Sysiphus Speaks

Unfortunately, credulous state legislators fall for the idea that "stimulation of the body's self-healing abilities," the core concept of naturopathic treatment, actually means something. And the fact that the naturopathic schools' accrediting agency is approved by the U.S. Department of Education, even though that has nothing to do with the scientific validity of what is taught.

In Sweden they evidently have a Homeopathic ER. A real homeopathic emergency room, not the satiric version, although I except would be hard pressed to tell the difference if there were no laugh track.

Basically cupping gives the patient a hickey without, usually, the rest of making out.

Because it turns out that in the information age ignorance is not just the lack of knowledge but is produced in quantlty by others. There is a term for the cultural production (and study) of ignorance: Agnotology.

In my feeds I came across the following: Epikaizo — New ‘miracle drug’ out of South Africa. I am not certain, but I gather Epikaizo means Shadow of God and it is also the name of an herbal remedy. It is touted as a cure for AIDS:

Some of the more recent attempts to license acupuncturists have gone all out, defining acupuncture as a form of health care that is based on a theory (using the term loosely) of “energetic physiology that describes and explains the interrelationship of bodily organs or functions with an associated acupuncture point or combination of points that are stimulated in order to restore the normal function of the bodily organ or function.”

I have yet to see a case of measles and, along with smallpox and ebola, it is one of the diseases I have on my 'Never Want To See' list.

My Dad always told me you can judge a person by the company they keep. You offer Reiki, no matter how potent your other high vibrational energies might be, I cannot help but suspect you and I have different concepts as to our responsibilities to our patients.

It seems that when it comes to protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases, the state legislatures are starting to get it. A review, published in a recent edition of JAMA, found that not one of 36 bills either creating or expanding personal belief exemptions from school vaccination requirements introduced between 2009 and 2012 passed. None! At the same time, 3 of 5 bills tightening exemptions did pass.

The care she received in the last months of her life was from naturopathic physicians and acupuncturists, practitioners she believed in because they took the time with her, but, critically, whose services she could afford. All of whom missed the diagnosis that killed her

In my feeds I kept seeing variations of the theme: acupuncture treats sepsis. As an infectious disease doc it tweaked my interest since sepsis (a particularly severe manifestation of infection) is a disease that I routinely treat. So what was this amazing study? Dopamine mediates vagal modulation of the immune system by electroacupuncture.

It wasn’t the acupuncture, it was the medications. When I first read this article and looked at the table that demonstrated the marked difference in medication use between the two groups, I could not believe it. I read it over and over, thinking, no that couldn’t be, I must be missing something. Because that renders the conclusion so senselessly foolish. I could not understand how anyone could be blind to what would appear to be a simple explanation of the difference in outcomes between the two groups. The most impressive example of confirmation bias I have ever seen.

SCIgen can’t even come close to the nonsense of what is accepted as reality in the realm of pseudo-medicine.

Just as Hawaiian legislators were pushing back against the overly broad scope of naturopathic practitioners, they turned around and decided to expand the scope of chiropractic practice. What the right hand giveth to consumer protection, the left hand taketh away.

She knew that she needed to protect herself from acquiring their illness so she took Airborne. ​And, surprise, surprise, she went on to develop first fevers, then a cough, then shortness of breath, then an admission to the ICU for pneumonia with a touch of sepsis.