[Prudence]

I disagree that doctors would naturally jump to include alternative treatments if they were successful. Certainly some would, and there are such partnerships between western and traditional medicine available. However, there are also doctors who won't even consider the possibility.

For example, in the fallout from the "kidnapping" in Seattle, the local paper interviewed various people about alternative medicine and one person reported that he was under treatment from a regular medical doctor, possibly cancer, but wanted to see a naturopath to see if he could alleviate some of the side effects from treatment. The doctor told him that if he saw a naturopath, the doctor would no longer have him as a patient.

Now, it's possible that the doctor had very good reasons for not wanting to involve the naturopath. Perhaps there was a danger of herbs interacting with the conventional treatment. Perhaps he was afraid the naturopath would recommend abandoning the conventional treatment altogether in favor of several incantations and a bowl of sunflower seeds.

However, my experience with conventional medicine - both my own and that of family members - is that many conventional doctors are NOT interested in mitigating unpleasant side effects, pain management, or alleviating chronic, non-lethal conditions. If it's not going to kill you, then live with it. Pain is good for you.

So - why not try something else? If my insurance covered alternative treatments, I'd be all over trying to reduce my allergy symptoms. (Conventional docs don't care - they're not "severe" so no treatment - just learning to live with feeling like I have a cold All. The. Time.)

Obviously you don't go to a naturopath if you think you have a suspicious lump or might be having a heart attack, but in an ideal world you could consult one - with your doctor's blessing - to help manage chemo nausea or arthritis pain.