So this article came out in the Globe and Mail yesterday and was no shock to me. Homeopathy doesn't work, you say? But come on, its such a legitimate form of medicine!

Before I started medicine I remember being fairly enthusiastic about alternative medicine and homeopathy and such. "Why", I thought, "it would take a very small minded person to discount years of tradition."

However, once I started classes, I realized a fundamental aspect of the medical profession- we treat people with medicine that has been SCIENTIFICALLY AND STATISTICALLY PROVEN to heal. It sounds like I'm trying to be sarcastic. But I'm not!

You don't know the amount of lecture time we have dedicated to evidence-based medicine- that is, looking at studies which have determined whether or not a particular therapy is effective. Based on a large sample size. And statistics. Treatment regiments are constantly being examined for effeciacy and are constantly being reevaluated.

Its not like medical doctors have anything against herbs. I love herbs! In fact, if herbs worked at curing people's diseases, doctors would use them all the time! Its not like there is some conspiracy with the pharmaceutical companies saying that we can only use drugs that have been processed and refined (although I'm sure lots of people think this is true.) The fact is, people do studies on whether herbs are effective medicine all the time. And almost all of the time, studies prove that herbs are no more effective than placebo for curing disease. Do a pubmed search and you'll discover this for yourself.

The reason people like to take herbs is because there is a perception that

1. There are hardly any side effects (because they aren't really doing anything).

2. They seem more "natural" (which is crazy when you think about it because herbal medicine isn't regulated. Those companies could be putting just about anything edible into those pills and it would be totally legal.)

However, what most people don't realize about any medicine, is that

1. If you are putting anything into your body-there are the possibility of side effects. Furthermore, because a lot of people don't classify herbs as "real medicine" they often don't include them in their medication list that they give their doctor, which can mean interaction between medications. I heard a story about a lady who was supposed to be on aspirin therapy, but started taking high doses of willow-bark extract instead (essentially the same thing). She was, in fact, overdosing on aspirin, but didn't recognize it as such. Which brings me to my second point of

2. All medicine is natural is some respects. It doesn't make it good or bad. Most medicine has been discovered from nature. Putting a green label on a bottle and calling the medicine natural doesn't mean that it is any more effective.

There, that's my rant. I'm going to close by saying the best way to stay healthy isn't by taking lots and lots of herbs everyday. Everyone knows the best way to avoid disease:

1. Excercise
2. Eat healthy foods
3. Keep your weight down
4. don't smoke
5. don't drink
6. have a lot of social supports

Okay I've totally changed my mind. School sucks. I never want to go back.

So its my last week off before I start school again and I'll admit it: I'm bored. I know this is going to set off a howl of protest from my workforce audience- "she has 3 months off and she has the audacity to be BORED?? Doesn't she know that I'm busting my ass getting up at 6am everyday and working in the coalmine while she gets to sleep in and watch daytime TV for hours at a time? How DARE SHE!"

But the fact is- that I've run out of stuff to do. I had my trip (which was very nice, thank you) and now i've had my "relaxing" time at home, and now i have nothing else to do. I need there to be some sort of focus in my life again, instead of my productivity being measured in the number of picture albums i've completed, or the number of bad- end-of-summer movies i can see. (Wedding Crashers, anyone?)

Well its a GOOD THING that i'm heading back to the coalmine next week...which will bring with it its own set of scariness.

Do you know when you are anticipating an event for a long time- you'll run through all of the possible scenarios that could play out in your head? Isn't it strange when that event actually occurs how it doesn't even slightly resemble any of them? I'm rather disappointed.

Tonight I went out for Korean food with Alana and her family. Lan has been living in Korea for the past year and so she's a pro at ordering- most of the food has funny names, like Bo Bam Bap and stuff like that. I was expecting it to be a lot like chinese food but its not- there were a lot of soups and some of it was spicy.

This weekend me, Steve, Sarah, John, Cam, and Mikko, my Finnish exchange student. Spent the weekend at the lake. It was a bit cold- maybe that made it more of an authentic Canadian experience. 

Good times were had by all. 

Crucial to a complete lake experience is a picture with the Funny Bathroom Hats- straw hats which have been in the lake bathroom since the early 60s. 

Some hats are funnier than others. 

Isn't that clever? 

Lan and I went to the Goldeyes game tonight- a longstanding summer tradition. The Goldeyes lost 11-8 and were terrible throughout most of the game- oh well.
 

The field pre-game. Too bad all of the people pictured in the stands left once the Goldeyes started to suck.

It was a very outdoorsy weekend. First camping at Sandy Hook for Carrie's birthday and then 2 days with my Dad at the cabin.

I spent the day at Star Lake with two of my favorite people- Rea and Alana. We went on a long walk and hung out at the camp for a couple hours today before returning home
 

I'm a bit confused by the picture Rea is showing me. 

The scenary is pretty, no?