On ‘Alternative’ c.f. ‘Mainstream’ Medicine

Salaam, Merry Christmas and a Happy new year to all Christian and non-Christian Iranian web loggers throughout the world,

I just finished reading Babak's blog on the recent attacks launched by the Iranian Ministry of Health &... against Reiki; which as far as I can remember is not the first, and will definitely not be the last of its kind.

Still these confrontations are not limited to Iran, and are a major topic of debate (and a particularly ‘yummy’ subject for journalistic discussions all over the world). Obviously many of the ‘golden’ or ‘standard’ treatments of modern mainstream medicine have at least some of their roots in what has at some stage been considered ‘alternative', or even ‘bizarre’ and non-scientific. Here TIME and only TIME can show whether or not a certain ‘treatment’ (if we believe such a thing exists at all !) is as effective as, or more effective than the ones already known and practiced.

This inevitably takes us to the next important issue and that is the ABSOLUTE versus the RELATIVE usefulness of a certain treatment. What makes a treatment stand the test of TIME is usually not whether it is simply effective, but that HOW EFFECTIVE it is compared to other available treatments (traditional or otherwise), and TO WHAT EXTENT does it can help the general patient population (& not just 1, 2 or 10 patients).

The techniques of Reiki and (its cousin Shiatsu) have been observed to be as efficacious as some standard methods for a number of disorders, and are used as valuable adjuncts in some private and government-sponsored health systems; while research into their mode of action and effectiveness (as well as the fierce battles of words, allegations and counter-allegations between their supporters and opponents!) continues; and who knows, maybe in a few decades (or even less), instead of a certain department of a single hospital in a certain country; they will complement or even substitute currently standard therapies.

Until then, though:

Beh dele ‘doost’ (in this case, the patient) beh ha ‘ hileh’ rahi baayad jost!

Mor Later
Eraadatmand

Aa’ Mirza