I was on the phone with a guy in our offshore support office in India. He asked how I was doing, referencing the whole cancer adventure. I said fine, all signs are good, I’m doing well.
Then he said they have a system of medicine that might be helpful - Ayurveda. :eek::mad:
VERY quickly (yet cheerfully) I said, “Oh, I’ve researched that - it’s not for me.”
But no.
I’ve been instructed to get some Indian gooseberry to detoxify me. And “Hey, fuck you” was not a career-enhancing response so I had to spin and act nice, and try to get the hell off the subject.
I had the same thing happen while I was pregnant. Indian co-workers would give me traditional remedies for morning sickness or offer me traditional medications for making the baby smart, etc. I just tried to appreciate the thought and didn’t touch any of it. I refrained from yelling, “are you trying to KILL my baby?!” Pregnancy hormones make that harder than you might think.
Huh. Not that I think Ayurveda could cure you of cancer or “detox” your system or whatever…but it’s a system with a strong focus on food, and it recommends altering your intake depending on your physical condition. For stuff like morning sickness or maybe the nausea that comes with cancer treatments, couldn’t it maybe be helpful? I don’t actually know the answer to that question, I’m just surprised that the word “ayurveda” would evoke such a response. I know nothing of cancer, but regarding morning sickness, I felt MUCH better once I started drinking just a sip of pure lemon juice in the morning. The smell alone…gosh did the hormones make fresh lemons smell good!
(I should also note that I hate the term and idea of “alternative medicine.” I strongly prefer “complementary medicine.” For example, I take horse chestnut to make my varicose-y legs feel better and it works like a charm - clinical studies back that up, so it’s not just my own experience - but I’ve also had surgery to get big ones removed. Both forms of medicine can work, and one doesn’t have to exclude the other.)
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Huh. Not that I think Ayurveda could cure you of cancer or “detox” your system or whatever…but it’s a system with a strong focus on food, and it recommends altering your intake depending on your physical condition…I’m just surprised that the word “ayurveda” would evoke such a response.
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It’s a “system” that also has a strong emphasis on drugs with poor quality control and a high level of heavy metals.
*"Ayurvedic treatments can consist of a range of modalities, including herbal remedies taken by mouth. These preparations have often been reported to be contaminated with toxic metals. Despite several case reports of poisoning from such contamination, the epidemiological evidence is still limited. A new paper on this important topic is therefore welcome. It reports on a cluster of lead and mercury toxicity cases which occurred 2011 among a community of users of Ayurvedic remedies in the US.
Following the identification of the index case, adherents of Ayurveda were offered heavy metals screening. The results showed that 46 of 115 participants (40%) had elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) of 10 μg/dl or above, with 9.6% of BLLs at or above 50 μg/dl.
The authors issued the following warning: this is the largest cluster of lead and mercury toxicity following use of Ayurvedic supplements described in the literature in the US. Contamination of herbal products is a public health issue of global significance. There are few regulations addressing contamination of “natural” products or supplements.
Rasa shastra, the practice of adding metals, minerals or gems to herbal preparations, is a well-documented part of Ayurveda. Adverse reactions to herbs are described in traditional Ayurvedic texts, but practitioners tend to be reluctant to admit that their remedies could be toxic and that reliable information on their risks is not readily available.
Already in 1990, a study on Ayurvedic medicines in India found that 41% of the products tested contained arsenic, and that 64% contained lead and mercury. A 2004 study found toxic levels of heavy metals in 20% of Ayurvedic preparations sold in the Boston area. A 2008 study of more than 230 products found that approximately 20% of remedies (and 40% of rasa shastra medicines) purchased over the Internet from U.S. and Indian suppliers contained lead, mercury or arsenic."*
Someone who already is dealing with bone marrow suppression and anemia due to cancer therapy doesn’t need a heaping helping of lead on top of it (from Ayurvedic drugs lacking evidence of efficacy).
Also, you know what really helped with the nausea? FDA-approved anti-nausea medications. And what helped the low blood cell count? An actual shot they can give you that makes your bone marrow make more blood cells. Pretty neat, huh? And none of this helpful medication came from shamans wishing really hard.
Ayurveda is just another system of magical thinking based on ignorance of scientific methods for reducing observation errors. It’s exactly the same as any other woo.
Plus, if one has a chronic or serious illness, one is constantly fending off health advice. Even if people are well-meaning, the cumulative effect is exhausting. Many people won’t take no for an answer, and it’s especially bad to deal with if the so-called health advice is worthless or harmful, as this clearly was.
