Lost in woods, I read Peta did donate to PCRM and PCRM advocates non-animal experiments. The 5% physicians = 5000 physicians.
Of course, there are 633,000 practicing physicians in the US as of 2006. This would make the 5,000 listed in PCRM at less than 1%. That would hardly make their philosophy "mainstream" medical advice.
Then again, it was once thought perfectly reasonable to inject patients with mercury to cure their ills.
I certainly can't claim to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but PCRM and PETA seem to be predisposed to providing a certain slant to their opinions. And I don't think too many people are unduly swayed by studies that come along sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. I'm not trying to beat up on PCRM or the pharmaceutical guys. What we all have to do is try to educate ourselves not only about the massive amount of information that's available, but also who's putting the info out. And who stands to profit from it.
And I'm not knocking a vegetarian diet. I think it could be fairly argued that human beings weren't intended to eat a purely vegetarian diet (what would those canines in our heads be for, if not rending meat?). And we have to have B-12, whose only natural source is animal proteins (these can, of course, be substituted. But I doubt our ancestors ate a lot of brewer's yeast or fortified cereal). Should we eat as much meat as our average US diet provides? Probably not.
My advice is to find a healthcare provider that you trust, then work with him/her on all the ways you both agree will most likely produce the effects you are looking for. Just like working on a car (at least for those of us who are less than mechanically inclined). You try to know as much about the basics of maintenance and do what you can to keep your car running. But when there's a problem you're unsure of, you hopefully have a mechanic that you know and trust to help you get things back on track. Its their job to stay well educated and up to date on all the latest automotive technology. And its your healthcare provider's job to stay on top of the standards of care, and to help you with maintenance of the most important machine you own. For as long as I can remember, there have always been products, both traditional pharmacological and direct-to-consumer items touted as cure-alls. Chelation therapy falls into that spectrum, but I've run my mouth (fingers) enough.
