highthief

Nuts, wishful thinkers, or really onto something?

I ask because in the wake of the swine flu vaccination campaign (along with the ever present childhood innoculations that make the news whenever someone in Hollywood suggest they cause autism) many people turn to homeopathic remedies in an attempt to fight off infections and maintain health.

Now, the main objection to standard vaccinations tends to be one where some feel the vaccines will cause other, debilitating illness even if they do prevent the illness being innoculated against - be that flu, polio, measles, etc. Now these vaccinations have been heavily studied over the years by many, many organizations from CDC and WHO to universities to private companies and everything we know suggests that risks of serious side effect (Guillame-Barre syndrome for example in the case of the flu shot) are very small - between 1/160,000 to 1/1,000,000 depending on which studies you consider.

But when people decide to go to the health food store and take an herbal mixture, there have usually been very few large scale studies done on the material to determine just how safe the stuff is, or how it works (or doesn't work) when taken in conjunction with other herbs. Yes, a few herbs such as ginseng have been well studied - most have not been. So how do people who take such remedies reconcile the herbs unknown safety record with the known safety records of standard vaccines?

Personally, I'm thinking "wishful thinking" describes the majority of folks who place their faith in these remedies. I can generally understand why people might turn to such approaches when a more proven option is not available - I've used them myself in such circumstances - but it is often a "hit and hope" approach when a scientifically proven option is not available.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.