Fiona Taylor
A Design for a Pilot Study to Compare the Efficacy of Western Herbal Medicine with the Efficacy of Orthodox Medicine in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome at Primary Care Level
Abstract
The benefits of Western herbal medicine are being increasingly recognised by growing numbers of orthodox medical practitioners at all levels. Many would choose to refer patients whose conditions do not respond to allopathic treatment to a qualified medical herbalist, their training, however requires evidence of the efficacy of a treatment. Collaborating with orthodox practitioners in the running of clinical trials will it is argued lead to their greater understanding and respect for the holistic principles of herbal medicine and ultimately to their acceptance of Western herbalists as different but equal. Through a detailed search of the major medical data bases this paper; reviews current research both herbal and orthodox; compares orthodox understanding, diagnosis and treatment with that of the energetic principles of herbal medicine; and proposes a design for a pragmatic, randomised, controlled pilot study to directly compare the efficacy of the two disciplines in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome at primary care level. Thus, suggesting a mechanism for validating the holistic, energetic doctrine of Western herbal medicine within the prevailing scientific framework of the randomised controlled trial. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the need to engage with the analytical model of our age in order to bring about a shift in scientific thinking, to encourage the development of a modern holistic paradigm for the benefit not only of humanity but also of the planet itself.
