Sysiphus Speaks

Many of the articles start with variations of texting and using mobile devices for long periods of time could lead to a lower life expectancy, according to a new study. A study? A clinical trial? A epidemiologic investigation? A case series? Even a case report? Nope. Just chiropractors making stuff up.

Prince Charles has continued to promote alternative medicine indefatigably, often showing himself unwilling or unable to distinguish between real health care and blatant quackery, between medicine and snake oil, or between the truth and some half-baked obsessions of his own.

When there are potential complications of a pseudo-medicine, it is often interpreted as the body adjusting/responding to the intervention, not that the intervention could be hurting the patient.

Chiropractors are trying to expand their scope of practice in three states and add some window dressing in another.

Science-based medicine is a needed antidote to the subversion of evidence-based medicine. Given the growth of integrative medicine programs in the US, I suspect the antidote is not popular.

However I never though that measles could be of benefit: Measles is GOOD for YOU?. Hint: It is not.  They note some case reports of spontaneous regression of cancer after measles and suggesting this is of benefit to children.

There have been a flurry of studies the last several years that demonstrate that herbs and supplements are not only a waste of time, but potentially harmful.

I get the sense that the Australians and New Zealanders have more spine than the rest of the world. Take for example the kerfuffle over Dr. Sherri Tenpenny. An osteopath, Tenpenny is one of the more vocal anti-vactionationists in the US. She may have ten cents in her name, but no scientific sense in her approach to vaccines. Sorry. I can't resist.

We need a good term for CAM and do not have one. We did once upon a time, and evidently in India they prefer simple, accurate, descriptive terms, for as noted in the New Indian Express 12 Quacks Held in Dharmapuri Raids

In 2014, SFSBM's "Legislative Updates" tracked 35 bills impacting, for better or worse, CAM practitioners: naturopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists, TCM and "alternative medicine practitioners." It was a losing season for them, a winning season for us. Let's review.

It doesn’t matter what your lifestyle or diet is, influenza will cause illness if you get exposed. You will get the flu; it does not matter what the integrity of your immune system is. You may be the fastest impala on the veldt, but that big cat will still get you under the right circumstances.

Short answer, there is still benefit from getting the flu vaccine despite the mismatch between the vaccine and circulating strains.

A big step forward in clinical trial transparency was made in November when the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health published proposals requiring researchers to report the results of certain trials at ClinicalTrials.gov.

It is why Evidence-based medicine and prejudice-based medicine: the case of homeopathy results in a snort of derision. Poor wittle baby, inappropriately discriminated against by those who dismisses your fantasy without careful consideration.

So one would think given prior plausibility that homeopathy is totally useless and that careful reviews that find homeopathy useless that it would be difficult in 2014 to do an ethical clinical trial using homeopathy.