Letters from readers
Dear Editor,
I read Sylvia Thompson's article with interest (Linking dreams and depression, February 15th) but with increasing concern. The treatment described in the article is an example of the type which is now being pushed by its developers as an answer to the perceived failures of existing medical-based models.
There was no evidence in the article to show that apart from being successful with phobias to spiders, it was the answer to severe mental illness.
The proponents of this form of intervention say that "many mental health problems can be resolved in one to six sessions". I very much doubt this would be the case in severe depression and schizophrenia. I recall many years ago as a young social work student training in Grangegorman, as it was then, seeing people who were there for up to 60 years. With advances in medication we have now enabled people to be discharged from hospital after only short periods of inpatient treatment. Regrettably we have cut back on the amount of funds for mental health services which have shown that early intervention in the community does work. There is a concern with mental illness that we are inclined to follow the latest craze without improving and providing adequate resources to existing treatment.
Yours etc,
Andrew Logue
Blackrock,
Co Dublin
Dear Editor,
I read with interest Sylvia Thompson's article, Doing what comes naturally (HealthSupplement, March 15th). Some of the quotes in the piece gave me pause for thought. Dr Stephen Gascoigne says "most western drugs aren't very effective but they are still prescribed". On what evidence, I wonder, does he base this opinion? He also says "it's a philosophical viewpoint to rely on drugs". What does this mean exactly? If I am ill with a serious bacterial infection and take the appropriate antibiotic, I will be made well again, irrespective of my philosophical position.
Dr Gascoigne also advised that "the public should phone practitioners to find out their training and experience with certain illnesses before going to see them and use a bit of discrimination". How might the public discriminate between sensible and nonsense practices if they are not reliably informed?
I spoke recently to an iridologist who said (on a reputable TV programme) that he had recently diagnosed two cases of cancer. Telephoning him to inquire as to his training and experience with cancer would almost certainly fail to provide me with the information that he is incapable of doing as he claims, or with the accurate assessment that iridology is without any theoretical or empirical support.
I decided, however, to follow Dr Gascoigne's advice in one regard, ie use a bit of discrimination concerning claims made later in the same article as to the dangers of dental amalgams containing mercury. I consulted various websites, including those of the US Food and Drugs Administration, the American Dental Association, The World Health Organisation and The National Council Against Health Fraud.
There have been several scientific research investigations in this area. The overall consensus is that there is no valid evidence that dental amalgams containing mercury cause any harm to those who have them. Several extensive reviews have been published in medical literature that support this position. Anti-amalgam campaigners have been generally regarded as scaremongering by those who have expertise in this area.
Another fascinating quote in this article cited Stephen Langley: "Seventy to 80 per cent of your immune system is derived from your colon, so if you have a toxic colon you'll have poor immunity." I was obviously led astray by my teachers in school and college who gave me to believe that my immune system constituted a complex of components including the thymus gland, the spleen, the lymphatic system, bone marrow, white blood cells, antibodies and hormones. No mention of my colon or the wonderful curative effects of colonic irrigation!
I'll refrain from commenting on naturopathy in general as that would require a more detailed treatment.
Paul O'Donoghue,
Highfield Road,
Dublin 6
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