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

[Avalon]

Prince Charles Promotes Complementary Therapy For Breast Cancer
Charles praises 40-year study into breast cancer

The Prince of Wales highlighted the importance of using complementary therapies in tandem with conventional medicine as he learned about a pioneering study into the causes of cancer.

[Skydragon]

'Meddling' Prince nearly cost health don his job

"He writes: 'There has been a breach of confidence by Professor Edzard Ernst in respect of a draft report on the efficacy of certain complementary therapies sent to him by Mr Christopher Smallwood. The report was commissioned by the Prince of Wales.' Peat commented in a written statement to The Observer: 'This letter was not prompted by His Royal Highness and he was not even aware that it had been written. The letter was sent at the express request of the trustees for the Foundation for Integrated Health, and it was made clear in the letter that I was writing as the foundation's chairman as well as the Prince's Principal Private Secretary".

- - - - - - - - - - -
So why the misleading headline?

[milla Ca]

Should the NHS provide complementary therapy?

On May 23, Prince Charles addressed the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. Officials at Clarence House said the Prince was gratified that the WHO had invited him to promote the cause of complementary therapies, a subject close to his heart for more than two decades.

Should the NHS Provide Complementary Therapy? (Skeptical Inquirer September/October 2006)

[milla Ca]

Prince in warning o nature´s power
March 20

The Prince of Wales has warned that dismissing the healing power of nature would be "sheer folly".

Channel 4 - News - Prince in warning on nature's power

[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]

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...ine-17808.html
The skirmish over alternative remedies seems to revolve around the vested interests of the parties concerned. Nothing new ...