Evidence-Based Medicine Matters

Brian Parkin

Alternative medicine kills more people than it cures. My evidence for this statement? It cures no one, being totally ineffective, apart from the placebo effect, and people die as a result of rejecting evidence based medicine in favour of it. My wife suffers from Sickle Cell Disease, and is taking Hydroxyurea, which is the next best thing to a cure. Although developed for Leukaemia sufferers, it has been found to increase the production of foetal haemoglobin in sickle cell sufferers, the result being the cessation of major crises. Alternative medicine, of course, has nothing to offer for the condition.