When one's life is on the line, and one's health is in danger, who do should be trusted? When it comes to children's diseases being treated by proven methods or unproven myths, which should be chosen? Alternative medicine offers a dangerous and unproven way around medical doctors and normal treatments and medicines, but is it worth it? According to most medical doctors and good chiropractors, it is bad practice and just not worth it. People start to believe that these treatments work through a few researched topics, one being the placebo effect. Dishonesty in chiropractic plays a big role, in diagnosing patients and over treating them just for a little extra cash. Even fellow chiropractors disapprove of some practices they have seen or heard of. It seems they do not agree on methods being used because of lack of proof that they work. Lastly, some doctors make it known that chiropractic care for anything other than an actual spinal injury is not recommended.
There is good reason why people believe and spread word of alternative medicines. More specifically, the placebo effect can cause this, and is shown in practices ranging from homeopathy to chiropractic adjustments to cure organic diseases. Sameul Homola, a chiropractor, shows scientific reasons as to why people tend to believe false allegations in "Placebos, Nocebos, and Chiropractic Adjustments." Although the placebo effect works more on the mental side, Homola believes that it may temporarily help physical symptoms. Some researchers suggest that the results of placebos are too little to use clinically, while others, like a study published in Science, saw temporary symptom relief in Parkinson's disease sufferers due to a release of dopamine, explains Homola. Homola suggests that due to the sometimes effectiveness of the placebo, phonies or fakes can scam people out of money, and it can even have a nocebo effect, meaning a negative effect or injury of the patient.
