Recognize that because you are not familiar with something and that it has not been rigorously tested by Western scientific standards does not negate its efficaciousness.

Dear Esteemed Colleagues:


Many of you have recommended that your patients do not take herbal medicine when TTC.
Recognize that because you are not familiar with something and that it has not been rigorously tested by Western scientific standards does not negate its efficaciousness.

I implore you to maintain an open mind and to realize that Western medicine and Western reproductive medicine is not the ‘only’ medicine that works.

Science per se, is about seeking the truth. The truth is that Chinese herbs have been used safely to treat fertility cases for thousands of years without iatrogenic effect, unlike many pharma products.

I beg you to be more flexible in your standards (not lower them!), which may be based on dogma as opposed to rejection after investigation; not very scientific indeed. Why not study the effects of herbs on infertile patients instead of outright rejection – that indeed seems like a more rigorous approach than outright denial of efficacy and the bold statement that ‘herbs can be harmful’.

I would be happy of course, to participate in the study. Let’s move forward in medicine - not Western medicine – but medicine. Medicine is something that positively affects a patient’s outcome - this is true whether the medicine comes from Ferring, Organon, or the mountains of China. It’s about time that minds start to open instead of remaining hermetically sealed.

Let me know if you are brave enough, or inquisitive enough to seek the truth about herbs in the milieu of the infertile patient. Let’s break new ground together; let’s think out of the box together; let’s be pioneers together!

Respectfully,

Mike Berkley, Licensed Acupuncturist/Board Certified Herbalist; FABORM

http://www.berkleycenter.com