החמרת סארקואידוזיס בחולה שטופל בגישה חלופית

תקציר

Relapse of Sarcoidosis after Alternative Medical Treatment

Georgy Edelson, Yair Levy, Yehuda Shoenfeld

Dept. of Medicine B, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Reference to alternative medicine frequently appears in newspaper headlines, advertisements and in articles in medical journals. The practice of alternative medicine has increased, even as the number of critical articles warning of deleterious effects have also increased. Public demand is strong and growing, but there are no clear rules as to what is not permissible, particularly when treatment is not by qualified physicians. There are still no clear indications and contra-indications for complementary (not alternative) medicine in patients with organic injuries and life-threatening conditions. However, it is obvious that in these patients complementary medicine should not be substituted for conventional therapy.

We present a 32-year-old man with sarcoidosis who discontinued conventional therapy on his own initiative and began alternative medicine (homeopathy) with subsequent deterioration in his condition. He was hospitalized for a relapse of his sarcoidosis which required large doses of corticosteroids.