UK Athritis Charity Hits Back at Placebo Claim as New Study Links Diet and Rheumatoid Arthritis

March 20, 2008 - Press Dispensary - Claims that all complementary and alternative therapies (CAMs) are nothing more than placebos, despite evidence to the contrary, are misguided, according to The Arthritic Association ( http://www.arthriticassociation.org.uk ), and may be hindering the cause of progress in the understanding of chronic health conditions.

The statement comes in response to yesterday's report* from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm suggesting links between rheumatoid arthritis, diet and the risk of stroke or heart failure. The Arthritic Association claims this is indicative of the growing body of knowledge linking diet to the causes and treatment of arthritis which has been largely ignored by the medical establishment because of its ‘alternative’ label.

Negative press coverage of CAMs, and the publication of books such as 'Snake Oil Science, The Truth About Complementary and Alternative Medicine' (R. Barker Bausell, Oxford 2007), has left many people wondering if they have been the victims of charlatanism, something which dismays Bruce Hester, principal home treatment adviser at The Arthritic Association.

“To label all non-orthodox medical interventions as quackery, their success due to nothing more than the placebo effect, is a sweeping condemnation,” he said, “Plus, many CAMs do not lend themselves to being ‘proven’ in the way that orthodox western science dictates, through the methodology of double-blind clinical trials.”

Founder of The Arthritic Association, Charles de Coti-Marsh, carried out research into the causes of arthritis, its treatment and prevention, during the 1940s and 1950s. Despite de Coti-Marsh’s success with patients, no clinical studies were ever conducted which meant his work went unrecognised.

Hester and his colleagues claim that developments in such areas of science as nutritional biochemistry, immunology and pharmacology indicate that de Coti-Marsh was ahead of his time.

“This rings true with what Charles de Coti-Marsh was saying 70 years ago,” says Elizabeth Hartland, Nutritional Therapist for The Arthritic Association, commenting on the Karolinska Institute study. “All scientific ‘proof’ starts with a hypothesis. The critics may dismiss the available evidence as being anecdotal and subjective, but that doesn’t mean a treatment is without substance.”

Source: * Vegan diet promotes atheroprotective antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
http://ki.se/k/i/jsp/polopoly.jsp?l=en&d=130&a=52276&newsdep=130

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About The Arthritic Association
Founded in 1942, The Arthritic Association (www.arthriticassociation.org.uk) is a registered charity dedicated to helping relieve people from the pain of arthritis through natural methods.

About the Karolinksa Institute
The Karolinska Institutet based in Stockholm ( http://ki.se/?l=en ) is one of Europe's largest medical universities. It is also Sweden´s largest centre for medical training and research, with responsibility for awarding the annual Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

For further information, please contact:
Ian Sketchley, secretary and treasurer, The Arthritic Association
Tel: 01323 433770 / 07510 512905
Email:
Site: www.arthriticassociation.org.uk