Misunderstanding Empiricism

Pyrilamine maleate which is supposed to be the diuretic she didn't find enough info.

So the cramps, headache, and backache are covered; but not so clear on the bloating and fatigue.

PD Message 68 writes:So going with that information, Midol should work. But you haven't shown me that all the ingredients together as Midol do what they are supposed to do.

I wouldn't call it an extrapolation but an unanswered question. Drug interaction issues should have studies, too. But as I've said several times now, since Midol predates the FDA the studies might not exist, or they might have occurred too long ago to be findable online. That's why I suggested Alleve. What you want is an example of the best science can do for proving the safety and efficacy of a drug, and you're probably unlikely to find that for drugs that are just as old as castor oil packs.

Medical doctors tend to advocate the treatments they like.
Does that negate the results of their treatments?

The Meridian Institute and A.R.E. have done some tests to try and understand how the packs work.

The Association for Research and Enlightenment, Inc. (A.R.E. ®), is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1931 by Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), to research and explore transpersonal subjects such as holistic health, ancient mysteries, personal spirituality, dreams and dream interpretation, intuition, and philosophy and reincarnation.

Meridian Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to researching holistic and integrative approaches to wellness and healing. Our research focuses on various modalities and systems including the holistic philosophy of Edgar Cayce, traditional osteopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine, mind-body healing, and spiritual transformation. We hope that our research will contribute to the integration of mainstream medicine with alternative medicine and holistic modalities.

CASTOR OIL PACKS FOR UTERINE FIBROIDSHYPOTHESIS: Hot castor oil packs are effective in decreasing the size of uterine fibroids.BACKGROUND: Thirty percent of American women over the age of 30 will develop uterine fibroid tumors, which are benign masses developed from an overgrowth of uterine muscle tissue. Tumors may occur on the inside of the uterine cavity, within the uterine muscle wall, or on the outside of the uterus. The number of tumors present may vary from one to several, and may vary from the size of a pea to larger than a melon. Most fibroids do not cause any symptoms and do not require treatment other than regular observation by a physician. Some women who have uterine fibroids may experience symptoms such as excessive or painful bleeding during menstruation, bleeding between periods, a feeling of fullness in the lower abdomen, frequent urination resulting from a fibroid that compresses the bladder, pain during sexual intercourse, or low back pain. Standard medical treatment normally calls for surgical removal. If surgery is elected, some skilled surgeons are adept at removing only the myoma, leaving the uterus in tact, however, in most cases a hysterectomy is performed. McGarey reported success in the use of hot castor oil packs in decreasing or eliminating uterine fibroids (1973; 1984).DESIGN: This prospective study will be a randomized controlled trial. We will recruit women with uterine fibroids and randomly assign to experimental (n = 30) and control groups (n = 30). We will assess the size and number of fibroids. Symptoms and quality of life will be assessed. We will train subjects in the experimental group in the use of castor oil packs to be used 3 times per week for six weeks. The control group will receive no treatment. We will do a followup assessment after six weeks for all participants.SETTING: Home of participants (intervention) and local hospital (assessment).PARTICIPANTS: 60 women with uterine fibroid tumors will be recruited by advertising on television and radio.INTERVENTIONS: Hot castor oil packs applied superficially over uterus 3x weekly (experimental group only).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Size of uterine fibroids,
Symptoms and quality of life,
Medication required for symptomatic relief.REFERENCES:
McGarey W. Myoma of the uterus. A.R.E. Journal. 1973; 8(1).
McGarey W. Fibroid tumor of the uterus. A.R.E. Journal. 1984; 19(3): 126.

No they haven't. The Medidian Institute's only study was Systemic Aspects of Psoriasis: An Integrative Model Based on Intestinal Etiology, investigated the effects of castor oil packs on psoriasis, not the mechanisms, and they received inconclusive results, suggesting more research was necessary. The paper appeared in the Journal of Integrative Medicine ("integrating conventional and alternative medicine").

...dietary changes, colonic irrigations, castor oil packs, spinal manipulations, herbals teas and psycho-spiritual modalities to address the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the disease.

In the before/after pictures, Case 1 had major improvement. Her most prominent symptom, the rough, red areas on her hands and elbows, were completely cleared. There was still some psoriasis on her foot. She also showed improvement on the two measures of psoriasis symptoms (Table 1). Her lactulose/mannitol ratio, which had been high at the beginning (.134) was normal after six months (.038).Regarding compliance with the protocol, she followed the diet "most of the time," and used the herbal teas "almost every day." This is excellent compliance with the diet and the teas. She used castor oil packs "a few times since the conference," had "one to three" colonics after the conference, and only received spinal adjustments at the conference. This is good compliance with the colonics, and poor compliance with the adjustments and castor oil packs.The before/after pictures of Case 2 revealed substantial healing of his psoriasis. Most notable was the complete disappearance of the white scales on his back. There were still large areas of red, but no scales at all. He also showed improvement on the two measures of psoriasis symptoms (Table 1). His lactulose/mannitol ratio, which had been high at the beginning (.084) was normal after six months (.022).Regarding compliance with the protocol, he followed the diet "almost every day," and used the herbal teas "almost every day." This is excellent compliance with the diet and the teas. He used castor oil packs "a few times since the conference," had "one to three" colonics after the conference, and had "four or more" spinal adjustments. This is good compliance with the colonics, poor compliance with the castor oil packs, and excellent compliance with the adjustments.In the before/after pictures, Case 3's improvement was difficult to see. Her before pictures did not reveal much obvious psoriasis; her after pictures did not reveal any psoriasis at all. She showed substantial improvement on the two measures of psoriasis symptoms (Table 1). Her lactulose/mannitol ratio, which was in the normal range at the beginning (.034) was still normal but lower after six months (.019).Regarding compliance with the protocol, she followed the diet "most of the time," and used the herbal teas "most of the time." This is very good compliance with the diet and the teas, particularly in the light of her comments regarding her diet at the beginning of the project. She used castor oil packs "almost every week," had only the colonics at the conference, and only received spinal adjustments at the conference. This is excellent compliance with the castor oil packs, and poor compliance with the adjustments and colonics.In the before/after pictures, it was difficult to see any change in Case 4 - his symptoms were barely visible in either the before pictures or the after pictures. He showed improvement on the two measures of psoriasis symptoms (Table 1). The PASI score was zero, indicating no psoriasis symptoms at the follow-up. His lactulose/mannitol ratio, which was in the normal range at the beginning (.047) was still normal, but lower, after six months (.024).Regarding compliance with the protocol, he followed the diet "often," and used the herbal teas "almost every day." This is excellent compliance with the teas, but only fair compliance with the diet. He used castor oil packs "rarely or never," had only the colonics at the conference, and only received spinal adjustments at the conference. This is poor compliance with the colonics, adjustments and castor oil packs. In his written comments, he noted "The diet is really hard to stay on. Maybe if sample menus could be developed for every day for a whole month, then maybe it might help to keep on the diet."In the before/after pictures, Case 5 had clearly visible improvement. Her most prominent symptom, the red areas covering much of her back, had diminished in size and redness. She also showed improvement on the two measures of psoriasis symptoms (Table 1). Her lactulose/mannitol ratio, was in the low end of the normal range at the beginning (.029), and remained low after six months (.026).Regarding compliance with the protocol, she followed the diet "almost every day," and used the herbal teas "almost every day." This is excellent compliance with the diet and the teas. She used castor oil packs "almost every week," had only the colonics at the conference, and only received spinal adjustments at the conference. This is excellent compliance with the castor oil packs, and poor compliance with the adjustments and colonics.Page not found – Meridian Institute

I'll agree that Dr. McGarey's cases aren't as rigorous as the double blind, but that doesn't negate that the castor oil packs have been used by a medical doctor and the failures and successes are documented.

Personal experience is hard evidence. Everything else is Soft Evidence. If a person has no hard evidence, then it is wise to go with the best soft evidence available.

That's your opinion, not fact. A quack is one who pretends to have medical skills.

Quack:1) A practitioner who suggests the use of substances or devices for the prevention or treatment of disease that are known to be ineffective.2) A person who pretends to be able to diagnose or heal people, but is unqualified and incompetent.

Like I said once before, trying to sell the idea that an MD from Harvard Medical School went stupid doesn't compute.

AQA's president and cofounder was Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., a Harvard graduate who obtained his medical degree at the University of Michigan and began practicing "nutritional medicine" in 1973 at his Tahoma Clinic in Kent, Washington, a few miles southeast of Seattle. He and Alan Gaby, M.D., of Baltimore, give seminars for health professionals on "Nutrition as Therapy," which present their theories in detail. (AQA's first 16 members were recruited at the May 1985 seminar.) Wright also operates the Meridian Valley Laboratory, a facility that does many nonstandard tests. From 1993 through 1998, Wright helped lead the National Health Federation, a group whose primary goal is to abolish government regulation of health-care activities.In December 1991, an FDA inspector posed as a patient and was diagnosed with an Interro device, a computerized galvanometer that measures changes in the skin's electrical resistance and depicts them on the screen of a monitor. (The reading on the screen is determined by how hard the probe is pressed against the patient's finger; the harder the pressure, the less skin resistance and the higher the reading. The FDA Center for Devices and Radiologic Health has said that such devices are "adulterated and misbranded" and can have no legal medical use [5].) The inspector reported that the woman who operated the device probed points on one of his fingers while selecting items on the screen that were said to represent substances to which he might be allergic. The woman explained that the height of a vertical bar that appeared when she probed his finger would indicate whether or not he was sensitive to the item being tested. After the test was completed, a printer next to the monitor printed a list of foods, chemicals, and other substances, with numerical values corresponding to readings on the Interro screen. Then he was given several homeopathic medicines, instructions for using them, and an article saying that they would result in dramatic relief of his allergic symptoms [6].In February 1992, Wright's clinic posted a notice claiming that state-licensed physicians are "exempt from the restrictions and regulations of the federal Food and Drug Administration as a matter of federal law." The notice also stated that "no employee, agent or inspector of the FDA shall be permitted on these premises."http://www.quackwatch.org/...merEducation/Nonrecorg/aqa.html