The healthcare irony

First I'd like to apologise for being away from nzskeptic and sciblogs for so long. This tends to be a pattern with my blogging, but it's not random.

For over a decade now I've struggled with bipolar disorder, particularly the depression aspect which leaves me barely functioning. All my effort goes into my job hence everything else tends to get ignored.

I tell you this not because I want sympathy or because I want to excuse my shoddy blogging schedule, but because I believe it plays a large part in me being the skeptic I am.

It certainly made me face my own failures and question my beliefs which I think led to my skepticism.

But back on to the main topic of this post - the healthcare irony.

I use the word irony (hopefully in the proper, non-Alanis Morrisette way) because the further we develop as a society the more backwards our attitude to healthcare seems to become.

Of course this is a generalisation, but it saddens me greatly people seem to be more inclined to believe something natural is inherently better than a drug that originates in the pharmaceutical industry.

After all the active ingredient in anything, natural or not, is a chemical and at it's fundamental a natural chemical is no different to a manufactured chemical.

In fact a number of the drugs I used to work with were generated using some natural plant material as a starting point (there's that damn irony again!).

But I don't honestly know what it says about us as a society or species that we seem to be intent on believing vast conspiracies are out to harm us or keep us from living a full and healthly life.

The latest to make me question our collective sanity is the so-called miracle cure for AIDS, herpes, hepatitis A, B and C and a plethora of other deadly illnesses, Miracle Mineral Solution.

I first read about this in the NZ Herald on Friday and again at Yahoo!Xtra today.

This product is being sold in New Zealand and around the world and consists of what effectively is an industrial bleaching compound.

(Of course, just because it's a bleaching compound doesn't mean it may not provide some kind of healthcare effect, but that's not the point of this blog.)

What is clear is this product is being marketed as a potential miracle cure and it can't possibly back that up with double-blinded studies.

And so faced with no clear evidence of efficacy the distributor relies on what should be a warning to anyone reading this kind of article - impugning our healthcare system and relying on anecdotal data.

This quote says it all for me: 

"Read Medsafe's list of symptoms and just ask: what would chemo do to you?"

The sheer stupidity in that comment from one of the New Zealand distributors is breathtaking and the fact that such a statement won't convince any believer drives me mental (pun intended).

I could write a 1,000 word post on that quote along, but I honestly don't think it needs further explanation.

And, just for good measure, the Yahoo!Xtra story I mentioned earlier has comments on it.

Can you guess how many are in support of warning people about the medicine and how many are conspiracy theories or anecdotal stories about it doing what it says?

You don't need me to answer that, do you?

Patrick Holford on Radio New Zealand

I'll save further comment until I've actually had time to listen to Kim Hill's interview with alternative nutrionalist Patrick Holford from Saturday's programme. It would be unfair of me to comment completely after listening to less than 10 minutes of the bollocks.

Thankfully the Holford Watch website are on to it and have provided some thoughtful analysis of this man (who's thoughts on HIV and autism, amongst other things, are way out of the mainstream).

If you can bear to listen to it, here's a link to the Radio New Zealand website for the day in question so you can download it.

As an aside, this is the first time I've really felt a real part of the skeptical community. I want to thank The Skeptic Zone's Kylie Sturgess for getting the links to me in the first place - I obviously need to improve my New Zealand skeptical digging.

Dr Rachie (Rachael Dunlop) then tweeted about it, saying if she may try and critique the part of the interview which deals with her specialist area. I won't hold her to that because I'm not sure how anyone involved in The Skeptic Zone finds time for anything. I must ask them all for time management tips.

But the positive thing for me is the fact that there are so many tools which can mobilise the skeptical community quickly. It really is a privilege to live in the technological era.

As per Kylie's suggestion, I forwarded the links to NZ Skeptics and I'm now waiting to see if they will make any response. NOTE: Added April 28 - No response from NZ Skeptics, not even an acknowledgement of the e-mail. Disappointed.

(As of now, I'll just do normal hat-tips for anyone who sends me links, but I felt the first time deserved special comment.)