Actually, Simon, it makes a lot of sense, as you are asking about cure rates ...so how do we define this?

Let me take a shot at it.

Do I call call a cure the disappearance of all symptoms and signs the patient came in for? Especially in acute cases or in exacerbation, flare-up of chronic cases? then I would "guesstimate" that my rate of cure is about 70% at first visit climbing to 85% after the third visit if need be (OK, I might be bragging and be highly delusional here, but it IS an estimate, an impression)...

When talking about chronic cases, how do I estimate their cure rate? often their symptoms disappear, they are happy, than a few weeks/months later, a deeper layer appears, but how long do I wait to see IF there will be another layer???

How about the patients you do not see any more?? are they cured, dead or so pissed off that they do not want to communicate any more?

When I was a surgeon, it was easy: a patient doing better after surgery than before was cured.

When I was in general practice, it was easy: a patient whose symptoms have disappeared was cured.

The basic way we practice in natural medicine, trying to get to the bottom of issues and not suppress, palliate or just barely relieve makes it almost impossible to answer your question.


Dr. J. Rozencwajg, MD, PhD.
"The greatest enemy of any science is a closed mind"