Propaganda and dilemma

Propaganda and dilemma are terms that usually sends "alarm bells off in my head". So when I have received ten comments about taking bovine or porcine thyroid supplements as forms of treatment, I become hugely suspicious.

1) As you readers on my blog know, I am a vegan so foods and medicines with the name porcine (from a pig) or bovine (from a cow), I choose not to consume.

2) Since a few of these comments are written by the same person and do not ( and repeat do not) address the post that it is attached to, I find it strangely odd. (These comments have nothing to do with the post. Duh!)

3) The terms bovine and porcine are highlighted, linked to a website, and there is a clear endorsement of the product. Are these animal thyroid supplement comments propaganda, an underhanded, evasive form of advertising through comments? Or are these comments from an honest patient? It's so obvious.

Let me say that some of you may be taking these bovine and porcine supplements and find them helpful. I have met one survivor who had taken porcine thyroid capsules while in Asia however when she returned to Canada, her endocrinologist told her not to take them. I am not sure where people would get them but apparently they are available in some health food stores and from the rare Endo who prescribes them.

Nevertheless, what I know is that livestock such as cows and pigs, would have been dismembered and slaughtered, their thyroid glands removed for my consumption. I don't like having to take a pill daily (like Cytomel, Synthroid, Eltroxin, etc.) but I will have to for the rest of my life. Since I am vegan, naturally I have chosen not to use animal products in my recovery. After all that I have learned, read, and seen about factory farming and slaughterhouses, this option sits best with me.

I'm all for alternative healing and treatments. I, myself, have been using acupuncture, naturopathy, meditation, diet, and fitness to aid my recovery. If you find something that works for you, by all means, do it!!! (Providing it's legal and does not harm or put lives at risk, of course.) However, my concern is the "underhandedness" of the promotion of this product. Through the comments section? Come on, people.

The dilemma is that I deliberated for a few months on whether or not I should write about these suspicious comments. I do not want you, the well-intentioned reader, to get the impression that I am advertising for these folks. However, I do believe in open dialogue, expressing opinions, transparency, and a "see for yourself approach".

There are other dilemmas too: testing of medications on animals, using animals to save human lives, etc. Yes, these are ethical dilemmas.

The nice thing is I have a choice in this particular scenario to determine the course of my healing. I choose to do this animal-free.