February 16th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Amebiasis, Colectomy, Colon Cleansing, Colon Perforation, Colonic Irrigation, Death, Detoxification, Gastroenterology, GI, Gut, Harms, Primary Care, Risks
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The internet is full of colon cleansing methods that tout the benefits of colon detox. I saw one website that showed long “worms” that live for years in the colon that “need” to be removed with special expensive potions. One of the most common questions for GI doctors is about colon cleansing and if it is beneficial. I don’t know any physicians who believe the colon needs “detoxification” or special cleansing, but until now I didn’t have a scientific way to answer that question from patients.
A study from the Am J. Gastroenterology now gives us the answer. The study authors looked at all relevant articles published between 1966 and 2008. They blinded the articles and measured outcomes and adverse events. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
February 4th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Quackery Exposed, True Stories
Tags: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Clinical Trials, Ignorance, Insulin Potentiation Therapy, Misinformation, Placebo, Quackery
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So my cousin emailed me the other night. She had a breast cancer recurrence about 6 years ago. Before you feel too sorry for her, however, know this: She’s doing great, moving from one targeted treatment/chemotherapy/laser knife procedure to another. Her doctors are fabulous. Her attitude is amazing. And, as she constantly tells us, she feels great and is loving life. No, this isn’t about her. It’s about her friend, the one she emailed me about.
Her friend was diagnosed with an early stage of an aggressive form of non-small cell lung cancer a year ago. After chemotherapy, a CT scan this summer showed her lungs clear of cancer; but a followup CT scan last week showed some spots. This woman had participated in a clinical trial during her first round of treatment and her doctor wanted her to join another clinical trial. But my cousin’s friend is freaked out; she doesn’t want to feel like a “guinea pig.” So when her daughter suggested she see a doctor who specializes in an unproven and experimental therapy called insulin potentiation therapy, she was ready to call for an appointment. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Debra Gordon's Musings on Medicine and Health Care*
January 31st, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Emergency Medicine, Haiti, Healing, Healing Touch, Neurology, Scientologists, Scientology, Therapeutic Touch
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Oh, good. Everything’s under control. The Scientologists are there.
Amid the mass of aid agencies piling in to help Haiti quake victims is a batch of Church of Scientology “volunteer ministers”, claiming to use the power of touch to reconnect nervous systems….
Some doctors at the hospital are skeptical. One US doctor, who asked not to be named, snorted: “I didn’t know touching could heal gangrene.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
January 28th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, News, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: College Students, Obesity, Open Rates, Spam, Spam Email, Weight Loss
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Most people automatically filter out spam e-mails, or delete them without ever opening them up.
But a surprising number of people actually take the time to read them, which is probably why annoying spam will continue unabated. From the New York Times’ Well, Tara Parker-Pope writes points an interesting study looking at who actually read health-related spam e-mails.
Looking at college students who were overweight, a study showed that an astounding 42 percent opened unsolicited e-mails touting weight loss products, and 19 percent actually ordered the product. And, perhaps more concerning, among those where were normal weight, 5 percent still bought what the spam was selling.
The effectiveness of spam e-mails, in this admittedly small study at least, certainly surprised me. I remember reading somewhere that it takes a success rate of 1 in 100,000 to make it worthwhile to a spam marketer.
But if they’re achieving success rates like these, it’s no wonder that the degree of spam, estimated to be 73 percent of all e-mails, will only rise.
That’s depressing.
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
January 28th, 2010 by Kimball Atwood IV, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: CAM, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Distant Healing, ESP, Larry Dossey, Levitation, Paranormal, Pseudoscience, Psychokinesis, Reiki, Telekinesis
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A “Double Standard”?
Last week I had planned to write a comprehensive critique of a recent comment by Larry Dossey. He had posted it on Val Jones’s betterhealth website in response to Dr. Val’s essay, “The Decade’s Top 5 Threats To Science In Medicine,” originally posted here on SBM. Much of what Dr. Val had identified as the top threats involved recent dalliances, by government, medical schools, and the media, with the collection of implausible and mostly nonsensical health claims that advocates have dubbed “CAM.” As uncontroversial as Dr. Val’s assertions ought to have been—similar to suggesting that closing one’s eyes and “using the force” would be a threat to safe driving (even if some might quibble over the top threats to science in medicine)—Dr. Dossey demurred by distraction: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
The internet is full of colon cleansing methods that tout the benefits of colon detox. I saw one website that showed long “worms” that live for years in the colon that “need” to be removed with special expensive potions. One of the most common questions for GI doctors is about colon cleansing and if it is beneficial. I don’t know any physicians who believe the colon needs “detoxification” or special cleansing, but until now I didn’t have a scientific way to answer that question from patients.
