musclemom, I am going to make a few comments, and then will refrain from posting in this thread again.
You accuse me of not being open minded, when in fact I am. I research herbal remedies as much as I do new medicines. Yes, there are some herbs that have benefits. Just because someone is taught something does not mean he or she cannot learn on his or her own. For your information, I was NOT taught in a conventional medical school. In fact, I was taught at a problem-based school that emphasized self-directed learning. Is it a lackluster school that uses this philosophy? Hardly. It's one of the top medical schools in the country. If you're in the Boston area, I'm sure you are familiar.
You are correct in saying that normal human body does not need a proton pump inhibitor. However, for the people who have problems with their lower esophageal sphincter (LES), they would disagree. No matter what they eat, acid still refluxes into their esophagus. It's equivalent to having a leak in the drain of a sink. You turn on the acid (water) to fill up the sink, but the drain leaks down into the esophagus. No food changes will cure these individuals as the problem is not food, but instead is a problem with the valve itself (the LES). Your analogy makes it sound as if you throw distilled water instead of tap water into the sink, the drain will stop leaking. A faulty reasoning strategy to say the least.
I urge you to brush up on your anatomy and physiology, because 70% of our immune system is not produced by the intestines. You should investigate complement production by the spleen, T-cell production and priming by the thymus, bone marrow, etc. Yes, it is true that the intestines contain Peyer's patches and the appendix, but these are not responsible for 70% of our immune system.
You are partially correct in your assessment for the causes of cancer of the intestine. Toxins do play a major role, especially nitrates and lack of fiber. It is not immune mediated, however. Most of it is genetically mediated. p53 genes are the primary mediators, but there are others (MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, APC, etc.). When these cell mediators of DNA replication and mitosis are damaged, the cells run amok and divide uncontrollably. It's hard to say that toxins are the cause of colon cancer in an 18-year-old who dies from hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) because of his or her diet when the vast majority (one could argue all) of patients without this defective gene do not develop colon cancer before they reach 30 years of age.
It is your choice, to a degree, to refuse life-sustaining or curative treatment for your child. However, diet and lifestyle changes will not cure leukemia. It is concerning that you actually believe it will. Do you think medicine would ignore something that cures cancer? Despite what you may believe, we are not slaves to the pharmaceutical industry. I am not on their payroll, and never have been. I do not receive free lunches from them, nor do I write with any of their pens. None of my colleagues do either -- it's strictly forbidden at my hospital. Many other hospitals in the nation also follow along. Even those that do receive free dinners and gifts have nothing to gain by not curing disease. Why? When it comes down to it, we're all human, and physicians hate to see suffering.
A few days ago I witnessed the death of a woman who refused a blood transfusion after a car accident. We tried non-blood alternatives, and both the trauma surgeon and me clearly explained to her that she would likely die without a blood transfusion. We honored her wishes, and she died. It's a sad thing to see, and I wish I had some sort of alternative that could have actually worked. Sometimes the most devoted people often don't make the most rational decisions, but who am I to judge?
Why does a doctor give you a pill when you complain of heartburn? Because the majority of patients are not going to change their diet. This is why most physicians no longer spend a lot of time on educating people about diet. It goes in one ear and out the other. Sixty per cent of people on statins could lower their cholesterol through diet and exercise (the remaining 40% are genetic and nothing they do can lower them from dangerous levels). How many actually choose to change their diets? Less than 8% according to one study I read.
Finally, it is humorous to read how devoted you are to your beliefs about medicine. I'm sorry that you feel that way, and hopefully with education you can see that medicine isn't as closed minded as you think it is. You should open up to medicine and evaluate each option for yourself. You stating that I cannot think outside the boundaries of conventional medicine is like the pot calling the kettle black. You seem so devoted to your cause that you fail to realize other causes of a problem. This is something we call "tunnel vision" in medicine, and it can get patients killed. If someone presents with chest pain, you can't automatically assume that every chest pain is cardiac. There are other causes. You seem to think that every heartburn is caused by a food allergy, which is nonsense.
You should ensure that peer-reviewed studies prove what you advocate. Diet and lifestyle for leukemia will only hasten a child's death. As an Ivy-league educated physician, it was taught very early in my career that there are indications for alternative medicine, and to this day I remain open to them. Some I truly believe in (stress reduction techniques, certain supplements), while others are purely a waste of money. As I mentioned earlier, I do recognize that food allergies can cause heartburn. However, unlike you, I also realize that other causes can cause heartburn as well. Who is it with the open mind?
This will be my last response to any of your posts in this thread.
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