Aluminum in vaccines – new paper dismisses anti-vaxxer claims

Trying to have a reasonable discussion with the anti-vaccine religion is usually very difficult. To these militants, scientific evidence is unimportant – well, unless it’s a cherry-picked article from an obscure, predatory journal that has been retracted. Part of the problem is the moving goalposts of the anti-vaccine arguments. First, it was mercury (no mercury in vaccines). Today, the argument is that aluminum in vaccines is dangerous. What next, the water in vaccines causes something because of reasons? >>> Aluminum in vaccines – new paper dismisses anti-vaxxer claims

A celebrated study of GPs practicing ‘integrative medicine’ proves … nothing

In recent days, journalists across the world had a field day (mis)reporting that doctors practising integrative medicine were doing something positive after all. I think that the paper shows nothing of the kind – but please judge for yourself.

The authors of this article wanted to determine differences in antibiotic prescription rates between conventional General […]

Read the rest here: A celebrated study of GPs practicing ‘integrative medicine’ proves … nothing

A new RCT of homeopathy … and, guess what, it reports a positive result (but are we being misled or not?)

Homeopathy works!

At least this is what the authors of this new study want us to believe.

But are they right?

This RCT is entitled ‘Efficacy and tolerability of a complex homeopathic drug in children suffering from dry cough-A double-blind, placebo- controlled, clinical trial’. It recruited children suffering from acute dry cough to assess the […]

Read the rest here: A new RCT of homeopathy … and, guess what, it reports a positive result (but are we being misled or not?)

I smell a rat: something extremely odd about the ‘positive’ studies of homeopathy

As I often said, I find it regrettable that sceptics often say THERE IS NOT A SINGLE STUDY THAT SHOWS HOMEOPATHY TO BE EFFECTIVE (or something to that extend). This is quite simply not true, and it gives homeopathy-fans the occasion to suggest sceptics wrong. The truth is that THE TOTALITY OF THE MOST RELIABLE EVIDENCE FAILS TO SUGGEST THAT HIGHLY DILUTED HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES ARE EFFECTIVE BEYOND PLACEBO. As a message for consumers, this is a little more complex, but I believe that it’s worth being well-informed and truthful […]

Read the rest here: I smell a rat: something extremely odd about the ‘positive’ studies of homeopathy

Beware of (poor-quality, redundant, nonsensical, biased) systematic reviews

What an odd title, you might think.

Systematic reviews are the most reliable evidence we presently have!

Yes, this is my often-voiced and honestly-held opinion but, like any other type of research, systematic reviews can be badly abused; and when this happens, they can seriously mislead us.

A new paper by someone who knows more about […]

Read the rest here: Beware of (poor-quality, redundant, nonsensical, biased) systematic reviews

Homeopathy works? … Yes, provided the trial has enough flaws to produce a false-positive result

Clinical trials are a most useful tool, but they can easily be abused. It is not difficult to misuse them in such a way that even the most useless treatment appears to be effective. Sadly, this sort of thing happens all too often in the realm of alternative medicine. Take for instance this recently published trial of homeopathy […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy works? … Yes, provided the trial has enough flaws to produce a false-positive result

A ‘systematic’ review of health retreats: more advertising than science

This systematic review aimed to identify and explore published studies on the health, wellbeing and economic impact of retreat experiences. Three electronic databases were searched for residential retreat studies published in English. Studies were included, if they involved an intervention program in a residential setting of one or more nights, and included before-and-after data related […]

Read the rest here: A ‘systematic’ review of health retreats: more advertising than science

Ethical issues in alternative medicine [we neglect them at our peril]

In 2017, Medline listed just over 1800 articles on ‘complementary alternative medicine’. If you find this number impressively high, consider that, for ‘surgery’ (a subject that has often been branded as less that active in conducting research), there were almost 18 000 Medline-listed papers.

So, the research activity in CAM is relatively small. Vis a […]

Read the rest here: Ethical issues in alternative medicine [we neglect them at our peril]

Alternative medicine and disease prevention … repeating an untruth does not make it a truth

How often have we heard the claim from proponents of alternative medicine that one strength of their approach is disease prevention (see for instance my previous post or this, this and this) and that conventional medicine neglects prevention almost completely? Such claims annoy me because they are demonstrably false.

I know, to some readers, this […]

Read the rest here: Alternative medicine and disease prevention … repeating an untruth does not make it a truth

Animal experiments in alternative medicine research – a new and odd phenomenon

For some time now, I got the impression that the research literature of alternative medicine is yielding more and more animal experiments. But impressions can of course be misleading, so I did a small statistical analysis. I went on to Medline, searched for all papers on ‘complementary/alternative medicine’, and counted the number of animal studies […]

Read the rest here: Animal experiments in alternative medicine research – a new and odd phenomenon

Reiki gets ‘strong support’ from a new review – is it time to re-write a few textbooks?

Reiki has been on my mind repeatedly (see for instance here, here, here and here). It is one of those treatments that are too crazy for words and too implausible to mention. Yet a new paper firmly claims that it is more than a placebo.

This review evaluated clinical studies of Reiki to determine whether […]

Read the rest here: Reiki gets ‘strong support’ from a new review – is it time to re-write a few textbooks?

Bovine mastitis: are homeopathic remedies truly ‘as effective as antibiotics’?

Mastitis is a common disease in dairies. Numerous non-antimicrobial drugs and treatment strategies have been recommended for this condition. Homeopaths in particular have long claimed that their highly diluted remedies are an effective option, and I have reported repeatedly about the evidence – see here, here, and here, for instance. Even though it is far […]

Read the rest here: Bovine mastitis: are homeopathic remedies truly ‘as effective as antibiotics’?

“Forest bathing”: an alternative therapy you probably never heard of

Shinrin-yoku means “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing.” It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has, according to its proponents,

become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. Researchers primarily in Japan and South Korea have established a robust body of scientific literature on the health benefits of spending […]

Read the rest here: “Forest bathing”: an alternative therapy you probably never heard of

Alternative medicine use delays effective treatment

We have repeatedly discussed the fact that alternative medicine (AM) is by no means free of risks. I find it helpful to divide them into two broad categories:

1. direct risks of the intervention (such as stroke due to neck manipulation, or cardiac tamponade caused by acupuncture, or liver damage due to a herbal remedy) and […]

Read the rest here: Alternative medicine use delays effective treatment

Should the ‘Faculty of Homeopathy’ be reported to the General Medical Council?

The UK ‘Faculty of Homeopathy’ (FoH) is the professional body of British doctors who specialise in homeopathy. As doctors, FoH members have been to medical school and should know about evidence, science etc., I had always thought. But perhaps I was mistaken?

The FoH has a website with an interesting new post entitled ‘Scientific evidence […]

Read the rest here: Should the ‘Faculty of Homeopathy’ be reported to the General Medical Council?

Alternative medicine kills cancer patients – Science-Based Medicine

Alternative medicine, by definition, consists medicine that either has not been shown to work or has been shown not to work. To paraphrase an old adage yet again, medicine that has been shown to work with an acceptable risk-benefit ceases to be “alternative” and becomes simply “medicine.”

Unlike the case for many conditions commonly treated with alternative medicine, whether or not a treatment works against cancer is determined by its impact on the hardest of “hard” endpoints: Survival...

Read more: Alternative medicine kills cancer patients – Science-Based Medicine

Use of Alternative Medicine for Cancer and Its Impact on Survival | JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute | Oxford Academic

Abstract
There is limited available information on patterns of utilization and efficacy of alternative medicine (AM) for patients with cancer. We identified 281 patients with nonmetastatic breast, prostate, lung, or colorectal cancer who chose AM, administered as sole anticancer treatment among patients who did not receive conventional cancer treatment (CCT), defined as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and/or hormone therapy. Independent covariates on multivariable logistic regression associated with increased likelihood of AM use included breast or lung cancer, higher socioeconomic status, Intermountain West or Pacific location, stage II or III disease, and low comorbidity score. Following 2:1 matching (CCT = 560 patients and AM = 280 patients) on Cox proportional hazards regression, AM use was independently associated with greater risk of death compared with CCT overall (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.88 to 3.27) and in subgroups with breast (HR = 5.68, 95% CI = 3.22 to 10.04), lung (HR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.42 to 3.32), and colorectal cancer (HR = 4.57, 95% CI = 1.66 to 12.61). Although rare, AM utilization for curable cancer without any CCT is associated with greater risk of death...

More details here:Use of Alternative Medicine for Cancer and Its Impact on Survival | JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute | Oxford Academic

NB: full paper is behind paywall.

Use of alternative medicine hastens death of cancer patients

This press-release caught my eye today. It relates to an article that does not seem to be available yet (at least when I looked it was not on Medline). As it is highly relevant to issues that we have repeatedly discussed on this blog, let me quote the important sections of the press-release instead:

To […]

Read the rest here: Use of alternative medicine hastens death of cancer patients

This post discusses the paper referenced by us here (abstract only)

Acupuncture research: more wishful thinking than good science

This new RCT by researchers from the National Institute of Complementary Medicine in Sydney, Australia was aimed at ‘examining the effect of changing treatment timing and the use of manual, electro acupuncture on the symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea’. It had four arms: low frequency manual acupuncture (LF-MA), high frequency manual acupuncture (HF-MA), low frequency electro […]
Read the rest here: Acupuncture research: more wishful thinking than good science

Yet another study proves vaccines do not cause autism – Depleted cranium

Vaccines don’t cause autism. We know that. We’ve known it for a while. There has never been a shred of evidence that they do. There have been studies done that conclusively show they do not.

Now a new study has come out showing that there is zero increase in the risk of autism in children who are given the MMR vaccine, even in those who are already at high risk for autism. This refutes the claim made by some that vaccines contribute to autism or are a factor that exacerbates it...

Read more: Yet another study proves vaccines do not cause autism – Depleted cranium