Above the sound of keyboard strikes and mouse clicks, a jolting chorus of coughs and sneezes fill my office space. The weather in New England has turned from an unusual warmth to a coffee-grasping chill. With it, so too have come the flood of viruses infecting coworkers, spreading to new, nearby hosts.
I boast a resilient armament of immune cells at the ready for such pathogens and can sustain multiple breaches, but even my lentils and kale can only go so far.
In times of need, the magic of herbs and supplements like vitamin C, echinacea, or Airborne grow evermore appealing. My coworkers and friends swear by certain pills & regimens and urge others to try. I’m not convinced though. If these anecdotes proved the supplements truly worked, why has Pharma not bought in already?
I recently transitioned to a new role at my company and now work in the areas of acute neurology for drugs that are still being investigated.
This is a new disease area to which we’ve committed in hopes of meeting a significant unmet need for people suffering from diseases, like stroke. After corporate due diligence identified compounds that showed efficacy, my company actively pursued and acquired the potentially effective drug candidates. From here, the molecules will continue to be evaluated and hopefully brought to market for wider use.
Pharma’s job
This is what Pharma does. It seeks out compounds throughout the world that have pharmacological effects and the potential to improve people’s lives. It only invests in such drugs if the known benefit to patients is large enough to overcome the financial risks. Simply put, Pharma will not get involved in researching a potential drug if it doesn’t seem to work in humans.
Pharma has always been in the business of finding natural plants, identifying the active components and developing them. Aspirin is derived from a compound in Willow tree bark. Statins, antibiotics, and some anti-cancer therapies were derived from microorganisms.
If there was some natural chemical that genuinely had potential benefit to people, I guarantee Pharma would develop and commercialize it. So when people swear by the herbs and pills they take and claim its efficacy, I am immediately skeptical.
Selling snake oil
A good friend used to vent to me about ongoing physical problems and fret over the repeated inability of doctors to identify the cause.
They first saw MDs who wrote off the symptoms as being “all in your head”, unable to find a clinical diagnosis. Feeling helpless within the traditional healthcare system, they turned to an empathic and confident chiropractor. The practitioner had a “proven” protocol that benefited his patients and believed my friend would benefit, too. And so, on the uplifting promise of an effective treatment, my friend dropped large sums of money on Standard Process supplements intended to rid them of their issues.
As I was informed of this journey and saw their personal commitment to this provider, I grew suspicious.
The chiropractor seemed to have a cult following among his patients and was regionally renowned among people who’ve been similarly abandoned by the medical system. I witnessed firsthand the loyalty of his supporters while attending a crowded conference where the provider purported numerous conspiracies about the medical field and even the government (for instance, HIV was a government operation). With vigor and compassion, he sold an idea of distrust towards medicine and offered an altered truth and a proprietary protocol for you to buy to reclaim health. In honesty, these ideas were appealing and made sense.
But then the scientist and trained pharmacist in me woke up. If what he was selling was so good, why did he not publish his data for the entire public to benefit, or run a clinical trial to prove his ways actually improved the lives of people throughout the world?
He doesn’t because they do not work.
My friend was not cured and instead spent bundles on herb mixtures and office visits and endured repeated collapses of optimism.
But I don’t blame my friend for trying things that sound like quakery. When I injured my back, I felt the medical system failed me as well. Unable to solve my pain, I turned to devil’s claw to control pain, turmeric root to reduce inflammation, St. John’s wort to mitigate depression from the persistent pain, and lithium to stabilize my moods. I felt the need to take control of my own health in order to fix my problems because the trained professionals I trusted were unable to.
Gaining control
Illness is a moment of our lives when we realize we cannot control our only true possession: health. Whether having control over a tidy bedroom or our bodies, humans want control in whatever capacity we can. And when we no longer feel in charge, anxiety’s grip begins to tighten.
This is why supplements, herbs, and nontraditional medicines are so appealing. They allow you, the patient, to control what is done with your health and transform you into the nurse, the pharmacist, and the physician.
But that doesn’t mean the supplements actually work.
Human logic is subject to manipulation and fake news distorts perception of what is real and what isn’t. People in power can sometimes push false hope built on a weak foundation of truth to people who clamor for anything that promises salvation. Supplements & herbs or unique pill-protocols pontificated by white-coated individuals, act as a promise of better health but are built on sparse and flimsy data.
Cutting through the snake oil to understand what is real and what is fake requires an examination of data and facts. And the closest way for us to realize this is through the practice of science.
Reality through science
Science follows the rigorous process of observation, experimentation, review, and replication to determine what is true in our reality. The world is warming, our universe is expanding, and medicines help a majority of people for whom they are indicated. The best way to keep illness at bay is through consumption of more vegetables & fruits, daily exercise, and proper mental wellness habits.
Science tells us these are true and will remain true until better theories emerge that repeatedly and consistently overturn what we know.
Unfortunately, most herbs and supplements do not have the scientific data to showcase their curative abilities despite what some individuals claim. If they did, you’d see them in the form of approved medicines produced by pharmaceutical companies, turning a profit. Even a glimpse of efficacy would have the industry salivating.
Mind control
Science does tell us one way these supplements may actually be effective though: the placebo effect.
This effect occurs when drug-like benefits are reaped from a therapy despite it having no pharmacological activity and no reason to work. Just by believing you are receiving something that works can sometimes produce an effect similar to receiving an actual medication. Through this mind control, the course of disease can be altered or, more likely, be perceived to improve.
I believed my own actions would make a difference with my back pain which, in turn, provided real (although mild and temporary) symptom relief. The ability to control what I did with my body was empowering and uplifting, and provided a key missing ingredient to my wellness: hopefulness.
Experiencing the importance of the mind’s role in health softened my hard line stance about unproven therapies and made me more accepting of the potential good they can bring.
I’m now more open to say that whatever gives you hope of a better state, continue it. If you believe echinacea will ease your cold symptoms of coughing and sneezing, use it. Even if people like me tell you there’s no data, your chiropractor is a quack, and you’re wrong, stay the course if you believe in it.
Just don’t say I never warned you when they don’t work.
The Healthy Pharmacist 
Leave a comment