Best of the blogs, July – on Science-Based Medicine, Jann Bellamy:
wrote that “The only U.S. media watchdog devoted exclusively to health news, HealthNewsReview.org, will shut down at the end of the year for lack of funding…I consider its anticipated demise a huge loss to the science-based medicine community.”
David Gorski:
posted on Dr. Kristi Funk,” a surgeon to the stars…she published a book about breast health and breast cancer. Unfortunately, it’s full of misinformation and radical advice with little or no basis in science.”
Harriet Hall:
wrote “Naturopaths claim to excel at preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. Their claims don’t stand up to scrutiny. They co-opt from mainstream medicine, add non-evidence-based treatments, and fail to use effective drugs.”
found scientific evidence lacking for claimed benefits of aloe vera.
discussed NES Health, which “claims to scan the human biofield, detect imbalances, and correct them with infoceuticals [water supposedly imprinted with information]. It’s not science, it’s clever marketing based on fantasy.”
discussed cow therapy for cancer, as presented in the book Holy Cancer. While Hall doubts that the therapy (based on principles of ayurvedic medicine) had any effect on his cancer, she accepts that it might have helped the author’s quality of life.
Steven Novella:
posted on the use of homeopathic Arnica in plastic surgery, which “is clearly pseudoscience and does not work for wound healing, so why are so many cosmetic surgeons recommending it?” “So my hypothesis is that the spa culture has infected the profession of cosmetic surgery, and the frequent use of homeopathic Arnica for wound healing has come along for the ride.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
discussed antivaccine claims of Barbara Loe Fisher.
criticized LifeDNA, which makes recommendations for personalized skin care products based on genetic testing.
reacted to a TV news story that “is basically pure propaganda for the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.”
discussed water fast promoter Michael Klaper. “Basically, the product Dr. Klaper is peddling in terms of science is a massive exaggeration based on dubious science, cherry picked cases, and bad evolutionary analogies. Worse, fasts, even when supervised by a physician, are potentially dangerous, and there’s no good evidence that avoiding all animal proteins is healthier.”
lamented that talks on homeopathy were given at the University of Michigan.
posted “Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop: Allergic to fact-checking.”
Edzard Ernst:
wrote “Germany, the ‘promised land’ for cancer quacks.” “This does not look like cutting edge cancer therapy at all; in fact, none of these treatments are new and none have been shown to cure cancer or any other condition… it is high time the German regulators have a close look at the plethora of cancer quackery and find a way of stopping this unethical, despicable exploitation.”
published “Live blood analysis, another SCAM to avoid.” “LBA is an ineffective, potentially dangerous diagnostic method for exploiting gullible consumers. My advice is to avoid practitioners who employ this technique.” (For more information, see “Live Cell Analysis” in our article on Chelation therapy and other miscellaneous topics.)
reported on a study showing antioxidant supplements provided no benefit for fertility in men, in contrast to preliminary trials lacking scientific rigor. He noted that the same pattern applied to studies of many other supplements.
gave a critique of “resounding answers” provided by homeopaths to “Myths of homeopathy.”
criticizes a review concluding that homeopathy might be a viable treatment for upper respiratory tract infections. The review included uncontrolled studies and is meaningless. “I do nevertheless find the fact deplorable that her article passed the peer-review process of ‘Homeopathy’ and was published in a seemingly respectable journal.”
wrote “Homeopathy for cancer? No, most definitely not!”
discussed a study of lymph-drainage for lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. “For once, the call for more and better research seems justified.”
posted “Medical research is often unreliable. But research into alternative medicine is much worse, and here is why.” “I have not often seen researchers who knew that research is for testing hypotheses and not for trying to prove one’s hunches to be correct…The plainly visible result of this situation is the fact that we have dozens of alternative medicine researchers who never publish a negative finding related to their pet therapy…And the lamentable consequence of all this is the fast-growing mountain of dangerously misleading (but often seemingly robust) articles about alternative treatments polluting Medline and other databases.”
wrote “Random thoughts on meditation”: “once we look at the reliable medical evidence, we are bound to find that the health claims of various meditation techniques are hugely exaggerated. There is almost no strong evidence to suggest that meditation does affect any condition.” Moreover, there is potential for harm.
discussed the need for independent replication of clinical trials, with the example of trials of homeopathy for diarrhea.
described increasing influence of Andrew Wakefield and his anti-vaccination position: “Since Trump, who seems to share Wakefield’s anti-vaxx stance, has become president of the US, Wakefield has managed to creep back in the limelight.”
discussed FDA findings of microbial contamination in homeopathic products. (See also Aug. 24 item below.)
posted “THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC's pathetic attempt at re-inventing chiropractic.” He asked: “if chiropractic is just a limited version of physiotherapy, why don’t we simply use physiotherapists for back problems and forget about chiropractors?”
wrote “Pharmacists put themselves at risk by selling homeopathic remedies”: “pharmacists can put consumers at risk when they sell homeopathic remedies masquerading as medicines (while in truth they are placebos that cure absolutely nothing)...pharmacists across the globe… are in danger of breaking their own codes of ethics, if they recommend or sell homeopathic products.”
July – a review and meta-analysis by Kim and others (Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2018 Jul;11(7):e004224 Paper) concluded that multivitamin/mineral supplementation “does not improve cardiovascular outcomes in the general population.” Steven Novella discussed the review on Science-Based Medicine.
July –Ladendorf and Ladendorf wrote “Wildlife Apocalypse: How Myths and Superstitions Are Driving Animal Extinctions” (Skeptical Inquirer 42(4):30-39 Article). “Demand for wildlife body parts for scientifically unproven medicinal remedies and paranormal trinkets is causing a world-wide crisis for many endangered animal species, including rhinos and elephants.”
July – Also in the July/August issue of Skeptical Inquirer (pp. 44-46, not available on-line), Senapathy discussed Lotus Birth, “a practice in which the umbilical cord is not cut post-birth, leaving the baby attached to the placenta until the cord dries and eventually detaches from the navel – usually a period of three to ten days”. “Dubbing it ‘the wackiest childbirth practice ever,’ Dr. Amy Tuteur, a vocal critic of the natural childbirth movement, describes lotus birth as ‘a bizarre practice with no medical benefit and considerable risk, particularly the risk of massive infection’.” A critique by Jen Gunter was also cited.
July – A review by Arring and others (J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Jul;24(7):624-633 Abstract) concluded that “Ginseng is a promising treatment for fatigue. Both American and Asian ginseng may be viable treatments for fatigue in people with chronic illness.”
July 2 – Dampier wrote “Mindfulness is not just a buzzword, it's a multibillion dollar industry. Here's the truth about the hype.”
July 3 – Truth in Advertising published “Amid Goop's Mixed Signals, TINA.org Repeats Call for Regulatory Action.” “Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness site Goop needs to decide whether it wants to be a source of entertainment, a punch line, or a place where people can go to get sound medical advice for, let’s call them, alternative approaches to health…Goop continues to deceive consumers, and is trying to cover its tracks with disclaimers that are legally and practically ineffective.”
July 9 – The Center for Inquiry sued CVS for consumer fraud for selling useless homeopathic remedies Press release. “’Homeopathy is a total sham, and CVS knows it. Yet the company persists in deceiving its customers about the effectiveness of homeopathic products,’ said Nicholas Little, CFI’s Vice President and General Counsel. ‘Homeopathics are shelved right alongside scientifically-proven medicines…If you search for ‘flu treatment’ on their website, it even suggests homeopathics to you’.” Jann Bellamy discussed the suit on Respectful Insolence.
July 10 – Hershman and others published “Effect of Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture or Waitlist Control on Joint Pain Related to Aromatase Inhibitors Among Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer” (JAMA. 2018;320(2):167-176 Paper). The authors concluded that “true acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture or with waitlist control resulted in a statistically significant reduction in joint pain at 6 weeks, although the observed improvement was of uncertain clinical importance.” Abbasi commented on the article (JAMA. 2018;320(8):744-746), noting that “patients in the true acupuncture group were more likely to believe that they were receiving true acupuncture (68%) than those in the sham group (36%), indicating a problem in blinding. Edzard Ernst explained how the trial was flawed by an experimental design almost guaranteed to give positive results, even if acupuncture is merely a placebo. “It is a great shame, in my view, that even top journals (in the above case JAMA) and prestigious funders (in the above case the NIH) cannot (or want not to?) see behind this type of trickery.” David Gorski also commented on Science-Based Medicine, calling it “Spinning another essentially negative study” which “is already being used to promote quackery in oncology in the name of ‘integrative oncology’.”
July 18 – Abdelhamid and others published a review of “Omega-3 fatty acids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease” (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Jul 18;7:CD003177 Abstract) News story. The review covered 79 trials with over 110,000 participants. The authors concluded “There is evidence that taking omega‐3 capsules does not reduce heart disease, stroke or death. There is little evidence of effects of eating fish. Although EPA and DHA reduce triglycerides, supplementary omega‐3 fats are probably not useful for preventing or treating heart and circulatory diseases. However, increasing plant‐based ALA may be slightly protective for some heart and circulatory diseases.” Steven Novella discussed the review on Science-Based Medicine. “What we can now say with a fairly high degree of confidence is that any health benefit from consuming omega-3 fatty acids is tiny, probably too small to warrant supplementing…”
July 23 – An FDA Article was entitled “FDA alerts health care professionals of significant safety risks associated with cesium chloride.” “Cesium chloride (CsCl) is a mineral salt that is sometimes taken either by mouth, or by injection into the body, by cancer patients who seek alternative treatments. However, no CsCl products have been approved by FDA to treat cancer or other diseases. Furthermore, animal research has shown that taking CsCl can cause irregular heartbeats, also called arrhythmias.” Jann Bellamy provided background and further information on Science-Based Medicine. “The FDA did nothing until suit was filed against it in federal district court by Public Citizen in July, seeking to compel the agency to act on its Petition…FDA inaction aside, what this whole episode should demonstrate to everyone (including state legislators and medical boards) is the absolute disregard for evidence of safety and effectiveness on the part of naturopathic ‘doctors’ and integrative physicians and their ‘professional’ organizations. Not only did they cherry-pick the published literature on safety, which alone should disqualify cesium chloride’s use, they credulously promoted a highly dubious mechanism of action and questionable case reports as evidence of efficacy, all the while complaining that they had to provide the FDA with evidence in the first place.”
July 27 – Clark wrote “The chain of diabetes clinics providing a proprietary and controversial insulin infusion protocol called Trina Health was labeled a ‘pyramid scheme’ in a new federal indictment unsealed this week in Alabama.” Story
Best of the blogs, August – on Science-Based Medicine, Scott Gavura:
posted “You can’t breathe through your stomach. Some bottle water is claimed to have extra oxygen which is claimed to give a performance benefit.” The claims are unconvincing.
David Gorski:
wrote about confronting homeopathy, naturopathy and other quackademic medicine at the University of Michigan.
Harriet Hall:
announced a revamped version of her SkepDoc website. The site includes a searchable collection of her published articles. “The new site also has other features such as videos, including my FREE 10-part lecture series on science based medicine vs. so-called complementary and alternative medicine.”
reviewed a new edition of The Textbook of Natural Medicine, the leading textbook in the training of naturopaths. “It is hard for me to fathom how such a textbook could exist in the 21st century and how anyone could characterize it as scientific. Despite the plentiful citations, the content is a bizarre, uneven potpourri of good science, bad science, pseudoscience, vitalism, philosophy, ancient history, superstition, gullibility, misrepresentations, metaphysics, religion, hearsay, opinion, and anecdotes…Right alongside good conventional evidence-based medical information and advice, it recommends using treatments that are purely speculative and even treatments have been proven not to work.”
Jesse Luke:
discussed “Double standards in hematology for integrative and complementary medicine,” which allows the treatments “to skip over the normally high rigor and standards typical of the sub-specialty.”
Braden MacBeth:
reviewed Cancer Can Be Killed: the film “peddles dangerous health advice from unethical and unqualified alternative medicine business entities. The treatments and theories showcased in the film aren’t new, and none of them have any evidence to support their efficacy.”
Steven Novella::
wrote “Vaccines Still Don’t Cause Autism.” “So we now have data for 12 years following the complete removal of thimerosal from the vaccine schedule and no decline in autism diagnoses…If thimerosal were contributing to the number of cases of autism, we should definitely be seeing some effect by now.”
wrote “Kratom is an emerging herbal drug used for pain and fatigue but also has abuse potential. What is the current state of the science?”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
posted “Maternal Tdap vaccination during pregnancy is not associated with autism in the child.”
in another post dealing with antivaccinationists claims, reported “One more time: HPV vaccination is not associated with primary ovarian insufficiency.”
discussed Luminas Pain Relief Patches: “it never ceases to amaze me that products like Luminas patches are still sold. Basically, it’s a variety of quantum quackery in which ‘energy’ is basically magic that can do anything, and quantum is an invocation of the high priests of quackery.”
wrote “Medicaid and the Oregon Health Authority: The scam of replacing opioids with ‘nonpharmacologic treatments for pain’ like acupuncture.” “…a large state is seriously considering a policy that, if implemented, would leave an large number of the most vulnerable patients suffering unnecessarily.”
discussed the appointment of Helene Langevin as director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Langevin is a “true believer” in acupuncture. “That’s why I think the balance of power at NCCIH is about to shift back more towards pseudoscience and quackery than it’s been since the late 1990s. Worse, Dr. Langevin will have the largest budget ever at NCCIH to fund that shift.”
Edzard Ernst:
asked “why are there so many patients who still believe that homeopathy is working?”
discussed a paper comparing chiropractic to usual care for treatment of back or neck pain. The authors found no difference in benefits or costs. Ernst disagreed with their conclusion that chiropractic was a “viable option” because chiropractic presents higher risks.
in another post dealing with risks from chiropractic manipulation, he discussed a paper reporting cases of cervical artery dissection and stroke after neck manipulation.
criticized a review that concluded that acupuncture is beneficial for postpartum depression. Among other problems, the majority of studies were of poor quality. The review was published in Acupuncture in Medicine, which “is little more than a cult-newsletter” that “hardly ever publishes anything that is remotely critical of the wonderous myths of acupuncture…we ought to be very careful before accepting any ‘evidence’ that is currently being published about the benefits of acupuncture, even if it superficially looks ok. More often than not, it turns out to be profoundly misleading, utterly useless and potentially harmful pseudo-evidence.”
posted “Is music a practical therapy for hypertension? Sadly not, I think.”
published “The use of CAM [complementary and alternative medicine] in palliative care is highly problematic.”
posted ”Three Trends In ‘Alternative Dentistry’” by guest blogger Hans-Werner Bertelsen. Part 1 discussed the concept of projections, in which functions throughout the body are related to individual teeth, and temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD) allegedly causes numerous diseases. Part 2 deals with invalid tests used to diagnose supposed intolerance to dental materials. Part 3 concerns removal of amalgam fillings and treatment of alleged mercury toxicity by inappropriate methods such as homeopathy and chelation therapy.
in a post entitled “Chiropractic neck manipulations can damage your eyes,” reported a case of damaged vision following such a treatment.
August – Motta and others wrote “Knowing less but presuming more: Dunning-Kruger effects and the endorsement of anti-vaccine policy attitudes” (Soc Sci Med. 2018 Aug;211:274-81 Paper). “More than a third of respondents in our sample thought that they knew as much or more than doctors (36%) and scientists (34%) about the causes of autism. Our analysis indicates that this overconfidence is highest among those with low levels of knowledge about the causes of autism and those with high levels of misinformation endorsement. Further, our results suggest that this overconfidence is associated with opposition to mandatory vaccination policy.” “Orac” commented on the paper on Respectful Insolence. “Basically, in the antivaccine movement, the Dunning-Kruger effect tend to take the form of parents who think that their University of Google knowledge trumps the knowledge of physicians and scientists who have dedicated large swaths of their lives to the rigorous study of conditions such as autism and the question of how vaccines work.”
August – Ooi and others reviewed “Kava for Generalized Anxiety Disorder” (J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Aug;24(8):770-80 Abstract). They concluded: “Current evidence, although promising, is insufficient to confirm the effect of Kava for GAD treatment beyond placebo.”
August 1 – A New York Times Column by Gunter was entitled “Worshiping the False Idols of Wellness.” “Charcoal, ‘toxins’ and other forms of nonsense are the backbone of the wellness-industrial complex…Look closer at most wellness sites and at many of their physician partners, and you’ll find a plethora of medical conspiracy theories…”
August 2 – Allday published an Article on for-profit stem cell clinics. “They are renegade outposts operating with little legitimacy and oversight at the frontier of what is otherwise a highly promising field of medicine…None of the treatments the clinics offer have been shown to be safe or effective. None have been approved by the FDA. They’re not backed by decades of laboratory and animal studies or by rigorous testing in humans.”
August 8 – “Multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements” were reviewed by Harty et al. (J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018 Aug 8;15(1):41 Paper). They wrote, “a substantial body of evidence suggests that the acute pre-exercise consumption of MIPS may positively influence muscular endurance and subjective mood, though mixed results have been reported regarding the acute effect of MIPS on force and power production.” However, “As with any dietary supplement, the use of MIPS carries implications for the athlete, as many formulations may intentionally contain banned substances as ingredients or unintentionally as contaminants.”
August 8 – The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has issued a Press release discouraging the use of Facilitated Communication and a related technique, the Rapid Prompting Method. The Position statement on FC notes that “There is no scientific evidence of the validity of FC, and there is extensive scientific evidence—produced over several decades and across several countries—that messages are authored by the ‘facilitator’ rather than the person with a disability. Furthermore, there is extensive evidence of harms related to the use of FC. Similarly, the Press release on RPM reports that “there is no evidence that messages produced using RPM reflect the communication of the person with a disability, and therefore there is no evidence that RPM is a valid form of communication.”
August 9 – William London wrote “Essential Considerations About Aromatherapy.” “Several systematic reviews have found significant shortcomings of available evidence or have indicated causes for concern…Perhaps there is a role for some approaches to aromatherapy in providing care and comfort to people with specific health challenges. But I see no reason to expect any type of aromatherapy to alter the course of any disease or have vitalistic actions such as ‘balancing body energies,’ as promoted by some enthusiasts.”
August 18 – An Article by Szabo was entitled “Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It.” “The doctor most responsible for creating a billion-dollar juggernaut has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the vitamin D industry…By advocating such widespread testing, the Endocrine Society directed more business to Quest and other commercial labs. Vitamin D tests are now the fifth-most-common lab test covered by Medicare.” However, “A string of trials has found no evidence that vitamin D reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease or falls in the elderly. And most scientists say there isn’t enough evidence to know if vitamin D can prevent chronic diseases that aren’t related to bones…A number of insurers and health experts have begun to view widespread vitamin D testing as unnecessary and expensive.”
August 20 – Savage wrote “How Peddlers of ‘Food-Grade’ Hydrogen Peroxide Exploit the Sick and the Desperate.” “Hucksters claim that drinking a few drops of hydrogen peroxide diluted in a glass of water will cure almost anything.” There is no evidence of benefits, and “The ingestion of hydrogen peroxide, even in relatively small volumes…can cause devastating complications.”
August 24 – Mole published “Massive recall of homeopathic kids' products spotlights dubious health claims.” The products contained microbial contamination. Being homeopathic, they also are useless.
August 25 – Stephen Barrett published “A Skeptical Look at the Activities of Farrah Agustin-Bunch, M.D.,” who has a cancer clinic in the Philippines, on Quackwatch. Among Barrett’s criticisms are: it is based on unscientific ideas about cancer; testimonials in support are unreliable; “The Web site claim that Boston C [a line of herbal products] ‘can cure all illnesses that science or modern medicine cannot cure’ is obviously false.”
Additions to Earlier Pages
July 29, 2017 – Bier published an Article entitled “Dubious Resonances” on the Skepsis blog. The article deals with devices such as BICOM and Seqex that supposedly use ion cyclotron resonance to bring about health benefits. Not only is the rationale preposterous, but also such resonances would bring about no effects in living tissue.
January 2018 – Gold and others published “The Red Yeast Rice story: How to manufacture a tall tale from nature” (Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2018 Jan;25(1):73-75 First page preview). RYR, which contains statins, is sold as a dietary supplement to lower cholesterol. However, the authors report that traditional Chinese fermentation methods produce RYR with little or no statins. “RYR supplement is a product produced by industrial methods” designed to enhance the statin content, and thus it is not a “natural” product. “The literature has additionally documented that some producers may spike their products with pharmaceutical lovastatin.”
January 2018 – Holden and Barker wrote “Should social workers be engaged in these practices?” (J Evid Inf Soc Work. 2018 Jan-Feb;15(1):1-13 First page preview). The authors identified 418 web sites associated with social workers and containing questionable content. “We began by asking if social workers should be engaged in these practices. If your answer is no, then what will you do about it?”
February – Nabavizadeh and others wrote “Herbal Supplements for Prostate Enlargement: Current State of the Evidence” (Urology. 2018 Feb;112:145-150 Abstract). “Despite the widespread use of herbal supplements for LUTS, there is scant scientific evidence to support their safety and efficacy.” All products examined had at least some ingredients that are not supported by evidence.
May 22 – DeHaas wrote an Article entitled “‘Indigenous Ways of Knowing’: Magical Thinking and Spirituality by Any One Name.” (See also the June 11 post by David Gorski on Science-Based Medicine, noted in our May-June 2018 News.)
June 22 – Browne published a commentary, “Epistemic divides and ontological confusions: The psychology of vaccine scepticism” (Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2018;14(10):2540-2542 Abstract). “We suggest that this alternative worldview is influenced by ontological confusions (e.g. regarding purity, natural energy), and knowledge based on personal lived experience and trusted peers, rather than the positivist epistemological framework. Our view is supported by recent social-psychological research, including strong correlations of vaccine scepticism with adherence to complementary and alternative medicine, magical health beliefs, and conspiracy ideation.”