No 'pendulum swing' for Adventist health practices

Church health institutions to offer only proven medical practices October 16, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN

A list of "discouraged" health practices is meant largely to guide administrators and physicians at Adventist healthcare institutions, said Dr. Allan Handysides, director of the world church's Health Ministries department. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN]

Seventh-day Adventist health institutions around the world will continue to practice evidence-based medical treatments that don't contradict the Bible or the writings of early church pioneer Ellen G. White, leaders of the global Protestant denomination agreed during an October 16 business session at church headquarters.

The 300 delegates voted to supplement the world church's Health Ministries department guidelines with a list of questionable treatments and therapies officially "discouraged" by the Adventist Church -- among them hypnosis, magnet therapy, untested herbal remedies and pendulum diagnosis.

Updating the guidelines indicates a "resurgence" of commitment by Adventists around the world to temperance and healthful living, said Dr. Peter Landless, an associate Health Ministries director for the world church.

Before voting on the update, many delegates called for further justification of the changes.

One delegate said Adventist healthcare principles were based largely on Western medicine and tended to dismiss the validity and value of traditional medicine, often favored and more widely trusted in Asian countries.

"We are not [singling out] Western medicine, Eastern medicine or even alternative medicine," said Dr. Allan Handysides, director of the world church's Health Ministries department. "We are simply saying that any treatment or therapy used by the church should be backed up by unequivocal evidence."

Handysides then explained that most Health Ministries polices -- while certainly applicable to individual church members -- are meant primarily to help Adventist healthcare institutions plan treatment programs, which should only include "rational" treatments and therapies, he said.

At the same time, Handysides clarified, some treatments, while arguably "irrational" are far from sinister and, if found to be helpful and without negative side effects, would be acceptable for individual use.

When herbal remedies were singled out for discussion, Handysides reiterated the church's call for evidence of safe, successful use. "What we're saying is, 'Show us the evidence' if we're going to incorporate this practice into our Adventist healthcare institutions."

"No one can say that herbs don't have effects," said Thomas J. Zirkle, an associate Health Ministries director. "The problem is that we cannot separate the good effects from the bad effects." Because herbs are so popular, he explained that surgeons now routinely ask whether their patients are taking such supplements, which might counteract or interfere with regular medicines -- some herbs, he explained, interrupt blood clotting and other bodily processes.

Landless echoed the caution over herbal treatments, but advised the church not to blindfold itself against new scientific evidence. "We sometimes tend to cite what's convenient," he said. "When National Geographic magazine pointed out that the Adventist health message was evidence-based, we all jumped on the bandwagon. However, in 2004, the World Health Organization released guidelines that recognized the importance of using traditional herbal therapies, particularly [in areas of the world] where there are economic constraints."

"Let's work with our communities, take that which is good, test it, and encourage it," Landless said.

A delegate from the church's South Pacific region wondered why the list of discouraged practices was even necessary. If science eventually proves some items on the list, she asked, why adopt what may soon be an outdated inventory?

"Where there is some evidence that [a treatment] may work, we have not included it," Handysides said, citing acupuncture as an example. "We can defend every item on that list."

Martin W. Feldbush, director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, added that the list would help administrators and physicians at Adventist hospitals and other healthcare institutions plan appropriate treatment programs.

Additionally, when "divisive" or "radical" treatments come up, such a list would be convenient to refer to, said Larry R. Evans, world church undersecretary. "If things should change, we can then change [the list]," he said.

Above all, Handysides stressed, the church, in distinguishing between helpful and harmful treatments, must not interfere with its medical ministry. "If we say 'no drugs at all,' we are faced with a situation -- medications are being used according to very good guidelines, many times in our own Adventist institutions, and we need to be careful that we don't make that practice problematic."

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