There is always a lot of anecdotal and testimonial
evidence for alternative remedies. It can be difficult to refute anecdotes as
they are not testable and are subjective in nature.
However, there are many reasons why bogus treatments can
appear to work, and some of those reasons are given here:
- Incorrect diagnosis
A condition may have been diagnosed by a qualified doctor, an alternative
practitioner, or self-diagnosed. Whichever way it was diagnosed, there's a
chance that it could be wrong. The likelihood of a misdiagnosis increasing
the less qualified the person doing the diagnosis is.
Wrongly assigning a condition to symptoms could give the illusion of an
unlikely or even a "miracle" cure having taken place, whereas a correct
diagnosis would have revealed a condition that would have cleared up of
its own accord.
- The placebo effect
The placebo effect is probably the primary reason for bogus therapies appearing
to work. There is an article on the placebo effect here: The
Placebo Effect
- Self limiting diseases.
Self-limiting diseases have a finite lifetime and will clear up naturally
as the body fights off the infection.
A remedy taken during the course of the illness could be seen as having cured
the patient of the condition, especially if taken whilst the symptoms are
at their worst.
See also: Confirmation
bias and post hoc fallacy
- The rhythmic nature of chronic conditions
Many chronic (permanent) conditions have "flare ups" where the symptoms,
often periodically, get worse before getting better again. The sufferer will
seek treatment when the flare up is at its worst which again can lead to the
illusion that an ineffective treatment has made a difference.
See: regressive fallacy.
- Complementary treatments
When taking prescribed medication many people also take alternative remedies
(under the misnomer: complementary medicine) and when they get better they
may ascribe their cure to the alternative treatment and overlook the fact
that it was the real treatment which brought about the cure.
- Self-delusion
With a strong belief in alternative remedies, a person who has invested their
emotion, time and money on an alternative treatment will be looking for it
to work.
Even when no improvement occurs in their condition they will convince themselves
that it has had a positive effect, even if it's just to claim that it prevented
them from getting worse.
See: Wishful thinking
- Spontaneous remission
This phenomenon can happen at any time. It is well documented that in a small
number of cases, people who have even been diagnosed with terminal cancer
will inexplicably recover to normal health. How this happens is not understood.
This is one reason why miracle cancer cures can sometimes seem to work: spontaneous
remission will occur in patients seeking alternative treatments as well as
those in proper medical care.
- Psychosomatic illness.
Somatizers are people who present or claim to have physical symptoms which
are similar to organic disease, but which are a result of psychological conflicts,
stress, anxieties, etc. These people, who are convinced they are ill, refuse
to accept any psychological explanation for their symptoms. This means that
conventional medicine can do little for them, and they end up with the opinion
that conventional medicine is uncaring and unhelpful.
They are often after support, sympathy, reassurance, and a sense of recognition;
this is something that alternative practitioners cater for. They are willing
to diagnose and confirm whatever the patient thinks they have and offer their
treatment accordingly.
This leads to a vicious circle where the patient becomes stuck playing what's
known as "the sick role", and the alternative practitioner being convinced
that their particular treatment works because their patient is telling them
so. Meanwhile, the root cause of the patient's problems never gets addressed.
Ironically, these are the very people who sing the praises of alternative
medicine often with anecdotes of wonderful results due to their treatment.
