[Aedes]

Originally Posted by Dustin

I believe and have personally witnessed natural products more effective and a lot less harmful.

And I've seen people die from natural products. And without evidence as to their safety, efficacy, and proper use, it would be irresponsible for me as a physician to prescribe them.

But wait, how come there are so many studies proving drugs to be effective and not natural products? Its because you can't put a patent on a plant.

We can and we do. There are probably thousands of clinical trials using various herbal / botanical / natural remedies, and there are some that are head-to-head trials against conventional drugs. Incidentally, St. John's wort works by the same chemical mechanism as Prozac.

You're very indignant about this issue, which makes me wonder why you allow yourself to be so misinformed about it. If you're interested in learning about clinical trials of botanical therapies, then you don't need to look too hard to find them.

I've heard doctors say that vitamin c does not work. Pshaw! The flu season has been pretty bad in my area this year, and I am quite certain I haven't been sick because every time I started to feel a sickness coming on, I immediate got some vitamin c and took about 2000mg every four hours until symptoms were gone. I do it every year and it works very well.

Are you thus taking personal responsibility for people treating themselves with a therapy that you do not understand, have not studied, and have not read the literature about? Because you CAN be legally sued if someone follows your medical advice and has an adverse event. Tread lightly here, and don't assume you know more than you really do -- the last thing you want is for someone to follow your advice and have a complication.

Vitamin C for acute therapy for influenza has been debunked for YEARS. It has been nonsense ever since Linus Pauling was throwing it around a half century ago, and it's stuck just because he (the discoverer of vitamin C's physiologic activity and the winner of 2 Nobel Prizes) advertised it all over the place.

There is very weak and inconsistent evidence for its use in prevention of colds (not influenza), and it is specifically NOT supported by evidence for acute therapy. And for the occasional studies in which there has been a benefit shown, the median decrease in time of illness has been less than 10% (which is less than 12 hours, considering that most colds only last a few days).

It's quite brave of you to take 2000mg of vitamin C every 4 hours considering that toxicologists say that vitamin C toxicity can be seen at doses greater than 2000mg in a single 24 hour period. It so happens that I'm a board certified specialist in infectious diseases, which includes among other things influenza and viral diseases, and I've answered this very question about vitamin C for patients many times, and I keep up with the medical literature. I can give you references if you'd like.

Other nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin D, and zinc do have immunomodulatory roles, and vitamin A is extremely important in the management of certain infections in developing countries (especially measles). But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

But I do believe that most diseases, etc., can be linked to the condition of the mind. Doctors are even starting realizing this. The mind controls the body.

Please inform us specifically how the mind controls the body. For instance, I'd like to know why it is that people who are brain dead or severely neurologically / mentally impaired still have a functioning immune system, endocrine system, gastrointestinal system, genitourinary system, integumentary system, lymphatic system, and cardiovascular system.