Scientific Support for Alternative Medicine

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Letter: Scientific Support for Alternative Medicine

Sir: Johann Hari asks "How can intelligent people use alternative medicine?" (Comment, 3 December). I have a Biological Sciences degree from Oxford University and I am a Chinese medicine practitioner.

My confidence in my profession is not fuelled by spurious anecdote. The Independent itself recently reported a study showing improvement of 50 per cent in IVF treatment success following acupuncture treatment; indeed an enquiry to the Acupuncture Research Resource Centre reveals 19 pages of post-2001 peer-reviewed references (27 papers) supporting the use of acupuncture to enhance fertility. Similarly, artemisins derived from traditional Chinese herbs now form the basis of much contemporary anti-malarial research and pharmaceutical treatment.

The Chinese notion of "Qi" may be esoteric but it is certainly not mysterious. I can only suggest that Mr Hari's ignorance of Chinese culture and medicine is as profound as the research for his article was poor. Is a quarter of the world's population, building on a 4,000-year tradition, really as stupid as he suggests?

GEORGE COOPER

Bristol

Source: Independent, The; London (UK)
Posted on: Monday, 6 December 2004, 06:00 CST

URL: http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=108674