I guess I represent the traditional medicine side, although I do consider myself sympathetic to the skeptics. My profession has not always deserved the extreme trust that we tend to expect. We have made mistakes, individually and corporately and are all too often reticent to admit them. Yes, many doctors do overprescribe antibiotics, and other drugs. They’re bad doctors, and I agree that you should avoid them. A good one should show some restraint. Pharmaceuticals are not candy.

The herbs aren’t candy either, though. My main precautions about the natural remedies are due to the industry-wide poor oversight and control that others have mentioned. It can be hard to know how much you’re taking, and to trust the purity. Yes, many natural remedies do work. But they’re poorly regulated, and so they may work a little too well, or have some other things thrown in with them that also work in some less desirable way.

Yes, there are doctors who are selfish, or greedy, or lazy. It can be hard to find a good one, and I sympathize with those who just give up. But if you’re worried about over-prescribing, your concern is very valid. Just keep looking; there are some doctors out there capable of restraint. Give them the benefit of the doubt, though. When my patient complains about a symptom, I usually assume they’re telling me about it because they want me to prescribe something for it. That makes sense, right? If you’re just asking because you’re concerned, want to know what it is or how best to care for it but you will not feel dejected if you walk out without a prescription, make that clear to your doctor. Sadly, you are in a minority. “Can’t you just prescribe something for it, doc? You mean you ‘re just not going to do anything?”

The ear infections are a great example. The AAP now recommends a “watch and wait” approach, rather than an automatic antibiotic prescription. But many physicians are not following this recommendation, because their patients’ mothers act so betrayed if they don’t get the medication. It’s easier to do something than nothing. We docs have a hard time sitting on our hands. Moms too, don’t we?

(just a word on the influence of drug companies on docs: it’s not charity. they wouldn’t spend this kind of money marketing to us if it didn’t work.)

Hmmm… I wonder how I can get a kickback from the prescriptions I write? I missed something these past 16 years.

Here’s another topic that might be interesting for discussion that is vaguely related: how is a Christian woman to think about beautifying herself? This is so broad - all the way from a nice haircut to make-up to waxes and facials to botox to plastic surgery…

Feel free not to take it up, I just thought I might suggest it!

No matter what medicinal options we are considering (herbal or otherwise) we need to do our homework and not blindly obey anyone’s advice- doctors, midwives, naturopath, friends, anyone.

I used to follow my doctor’s instructions without giving a second thought. Afterall, the doctor knows what is best and he has my best interest at heart, right? I was forced to reconsider my assumptions when we had children.

I am not opposed to a traditional approach to medicine. But I have become a bit jaded. I realize that doctors are running a business - they have to pay their bills and make ends meet just like we do. So - can I trust that the medicine my doctor is recommending is, in fact, the best option for me - or is is he receiving a kickback for the prescriptions that he writes? Can I trust that another set of eartubes is the best way to go - or is the doctor needing another surgery to help pay his bills this month? Do I really need a C-section - or is the doctor afraid that the slightest indication of complication might lead to a lawsuit?

I really am not opposed to traditional medicine. But I am increasingly aware of the need to bathe the decisions we make in prayer! Because - we place our trust in our Father in Heaven!

So, we eat together, then we pray together, then our pastor (or other presbyter) offers prayers and the anointing with oil for the sick.

If anyone in our family is sick or injured, we call the pastor and he comes to pray for us and lays hands on us. We have been tremendously blessed by obeying God’s word in this way.

That’s an interesting account about Asa. Of course, there is a great deal of scripture about sickness and how we are to respond to it. In the law, instruction is given for the diseased person to go to the priest.

And James 5:14-15:

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of the faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

It doesn’t say call the doctor, yet that is the practice in the church. Though our family has called the elders several times in the past, we, too, usually call the doctor instead.

In some situations, it seems obvious to call the medical professionals: broken bones, midwives for birthing (Biblical there), etc. And God has created plants with medicinal properties and taught man how to use them.

There’s a lot I don’t understand, but it is my belief that the church is missing out on HUGE blessing in this area.

Maybe this topic strikes a nerve because health is so central to our jobs as mothers and our lives in general. Almost everything we do affects the health and well-being of our family and is in turn affected by it–how much sleep we get, the foods we eat, the germs we’re around on a daily basis, the vitamins, supplements and medicines we take, our weight, activitiy, etc. etc.. You feel awful when you’re kids are sick and, frankly, I’m a nervous wreck when their fevers are high. Most of us have very busy and full lives that have to come to a screeching halt if we or our young ones get sick. Maybe worse is when there is a chronic ailment for mom that daily impairs her physically.

So health is a big deal. My caution is for people who are chronically healthy to REALLY try to have empathy for those who aren’t. Yes there are some bona fide hypochondriacs among us but most people I know who have chronic ailments are just searching for help to feel better and, miracle of miracles, to actually be completely healed. Modern medicine has many miracle cures but not as many answers for chronic conditions like arthritis, lupus, chronic fatigue and the like.

Most of these ailments are not new and people in history have, through lots of trial and error, tried various herbal medicines to aleviate them (trial and error is scientific, by the way, just less efficient than the official scientific method). We seem to have lost this body of knowledge in our quest to be modern and scientific.

I read recently in an Azure Standard pamphlet a very logical statement that made a light go off for me. The discussion was about raw cow’s milk and how it is condemned as “unsafe” by the medical community because of various problems/diseases that can arise if the milk and cow aren’t handled properly. The article went on to ask how can our government declare as “unsafe” something that people have been thriving on (for the most part) for thousands of years and then turn around and declare as “safe” a brand-new-to-human-beings-and-the-planet uber drug that has only been tested on a few thousand people for 2-4 years? That kind of thinking pervades medical schools, unfortuneately. Coming from a science background myself, I know that most studies are short because funding demands it and there is a WHOLE lot that hasn’t been examined by scientific scrutiny.

That’s my two cents. Thanks for your comments, Nancy and for wading into dangerous waters. I most whole heartedly agree with those above who recommend prayer first and foremost. As a P.S., I am not chronically ill, I have taken antibiodics and would take them again and I would weigh all options for major illness.

The big question we’ve had since being blessed with this kind of health care is “why the opposition” to this?
Is it what loisn referred to - the accountability part, both with the doctors practicing it and/or the people using it?
Is it just lack of information or experience? Whatever it is, we need to work at making those issues better - fixing those problems, because as far as our family is concerned, this taking sides stuff is just plain out of date.