:23:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-12-24 22:23:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://thedragontree.com/?p=8140 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 2 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8856 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2022-11-11 21:35:48 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-11-11 21:35:48 [post_content] => Last week I wrote about the theory of homeopathy. Homeopathy is the practice of prescribing specially prepared homeopathic remedies made from extremely dilute natural substances. In many cases, a remedy is used to treat the symptoms that a larger dose of the same substance would cause. For instance, chopping onions may cause redness, burning and tearing of the eyes, and a runny nose. A homeopathic preparation of onion (Allium cepa) is used to treat these conditions, such as when they occur due to a cold or allergies. Today I want to clarify some points and explore homeopathy’s conundrum. First, since people sometimes confuse the terms, homeopathic is different than holistic, which refers to any treatment that aims to consider and support the whole individual. Acupuncture and naturopathic medicine are examples of holistic systems, though most acupuncturists don’t practice homeopathy, and homeopathy is usually a relatively small fraction of what most naturopathic physicians do. Second, most of the scientific community believes homeopathy is pseudoscience and no more effective than a placebo. Indeed, there are numerous studies that invalidate homeopathy. Advocates of homeopathy point out that the unfavorable studies involve giving subjects a homeopathic remedy matched to a particular symptom or medical condition without utilizing the specificity that’s essential in effective homeopathic diagnosis. Homeopaths contend that when a remedy is matched not only to the dominant symptoms, but the whole picture of the individual, the rate of success is much higher. As I said in the last article, I’ve witnessed many cases in which homeopathy did nothing useful – though at least it was entirely harmless and without side effects – and I have also witnessed cases in which it was remarkably effective. Could it have been a placebo effect? Sure. But if it was “merely” a placebo effect, it was a profound placebo effect: a perfect medicine that was entirely beneficial, painless to administer, palatable, with zero downside. One should be asking, “How can we reproduce this?” Homeopathy is vastly popular around the world. Its use is especially prevalent in France, Italy, India, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany, England, and the U.S. 29% of the EU population uses homeopathy on a daily basis. About half of Germans have used homeopathic medicines and about 70% say they are satisfied with its effects.¹History shows us that sheer number of adherents doesn’t make something correct or morally right, but we’re smarter than ever and have more options. So, what’s going on here? Why do so many people use it if it’s a sham? Well, there are two possibilities. 1) The thousands of practitioners and roughly 200 million people who use homeopathy on a regular basis are fooling themselves. They think homeopathy is useful but it’s just a placebo and/or wishful thinking. Or 2) There is actual benefit to homeopathy which can’t be substantiated by current science and is not accurately reflected by the research. Trust me, as a scientist, it’s hard to understand its validity, but I also know what I’ve seen. Are there other systems of medicine with higher rates of success? Probably. To be frank, it is not my go-to modality except for a small number of conditions for which I consistently get good results with homeopathic remedies. However, I’m a mediocre homeopath and I have more training and skill in other forms of medicine. But when it works, it works. And I have seen cases where several medicines were tried but only the homeopathic one succeeded, including numerous instances in which the patient was highly skeptical of homeopathy. If it were a placebo effect, why would the other medicines not have produced a benefit equal to that of homeopathy? Why would a skeptical patient have a placebo effect when the basis for a placebo response is an expectation of benefit? Should science have the ability to invalidate someone’s subjective experience of benefit? I don’t have the answers to these questions. I know some incredibly intelligent doctors who practice homeopathy, and I have seen it and them derided by the medical mainstream. Skeptics’ concern, they say, is that people might not get effective medical help because they’re using homeopathics instead. I agree that if someone isn’t getting a benefit from a chosen medical modality, it might be useful to consider other options. I also believe it’s everyone’s right to manage their health in whatever way they wish – even if it hastens their demise. For perspective, it’s important to note that, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study, 250,000 Americans die each year due to medical errors, making mainstream medicine the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. I have seen people killed by mainstream medical treatments. A modality’s safety is no small thing. While there are plenty of people who are averse to biomedicine, we tend to treat the mainstream with a greater degree of respect than is extended to alternative fields. For instance, when we hear that a particular drug or procedure doesn’t work, most people conclude that this particular intervention wasn’t effective. We don’t say, “Well, biomedicine doesn’t work.” In contrast, when an alternative medicine fails to benefit a certain condition, a common conclusion is that the entire modality is worthless. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an author cite a single failed acupuncture study as proof that acupuncture is bunk. It’s an unfortunate reflection of the tendency for the mainstream to squash its rivals, even when they don’t truly threaten it. It's important, therefore, that we all keep our eyes wide open and practice critical thinking (and not just when it comes to medicine). Be your own advocate, trust your intuition, listen to your body, and don’t assume that just because someone has a degree they know what’s right for you. Be well, Dr. Peter Borten

https://www.hri-research.org/resources/essentialevidence/use-of-homeopathy-across-the-world/ ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_and_prevalence_of_homeopathy ; https://homeopathyeurope.org/

[post_title] => Are We Fooling Ourselves When We Believe in Alternative Medicine? [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => are-we-fooling-ourselves-when-we-believe-in-alternative-medicine [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-11-14 03:10:23 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-11-14 03:10:23 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8856 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 8 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) ) [post_count] => 3 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8577 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2022-03-19 12:00:42 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-03-19 12:00:42 [post_content] => As we approach spring, it’s a good time to discuss seasonal junctions. Both Ayurvedic and Chinese systems of medicine see the changes of seasons as times when we are more susceptible to being thrown out of balance as our body is challenged to adapt to the shift. Ayurveda has a saying that “diseases are generated at the junctions of the seasons.” Other junctions are also challenging, with the challenge generally proportional to the magnitude of change. Ayurvedic teacher Robert Svoboda writes, “Ovulation and menstruation are the ‘joints’ of the menstrual cycle, dawn and dusk are the joints of day and night, and adolescence and menopause are the junctions of life.” If you have kids, you know that the “joints” of the day are the times you’re likely to have trouble, and if you’re clever, you find ways to make these transitions easy, such as the ever-popular “five more minutes until we’re leaving.” Depending on where you live and your personal constitution, different seasons and junctions will be challenging for different people. For example, because spring tends to be wet, moving into this season means taking on more of what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) calls dampness, or in Ayurveda an increase in kapha (“kaap-ha”). This will be most difficult for those who already have constitutional kapha or an accumulation of dampness in their system. Some of the signs and symptoms include: being overweight, having loose, sticky, or incomplete stools, a wide or coated tongue, feeling heavy and tired, finding it hard to wake up in the morning, and a tendency to be phlegmy. Ayurveda might prescribe some therapeutic vomiting for such a condition, but these days, especially in the West, we prefer more pleasant medicine, ideally in gummy form, and we engage in therapeutic vomiting only after an excess of margaritas. Luckily, there are gentler ways to restore balance, and when it comes to management of the seasonal junctions, the most natural is to be aware of vulnerability during seasonal transitions and treat yourself with extra care. For someone with a delicate constitution or pre-existing health problems, this may be prudent at every season change. For others, only certain season changes may be troublesome. In any case, it’s a good idea to get extra sleep and to eat with greater care during the transition month. If you have a personal challenge with the transition to spring, here are some more specific recommendations for this time.

Eat more warm, cooked foods. Soups and stews are great. An ideal one is kitchari, made from rice and mung beans (there are lots of recipes online). If you have some of the kapha / damp challenges described above, you can add plenty of warming spices, including ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, fenugreek, caraway, nutmeg, and black pepper. As the world gets warmer, start incorporating more fresh local produce.
Avoid heavy, cold, and sweetened foods. These all tend to be cloying. Also, stop eating before you’re full, and let yourself get hungry between meals (don’t snack).
Do some movement every day. Kapha / dampness tends to congeal in us when we’re immobile, sometimes making us feel achy, heavy, phlegmy, or groggy in the morning, after we’ve been horizontal for several hours. Daily movement, ideally with enough vigor to break a sweat, will help.
Try a dry sauna. If you have access to a dry sauna, it can help counteract the effects of a damp environment. It doesn’t need to be too hot. You shouldn’t be pouring sweat. More sustainable is to have longer sessions in which your skin is just glistening.
If you tend to get spring allergies, this is the time to prepare by babying your digestive system (eat slowly, deliberately, and only easily-digested foods) and taking some things to stabilize your immune system. Some of my favorites are quercetin (500mg twice a day), nettles (pick and steam your own if you can), local bee pollen, and homeopathic preparations of the things you’re allergic to. As for this last item, it’s akin to the old-school method of desensitization. There are companies that make super-dilute tinctures common allergens, such as tree pollen, grass pollen, animal hair, mold, dust, etc. I’ve had good experiences with ones made by a company called BioAllers.

You may also be interested in:

How to Optimize the Transition to Spring

Mind (Breath) Over Pain

Are We Fooling Ourselves When We Believe in Alternative Medicine?

The Dragontree

Immune booster

Are We Fooling Ourselves When We Believe in Alternative Medicine?

Homeopathy: What Is It and Does It Work?

Six Steps for Quitting Smoking

The Magic is in Your Nose

Empower Your Health during Coronavirus … and Always. (audio cast)

Neti: the missing link in your immune routine

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