The Potential Dangers of Opting for Alternative Medical Practices and Homeopathic Medicines

Homeopathic medicine and non-conventional medical practices have been going on for years. There is a lot of controversy about the pros and cons about the safety and effectiveness of these types of medicines and medical practices associated with homeopathy. Homeopathically prepared medicines consist of diluting an active substance with an inert substance such as alcohol, lactose, salt or starch. Here are some of the dangers of opting for and using homeopathic medical practices instead of conventional treatments.

1. Delaying conventional medical treatment: Most homeopathic medications can be purchased over the counter. The patient may actually be seriously ill but is being mislead into thinking self-medication could be the cure. Using a placebo type medication can delay the treatment process of what could possibly be a very serious illness and lead to even more complications. Any type of unusual bleeding, high fevers, exhaustion, and severe pain are just a few of the many symptoms that could worsen if left untreated for any amount of time by a medical professional.

2. Wasting monetary resources: Homeopathic medicines and treatments can be expensive. Many practitioners regard these homeopathic medications as placebos and using them and then not be effective in curing your medical problem ends up to be just a waste of money.

3. Nocebo effect: Those in favor of homeopathic medicine and treatments claim that specific diseases are treatable with homeopathy and they are not placebos. However, as any clinical drug investigator will tell you, placebos not only produce apparent benefit (placebo effect) but also may produce apparent toxicity (nocebo effect). Thus homeopathic remedies can be expected to produce a range of side effects similar to those produced by placebos. This issue is generally ignored by modern proponents and there has never been a systematic study done of the adverse reactions to homeopathic drugs.

4. Little knowledge: Blind believe of homeopathic medicines and doctors are the causative factors of homeopathy. There can be irreversible side-effects, especially on mental aspects of a certain period of time. The side effects can turn the patient into another pathological condition.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there have been no good studies to prove the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine and the medicine is not federally regulated.

After several complaints of nasal injuries came to light, the FDA stepped in and advised consumers not to use the potentially dangerous product Ziacam., and issued a warning letter against further marketing of the product. Ziacam contains a highly diluted form of zinc. The FDA made the announcement that Ziacam, a homeopathic cold remedy, was shown to have potentially dangerous side effects. It could possibly cause one to use their sense of smell. For more information on these findings you can read the complete article online-Homeopathy, Ziacam and the FDA, The Dangers of unregulated drugs at consumer warning network.com/Jun. 18,2009/ homeopathy-Ziacam dangers.

A few years ago the medical journal "The Lancet" reviewed the available data of homeopathic products and concluded that they were no more effective then placebos as there was very little scientific testing done on them to prove otherwise.

In conclusion, don't mess with your health. If you feel something is wrong, consult trusted medical professionals as soon as possible, or you could be asking for more problems then you bargained for.

Sources:
consumer warning network.com/ Jun.18,2009/homepathy-Ziacam dangers
altmed.creighton.edu/Homeopathy/dangers
ABC homeopathy.com