Naturopaths a good choice for Autism Treatment? Read what this SFU report says

Beyerstein BL, Downey S. Naturopathy. In: Sampson W, Vaughn L, eds. Science Meets Alternative Medicine: What the Evidence Says About Unconventional Treatments. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books; 2000:141-163. There is suppose to be a free draft copy of this report available from SFU, but since my original reading it seems to have been taken off line. :(

But ...not to be undone, I have located some passages on Science Based Medicine where Kimball Atwood, MD blogs about this topic. In this piece, Atwood has a great quote from the book by Barry Beyerstein (the above author)and one of the fathers of the skeptics and science based medicine movement:

"In our research for this chapter, we provided naturopaths and their professional associations ample opportunity to refute the conclusions of several major commissions of inquiry over the years that deemed their therapeutic rationale lacking in scientific credibility. None of our informants was able to convince us that the field had taken these earlier critiques to heart; in fact, precious few seemed to recognize that a problem still exists. [O]ur own bibliographic searches failed to discover any properly controlled clinical trials that supported claims of the profession, except in a few limited areas where naturopaths’ advice concurs with that of orthodox medical science. Where naturopathy and biomedicine disagree, the evidence is uniformly to the detriment of the former.

We therefore conclude that clients drawn to naturopaths are either unaware of the well-established scientific deficiencies of naturopathic practice or choose willfully to disregard them on ideological grounds."

Atwood further writes that naturopaths tend to be "strongly affiliated" with the antivacciation movement and goes on to state that:

"Naturopathic beliefs — including those of “naturopathic physicians” — are rooted in vitalism, the pre-20th-century assertion that biological processes do not conform to universal physical and chemical principles. Naturopaths describe a “healing power of nature,” which is compromised by modern medicine."

Well, looking up autism on the web here in BC we see ND's (Naturopathic Doctors) who offer "chiropractic treatment" and "homeopathic vaccines" to children. What exactly is a "homeopathic vaccine" and what studies are there that show they work to prevent disease?

I. for one, eagerly await the publication of this book. I just wish the public would pay more attention to science, and less to wishful and magical thinking.

How do you find good, science based information to make your medical choices? Go to the National Academy of .....whatever field. Go to the NIH (National Institute of Health), look the topic up on Quackwatch, the science-based medicine blog or simply type the search words in to your browser adding the words "quackwatch," or "skeptic." This will usually lead you to some more critical reading. Finally, go to your medical doctor and ask.