Prince Charles's support of alternative medicine

[Skydragon]

Charles tells doctors of the world to use alternative treatments

Herbs and holistic remedies could replace conventional therapies, the Prince of Wales will say next week

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/hea...icle447784.ece

[Charlotte1]

Nice to see that Charles is receiving quite a lot of publicity for his work rather than his love life.

[Skydragon]

Charles defends holistic medicine


The Prince of Wales will defend alternative therapies when he addresses the World Health Assembly today, after a group of leading UK doctors attacked complementary medicine.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...3/ucharles.xml

[StoneCold]

Prince Charles advocates alternative medicine

[love_cc]

report from Office website
http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news/index.php

Charles urges old remedies for modern world
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/news...AL-CHARLES.xml


Prince Charles touts alternative medicine
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.ph...3-040945-7702r

[milla Ca]

Prince of Wales´s guide to alternative medicine ´inaccurate´
April 17
The Prince of Wales is being challenged today to withdraw two guides promoting alternative medicine, by scientists who say that they make misleading and inaccurate claims about its benefits.
Prince of Wales's guide to alternative medicine ‘inaccurate’ - Times Online

[Skydragon]

The Prince of Wales is moving his Duchy Originals brand into complementary medicines, selling "herbal tinctures" in Boots from this weekend.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...medicines.html

[Mara Jade]

The royal family seems to always have had an interest in alternative medicines. If it works for them, why not?

[Russophile]

Being, unfortunately, in the health industry, the Prince and the rest of the RF have it correct. By all means, use alternative methods, use pills as a last resort. I am always amazed when watching a commerical for a sleep aid all the side effects they list. It's awful. "Do not take this if you are over 18 do not take it if you are under 18, side effects include sleep walking, muscular craps, bleeding and vomiting." I could go on and on. . (but then I'd gross out Warren and we wouldn't want that, now would we? )

[Al_bina]

I do support Prince Charles promoting herbal medicine. People have been using various herbs and herbal tinctures from the times immemorial. Thus, correct and moderate use of medicine given by the Mother Nature can help to alleviate certain health conditions.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

I do support Prince Charles promoting herbal medicine. People have been using various herbs and herbal tinctures from the times immemorial. Thus, correct and moderate use of medicine given by the Mother Nature can help to alleviate certain health conditions.

Well said. Could not agree more!

[Emeralds and Opals]

BBC NEWS | Health | Prince Charles detox 'quackery'

[scooter]

I see Charles didn't learn his lesson. Remember in 2004 when Professor Michael Baum wrote 'An open letter to the Prince of Wales: with respect your royal highness, you've got it wrong' I quote here from On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman page 277: 'It certainly irritates those who have spent their lives in the fields into which he wanders: his enthusiasm for alternative therapies led to heartfelt pleas from conventional doctors that the best therapy he could perscribe for himself would be a vow of silence. After the Prince had used his position to advance the suggestion that drinking carrot juice and having coffee bean enemas might help fight cancer, a distinguished breast-cancer specialist Professor Michael Baum wrote an open letter in the British Medical Journal daring to suggest that his 40 years of study and 25 years involvement in cancer research might perhaps be as solid a basis for holding forth on the subject as 'your power and authority which rest on an accident of birth' .

The whole text is available on line, but the key sentence to me is 'I do beg you to excercise your power with extreme caution when advising patients with a life threatening diseases to embrace unproven therapies'. I am unclear as to where Charles gets his information on the subject. Has he secretly gone to medical school, that he considers himself an expert on medical matters?

[Skydragon]

As it is well known that Charles uses alternate medicines, he probably gets his knowledge through experience. I always find it laughable when 'experts' speak, because they often get it wrong. Many of the herbal remedies are now in use by the NHS, Manuka Honey is a good example.

I swear by the Dandelion detox, after all Dandelion are not known as 'wet the bed' for nothing, they are a natural diuretic. Edzard Ernst speaks of blood tests being required to prove it works, but flushing the kidneys out stops the toxins from getting into the blood stream and he should know that!

This from the Telegraph article

A spokesman for Duchy Originals said: "Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture is an excellent and safe product, traded as a food supplement and compliant with all of the relevant sections of both UK and European food laws. It is a natural aid to digestion and supports the body's natural elimination processes. It is not – and has never been described as – a medicine, remedy or cure for any disease. "There is no "quackery", no "make believe" and no "superstition" in any of the Duchy Originals herbal tinctures. We find it unfortunate that Professor Ernst should chase sensationalist headlines in this way rather than concentrating on accuracy and objectivity."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...st-argues.html

[BellaFay]

Originally Posted by scooter

I see Charles didn't learn his lesson. Remember in 2004 when Professor Michael Baum wrote 'An open letter to the Prince of Wales: with respect your royal highness, you've got it wrong' I quote here from On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman page 277: 'It certainly irritates those who have spent their lives in the fields into which he wanders: his enthusiasm for alternative therapies led to heartfelt pleas from conventional doctors that the best therapy he could perscribe for himself would be a vow of silence. After the Prince had used his position to advance the suggestion that drinking carrot juice and having coffee bean enemas might help fight cancer, a distinguished breast-cancer specialist Professor Michael Baum wrote an open letter in the British Medical Journal daring to suggest that his 40 years of study and 25 years involvement in cancer research might perhaps be as solid a basis for holding forth on the subject as 'your power and authority which rest on an accident of birth' .

The whole text is available on line, but the key sentence to me is 'I do beg you to excercise your power with extreme caution when advising patients with a life threatening diseases to embrace unproven therapies'. I am unclear as to where Charles gets his information on the subject. Has he secretly gone to medical school, that he considers himself an expert on medical matters?

At the time in 2004 Professor Baum was fighting a campaign to redirect NHS funding away from the National Homeopathic Hospital in LOndon and to give the fund instead to research into pharmaceutical-derived cancer-treatments - research which he was in charge of. This was not made clear in Professor Baum's letter which he sent to the Times instead of sending it to the Prince privately first. It subsequently transpired that the Prince had never actually promoted the treatment of cancer with coffee enemas & that this was a distortion introduced in Professor Baum's letter. Professor Edzard Ernst has also in the past not been above distorting what has or hasn't been said to further his own department of research into alternative medicine (predominantly herbal medicines) which is the reason that the Guardian newspaper dropped him as a columnist some years ago.

[Al_bina]

Prince Charles's support of alternative medicine
The skirmish over alternative remedies seems to revolve around the vested interests of the parties concerned. Nothing new ...

[Incas]

Prince Charles only hears science he wants to hear | Science | guardian.co.uk

The heir to the throne pays attention to scientists when their findings match his own prejudices, otherwise he ignores them

[Skydragon]

IMO, doctors for all the studying still get it wrong. As do those scientists in the medical fields.

As has been shown Baum & Ernst have their own need of publicity and denouncing Charles gets it for them. Many people use Homeopathic treatments, when conventional medicine has failed them. I love the Dandelion detox and if I think it is doing me some good, that can't be a bad thing.

I was talking to a friend who has diabetes Type I yesterday and she was telling me how she has watched the medical fads come and go over the years. The litany of do this, don't do this, do this..., with it changing every visit. Right back to the 'good old days', when Diabetics were told not to eat Bananas and now they recommended. (I have no idea why). Homeopathy in it's many forms were about and treating people long before medical science became semi respectable.

I have no problem with Charles being able to separate the good from the bad. Many people who believe global warming is a real threat are also able to see that medical science is not always the complete answer.
---------------------------------
The Prince of Wales said the initiative would, hopefully, encourage farmers to help secure a sustainable future for UK farming.

"For many farmers, changing to more environmentally friendly practices seems to be a daunting challenge. But by starting with simple measures I hope you will see that these changes are possible," he said

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/0...f-farming.html

[sthreats]

[quote=Skydragon;909065] IMO, doctors for all the studying still get it wrong. As do those scientists in the medical fields.

As has been shown Baum & Ernst have their own need of publicity and denouncing Charles gets it for them. Many people use Homeopathic treatments, when conventional medicine has failed them. I love the Dandelion detox and if I think it is doing me some good, that can't be a bad thing.

ACTUALLY-it can be a bad thing. Homeopathic treatments and supplements need to be tailored to the individual. These agents are still medicines (pharmacologic agents) and can interact with other medications that a person is taking as well as exaccerbate underlying medical problems. Unfortunately since supplements are classified as 'food' here in the U.S. they are not subject to the same FDA regulations. Doctors need to ask the patient to bring EVERYTHING they are taking to a visit to avoid serious complications. The same goes for dangerous drug intereactions between prescription medications.
I am all the the 'natural movement' but all of these agents should carry a BOLD PRINT warning not to start without checking with our doctor or other medical professional first.
Finally, many people are using these detox agents (diuretic teas and colon cleansers) for weight loss. They are not losing fat weight but water. Overtime use of these agents can lead to dehydration and kidney failure.

[Skydragon]

Actually, it was my doctor who recommended the Dandelion Detox.

However, I would certainly not consult a GP when using such a natural product, nor for something such as Arnica. Not everyone sees or uses such products for weight loss, but for the boost they give them!

Many of these products were about long before we even thought we needed so many medicines.