| Posted 25 May 2023 Dr. Edzard Ernst has written a commentary about research into so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) conducted since he became the world’s first professor of complementary medicine nearly 30 years ago. Reference: Ernst E. Applying science to SCAM: A brief summary of the past thirty years. Skeptical Inquirer, 47(1):11-12, 2023 He concludes: So, in the past thirty years of SCAM research, we have gone from the rejection of science to accepting that it would be good for promotion, to insisting on an “alternative” version of science, to misleading the public with false-positive findings. It has been a long and tedious journey without actually advancing all that far. Source: Consumer Health Digest #23-02, January 8, 2023 … Read the rest Posted 23 February 2022 Thomas J. Wheeler, PhD, a retired associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has updated the Dietary Supplements section of “A Scientific Look at Alternative Medicine.” Part 1 addresses general aspects including an overview, regulation and labeling, adverse effects, scientific critique, conventional nutrition, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and reviews and major trials of multiple supplements. Part 2 discusses 175 individual products, arranged in alphabetical order, that are marketed as supplements. The original compendium was part of a handout for an elective course that taught medical students to carefully consider the evidence regarding claims for “alternative” products and services. Source: Consumer Health Digest #22-08, February 20, 2022 … Read the rest Posted 29 October 2020 The headline of this IOL piece is somewhat misleading. By Zelda Venter IOL Pretoria – Health supplements and complementary medicines – which are not scheduled medicines as defined by the Medicine’s Act – will soon no longer be regulated by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, which regulates all medicines, including scheduled medicines. But, while the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, did strike down the current regulations over these substances, it made it clear that alternative medicines still had to be regulated. Judge Elizabeth Kubushi gave the minister of health and the regulatory authority 12 months to determine how best to regulate these alternative medicines. “I am loath to leave the regulation of complementary medicines without a time frame.” She said 12 months should give the health authorities ample time to decide how best to regulate this popular industry. The order was sparked by the Alliance … Read the rest Posted 27 June 2020 An opinion, published in the Friends of Science in Medicine newsletter. Why do some doctors, equipped with a science-based degree offering so many opportunities for a satisfying professional career, join the ranks of raggle-taggle quacks and self-proclaimed experts? These range from outright shonks (eg Gwyneth Paltrow) to the sincere, but befuddled, followers of rigid, ancient, pre-scientific belief systems. I offer some thoughts on what might or might not answer this question. - Science is hard work
Learning can be described as ‘shallow’, ‘deep’ or ‘strategic’. Some students manage to scrape through their medical degree without a genuine understanding of biomedical science. How else could one explain their willingness to embrace pseudo-science?
- ‘Transactional’ medicine is unsatisfying
Rather than simply expanding their concept of good medical care, some make a ‘mind-body’ connection through pseudo-science. They don’t realise that psychological medicine is as heavily reliant on science as is
… Read the rest Posted 20 May 2020 Centre for Enquiry April 13, 2020 [CamCheck does not focus on homeopathy. However, the points made in the article are appropriate for CamCheck by substituting ‘alternative medicine’ for homeopathy. Editor] The makers of homeopathic medicine want it both ways. - They want their “drugs” to be treated like real medicine, to be able claim they can treat all kinds of ailments, and sell them right alongside evidence-based medicines on pharmacy shelves.
- They also don’t want their products to be held to the same rigorous standards of safety and efficacy as real medicine. They don’t want to have to prove their stuff actually works, because, of course, they know it doesn’t.
Homeopathy is perhaps the most obviously phony form of alternative medicine, and we simply can’t assume that those who manufacture and market it are acting in good faith, any more than we assume positive intent from … Read the rest Posted 09 September 2019 The special, expanded September/October 2019 issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine has as its theme “The Health Wars: Fighting Medical Pseudoscience” and includes these timely articles: Full-text of the articles are available in the print issue and online, but a Skeptical Inquirer subscription is required for full-text online of all but the first two articles. Source: Consumer Health Digest #19-36, September 8, 2019 … Read the rest Posted 28 January 2019 By Linda Hall -22 January 2019 @ 14:301 EuroWeeklyNews THOUSANDS of people could be dying each year in Spain because they trust alternative medicine. Between 1,210 and 1,460 deaths can be attributed to complementary and “natural remedies” according to Spain’s Association for Protection against Pseudo-Scientific Therapies (APETP). Homeopathic products are available in most Spanish pharmacies and although universities are gradually withdrawing tuition, many still offer alternative medicine courses. The situation is particularly serious in Madrid and Valencia, non-profitmaking APETP maintains, where at least 60 members of the Official Colleges of Physicians offer “dangerous pseudo-therapies,” APETP members include patients affected by the effects of pseudo-medicine as well as doctors and medical researchers who welcomed the national government’s “war” on alternative therapies. Last November Health and Science ministries presented ambitious plans which, if approved, will prevent both public and private health centres from offering treatments not backed by … Read the rest Posted 23 October 2017 The Australian government has eliminated the insurance subsidy for 17 alternative health practices due to a lack of evidence for efficacy. An article by Scott Gavura, published in Science Based Medicine, makes the following points (extracts): Public health care systems face criticism when they spend money on treatments that don’t work. With ageing populations and the rising cost of treatments, there’s more and more scrutiny of what these programs pay for. One of the most effective ways that insurance programs can reduce the use of a health service or treatment is to simply stop paying for it. But this is relatively uncommon, because once a benefit’s in place, there tends to be a lot of resistance to change – even if the move was wrongheaded to begin with. That’s one of the (many) reasons this blog has been critical of permitting the licensing of alternative-to-health … Read the rest Posted 11 August 2015 This opinion piece was published on the New York Times website. The author, Aaron E. Carroll, makes a number of interesting points: “People often think of Eastern or alternative medicine as more “natural.” Many feel that Western medicine is built around technology and products produced in a lab. They’re not entirely wrong. Many of the gains that have been made in traditional medicine have been the result of innovation in laboratories.” “I would argue that all the therapies I mention here aren’t considered complementary therapies — they’re often just considered therapies. That’s because they’ve been studied, and they’ve proved to work. Too often, though, those who consider themselves supporters of alternative medicine disdain the idea that any of their treatments need to be studied.” Read the article at the NYTimes However, Aaron E. Carroll, makes some serious errors. Orac has posted to Respectful Insolence a counterpoint … Read the rest | |