Medical Questions » Alternative Medicine Questions » Question No. 35
| Question: | What is your opinion of the treatment of gallstones by naturopaths? I have been recommended taking a few bottles of DTM medicine, followed by five days of drinking apple juice and eating apples, then on the sixth day at 6pm taking one desertspoon full of Epsom salts in water, repeated again at 8pm. Then at 10pm take 100 mL of Olive oil mixed with 100 ml_ of lemon juice. Is this safe and does it work? |
| Answer: | Stones are not normally part of the human anatomy, but those that may form in the gall bladder may be just as solid and hard as those found in the average quarry.
Stones are formed by a compound being present in an excessively high concentration in a bodily fluid such as bile. The substance then precipitates out of suspension, and starts to grow with the deposition of successive layers of the substance to the original seed.
Stones in the gall bladder are smooth and rounded, and grow by addition of successive layers of substance.
A stone makes its presence felt to its owner. Pain is the main symptom, but indigestion may also occur with gall stones. Because of these symptoms, patients with a stone almost invariably require it to be removed.
The only way to remove a stone is by an operation. There is a drug available which will very slowly dissolve some types of gallstones, but this takes many months to work, is very expensive, and is reserved for those who are too frail to have an operation.
Any naturopath who claims to have a concoction that will dissolve gallstones is fooling both the patient and himself, and should be ignored. If you have a friend who has had a gall stone removed, and has saved the specimen, try soaking the stone directly in the naturopath' s mixture. It will have as much effect on the gallstone as on a stone from your nearest gravel quarry! |
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