Diluting the Diagnosis

Today I want to add another episode to the SCAM (Specialist in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) series. This is a true story that happened about 2 years back. One of my patients with (not so severe) psoriasis had lower back ache. He was aware of the possibility of psoriatic spondylitis. I told him that lower back ache from psoriasis is relatively uncommon and the back-pain might not be related. He went to a homeopathic “physician” practising nearby and was promptly recommended x-ray of the spine. The homeopath diagnosed psoriatic spondylitis or its homeopathic equivalent and started treatment. I must admit that I lack his skills to promptly diagnose psoriatic spondylitis from x-ray. But why do these scams use the diagnostic tools of modern medicine. Hope they don’t dilute it to make it more potent.

Related articles

• Psoriatic Arthritis (lupuschronicles.com)
• Sweet Scam – Part 1 (gulfdoctor.blogspot.com)
• A “personal case” for homeopathy, part 2 (scienceblogs.com)