The people I babysit for recent went New Age on me.  Not too long ago, the youngest boy (who is two and a half) was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease where his immune system is killing his hair follicles, causing him to go bald.  The doctors told her it’s most likely permanent, so his mom took him to a specialist in alternative medicine to try to get a different answer.

The specialist — who is not a doctor, by the way — put the kids on a wacky diet: no dairy, no gluten, no sugar.  Not even any fruit!  I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to cure autoimmune diseases.

On the whole I’m not a fan of alternative medicine, but that’s mainly because so much of it seems to be largely based on not enough research — or even none at all.  Even I have to admit that not all alternative medicine is like that, though.  For instance, there is plenty of research demonstrating the benefits of healing magnet treatments, where magnets are used as drug-free alternative pain relief.  In this case, though, years and years of studies have shown the power of magnets in chronic pain management.

Somehow I don’t think the same is true for restricting one’s diet in order to cure an autoimmune disease!

Technorati Tags: alternative medicine, alternative pain relief, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain management, healing magnet