August 19th, 2010 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Acupuncture, CAM, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Conventional Medicine, Evidence Based Medicine, Harriet Hall, Holocaust Denial, Medical Quackery, New England Journal of Medicine, Science Based Medicine, Science Denialists, Selective Science Denialism, Steve Novella, TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Statement #1:
The holocaust never happened. Hitler loved Jews and respected Jewish culture. The photographic evidence of the camps, including the bodies and atrocities, were all fakes designed by the State of Israel to generate international sympathy.
Statement #2:
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an effective treatment for numerous medical conditions. Acupuncture has been around for centuries and is widely practiced in China and elsewhere. Science has proven its efficacy in controlled experiments.
With any luck, that first statement should generate dozens of hits from watchdog groups berating me for spreading the vile lie of Holocaust denial.
The second statement, or words perilously close to that effect, has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, a previously-prestigious medical publication now revealed to be no better than the National Enquirer or any other sleazy tabloid, fit only for lining bird cages and wrapping week-old fish. Thanks to this wonderful article by Harriet Hall, it turns out that the first reference to “needling” in Chinese medical literature is from 90 B.C., although it doesn’t refer to acupuncture. It’s talking about lancing abscesses and bloodletting. The technology required to make sufficiently thin needles didn’t even exist until 400 years ago.The Chinese government tried to ban acupuncture several times around the turn of the twentieth century. The actual term “Traditional Chinese Medicine” was coined by Mao Tse Dung in the 1960s! (Go read Hall’s article linked above. It’s awesome.)
So riddle me this, campers: Why (and how) do science denialists get away with these outrageous lies? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
August 19th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Aging Men, Anti-Aging Treatment, Cardivascular Health, Celebrity Medical Claims, Diagnostic Accuracy, Dr. Alan Brett, ED, Endocrine Society, Erectile Dysfunction, Impotence, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, JournalWatch, Longevity Clinics, Low Sexual Desire, Low Testosterone Levels, Medical Frauds, Men's Health, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Older Men, Physical Performance, Placebo Effect, Reproductive Health, Science Based Medicine, Sexual Health, Testosterone Replacement Therapy
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On the car radio, I have several times happened upon “infomercial” programs touting the benefits of testosterone replacement therapy for men, broadcast by doctors who specialize in prescribing the drugs. They have lots of wonderful stories about men who feel younger, happier, and more vigorous because of their macho remedies. It’s a tribute to the power of the placebo.
I have been reviewing John Brinkley’s goat gland scam for a presentation on medical frauds. In an era before the isolation of the hormone testosterone, Brinkley transplanted goat testes into human scrotums in an attempt to treat impotence and aging. We are more sophisticated today — but not much. Longevity clinics and individual practitioners are offering testosterone to men as a general pick-me-up and anti-aging treatment. Their practice is not supported by the scientific evidence. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
August 12th, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Cancer Cure, Dangerous Side Effects, Deadly Product, Death, Dietary Supplement, Evidence Based Medicine, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, FTC, Health Canada, Health Fraud, HIV Cure, Industrial Bleach, Miracle Mineral Solution, Miracle Mineral Supplement, MMS, Operation Cure All, Oral Liquid, Science Based Medicine, Serious Harm, U.S. Federal Trade Commission
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On the heels of Scott Gavura’s superb post on dietary supplement regulation in the U.S. and Canada, I bring you one of the most egregious and obscene product cases I have seen in 15 years of teaching on botanical and non-botanical products: Miracle Mineral Solution. Please accept my apologies in advance for not having a scholarly post for you — this is just too unbelievable not to share with science-based medicine readers. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
August 12th, 2010 by David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Acupuncture, Center for Integrative Medicine, Clinical Therapeutics, Dr. Brian Berman, Evidence Based Medicine, Homeopathy, Integrated Medicine, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Nature Journal, Naturopathy, NCCAM, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Placebo Medicine, Pseudomedicine, Pseudoscience, Quackademic Medicine, Science Based Medicine
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One of the things that disturbs me the most about where medicine is going is the infiltration of quackery into academic medicine. So prevalent is this unfortunate phenomenon that Doctor RW even coined a truly apt term for it: Quackademic medicine.
In essence, pseudoscientific and even prescientific ideas are rapidly being “integrated” with science-based medicine, or, as I tend to view it, quackery is being “integrated” with scientific medicine, to the gradual erosion of scientific standards in medicine. No quackery is too quacky, it seems. Even homeopathy and naturopathy can seemingly find their way into academic medical centers. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
August 10th, 2010 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Evidence Based Medicine, GAIT Trial, Glucosamine, Hip Pain, JAMA, Joint Pain, Journal of the American Medical Association, Knee Pain, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, Orthopedics, Osteoarthritis, Pharmacology, Placebo Medicine, Research Dollars, Science Based Medicine, Unnecessary Research
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Glucosamine is widely used for osteoarthritis pain. It’s not as impossible as homeopathy, but its rationale is improbable. As I explained in a previous post:
Wallace Sampson, one of the other authors of this blog, has pointed out that the amount of glucosamine in the typical supplement dose is on the order of 1/1000th to 1/10,000th of the available glucosamine in the body, most of which is produced by the body itself. He says, “Glucosamine is not an essential nutrient like a vitamin or an essential amino acid, for which small amounts make a large difference. How much difference could that small additional amount make? If glucosamine or chondroitin worked, this would be a medical first and worthy of a Nobel. It probably cannot work.”
Nevertheless, glucosamine (alone or with chondroitin) is widely used, and there are some supporting studies. But they are trumped by a number of well-designed studies that show it works no better than placebo, as well as a study showing that patients who had allegedly responded to glucosamine couldn’t tell the difference when their pills were replaced with placebos. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
