Best of the blogs, September – on Science-Based Medicine: Jann Bellamy:
described a new paper that “adds to the existing body of evidence that chiropractic neck manipulation is an independent risk factor for stroke.” Edzard Ernst also discussed the paper.
argued that claims for reiki represent fraudulent misrepresentation.
David Gorski:
discussed naturopaths, who are “fake doctors,” operating dubious stem cell clinics. He followed up with a post on Respectful Insolence.
posted concerning Rigvir, a cancer therapy developed in Latvia. “There are many aspects to the Rigvir story that strongly suggest that Rigvir is probably cancer quackery.”
followed up with a discussion of how Ty Bollinger promotes Rigvir through patient testimonials.
wrote another followup post (Oct. 2), which included a back and forth exchange with promoters of Rigvir.
Harriet Hall:
wrote “TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine): New Developments.”
Clay Jones:
analyzed “Maximized Living: ‘5 Essentials’ of Chiropractic Marketing Propaganda.” “Maximized Living, with its 5 Essentials, is nothing more than a dogmatically vitalistic and subluxation focused practice building scheme at its core…I don’t recommend that parents ever seek care from a chiropractor for their children, and involvement with a Maximized Living doctor should definitely be avoided.”
Jesse Luke:
discussed “CAM [complementary and alternative medicine] Promotion in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Programs.” Included are some pseudoscientific practitioners. “… if parents choose not to allow these charlatans to treat their children they may feel that they are not doing everything to help their child (this personally nauseates me). Second, these treatments provide nothing but false hope to parents or older children when the placebo effect kicks in. Finally, even though such services may be offered for free to patients there is still a cost, and every dollar spent on the program is a dollar that could have gone towards research or services that could truly help or possibly even cure these patients.”
Steven Novella:
reported on a case of cyanide poisoning due to ingestion of laetrile (sometimes called "B17"), marketed as a treatment for cancer.
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
in his post “Patients lose when they chose naturopaths over real doctors,” noted that “There are no ‘good naturopaths’.” “Outside the very privileged, cloistered, and protected ivory towers of medical academia, I’ve been unable to find any detectable difference between the level of quackery offered by the great unwashed unlicensed mass of naturopaths who didn’t graduate from schools like Bastyr and the elite group of naturopaths (elite only among naturopaths, that is) who did go to ‘accredited’ naturopathy schools and are licensed.”
criticized naturopath Colleen Huber for her efforts to suppress criticism and for her unscientific cancer treatments.
in three posts, analyzed a highly flawed study with mice purporting to show that aluminum (which is present in vaccines) can cause neurological effects and thus might be related to autism. Sept. 21 Sept. 27 Oct. 10
took on Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop once again, this time for selling an aromatherapy product to protect your aura from psychic attacks.
Edzard Ernst:
refuted the claim that in the 1918 influenza epidemic, chiropractic “proved itself to be the method of choice for treating the flu!”
posted on forest bathing. “I have no problems in assuming that relaxation in a forest is beneficial in many ways and a nice experience. But why call this a therapy?”
noted that the European Academies Science Advisory Council issued a statement on homeopathy. “…we conclude that the claims for homeopathy are implausible and inconsistent with established scientific concepts…we acknowledge that a placebo effect may appear in individual patients but we agree with previous extensive evaluations concluding that there are no known diseases for which there is robust, reproducible evidence that homeopathy is effective beyond the placebo effect.”
pointed out flaws in a study alleging that lung cancer patients live longer with Chinese herbal medicine.
September – Red yeast rice is promoted as a natural alternative to statin drugs (it contains monacolin K, which is identical to the drug lovastatin). Cohen and others found that the contents of monacolin K of various products differed dramatically (Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2017 Sep;24(13):1431-1434 Abstract). This is potentially dangerous, especially if a person is also taking prescription statins. De Backer wrote a related Editorial (Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2017 Sep;24(13):1429-1430). In October, Dujovne published “Red Yeast Rice Preparations: Are They Suitable Substitutions for Statins?” (Am J Med. 2017 Oct;130(10):1148-1150 Paper) He concluded, “I do not recommend the use of red yeast rice as an alternative therapy.”
September – A study by Reginster and others (Ann Rheum Dis. 2017 Sep;76(9):1537-1543 Paper) concluded that chondroitin sulfate “is superior to placebo and similar to celecoxib in reducing pain and improving function over 6 months in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients.”
September – Crowley discussed fish oil supplements in Skeptical Briefs (2017 Fall: 5-6). “The evidence simply doesn’t support the claim that fish oil supplements can reduce the risk of cardiac disease, at least in high-risk individuals.” However, they might provide other benefits.
September – Asher and other reviewed “Complementary Therapies for Mental Health Disorders” (Med Clin North Am. 2017 Sep;101(5):847-864 First page preview). Their key points: “Bright light therapy is a reasonable treatment as monotherapy or augmentation for major depressive disorder (MDD) and is well-established for seasonal depression. Mindfulness meditation may be considered for first or second-line treatment of MDD, especially in patients with mild to moderate depression. Kava, passion flower, and German chamomile can be considered for short-term, adjunctive treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions may be beneficial for GAD in patients interested in these therapies. Acupuncture and mindfulness meditation may be beneficial as adjunctive treatments to conventional therapy for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.”
September – Zhou, Gardiner, and Bertisch reviewed “Integrative Medicine for Insomnia” (Med Clin North Am. 2017 Sep;101(5):865-879 First page preview). Their key points include: “Consistent evidence has demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia. CBT should be considered as first-line treatment. There is a growing body of literature suggesting that mindfulness-based stress management, yoga, and tai chi may improve insomnia symptoms. Current data do not support routine use of dietary supplements for sleep.”
September – A review by Park and Han (J Altern Complement Med. 2017 Sep;23(9):685-695 Abstract) concluded that “meditation played a noticeable role in decreasing the BP [blood pressure] of subjects older than 60 years of age, whereas yoga seemed to contribute to the decrease of subjects aged less than 60 years.”
Sept. 5 – Plevin wrote “IV hydrogen peroxide: An unproven therapy that could be dangerous.” “’When you have one compound that someone's telling you can treat a wide variety of unrelated conditions, that's a red flag, says Dr. David Gorski…IV hydrogen peroxide has never been studied in a clinical trial, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved any IV drugs that contain hydrogen peroxide as an active ingredient. ‘When you have something that has never been shown to be of value and has the potential to do a lot of harm, it shouldn't be used,’ says Dr. Paul Offit.”
Sept. 10 – Stephen Barrett published a revised version of “Some Notes on the Bi-Digital O-Ring Test and Quantum Reflex Analysis” for Quackwatch. The tests are invalid methods used “to diagnose organ dysfunction and recommend products such as dietary supplements to correct them.” However, “The idea that muscle-testing can determine the status of the body's organs or provide a basis for treating health problems is preposterous.”
Sept. 15 – A review by Merry and Ristow (J Physiol. 2016 Sep 15;594(18):5135-47 Paper) noted that antioxidant supplements can interfere with skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise training. “Given the potential for antioxidants to suppress some training adaptations with little evidence to suggest any positive effects, the authors tend to reject the use of such supplements.”
Sept. 17 – Jay Frost wrote “A Skeptical Look at the Spooky2 Rife System” for Device Watch. It “represents a revival of Rife devices updated for the iPhone era.” Supposedly it delivers “healing” frequencies that can kill bacteria, detoxify the body, and provide other benefits. It is “a platform for all kinds of energy-based quackery. None of its purported mechanisms has a scientific basis…”
Sept. 21 – A story by Mole in Ars Technica discussed a report by the European Academies Science Advisory Council on homeopathy. “…the group summarized the extensive scientific work showing that homeopathy is scientifically implausible and produces nothing more than the placebo effect in patients… homeopathic remedies can be dangerous because they may delay patients from getting real medical treatment and undermine patient trust in the medical community when sham treatments fail.” It recommended that “EU member states: set up regulations to squash false claims and misleading advertisements by homeopaths; cut coverage of homeopathic treatments from public health programs; and require that homeopathic product labels clearly identify ingredients and their amounts.” (see also Edzard Ernst item above)
Sept. 22 – A series of stories and blog posts concerned a $200 million donation by Henry and Susan Samueli to the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, with a focus on training students in “integrative health.”
A Column by Hiltzik was entitled “A $200-million donation threatens to tar UC Irvine's medical school as a haven for quacks.”
In a followup, Hiltzik noted that after he questioned the presence of homeopathy among the services to be offered, mention of homeopathy on the website “mysteriously disappeared.”
Steven Novella discussed the story on Science-Based Medicine. “The bottom line is that the University of California Irvine should be thoroughly ashamed of itself for compromising its own academic integrity. It is now the standard bearer for quackery in academic medicine.” A followup post concerned the removal of homeopathy from the website, one of a series of recent setbacks around the world for homeopathy.
“Orac” covered the story with three posts on Respectful Insolence Sept. 19 Sept. 26 Sept. 29. The last of these was a rebuttal to John Weeks, editor of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, who had expressed outrage at the criticisms of the new program.
Steven Novella also rebutted the points of Weeks on Science-Based Medicine Oct. 4.
Edzard Ernst posted on Sept. 20. He noted that experts in integrative medicine are unlikely to evaluate their own work critically.
David Gorski discussed reasons to doubt that the program will be “rigorously science-based” in his Science-Based Medicine post of Oct. 23
Sept. 27 – Joyce wrote “The NY Times 'Well' section is unwell.” The paper was criticized for publicizing “inconclusive research” with “alluring headlines.”
Best of the blogs, October – on Science-Based Medicine: Jann Bellamy:
wrote “Repealing Legislative Alchemy.” “I attempt to collect the various laws which legalize pseudo-medicine, describe how they operate to the detriment of our health care system and patients, and offer solutions… a concerted public effort to protect consumers from quackery is virtually non-existent today. As far as I know, a legislative solution to the victimization of consumers is not even a topic of conversation in the halls of Congress or the state legislatures. It should be.”
urged the American Academy of Family Physicians to continue its ban on continuing education credit for courses on functional medicine.
Scott Gavura:
posted "Complementary and Alternative Medicines and Cancer." “Overall, based on this limited evidence, it’s reasonable to conclude CAM may offer patients subjective benefits. However, there is no convincing evidence CAM use actually improves quality of life or has any beneficial effect on survival.”
Harriet Hall:
discussed Amino Neuro Frequency, which “uses one-inch stick-on patches with embedded ‘frequencies’ that the body recognizes and directs to the proper area to treat pain and inflammation. The concept of ‘embedded frequencies’ is bogus and ANF is nothing but a theatrical placebo.”
reported on how “Karyne Jeanne Richardson offers a ridiculous program of electrodiagnosis, flower remedies, and fractal sound to treat autism and other disorders.”
refuted criticisms of mainstream doctors made by complementary and alternative medicine practitioners. “CAM’s criticisms of mainstream medicine are misguided. Good mainstream clinicians do at least as good a job as CAM providers when it comes to prevention, using science-based non-drug treatments, treating the (real) underlying causes of disease, treating the whole person, understanding the principles of nutrition, and achieving good health outcomes for their patients. All these things fall squarely in the province of good science-based medicine.”
wrote about “Facial Cupping: A Kinder, Gentler, Sillier Kind of Cupping.” “There is no evidence of health benefits.”
Clay Jones:
discussed a clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Integrative Medicine. The Academy “is usually a trustworthy source of high quality information for patients, caregivers, and pediatric medical providers. But when it comes to so-called integrative medicine, they have a massive biased blind spot.”
Steven Novella:
asked “Is Mindfulness Meditation Science-Based? Existing research has not yet clearly defined what mindfulness is and what effect it has. The hype clearly has gone beyond the science, and more rigorous research is needed to determine what specific effects there are, if any.”
wrote "Jarisch-Herxheimer and Lyme disease". “When patients diagnosed with chronic Lyme are treated, no matter what happens as a response to the treatment is considered by believers to be evidence in support of the diagnosis. If they get better, then that is evidence that the treatment is working. If they get worse, then that is evidence that the treatment is working and they are experiencing the JHR (or ‘herxing’ as the community calls it). If nothing happens, they just need more treatment."
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
wrote “Why a case report being circulated by advocates doesn’t show that the ketogenic diet combats cancer.”
criticized the integration of quackery into the medical school curriculum.
Edzard Ernst:
critiqued a review of Reiki.
asked “Is Chiropractic treatment safe?”
wrote “Acupuncture for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease? Nine reasons why I don’t think so.”
October – Chiropractors often treat children and even infants. A study of students at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College found that in their clinical training, “very few had experience with pediatric populations” (Puhl et al., J Chiropr Educ. 2017 Oct;31(2):132-139 Paper). Jann Bellamy discussed the paper on Science-Based Medicine: “...a chiropractor, who has no legal limitation on the age of the patients he sees and few on the conditions he can claim he treats, can go into practice having seen only uncomplicated MSK [musculoskeletal] conditions in his entire clinical training and not a single pediatric patient.”
October – Stohs wrote a review, “Safety, Efficacy, and Mechanistic Studies Regarding Citrus aurantium (Bitter Orange) Extract and p‐Synephrine” (Phytother Res. 2017 Oct;31(10):1463-1474 Paper). Bitter orange is used for weight loss, but there have been safety concerns. The author “concluded that bitter orange extract and p‐synephrine are safe for use in dietary supplements and foods at the commonly used doses.” However, it should be noted that “The author has served as a consultant for Novel Ingredients, a company that markets bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) extracts.”
October – Noh and others reviewed acupuncture for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (Complement Ther Med. 2017 Oct;34:86-103 Abstract). They wrote, “We found that acupuncture might be a safe and useful adjunctive treatment for patients with PD. However, because of methodological flaws in the included studies, conclusive evidence is still lacking.”
October – Ooi, Giovino, and Pak reviewed transcendental meditation for lowering blood pressure (Complement Ther Med. 2017 Oct;34:26-34 Abstract). The results indicated a modest benefit, “comparable with other lifestyle interventions such as weight-loss diet and exercise,” but less than achievable with drugs. “However, the strength of the evidence is considerably weakened by conflicting findings across reviews and potential risks of bias in many of the included RCTs [randomized controlled trials].”
October 11 – Swartzberg wrote “A Memory Supplement to Forget,” concerning Prevagen. “Published in an obscure journal, the clinical trial touted by the marketers as proving the efficacy of Prevagen actually found no overall benefit compared to a placebo for its primary endpoints involving memory and cognition.” Moreover, the primary ingredient is a protein, which would be digested and could not survive to produce any effects on the brain.
October 17 – According to a Story by Paola, “As part of the Federal government’s overhaul of the private health insurance system [in Australia], cover for some natural therapies will now be removed from all private health insurance products. The therapies that will no longer be covered include: Alexander technique, aromatherapy, Bowen therapy, Buteyko, Feldenkrais, herbalism, homeopathy, iridology, kinesiology, naturopathy, Pilates, reflexology, Rolfing, shiatsu, tai chi, and yoga... Australian Skeptics also points out that chiropractic, acupuncture and reiki are not listed among the binned therapies.” Scott Gavura also discussed the story on Science-Based Medicine.
October 17 – A Cochrane Collaboration review of “Acupuncture or acupressure for induction of labour” (Smith et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Oct 17;10:CD002962 Abstract) concluded that “Overall, there was no clear benefit from acupuncture or acupressure in reducing caesarean section rate. The quality of the evidence varied between low to high. Few trials reported on neonatal morbidity or maternal mortality outcomes. Acupuncture showed some benefit in improving cervical maturity, however, more well-designed trials are needed.”
October 20 – Brasky, White, and Chen reported results concerning vitamin B supplements and lung cancer in a study of more than 77,000 participants followed for 10 years (J Clin Oncol. 2017 Oct 20;35(30):3440-3448 Abstract). They concluded that “Use of supplemental vitamins B6, folate, and B12 was not associated with lung cancer risk among women. In contrast, use of vitamin B6 and B12 from individual supplement sources, but not from multivitamins, was associated with a 30% to 40% increase in lung cancer risk among men... This sex- and source-specific association provides further evidence that vitamin B supplements are not chemopreventive for lung cancer and may be harmful.” Scott Gavura discussed the findings on Science-Based Medicine.
October 25 – Xiang and others reviewed “The Immediate Analgesic Effect of Acupuncture for Pain” (Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:3837194 Paper). They concluded that “Acupuncture was associated with a greater immediate pain relief effect compared to sham acupuncture and analgesic injections.” On the other hand, they also wrote: “The results of our systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that evidence of the immediate analgesic effect of acupuncture is encouraging, but not convincing.”
October 30 – The FDA has released a Statement on a “proposal to revoke health claim that soy protein reduces risk of heart disease.” “While some evidence continues to suggest a relationship between soy protein and a reduced risk of heart disease – including evidence reviewed by the FDA when the claim was authorized – the totality of currently available scientific evidence calls into question the certainty of this relationship.”
Addition to Earlier Months
July 2, 2017 – Brulliard wrote “Therapy animals are everywhere. Proof that they help is not.” “But the evidence to date is problematic, according to Crossman’s review and others before it. Most studies had small sample sizes, she wrote, and an ‘alarming number’ did not control for other possible reasons for a changed stress level, such as interaction with the animal’s human handler.”