Confessions of a Quack is fiction, but it provides real insights into the thinking processes and motivations of quacks, alternative medicine providers, and their patients. He told her the butterbur had flushed out her triple heater meridian, spilling into Pingala Nadi, flooding her Agnya chakra and setting off a Herxheimer-like reaction.… read more "Confessions of a Quack: Holistic Harry Tells the Inside Story of Alternative Medicine"
How Do Doctors Learn to Diagnose, and Can Machines Learn to Do It, Too?
Siddhartha Mukherjee weighs in on how doctors arrive at a diagnosis and how computers can assist but not replace them. Is this the doctor of the future? Probably not. I am a big fan of Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a cancer physician, researcher, and stem cell biologist who is also a phenomenally… read more "How Do Doctors Learn to Diagnose, and Can Machines Learn to Do It, Too?"
Re-thinking Antioxidant Supplementation for Macular Degeneration
After the AREDS trial, people with moderate to severe age-related macular degeneration were advised to take dietary supplements to slow the progression of the disease. But some experts say the trial actually showed supplements don’t work, and might even make some patients worse. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading… read more "Re-thinking Antioxidant Supplementation for Macular Degeneration"
Misinterpreting TACT: No, Chelation Does Not Outperform Statins for Heart Disease
Chelation with intravenous EDTA (disodium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid) has long been used for heavy metal poisoning. It binds the metal ions and facilitates their excretion from the body. In recent years it has been used for many other indications that are not evidence-based, such as autism and coronary heart… read more "Misinterpreting TACT: No, Chelation Does Not Outperform Statins for Heart Disease"
American Academy of Family Physicians Home Study Course Recommends Non-Science-Based Treatments
Strong medicine…along with a little nonsense Since passing my board exams in family practice in 1979 I have relied heavily on the American Academy of Family Physicians for continuing medical education via the American Family Physician and the AAFP home study programs. The AAFP prides itself on its evidence-based approach to medicine.… read more "American Academy of Family Physicians Home Study Course Recommends Non-Science-Based Treatments"
Homeopathy and the UK’s National Health Service
Homeopathy is arguably the silliest form of alternative medicine: the published studies show no evidence of anything beyond nonspecific contextual effects, and the underlying premise is incompatible with the existing body of scientific knowledge. Homeopathy has increasingly been questioned or denounced by organizations in several countries, most recently in FDA hearings in… read more "Homeopathy and the UK’s National Health Service"
Psychology and Psychotherapy: How Much Is Evidence-Based?
Despite all those Polish jokes, Poland has its share of good scientists and critical thinkers. A superb new book illustrates that fact in spades: Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Side of Science and Therapy, by Tomasz Witkowski and Maciej Zatonski, http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Gone-Wrong-Science-Therapy/dp/1627345280 Witkowski is a psychologist, science writer, and founder of… read more "Psychology and Psychotherapy: How Much Is Evidence-Based?"
IOM Recommends Replacing CFS with SEID
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a controversial diagnosis that has also been called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME or ME/CFS), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), Iceland disease, “yuppie flu,” and many other names. A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) says that none of those names really… read more "IOM Recommends Replacing CFS with SEID"
Placebo, Are You There?
Note: This was originally published as “Placebo, es-tu là?” in Science et pseudo-sciences 294, p. 38-48. January 2011. It came to my attention in the course of an e-mail correspondence with the editors of that magazine, where one of my own articles was published in French translation in January 2015. I thought this was… read more "Placebo, Are You There?"
Is the Ebola Crisis a Reason to Skip RCTs?
In a recent “Perspective” article in The New England Journal of Medicine, three physicians (Drs. Cox, Borio, and Temple) make a strong case for not letting the rush to save Ebola patients tempt us to deviate from good science and skip the randomized controlled trial (RCT). Their arguments cut to the essence of… read more "Is the Ebola Crisis a Reason to Skip RCTs?"