Dear WDDTY

It is always good to see a re evaluation of the indiscriminate use of drug treatment for conditions such as psoriasis (WDDTY vol 4 no 3) and to look at other therapies such as diet.

However, I was astonished that your report on a dermatological condition did not include any reference on the use and results of Chinese herbal medicine. As you know, the effects of CHM on skin conditions is currently being studied closely. Great Ormond Street Hospital dermatologist Dr David Atherton's recent study revealed an approximately 70 per cent success rate on patients who were diagnosed as resistant to drug therapy.

What makes these results even more remarkable is that the methodology employed was not in line with the usual CHM procedure of "treating the individual", but employed standardized formulas in powder form.

Perhaps you feel that CHM is already receiving enough publicity and that the benefits of other therapies need more coverage. This is fair enough, but if so, I do feel that you should explain this to your readers and give them the option of seeking further information. As it is, WDDTY could often be retitled WNHDTY, or What Naturopaths and Homoeopaths Do Tell You. S C, London....

We are as interested as you in many alternative therapies besides naturopathy and homoeopathy anything that stands up to scientific scrutiny. See this month's Alternatives on gypsy medicine and last month's, which concentrated on CHM.

We've rung Orientation, the recently formed umbrella journal of the various individual Chinese disciplines, requesting that they provide us with any studies of proven therapies. CHM practitioners: please write in with any published papers on your various therapies. And see Q & A for the full story on CHM and eczema.