Isn’t it great to be appreciated?!? | Edzard Ernst

I didn’t think that I would post something today.

Why?

Because it’s my birthday!

After opening the packages, reading the cards and having a very relaxed start of the day, I looked into my emails and found a lot of nice messages. More congratulations emerged on twitter and facebook. But the nicest note came from someone called Shirley; […]

Read on: Isn’t it great to be appreciated?!?

Killing cancer patients via the Internet | Edzard Ernst

When given the diagnosis ‘CANCER’, most people go into some sort of shock. Once they have recovered, they are likely to learn that they now face many months of very aggressive treatments which will reduce their quality of life to almost zero. This, they are told, is no guarantee but will merely increase their chances to survive the cancer. […]

Read on: Killing cancer patients via the Internet

Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes? No, it’s just a ‘theatrical placebo’! | Edzard Ernst

In 2009, we published a systematic review of studies testing acupuncture as a treatment of menopausal hot flushes. We searched the literature using 17 databases from inception to October 10, 2008, without language restrictions. We only included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture. Their methodological quality was assessed using the modified Jadad […]

Read on: Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes? No, it’s just a ‘theatrical placebo’!

Catholic homeopaths claim to cure homosexuality | Edzard Ernst

The German ‘Association of Catholic Doctors’, Bund Katholischer Ärzte, claims that homeopathic remedies can cure homosexuality!

Yes, I kid you not, this is what they state on their website. Specifically they advise that ‘…the working group HOMEOPATHY of the Association notes homeopathic therapy options for homosexual tendencies… repertories contain special rubrics pointing to characteristic signs of homosexual behaviour, […]

Read on: Catholic homeopaths claim to cure homosexuality

Mistletoe for cancer: Does it improve patients’ quality of life? | Edzard Ernst

Many caner patients use mistletoe extracts either hoping to cure their cancer or to alleviate its symptoms. The evidence that mistletoe treatment (MT) can achieve either of these goals is mixed but, on the whole, however, it is not positive. Our own systematic review of 2003 concluded that ‘rigorous trials of mistletoe extracts fail to demonstrate efficacy of […]

Read on: Mistletoe for cancer: Does it improve patients’ quality of life?

Some naturopaths are clearly a danger to public health | Edzard Ernst

Recently I had an unpleasant exchange with an Australian naturopath by the name of Brett Smith. It started by him claiming that ‘chemo’ only kills cancer patients and enriches the pharmaceutical industry. And then it got worse, much worse, and very unpleasant. This got me interested in Mr Smith and prompted me to look him up. […]

Read on: Some naturopaths are clearly a danger to public health

QUACKSONEBOWIE

So, Bowie is dead. And all and sundry have been airing their favourite anecdotal bits and eulogistic pieces all over the (social) media. Which is understandable, given his longevous and massive cultural significance. That so many lament his passing, days after the birthday release of a lyrically portentous album, is understandable; many of us will have grown up and lived our lives to a soundtrack in which he was ever present. Like all prolific artists, he did put out some duds. But when he was good, boy was he ever!

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What are the competencies of a ‘certified paediatric doctor of chiropractic’? | Edzard Ernst

A 2016 article set out to define the minimum core competencies expected from a certified paediatric doctor of chiropractic using a Delphi consensus process. The initial set of seed statements and sub-statements was modelled on competency documents used by organizations that oversee chiropractic and medical education. The statements were then distributed to the Delphi panel, reaching […]

Read on: What are the competencies of a ‘certified paediatric doctor of chiropractic’?

Homeopathy: opinions of two outstanding experts | Edzard Ernst

The Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan recently called homeopathy ‘bogus’. “They (homeopaths) take arsenic compounds and dilute it to such an extent that just a molecule is left. It will not make any effect on you. Your tap water has more arsenic. No one in chemistry believes in homeopathy. It works because of placebo effect,” he was quoted […]

Read on: Homeopathy: opinions of two outstanding experts

Wow! A consensus document that took even me by surprise | Edzard Ernst

Consensus recommendations to the ‘National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health from Research Faculty in a Transdisciplinary Academic Consortium for Complementary and Integrative Health and Medicine’ have just been published. It appeared in this most impartial of all CAM journals, the ‘Journal of Alternative and Complementary Mededicine’. Its authors are equally impartial: Menard MB 1, Weeks J 2, Anderson 3, […]

Read on: Wow! A consensus document that took even me by surprise

Did you know? We are all in urgent need of chiropractic adjustments! | Edzard Ernst

Yes, it’s true: we all suffer from potentially poor health due to subluxations of our vertebrae. If they have not yet made us ill, they will do so shortly. But luckily, there is hope: rush to your chiropractor, get adjusted (pay cash) and all will be well.

If you don’t believe me, read what a chiropractor wrote […]

Read on: Did you know? We are all in urgent need of chiropractic adjustments!

You thought American anti-vaccine loons were bad, and then you met Frankie Vazquez from Australia

This is Frankie Vazquez from Australia:

As far as anti-vaccine weirdos go, he seems pretty tame, right? Unfortunately, he’s not tame at all. He’s quite delusional. Read what Reasonable Hank has to share about Frankie Vazquez’s — “The Voice For All Unborn Souls” — threats of violence, and then come back for the next video. […]



Read more at: You thought American anti-vaccine loons were bad, and then you met Frankie Vazquez from Australia by Reuben

The Cochrane review of laertrile for cancer – have I been plagiarised? | Edzard Ernst

What a question, you might say. And you would be right, it’s a most awkward one, so much so that I cannot answer it for myself.

I NEED YOUR HELP.

Here is the story:
Ten years ago, with the help of S Lejeune and an EU grant, my team conducted a Cochrane review of Laertrile. To do the ‘ground […]

Read on: The Cochrane review of laertrile for cancer – have I been plagiarised?

Cancer fatigue: is a dietary supplement the answer? | Edzard Ernst

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common symptoms reported by cancer patients, and it is a symptom that is often difficult to treat. As always in such a situation, there are lots of alternative therapies on offer. Yet the evidence for most is flimsy, to put it mildly.

But perhaps there is hope? The […]

Read on: Cancer fatigue: is a dietary supplement the answer?

Homeopathy on the NHS: its days are counted! | Edzard Ernst

MORE than £150,000 was spent by NHS Grampian on homeopathic treatments last year. Referrals to homeopathic practitioners cost £37,000 and referrals to the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital cost £7,315 in 2014-15. In view of the fact that highly diluted homeopathic remedies are pure placebos, any amount of tax payers’ money spent on homeopathy is hard to justify. Yet […]

Read on: Homeopathy on the NHS: its days are counted!

Five ways to mislead people with seemingly rigorous trials | Edzard Ernst

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial is usually the methodology to test the efficacy of a therapy that carries the least risk of bias. This fact is an obvious annoyance to some alt med enthusiasts, because such trials far too often fail to produce the results they were hoping for.

But there is no need to despair. Here […]

Read on: Five ways to mislead people with seemingly rigorous trials

Placebo = the illusion of a cure | Edzard Ernst

The following short passage originates from the abstract of an article that I published in 1998; it is entitled TOWARDS A RISK BENEFIT EVALUATION OF PLACEBOS:

the benefits of placebos are often not clearly defined. Generally speaking, the potential for benefit is considerable. The risks are similarly ill defined. Both direct and indirect risks are conceivable. On balance, […]

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The place of homeopathy … is … in the history books! | Edzard Ernst

The nice thing about New Year is that one sometimes tries to get some order into the chaos of one’s files and thus finds things that were long forgotten. Such a thing, for instance, is the 1996 book ‘DURCH AEHNLICHES HEILEN’ edited by the Austrian homeopath, Perter Koenig . It contains lots of uncritical, pro-homeopathy articles by homeopaths, but […]

Read on: The place of homeopathy … is … in the history books!

2015 Douchebag of the Year is… Heather Dexter!

As we did for the 2014 DB of the Year award, first, I’d like to tell you about a very good thing that happened in 2015.

We had Senate Bill 277 pass in California, doing away with religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination requirements for children to go to public school. If a parent doesn’t want […]



Read more at: 2015 Douchebag of the Year is… Heather Dexter! by Reuben

WWDDTYDTY in 2015

Read the full post at: WWDDTYDTY in 2015

A VERY HAPPY NEW QUACKBUSTING YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS It’s been a quiet year as far as new posts are concerned, but that doesn’t mean the various authors aren’t very busy indeed behind the scenes. There is still so much to denounce ...

WWDDTYDTY scrutinises the claims made by the so-called health magazine What Doctors Don't Tell You