Evidence Based Practice: New Multiple Sclerosis Treatment?
June 28, 2010 Leave a Comment
Evidence based practice is real everybody, and in its extreme applications, it can mean life and death. Take for example an article in the New York Times here. An M.D. has proposed that expanded narrowed veins in the body can help improve the condition of M.S. patients, a relatively radical theory considering M.S. is primarily considered an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system, and not a vascular condition.
With all due respect to M.S. patients anxiously waiting for a cure or any medical breakthrough, my personal concern isn’t with the new radical approach. I read this today during dinner with an appreciation of how real evidence based practice is out in the health care community. According to the article, the internet has spread this new untested theory, leaving some skeptical of the entire scientific process, which is disheartening. The beauty of science is reason. Science, with its calm, yet strong, restraint on fanatical beliefs helps prevent unnecessary deaths, saves time and money, and more importantly, finds the truth to the world’s unknown. On the surface, the positive results from the radical new treatment seems more due to the placebo-effect, but who knows. Only properly conducted clinical trials and further research can clear it all up!
