Acts of Faith : Doctors Recognize the Importance of Alternative Healing Methods

WHEN YOU’RE healthy, things like faith healing or visualization therapy can seem flaky or at least ineffectual. But to a person stricken with a life-threatening illness, even the most far-fetched herbal diet or psychological regimen can offer a flicker of hope. Just recently, one of us faced a patient with AIDS who, frustrated with his failing health, had begun seeking alternative treatments. He discovered a faith healer who promised a complete cure. The healer told the artist he must stop taking his medicine (eight prescriptions) as a demonstration of his true belief in the spiritual process.

Obviously, we advised him not to do that, but after talking to several people who claimed to have been cured by the healer, the patient abandoned his medications and our advice. Instead, he took herbal remedies to cleanse his system and attended group meditations and individual sessions with the healer. For several weeks, he was enthusiastic; he said he felt healthy and energetic and, for the first time in years, had hope. Then he became ill; five weeks later he died of a stomach infection, which his original medicines could have prevented.

That didn’t have to happen. Alternative healing and conventional medicine are not--indeed, should not be--mutually exclusive. Traditionally, conventional doctors have been suspicious of unlicensed healers (and vice versa), but that is changing. We are beginning to recognize that one form of treatment may not be enough and that doctors should avoid putting patients in an either/or position.

People turn to nontraditional forms of healing because they are “disillusioned with conventional medicine and searching for hope that is not available from conventional doctors,” says Norman Cousins, author of best-selling books on self-care. It is not surprising that, in general, the more serious the illness, the greater the likelihood that a person will seek alternative treatments. Cancer is the most striking example; Americans spend about $4 billion each year on alternative cancer “cures,” many of which have no clear scientific basis. These treatments range from those that are potentially dangerous, such as Laetrile, to those that are not well-studied, such as imagery techniques and massage therapies, to those that are accepted as effective, such as acupuncture.

People seek alternative methods because they give a feeling of control. Life-threatening illnesses such as cancer leave patients feeling helpless; they can’t even make their own bodies do what they want. Radiation therapy, surgery and chemotherapy, administered by the doctor to the patient, do nothing to restore that sense of control; the patient can only endure and wait to find out if they’ve worked. But with illnesses such as heart disease, people can help themselves significantly by giving up smoking or changing their diet or getting more exercise. Alternative treatments for cancer and AIDS give patients the same sense of power, the same hope that they can have an impact on the illness.

That’s exactly what the faith healer told the artist who had AIDS: If he trained his mind carefully, he could beat the disease. But the healer refused to acknowledge the additional necessity of conventional medication. (In fact, he refused to return numerous phone calls from the patient’s doctor or the clinic social worker, which should have been a clear warning sign.) Studies of cancer patients show that most people use alternative treatments in conjunction with conventional ones. And according to research done by Dr. Barrie Cassileth at the University of Pennsylvania, faith healing is a very common form of alternative treatment; diet and vitamin therapies are even more popular.

One of the biggest attractions of alternative treatments, according to Cassileth and others, is the attention patients receive. Alternative healers, some of whom are MDs, favor a holistic approach and spend more time listening to a patient’s concerns. Conventional medicine is usually aimed at disease, defined as a physiologic malfunction of the body. Healers, on the other hand, treat the ramifications of illness, which, according to medical anthropologists, include a person’s religious, cultural and psychological reactions to disease.

“Currently in medicine,” Cousins says, “everything is technology, testing and procedures. Instead of listening with their ears, doctors spend too much time listening with their stethoscopes.” Leaders in the treatment of cancer and AIDS agree. Recent medical journals are full of articles urging doctors to listen to all of their patients’ concerns and to try to understand the many ways in which the patients are affected by disease.

Many doctors remain concerned that those who bill themselves as alternative practitioners may, in reality, be quacks preying on the fears and vulnerability of the seriously or terminally ill. Doctors are obligated to caution their patients that “treatments marketed as alternatives don’t meet the standards of safety and effectiveness set by the Food and Drug Administration,” says William Jarvis, a health-education teacher at Loma Linda University. Jarvis, who heads a consumer group called the National Council Against Health Fraud, believes that many alternative-therapy success stories are unsubstantiated and untrue. He recently interviewed 150 cancer patients in California allegedly cured by alternative practitioners; none had actually been cured. Jarvis’ organization has become particularly wary of the many alternative treatments offered to patients with AIDS.

We advise people considering unorthodox treatments to be careful when selecting an unproven remedy and open-minded about the possibility of combining traditional and nontraditional forms of healing. Research a treatment thoroughly and check out the attitudes of your alternative practitioner. Be suspicious if she or he is unwilling to speak with your regular doctor. Likewise, if your medical doctor refuses to consider supplementing your program with alternative treatments, you can probably find another with a more open mind. That’s very important, because you should be able to discuss with your doctor whatever treatments you use or want. Unproven remedies can have harmful side effects, just as traditional medicines can, so it’s crucial to keep the lines of communication open; if you have questions or concerns, you should be able to simply call and ask. And use common sense. If an unproven remedy is outrageously expensive or seems at all dangerous, it might end up doing more harm than good.