Best of the blogs, March – on Science-Based Medicine, Jann Bellamy:
wrote about proposed laws that would “protect 'Lyme literate' doctors from discipline.” “’Lyme literate’ doctors are scamming patients out of thousands of dollars with needless long-term antibiotics based on a fake diagnosis of ‘chronic Lyme.’ So why are state legislators trying to protect these doctors from discipline and make insurers pay for unnecessary treatments?”
posted “Direct Primary Care Agreements and Chiropractors: A bad deal for patients.” “Chiropractors are not ‘primary care physicians’ and shouldn’t be allowed to pretend otherwise by entering into ‘direct primary care’ agreements with their patients.”
David Gorski:
discussed the forthcoming inclusion of pseudoscientific diagnoses from traditional Chinese medicine into ICD-11, the new coding system from the World Health Organization. “These diagnoses are not based in science or modern medicine, but rather in prescientific beliefs about the body and vitalistic mystical and religious beliefs dating back millennia. Such diagnoses have no place being included in a classification system that is supposed to reflect the latest in medical science.”
Harriet Hall:
reviewed a book, More Harm than Good, by Ernst and Smith, which “examines the ethics of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Ernst and Smith demonstrate that CAM is inherently unethical and does more harm than good.”
wrote “Dr. Joel Fuhrman Sells Useless Iodine Test.” The test “is not valid for testing individuals. Patients may be led to believe they are iodine deficient when they are not. Iodine supplements on the market vary widely including orthomolecular doses, and they make unsupported claims that mislead customers.” “There may be cases where iodine supplementation is indicated (pregnancy, lactation, a diet deficient in iodine and iodized salt) but in those cases supplementation (at low doses) should be recommended by a doctor and there is no need for prior testing.”
Clay Jones:
wrote on several miscellaneous topics, including an update on kinesio taping; there is still no evidence of benefit.
posted “A Woman Dies from a Severe Allergic Reaction After Live Bee Acupuncture Session.” “With low plausibility, the potential for fatal outcomes, no evidence to suggest that benefits outweigh even minor side effects, and lots of dead bees, this is an intervention that should be avoided.” “Orac” also discussed the case on Respectful Insolence.
Steven Novella:
posted “Facilitated Communication Rears Its Ugly Head Again.” “Facilitated communication is pure pseudoscience that was debunked almost 30 years ago, but it keeps coming back, creating new victims.”
discussed whether music from Brain.fm can help with ADHD. “The notion that some algorithmically designed music can force our brains into a sustainable attentive state enabling us to focus on whatever task we have is implausible to say the least.”
David Weinberg:
discussed a controversy within scientific medicine over whether genetic testing is useful to guide vitamin supplements for macular degeneration.
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
analyzed a study claiming effects of the solar and geomagnetic environment on heart rate variability.
deplored an increase in the budget for the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
Edzard Ernst:
found a study on chiropractic and cervicogenic headache flawed by the lack of controls for placebo effects.
listed 11 of “the most obvious flaws of and concerns with” a study purporting to show the benefits of homeopathy for urinary tract infections in patients with spinal cord injury.
discussed the retraction of a study of homeopathic psorinum therapy for cancer while withholding conventional therapy. Not only were there serious ethical and scientific flaws, but also “it should have never been published in the first place. There are multiple points where the reviewers’ and editors’ alarm bells should have started ringing loud and clear…What this story shows, in my view, is that the journal ‘Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine’ (EBCAM) operates an unacceptably poor system of peer-review.”
discussed another study claimed to show benefits of homeopathy for cancer.
wrote “Beware of (poor-quality, redundant, nonsensical, biased) systematic reviews.” “…the problem of shoddy systematic reviews applies to a depressingly large degree to all areas of alternative medicine, and this is misleading us all.”
critiqued “Another dodgy meta-analysis published in a dodgy journal.” The review concerned acupuncture for treatment of lumbar disc herniation. Among other flaws, the included studies did not control for placebo effects. “What makes this issue particularly embarrassing is, of course, the fact that the journal [Acupuncture in Medicine] belongs to the BMJ group.”
discussed “positive” studies of homeopathy. “…they have, as far as I can see, one important feature in common: THEY HAVE NOT BEEN INDEPENDENTLY REPLICATED.”
commented on a paper dealing with toxic metals in ayurvedic medicines.
noted that a study purported to show efficacy of a complex homeopathic drug actually employed undiluted and slightly diluted material, so it was really herbal medicine. The paper was also flawed in many other ways.
discussed papers in Lancet purporting to show the benefits of alternative methods for low back pain. He noted that “the value of a treatment is not only determined by its effectiveness. Crucial further elements are a therapy’s cost and its risks.” For none of the treatments “(except for massage) is the risk/benefit balance positive. And for spinal manipulation, it even turns out to be negative.”
pointed out that a study of reiki in the case of patients with intervertebral disc hernia was flawed by lack of controls for placebo effects.
March – Marks and Gottlieb discussed proposed FDA guidelines for stem cell therapies (N Engl J Med. 2018 Mar 8;378(10):954-959 Paper). They noted that outside of a limited class of products, stem cell therapies require approval as drugs. Paul Knoepfler discussed the article in his stem cell blog. He noted that there are "probably upwards of 700 clinics operating without FDA approval today....clinical use of adipose stem cells (a.k.a. 'stromal vascular fraction')...appears to nearly always be a use of a drug product requiring pre-market approval...Many for-profit stem cell clinics also use fat stem cells in non-homologous fashions too so there are multiple reasons to view this product as a drug."
March – Akturk and others examined over-the-counter “adrenal support” supplements (Mayo Clin Proc. 2018 Mar;93(3):284-290 Abstract). They found that “All the supplements studied contained a small amount of thyroid hormone and most contained at least 1 steroid hormone…These results may highlight potential risks of hidden ingredients in unregulated supplements.”
March – A study of acupuncture for infantile colic (Skjeie et al. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2018 Mar;36(1):56-69 Paper) found a lack of clinically relevant effects, in addition to causing pain, so the authors concluded it “should not be recommended.” Edzard Ernst discussed the findings.
March – Fritz and others examined mistletoe for treatment of breast cancer (Anticancer Res. 2018 Mar;38(3):1585-1593 Abstract). They found no benefit for survival or quality of life.
March – Alenazi and others reviewed the effect of tai chi on lipid profiles (J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Mar;24(3):220-230 Abstract). They concluded: “T'ai chi may potentially be beneficial on lipid profiles… Although there were conflicting results regarding the effect of t'ai chi on lipid profiles, the majority of studies had at least a small positive effect indicating a potential positive effect of t'ai chi on HDL-C, LDL-C, and/or TC.”
March 1 – Results were reported for a major study of omega-3 fatty acid supplements and the risk of heart disease (Aung et al. JAMA Cardiol. 2018 Mar 1;3(3):225-234 Paper). The meta-analysis included nearly 78,000 high-risk individuals, followed for an average of 4.4 years. “This meta-analysis demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acids had no significant association with fatal or nonfatal coronary heart disease or any major vascular events. It provides no support for current recommendations for the use of such supplements in people with a history of coronary heart disease.” The study was discussed by Abbasi in a column entitled “Another Nail in the Coffin for Fish Oil Supplements” (JAMA. 2018 May 8;319(18):1851-1852 First paragraph).
March 1 – Lindsay Gellman published “The Last Resort,” concerning the German Hallwang Clinic for cancer, “which in recent years has found a niche in selling hope to the seriously ill at astronomical prices.” For example, an experimental vaccine treatment commonly used at the clinic can be produced for $20 per dose, but the patient is charged more than $10,000. David Gorski provided additional discussion on Science-Based Medicine. “People will often say of a terminal illness: How could things get any worse? The lesson of Hallwang tells us. Things can get worse if you’re induced into chasing false hope. Things can get worse if you are enticed into eschewing effective palliative treatment and suffer more than is necessary—or even die prematurely from the treatment. Things can get worse if you drain your life’s savings, leave nothing behind for your family, and spend the rest of your life chasing ever more money.”
March 4 – Smith and others updated a review of acupuncture for depression (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar 4;3:CD004046 Abstract). They concluded that “Acupuncture may result in a moderate reduction in the severity of depression when compared with treatment as usual/no treatment.” However, “Review authors rated the quality of evidence from most included studies as very low or low, and the effects…should be interpreted with caution.”
March 6 – A review by Jia and others examined the quality of controlled trials of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (BMJ Open. 2018 Mar 6;8(3):e01984 Paper). They found that “The overall risk of bias was high among published RCTs testing acupuncture for KOA. Methodological limitations were present in many important aspects of design, conduct and analyses.”
March 6 – In response to claims of antivaccinationists that multiple vaccinations early in childhood can weaken a child’s immune system (“too many too soon”), Glanz and others studied whether there was a relationship between vaccine antigen exposure and the risk of non-targeted infections (JAMA. 2018 Mar 6;319(9):906-913 Paper). They found no relationship, indicating that multiple vaccinations did not weaken the immune system. O’Leary and Maldonado discussed the paper in an Editorial (JAMA. 2018 Mar 6;319(9):870-871). They noted that there was “little plausibility” to the idea that increasing the exposure to antigens from vaccines would interfere with the immune system. Also, they noted that “the actual number of antigens in vaccines is less today – by an order of magnitude – than it was when small pox vaccine and whole-cell pertussis vaccine were still routinely given to US children.” Steven Novella discussed the study on Science-Based Medicine: “Any way you measure it – vaccines are a tiny, almost insignificant addition to the daily load on our immune systems. They use up a small fraction of our immune resources. It is simply not plausible that the vaccine schedule is overwhelming a child’s immune system. The very concept of ‘too many, too soon’ is based on nothing but ignorance and fear.” “Orac” also commented on Respectful Insolence, in a post entitled “Yet more evidence that the antivaccine trope of ‘too many too soon’ is nonsense.”
March 6 – Jonathan Jarry published “Exploring the alternate reality of Natural News' Mike Adams' online ’empire of misinformation’.” “Raising awareness of this ‘alternate reality’ online is important since the world of alternative medicine can seem, to the casual observer, quite benign. Behind the curtain of empathy and so-called holistic care, however, often lies a darker notion: that modern medicine cannot be trusted.”
March 7 – BMJ published a “Head to Head” discussion entitled “Should doctors recommend acupuncture for pain?” (Cummings M, Hróbjartsson A, Ernst E. BMJ. 2018 Mar 7;360:k970 First page). On the pro side, Cummings summarized: “the pragmatic view sees acupuncture as a relatively safe and moderately effective intervention for a wide range of common chronic pain conditions. It has a plausible set of neurophysiological mechanisms supported by basic science. For those patients who choose it and who respond well, it considerably improves health related quality of life, and it has much lower long term risk for them than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It may be especially useful for chronic musculoskeletal pain and osteoarthritis in elderly patients, who are at particularly high risk from adverse drug reactions.” On the con side, Hróbjartsson and Ernst wrote: “More than 50 years ago the gate control model for pain signals provided a basis for hypothesising nerve stimulation and endorphin secretion as biological mechanisms for acupuncture. However, it has proved difficult to develop such hypotheses into a generally persuasive scientific theory, and mechanisms for perceived analgesic effects of acupuncture remain opaque. In conclusion, after decades of research and hundreds of acupuncture pain trials, including thousands of patients, we still have no clear mechanism of action, insufficient evidence for clinically worthwhile benefit, and possible harms. Therefore, doctors should not recommend acupuncture for pain.” Ernst also summarized the positions on his Edzard Ernst blog.
March 9 – Kristin Jenkins described a study (Freemyer et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018 Mar;78(3):612-613 Abstract) of "Eczema Quackery" on YouTube. “A cross-sectional study of 128 YouTube videos on atopic dermatitis (AD) showed that almost one-third contained misleading information uploaded by advertisers, for-profit companies, and individuals without any healthcare expertise.”
March 10 – A review of aromatherapy for postoperative nausea and vomiting (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar 10;3:CD007598 Abstract) found that “aromatherapy may have similar effectiveness to placebo and similar numbers of participants were nausea‐free. However, this finding is based on low‐quality evidence and therefore very uncertain.”
March 13 – The British National Health Service announced that it would no longer fund homeopathic remedies at The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (formerly the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital) News story. According to the NHS, "There is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition."
March 14 – A Story in Cosmos reported that “A journal paper claiming to show the success of a homeopathic treatment for cancer has been withdrawn by the publishers following a series of awkward discoveries – including the arrest of its two lead authors.” “Orac” discussed this story and the preceding one on Respectful Insolence in a post entitled “A bad week for homeopathy is a good week for science.”
March 26 – According to a Press release, “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must take a much firmer stance on the manufacture and marketing of homeopathic health products, said the Center for Inquiry (CFI) in comments submitted to the FDA, urging the agency to take seriously its duty to inform and protect American consumers from wasteful and dangerous fake medicine.”
March 26 – A review by Malcolm and Tallian (Ment Health Clin. 2018 Mar 26;7(4):147-155 Paper) was entitled “Essential oil of lavender in anxiety disorders: Ready for prime time?” The authors concluded “Available trials support the short-term efficacy of the standardized lavender oil extract SLO in the treatment of anxiety disorders…The SLO appears to have a calming effect without producing sedation…SLO also lacks a withdrawal syndrome and is not thought to have abuse potential.” However, “All trials of SLO have been conducted in Germany and include mostly middle-aged white women, which reduces the ability to generalize results to other populations, such as children, adolescents, the elderly, or other ethnic groups.”
March 28 – Stephen Barrett published “A Skeptical Look at Marty Hinz, M.D. and
His Views of ‘Neurotransmitter-Related Diseases’" on Quackwatch. “For many years, Marty Hinz, M.D. has claimed that amino acid supplements can improve various conditions by balancing neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain. He owns a lab that is used to determine whether imbalances exist. He also gives seminars on how to prescribe such supplements, and his daughter, Amy M. Gunthert-Hinz, owns and operates a company that sells them.” Barrett finds no evidence in support of Hinz’s diagnostic tests or treatment protocols.
March 30 – An updated Cochrane review of acupuncture for acute stroke (Xu M, Li D, Zhang S. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar 30;3:CD003317 Abstract) found that apparently beneficial results of acupuncture were not seen when compared to sham acupuncture, indicating they are due to placebo effects. As Edzard Ernst noted in commenting on the review (May 26), “this review really shows that acupuncture has no convincing effect in acute stroke.” Another post (July 26) also discussed the review. He wrote, “by far the most important finding of this review is that studies which at least partly control for placebo effects fail to show positive results…one thing seems to be certain: acupuncture for stroke (and other indications) is not supported by sound evidence. And that means, I think, that it is not responsible to use it in routine care.”
Best of the blogs, April – on Science-Based Medicine, Jann Bellamy:
discussed "Dr. Amy" Yasko's autism protocol: “’Dr. Amy’ Yasko isn’t a real doctor and her autism protocol is unproven, complicated, and expensive. Her claims of success are contradicted by autism, nutrition, and genetics experts.” Her use of oral RNA supplements is “laughable.”
Scott Gavura:
wrote “St. John's wort for depression – A herbal remedy that works?” While there is some evidence that SJW may be similar in effectiveness to antidepressants for moderate depression, there are concerns with interactions with other drugs and with dosing. Also, it is important to work with a health professional rather than self medicate.
posted concerning a British Columbia naturopath using a homeopathic remedy derived from rabid dog saliva to treat a child with serious behavioral problems. The product is an approved remedy in Canada. David Gorski followed up with three posts. On Science-Based Medicine, he noted, “Today, American naturopaths are in Washington, DC lobbying for increased prescribing power, including for controlled substances. Lawmakers should be reminded of the quackery at the heart of naturopathy.” Writing as “Orac” on Respectful Insolence, he discussed the homeopathic reasoning behind the remedy in his April 19 post. His April 24 post responded to the naturopath’s defense of her use of the remedy. UPDATE: the naturopath surrendered her license in Nov., 2018 News story.
David Gorski:
wrote of a new integrative medicine center affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “The problem is that academic medical centers all over the country are launching similar initiatives, either through wanting to capture market share (or at least preserve market share by making sure that woo-prone patients don’t go somewhere else) or through the same ‘open-mindedness’ towards pseudoscience that’s contributed so much to the existence of quackademic and integrative medicine—or both.”
Harriet Hall:
wrote “Modern Reflexology: Still As Bogus As Pre-Modern Reflexology.”
discussed how “A new specialty, psychodermatology, was invented to address the interaction of the mind and the skin. The effects of stress on the skin are not well defined, and the need for this new specialty is questionable.”
posted that “Montreal Healthy Girl Brittany Auerbach spreads misinformation, pseudoscience, and outright fantasy. She could hurt people who believe her nonsense about cancer, viruses, and vaccines.”
Steven Novella:
wrote “Bee Venom is Snake Oil.” “Bee venom acupuncture is a double-barrel pseudoscience that provides new example of an old problem – the use of poor quality preclinical research to justify the inclusion of nonsense in medicine.”
Denby Royal:
posted “I Used To Be a Holistic Nutritionist.” “In total, my entire education as a holistic nutritionist took a mere ten months. Following this, I was permitted to start taking clients immediately. No residency or clinical hours were required to prepare us for the real world and interactions with real patients.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
wrote two posts concerning a new paper on the interstitium. In the April 3 post he noted that the report had interesting science, but news reports were exaggerating it to claim the finding of a “new organ.” Also, he lamented the speculation that it could explain acupuncture. In the April 4 post, he expanded on this after discovering that the paper’s lead author “is very much into New Age nonsense” and has ties to Deepak Chopra. Steven Novella also discussed the subject on NeuroLogicBlog: “Notice how many completely different conditions are allegedly treated with acupuncture. How can sticking needles in the skin reverse a breech presentation and treat schizophrenia? The idea that the existence of the interstitium adds any plausibility to this is ridiculous…Every time something new is discovered, acupuncture apologists proclaim – this is the missing mechanism for acupuncture. The interstitium is just the latest claim.”
posted twice on Homeopathy Awareness Week. His April 10 post said, “Let’s help celebrate by reminding people that it’s quackery!” and included a case review. His April 16 post on Science-Based Medicine repeated this material, but also added an extensive discussion of efforts to advance science-based medicine in France.
dissected a case report on Rigvir, a dubious cancer therapy.
wrote “Integrating homeopathy with medicine: Not the ‘best of both worlds’.” Included was a discussion of a British study showing that doctors who prescribed homeopathic remedies were associated with poorer overall prescribing practices (Walker et al. J R Soc Med. 2018 May;111(5):167-174 Paper). Edzard Ernst, one of the authors of the paper, also commented on his blog (April 23).
posted “Jennifer Margulis: Another rising star in the antivaccine movement.”
Edzard Ernst:
posted “'Pilot studies' of alternative medicine: incompetent, unethical, misleading and harmful.” “…these studies pollute the medical literature and misguide people who are unable or unwilling to look behind the smoke-screen. Enthusiasts of alternative medicine popularise these bogus trials, while hiding the fact that their results are unreliable. Journalists report about them, and many consumers assume they are being told the truth – after all it was published in a ‘peer-reviewed’ medical journal!”
discussed a new Cochrane review on homeopathy for respiratory tract infections in children (Hawke et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Apr 9;4:CD005974 Abstract). No evidence of effectiveness was found.
wrote “ Chiropractic: a truly remarkable and excellent review by chiropractors.” The review found no benefit of chiropractic in prevention of disease.
criticized a study of reiki for symptom relief in hospitalized patients; the outcomes of the retrospective study were almost certainly due to placebo and other nonspecific effects. “What journal would be so utterly devoid of critical analysis to publish such unethical nonsense? Ahh … it’s our old friend the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.”
found a study of the effects of reflexology on infant colic to be unconvincing because there was no control for nonspecific effects.
April – A review by Taylor asked “Does Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation Mitigate Statin-Associated Muscle Symptoms?” (Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2018 Apr;18(2):75-82 Abstract). It concluded, “data supporting the efficacy of CoQ10 are equivocal, with some studies showing that CoQ10 supplementation reduces the incidence and severity of SAMS and others finding no beneficial effects of supplementation.”
April – A study found that adding Kinesio Taping® to spinal manipulation gave no benefit in treatment of athletes with low back pain (Kamali, Sinaei, and Taherkhani, J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2018 Apr;22(2):540-545 Abstract).
April – A Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committee reviewed “Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Diabetes” (Can J Diabetes. 2018 Apr;42 Suppl 1:S154-S161 Paper). They found “Some natural health products have shown a lowering of A1C by ≥0.5% in trials lasting at least 3 months in adults with type 2 diabetes, but most are single, small trials that require further large-scale evaluations before they can be recommended for widespread use in diabetes. A few more commonly used natural health products for diabetes have been studied in larger randomized controlled trials and/or meta-analyses refuting the popular belief of benefit of these compounds.” Edzard Ernst commented on the article, fearing that giving lists of supplements that might work is dangerous for patients. “Even if such treatments did work, they are not well-researched, unreliable and do not have sufficiently large effects (a 0.5% decrease of glycated haemoglobin is hardly impressive) to represent realistic options.”
April – McMahon and others reviewed “The Effect of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Endurance Exercise Performance in Healthy Adults” (Sports Med. 2017 Apr;47(4):735-756 Abstract). They concluded “Dietary NO3− supplementation is likely to elicit a positive outcome when testing endurance exercise capacity, whereas dietary NO3− supplementation is less likely to be effective for time-trial performance.”
April – Zou and others reviewed effects of Baduanjin, “a Chinese traditional Qigong exercise that focuses on a mind-body integration” (J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Apr;24(4):324-335 Abstract). “The results of individual studies support the notion that Baduanjin may be effective as an adjunctive rehabilitation method for improving cognitive functions in addition to psychological and physiological parameters…Before we draw a definitive conclusion relating to Baduanjin for health benefits, more methodologically rigorous studies with a long-term follow-up assessment should be further conducted.”
April 6 – The Center for Inquiry posted a 30 minute YouTube video by David Gorski, entitled “How Alternative Medicine is Endangering Academia.” “Alternative medicines like acupuncture, reiki, naturopathy, and homeopathy, once considered quackery, now pose a threat to academia as alternative medicine has been debunked as an ineffective form of treatment.”
April 10-11 – Cheryl Clark wrote a two-part story on Trina Health for Medpage Today Part 1 Part 2 (require login); NPR story. The center treats diabetes with “a proprietary protocol of ‘microburst’ insulin infusions.” “The science behind pulsed insulin infusions ‘is not preposterous’…But a patient would have to endure much longer infusions every day, or every other day, to get an effect,” and there is no evidence that it would improve complications.
April 11 – Alehagen and others reported on a study of selenium and coenzyme Q10 for prevention of heart disease (PLoS One. 2018 Apr 11;13(4):e0193120 Paper). Subjects received the supplements for four years. After 12 years a reduced mortality was seen. However, “Since this was a small study, the observations should be regarded as hypothesis-generating.”
April 12 – A survey by Jia and others found that “The reporting in RCTs [randomized controlled trials] of acupuncture for KOA [knee osteoarthritis] was generally poor” (PLoS One. 2018 Apr 12;13(4):e0195652 Paper).
April 18 – An Article by Danny Lawhon was entitled “Iowa cracks down on 'smart pill' sellers, and some victims are getting their money back.” Ads for the products included fake endorsements by celebrities.
April 26 – A Story by David Cyranoski was entitled “Chinese physician released after 3 months in jail for criticizing a traditional medicine.” “Criticism of remedies is often blocked on the Internet in China. Some lawyers and physicians worry that Tan’s arrest will make people even more hesitant to criticize traditional therapies.” Edzard Ernst commented on the story: “On this blog, we have repeatedly discussed concerns over the validity of TCM data/material that comes out of China…This chilling case, I am afraid, is not prone to increase our confidence.”
April 26 – On Device Watch, Stephen Barrett wrote that “three defendants who marketed and sold light-emitting medical devices as a cure-all to consumers, primarily targeting the elderly, were sentenced by a federal judge in Rapid City, South Dakota… LLLT [low-level laser therapy] devices may bring about temporary relief of some types of pain, but there is no reason to believe that they will influence the course of any ailment or are more effective than standard forms of heat delivery.”
April 27 – Stephen Barrett published “A Skeptical Look at Geronimo Rubio, M.D.
and His Treatment Programs” on Quackwatch. Rubio uses pseudoscientific methods, such as the Rife machine, in his Mexican cancer center.
April 29 – A Story (with video) by Laurie McGinley and William Wan was entitle “Miracle cures or modern quackery? Stem cell clinics multiply, with heartbreaking results for some patients.”
Additions to Earlier Pages
2017 - Netflix began the series “A User’s Guide to Cheating Death.” “Timothy Caulfield examines how companies market wellness products, diets, genetic test, cosmetic surgery and the like to people eager to stay young.”
May 1, 2017 – Schnaar and Freeze (Glycobiology. 2017 May 1;27(5):383-384 Letter) wrote “A ‘Glyconutrient Sham’ and the Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium.” The authors noted their 2008 paper that refuted the claims of Mannatech for its “glyconutrient” products. They also note that Mannatech has “enhanced the appearance of scientific legitimacy, in part, by associating with academic glycobiology,” and has made presentations at the Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium. “This raises our concern that the legitimate Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium will again be used to provide the impression that glyconutrients are broadly supported by the mainstream glycobiology research community despite the fact that, based on our analysis, there is insufficient evidence that glyconutrients are a way to cure, mitigate, treat or prevent diseases, illnesses or serious conditions... we also feel it is incumbent on all of us to maintain a bright line between legitimate glycobiology research and the marketing of plant polysaccharides as nutraceuticals.”
December, 2017 – Two reviews dealt with products for inflammatory bowel disease. One dealt with probiotics, live microorganisms thought to have health benefits. Abraham and Quigley (Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017 Dec;46(4):769-782 1st Page Preview) wrote: “Well-designed studies of probiotics in IBD in humans remain scanty. Available evidence supports a role for probiotics in pouchitis and mild/moderate ulcerative colitis but not in Crohn disease.” The second dealt with prebiotics, dietary fiber that can provide for the growth of beneficial organisms in the intestine. Rasmussen and Hamaker (Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017 Dec;46(4):783-795 1st Page Preview) concluded: “In vitro and in vivo animal models provide some support for the use of prebiotics for inflammatory bowel disease through inflammation reduction. Studies using prebiotics in patients with inflammatory bowel disease are limited and focus on only a select few prebiotic substances.”
February 13, 2018 – An Article by Dan Bowerman was entitled “Shady chiros manipulate patient joints, insurance claims.” “Most chiros are honest and ethical. Yet persistent fraud remains an expensive drain on insurers, and can harm patients by inflicting unneeded diagnostic testing or inappropriate treatment. Schemes and abuse continue evolving as unethical chiropractors find creative new ways to exploit gaps in the insurance system.”