This post is part of our forum on David H. Freedman's July/August story, "The Triumph of New Age Medicine." Follow the debate here.
Any discussion of complementary and alternative medicine inevitably polarizes people. Both sides feel very strongly that they are "right" and can provide dramatic examples of the benefits of -- or serious harm caused by -- whatever approach they support or challenge. However, it is unlikely that anyone will change his or her mind based on an article or expert opinion.
Regardless of which view one holds, it is well documented that patients do things that physicians do not prescribe, and they benefit from mechanisms we might not expect. We have evidence that good communication skills result in improved health outcomes. An article published in March's Academic Medicine correlated higher empathy scores in physicians with objective improvement in their patients' ability to control diabetes. As we learn to measure the variables of the physician-patient relationship, bridges can be built between seemingly disparate treatment modalities.
In this forum, Steven Salzberg states that only one kind of medicine exists -- "the kind that works." I agree, but we don't always know how to measure success. Research suggests a significant part of our care might depend more on placebo than we'd like to admit. All controlled trials recognize the power of the placebo effect, which has always been and will always be a part of medical care. Rather than controlling for it, we could work to augment its benefit to our patients.