What exactly does science-based medicine mean? The perception of validity in the evidence-based medicine model (one that uses evidence from well designed and conducted research) guides decisions on treatment of diseases, but is there an actual correlation between what is “scientifically proven” and effectiveness?

What Data Reveals

New data suggests that an evidence-based approach to selecting medical options may be severely limited and that other highly effective methods in the scope of alternative medicine are ruled out for not being scientific, when simply their mechanism of action may not be fully understood through the current model.

The British Medical Journal recently undertook a general analysis of common medical treatments to determine which are supported by sufficient reliable evidence. They evaluated around 2,500 treatments, and the results were as follows:

• 13 percent were found to be beneficial
• 23 percent were likely to be beneficial
• Eight percent were as likely to be harmful as beneficial
• Six percent were unlikely to be beneficial
• Four percent were likely to be harmful or ineffective.

This left the largest category, 46 percent, as unknown in their effectiveness. In other words, when you take your sick child to the hospital or clinic, there is only a 36 percent chance that he will receive a treatment that has been scientifically demonstrated to be either beneficial or likely to be beneficial.

This mythology of science-based medicine requires some serious consideration. Current statistics illustrate a serious global problem in terms of treatment of diseases, and a losing battle on multiple fronts:

• Cancer cases are expected to surge 57% worldwide in the next 20 years, an imminent “human disaster” that will require a renewed focus on prevention to combat, according to the World Health Organization.
• Over the past three decades, the number of adults with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes worldwide has more than doubled, jumping from 153 million in 1980 to 347 million today.
• Autism rates climbed nearly 30% between 2008 and 2010 and have more than doubled since the turn of the century, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A comprehensive and balanced approach utilizing an experience-based medicinal model that includes personalized treatment of the patient (not the disease) may offer the best solutions to reversing the current health crisis.

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