Alternative Medicine? Boon or Bust!

I know there are a lot of supporters for homeopathy and ayurveda but there is a time and place for everything.

This patient who came to the casualty on sat. had been transferred from a pvt hosp with all investigations done with a diagnosis of multiple liver abscesses. Now the thing with this is that one person had reported them as abscesses and the other as cancer spread.

The lady got admitted and as things would have it she got a little better but she started getting jaundice. Now this could be because of hepatitis, hepatocellular failure (liver failure)or the cancer spreading.

Some godforsaken well wishers told her that jaundice can be definetely cured with some ayurvedic medicine available in her village.

This morning she decided to take a discharge against medical advice and go there to get ayurvedic treatment.

The problem is that if this is a cancer there is nothing that ayurveda, homeopathy or even allopathy can do to cure it. What ppl must understand is that there are many causes of jaundice and some can be cured easily and others can't. Generally viral jaundice will clear in two weeks even without treatment and that sometimes is attributed to a miracle cure to alternative medicine because they give it for 15 days.

I have no problem with alternative medicine but please think about this lady who will probably die of cancer spread in two months where she could have lived for upto 2 years with the proper supportive medical treatment. So, I'm not exactly sure if I can be satisfied with my knowledge of healing if I can't break through traditional belief's that friends and relatives will give better advice than you're Doctor!

This might be a little more clear to medicos but I will be happy to answer questions if they do come up from non-medicos!