Alternative Medicine

Regarding "alternative" or "unproven" remedies and sites that link to these: our group does not take a position for or against unproven remedies. What we do say is that we are sympathetic to people with rheumatic diseases who try them, because these diseases can be hard to manage at the present level of scientific knowledge. There are certainly many who claim to have been helped by unproven treatments...and sometimes the unproven treatments of today are the conventional ones tomorrow.
At the same time, we are concerned about the anecdotal evidence that a lot of people waste time and money on treatments that do not help while eschewing conventional treatment that would, in their case, be of benefit. People have come to harm with direct effects from certain unproven treatments, and there can be problems that occur unexpectedly even from seemingly harmless recommendations (to give just one example, there is a study which has indicated alfalfa may be harmful in SLE). It is important to recognize that there is a lot more money spent by individuals on unproven treatments than on the mainstream research which could lead to eventual cures for these diseases and it is unknown whether this is in our collective best interest.
Our advice -- if you are going to try an unproven remedy, please discuss it with your doctor, and make sure the remedy does you no harm physically, financially, or emotionally! Also, do not, on your own, decide to replace your regular medical treatment with an unproven or unstudied remedy. Some of the rheumatic diseases can have serious consequences if not treated properly, and some of the medications can have bad side effects if abruptly discontinued.
Disclaimer: As with all of our links, we do not endorse or promote the sites listed here. We cannot take any responsibility the content of these sites or for the outcome of any actions taken as a result of viewing these sites.
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