The doctor explained the danger of traditional medicine: “Heal oncology with grass for 700 thousand”

More than half of Russians believe in the effectiveness of traditional medicine. This was shown by a new poll of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). In the top of the most popular non-traditional methods are herbal medicine (38%), bee products (30%), bath treatment (23%), manual therapy (18%), acupressure (17%), acupuncture (15%), homeopathy (13%). %), conspiracies from diseases and sessions with healers (about 5%). Fortunately, most Russians do not refuse official medicine, but there are those who do not recognize anything but herbs. What is wrong with compatriots, learned “MK”.

So, today 52% of Russians consider 52% of Russians to be as effective as official folk medicine. In other words, more than half of our compatriots do not see the difference between oak bark and aspirin, honey treatment and targeted therapy, osteopathy and arterial stenting. Most often, such beliefs are found among people aged 35-59 years (38-37%), that is, those who have already acquired a particular chronic disease. Fortunately, young people are more selective in this matter: 74% of young Russians prefer medical assistance to healers.

At the same time, 46% of Russians recognize traditional medicine, but half of these people are still confident that traditional doctors are more effective. About 40% are convinced that everything depends on the disease: in some cases, official medicine is more effective, in others – traditional medicine. Admirers of exclusively traditional medicine in total 6%.

Most Russians use both: they take medicines prescribed by official doctors, but do not disdain supplements from the world of traditional medicine. There are a monstrous number of those who are not treated at all in Russia – 11%. There are even more of those who do not go to doctors at all (about 17%). In one way or another, 71% of Russians, regardless of age, turned to the practitioners of traditional medicine treatment.

The results of the survey for “MK” commented famous doctor, head of an ambulance from St. Petersburg Lev Averbakh:

“The fact that there are 52% of such Russians does not surprise me at all,” the expert said. – Previous polls gave about the same figures. At the same time, about the same number of Russians believe in astrology and in a flat earth – this is generally about the level of intelligence and education. By the way, in America there are also many people who believe in traditional medicine, 35 percent. People are probably the same everywhere.

– What are the main reasons for such trust in non-traditional methods of treatment?

– The reasons are complex, they are very different. And the fact that many people do not believe in evidence-based medicine; and the lack of desire or money to be treated by official doctors, and the fear of radical therapy, and the expectation of some “what if it resolves”, “what if it helps.” Factors are polyvalent. And all this leads to the fact that we have a very low life expectancy.

– But in America it is not low …

– Not in America. But there insurance medicine is more focused on people, there is no fear of going to the doctor. In our country, “and it helped me” is very quickly transmitted by word of mouth. Do you know why it “helps”? Because the disease tends to recover at the pathogenetic level. If you broke your leg, it will still heal even without a cast (another question is how it will heal). If you get pneumonia, you can recover without antibiotics (complications are another matter). And this feature of the human body – to recover from ailments – creates the illusion of effectiveness and faith in people in the same homeopathy (I accepted it and recovered in a week). The number of fans of traditional medicine in our country is approximately equal to the number of anti-vaccinators (and often these are the same people). The fact that there are so many of them is to blame for the poor work of the authorities in promoting not just a healthy, but the correct lifestyle, in promoting vaccination. The authorities today almost do not respond to the messages of anti-vaxxers.

– And yet, not all diseases go away on their own, and sometimes traditional medicine not only does not help, but also harms …

– The most dangerous thing, even if a person does not use harmful methods, is the loss of time. If a person begins to be treated with herbs for the same oncology, it will grow from the first stage to the second, third – time will be spent on herbal medicine, coffee enemas, and so on. And in the third stage, it is much more difficult to cure cancer, and the effectiveness will be much less than if treatment is started at the first stage. Today, there is a lack of prevention, medical examinations, they do not convince people to properly monitor their health. This is a whole complex of colossal problems, which translates into these 52%.

– Have you encountered patients affected by the treatment of folk methods?

– There are many things to deal with. My colleagues and I constantly discuss such cases: in our professional chats, in groups dedicated to quack treatments. There are egregious cases, but most often there are patients who treat themselves with soda, treatment with vitamin droppers, and other useless and ineffective methods that are promoted and distributed. And the phenomenon is that it is very easy to convince people of the effectiveness of an unconventional method. For example, someone said at the beginning of the epidemic that zinc cures coronavirus – and the whole world began to take zinc. And no matter how much the doctors fought, tried to convince people that zinc does not help – no one believes! This is an amazing story! People cling to some kind of fake: you have to try, it won’t get worse. But the truth is that apart from immunity, nothing helps yourself. And everything that is taken excessively, the body begins to reject, it spends energy on fighting these substances, and as a result, it fights less with a real infection.

– Well, we all love to increase immunity in general!

– Yes, despite the fact that it is impossible to stimulate it with anything other than vaccines. Now Chinese traditional medicine has become wildly popular, which is supposedly thousands of years old. Yes, she is not thousands of years old. It began to develop only after the war, when the Chinese began to invent fairy tales to attract tourists. All this acupuncture and reflexology are ineffective methods. Time, medicines, peace, cold, anything can heal, but it seems to people that needles …

…Meanwhile, many cases of patients who have suffered from traditional methods of treatment are being discussed in medical groups. Thus, one doctor tells the story of a young patient, mother of two children, who died of breast cancer. “She could have lived a long time, but she didn’t. Because of superstitions, scammers and fear of evidence-based medicine in the 21st century!” the doctor complains. The patient required complex treatment (chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, hormonal injections and pills), but after the operation she refused the rest of the treatment. Because there was a people’s doctor who told her that chemotherapy kills, and hormone therapy is prescribed only for older women. But the woman believed this doctor and gave him a course of some kind of injections to “improve immunity.” As a result, at the age of 32, the patient died.

A glaring incident recently occurred in Moscow. An oncologist was sued for breach of business reputation by a “herbalist” who promised to cure oncology with grass for 700,000. An herbalist from Baikal sells her “natural product” and “guides patients”. In her opinion, cancer is a “gift” from above, and cancer patients “receive the gift of magicians.” At the same time, she not only “treats” cancer patients with Baikal herbs, but also insists on the rejection of science-based treatment – ​​chemotherapy. For patients who do not have the money to receive her “miracle treatment”, she advises “think about why he does not have money and health at the same time and take care of his mind. You may not need herbs.” As a result, the oncologist wrote her a couple of kind words on the social network and urged patients not to give up evidence-based medicine. In response, the healer scribbled a lawsuit against her. “My treatment does not connect in any way with official medicine, so when contacting me, first decide whether you are for chemistry or herbs,” explains the “phytotherapeutist”. And he even calls those who disagree with the methods of her treatment “a herd that must be entrusted to the system, since such people cannot take care of themselves on their own.”

Doctors once again say: trust official medicine. Do not fall for the bait of charlatans, do not waste time, especially if you have a serious diagnosis. I would like to believe that someday the number of patients who do not trust traditional medicine will outweigh those who are its apologists.