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rampant

Wednesday 31 January 2018

Liver damage after Chinese herbal treatments – much more than meets the eye

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is popular, not least because it is heavily marketed and thus often perceived as natural and safe. But is this assumption true?

This study analysed  liver tests before and following treatment with herbal Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in order to evaluate the risk of liver injury. Patients with normal values of alanine […]

Read the rest here: Liver damage after Chinese herbal treatments – much more than meets the eye

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Manual therapies for infant colic? A very sore point in the history of chiropractic

Some of you will remember the saga of the British Chiropractic Association suing my friend and co-author Simon Singh (eventually losing the case, lots of money and all respect). One of the ‘hot potatoes’ in this case was the question whether chiropractic is effective for infant colic. This question is settled, I thought: IT HAS […]

Read the rest here: Manual therapies for infant colic? A very sore point in the history of chiropractic

Monday 29 January 2018

Acupuncture: there is no convincing evidence that it is an effective therapy

Few people would argue that Cochrane reviews tend to be the most rigorous, independent and objective assessments of therapeutic interventions we currently have. Therefore, it is relevant to see what they tell us about the value of acupuncture.

Here is a fascinating overview of all Cochrane reviews of acupuncture. It was compiled by the formidable […]

Read the rest here: Acupuncture: there is no convincing evidence that it is an effective therapy

Sunday 28 January 2018

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #4

Breaking News... Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... John Cook Quoted... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Breaking News...

Donald Trump appears to misunderstand basic facts of climate change in Piers Morgan interview

Donal Trump and Piers Morgan

Donald Trump has expressed doubts over the existence of climate change, as it is understood by the vast majority of scientists.  

After proclaiming his belief in “clean air and clean water”, the US President questioned some of the central tenets of climate science in an interview with Piers Morgan.

Mr Trump also repeated previous statements that he could “go back” into the Paris climate agreement, but said that he would only make such a decision if he could get “a good deal” for the US.

US President Donald Trump dismisses climate change and global warming in a TV interview this evening where he justifies leaving the Paris Accord because it was "a disaster" for America.

In a rambling and somewhat incoherent response to questions from Piers Morgan. He says, "There is a cooling, and there's a heating. I mean, look, it used to not be climate change, it used to be global warming. That wasn't working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place.

"The ice caps were going to melt, they were going to be gone by now, but now they're setting records. They're at a record level." 

Donald Trump appears to misunderstand basic facts of climate change in Piers Morgan interview by Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent, Jan 27, 2018


Story of the Week...

Reckoning with climate change will demand ugly tradeoffs from environmentalists — and everyone else

Nuclear Power Plant 

Climate change is a crisis. Serious damages are already underway, there’s enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to ensure more damages to come, and if carbon emissions continue unchecked, species-threatening damages become a non-trivial risk.

Lots of people acknowledge this. But it’s one think to acknowledge it and another to really take it on board, to follow all the implications wherever they lead. Very few people have let the reality of the situation sink in deep enough that it reshapes their values and priorities. Being a consistent climate hawk, it turns out, is extremely difficult.

Let’s take a look at an example of what I’m talking about, and then pull back to ponder the broader problem. 

Reckoning with climate change will demand ugly tradeoffs from environmentalists — and everyone else by David Roberts, Energy & Environmnet, Vox, Jan 27, 2018 


Toon of the Week...

2018 Toon 4 


Quote of the Week...

Just a year into his term, President Trump has already gained a reputation for being staunchly anti-science, with his administration recently described as showing “greater distain for science” than any other in modern history. Every day, it seems, there is a new report of the administration reducing public access to scientific information, cutting funding for scientific research, or downplaying the views of qualified scientists. To keep track of these developments, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, in association with the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, today launched a new Silencing Science Tracker (SST).

The SST is intended as a comprehensive record of government attempts to “silence science” since the November 2016 election. By recording all attempts in a single database, the SST enables users to easily see the myriad of ways in which scientific research and discussion are being undermined by government, and (hopefully) take action in response. This is vital as, in the words of Michael Gerrard, Faculty Director of the Sabin Center:

Scientific knowledge is the very foundation of all environmental regulation. When the government ignores science, it’s like a truck driver who wears a blindfold and drives based on what is whispered into his ear — dangerous and intolerable. The vital work of scientists must be supported, made public, and listened to. When government officials block this, we plan to shine a harsh light. 

New Silencing Science Tracker Launched by The Sabin Center and Climate Science Legal Defense Fund by Romany Webb, Climate Law Blog, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Jan 19, 2018


Graphic of the Week...

State of the Global Climate 2017 

WMO confirms 2017 among the three warmest years on recordWMO Press Release, Jan 18, 2018


SkS in the News...

In his Independent article, Donald Trump appears to misunderstand basic facts of climate change in Piers Morgan interview, Josh Gabbatiss references and links to:  

Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming, Cook et al, Environmental Research LettersVolume 11Number 4, Published 13 April 2016 


John Cook Quoted...

From Monthly Messenger: Could Inoculation be the Cure to Climate Denial? posted by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL): 

A separate study conducted by John Cook – author of the “Debunking Handbook,” which addresses how to debunk myths – resulted in similar findings. Cook’s study found that highlighting scientific consensus could increase people’s perceived consensus on a topic. This reduces the impact of misinformation. Many people believe that the most appropriate way to address false information is to not discuss the myth, rather to only highlight the facts. However, Cook’s research found it is best to address misinformation head on.

“You can’t talk around it; otherwise it persists. What’s important is to lead with the facts — the facts are the headline — then introduce the myth, and then explain why it’s wrong.” –John Cook  

From Dino Grandoni's Washington Post article, The Energy 202: Republicans love NASA. But why do they doubt its climate science?:

But the love for NASA doesn't mean the GOP embraces the agency's stance on climate science.Last year, only 18 percent of Republicans said they worried a great deal about climate change, according to Gallup.

The incongruity between support for the space agency and its climate warnings stems from a "crucial tension in conservative attitudes towards climate change, according to John Cook, a research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.

“On the one hand, there is respect for scientific institutions like NASA,” Cook wrote by email. “On the other hand, acceptance of human-caused global warming is low.”


Photo of the Week...

Denied-Facts-Climate_March_2017_credit-Edward-Kimmel 

Trump Officials, Energy Execs Speak Together at Conference Sponsored by Climate Denier Groups by Itai Vardi, DeSmog, Jan 25, 2018


Coming Soon on SkS...

  • State of the climate: how the world warmed in 2017 (Zeke)
  • Natural gas killed coal - now renewables and batteries are taking over (Dana)
  • Is warming in the Arctic behind this year’s crazy winter weather? (Jennifer Francis)
  • Guest Post (John Abraham )
  • New research this week (Ari)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #5 (John Hartz)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #5 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week...

2018 P0ster 4 


SkS Week in Review... 


97 Hours of Consensus...

97 Hours: Mark Cochrane 

Mark Cochrane's bio page and Quote source 

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)

 



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Larry Nassar – doctor of osteopathy (“intravaginal manipulations are an approved osteopathic treatment”)

We probably all heard about the horrific stories related to Larry Nassar who, on January 24, 2018, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in a state prison in Michigan after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of numerous minors. But few of us, I think, had any idea that they relate to alternative medicine. This […]

Read the rest here: Larry Nassar – doctor of osteopathy (“intravaginal manipulations are an approved osteopathic treatment”)

Saturday 27 January 2018

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #4

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Why climate change is worsening public health problems

Port-au-Prince Haiti 11-11-17 Men in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, collect water on Nov. 11, 2017. Years after Hurricane Matthew nearly devastated Haiti, its vulnerability only increases. Reuters/Martinez Casares

Around the world, the health care debate often revolves around access.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, recently announced: “All roads lead to universal health coverage.” Discussions for how to translate this vision into a road map for action is central to the agenda of the WHO’s executive board meeting this week in Geneva.

Yet focusing on access is not enough. The imperative for access must be paired with a frank acknowledgment that climate change is making communities around the world more vulnerable to ill health. A 2017 commission of The Lancet, a leading health research journal, tracked the effects of climate change on health and found evidence of harms “far worse that previously understood.”

Even as we move to close the access gap, a string of natural disasters in late 2017, including successive hurricanes and widespread forest fires, threaten to widen the vulnerability gap.

As a global health professional (Sosin) and a cultural anthropologist (Kivland), we have witnessed how the global exchange of health technology, expertise and aid has contributed to dramatic gains in the delivery of health care in Haiti and other settings, especially around infectious diseases. Yet climate change threatens to undermine the health gains in vulnerable communities across the globe.

As firsthand witnesses to sharp health disparities globally, we argue that world leaders need to insist that any health care strategy must address the social and environmental vulnerabilities driving poor health in the first place.

Why climate change is worsening public health problems by Chelsey Kivland & Anne Sosin, The Conversation US, Jan 25, 2018


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The Daily Telegraph’s story about herb/drug interactions

Herb/drug interactions are important, much-neglected and potentially dangerous. We have covered this issue several times, e. g. here. Recently, a valuable new paper has been published on the subject in a respected journal. Here is the abstract:

AIM:
The aim of this review was to assess the severity of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to […]

Read the rest here: The Daily Telegraph’s story about herb/drug interactions

Friday 26 January 2018

Acupuncture: poor research leading false-positive conclusions. In my view, this is scientific misconduct

The aim of this three-armed, parallel, randomized exploratory study was to determine, if two types of acupuncture (auricular acupuncture [AA] and traditional Chinese acupuncture [TCA]) were feasible and more effective than usual care (UC) alone for TBI–related headache. The subjects were previously deployed Service members (18–69 years old) with mild-to-moderate TBI and headaches. The interventions explored […]

Read the rest here: Acupuncture: poor research leading false-positive conclusions. In my view, this is scientific misconduct

Thursday 25 January 2018

Exercise improves cognitive function + a challenge to fans of alternative medicine

As I have stated repeatedly, I am constantly on the look-out for positive news about alternative medicine. Usually, I find plenty – but when I scrutinise it, it tends to crumble in the type of misleading report that I often write about on this blog. Truly good research in alternative medicine is hard to find, […]

Read the rest here: Exercise improves cognitive function + a challenge to fans of alternative medicine

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Banning ineffective medicines on the NHS is “illogical and ill-informed”

An article in the medical magazine ‘GP’ caught my eye. In it, a GP from Southampton argues that it is counter-productive for the NHS to ban ineffective treatments. Here are a few excerpts (my comments are inserted in brackets and are in bold print):

START OF QUOTES NHS England’s recent decision requiring GPs stop prescribing […]

Read the rest here: Banning ineffective medicines on the NHS is “illogical and ill-informed”

Tuesday 23 January 2018

This is the shortest post I have ever written

A man is caught paying with fake money – gets arrested.
A man sells false insurance policies – gets arrested.
A man sells phoney investments – gets arrested.
A man traffics ‘diamonds’ made of glass – gets arrested.
A man flogs a car that does not work – gets arrested.
A silversmith fakes the hallmarks […]

Read the rest here: This is the shortest post I have ever written

Monday 22 January 2018

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

Sunday 21 January 2018

…but my therapy DOES work … only recently, it cured a patient!

How often have we heard this? YOU ARE WRONG! MY TREATMENT DOES WORK!!! ONLY THE OTHER DAY, I HAD A PATIENT WHO WAS CURED BY IT.

Take for instance this tweet I got yesterday:

F SThomas‏ @spenthomf You go too far @EdzardErnst . In fact I was consulted about a child who hadn’t grown after an […]

Read the rest here: …but my therapy DOES work … only recently, it cured a patient!

Saturday 20 January 2018

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Wildfires, sea level rise, coral bleaching: Climate change is already here

Climate Change Impacts 

(Clockwise from top left: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times; Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times; Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times; John McConnico / Associated Press)

From extreme wildfires in the Western United States to melting ice sheets in Antarctica, the effects of rising temperatures on Earth have not gone unnoticed.

On Thursday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced 2017 was at least the third hottest year on record. The year 2016 holds the record as the hottest. Before that, the record was set in 2015. Before that, it was 2014.

Both agencies linked the record-breaking temperatures to human-caused climate change. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released by cars, factories and power plants trap more heat in the atmosphere, causing temperatures to climb upward.

Although the most severe consequences of this warming have yet to come — especially if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels — some of the effects have already been felt. Scientists, public health officials and even the Pentagon are watching with great concern. Here’s a look at some of those effects:

Wildfires, sea level rise, coral bleaching: Climate change is already here by Sean Greene, Los Angeles Times, Jan 18, 2018


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Homeopathic child abuse of the worst kind

Brace yourself: the wonders of homeopathy seem to be without limits. You can even increase the height of your children with homeopathy!

This website explains in some detail:
SBL Rite-Hite Tablets growth promoter homeopathic medicine is indicated for children who do not grow or develop satisfactorily, suffer feeble digestion & imperfect assimilation, anemia, lack of […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathic child abuse of the worst kind

Thursday 18 January 2018

More harm than good?

Our new book entitled MORE HARM THAN GOOD? THE MORAL MAZE OF COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE is out. At the moment merely as an e-book, but in a few days the paperback will be available too. Yesterday, Kevin Smith and I were invited to a press briefing at the London SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE.

On this […] Read the rest here: More harm than good?

Wednesday 17 January 2018

“Building a better future for homeopathy” … Really? …. Should we not be building a better future for patients?

On their website, the British Homeopathic Association (BHA) have launched their annual winter appeal. Its theme this year is ‘building a better future for homeopathy’. The appeal is aimed at the following specific goals:
  • Continuously fighting to retain NHS services in the UK by supporting local patients & groups and providing swift media responses employing […]

Read the rest here: “Building a better future for homeopathy” … Really? …. Should we not be building a better future for patients?

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Colleen Huber vs Britt Hermes

‘Doctor’ Colleen Huber (DCH) is the US naturopath who is currently suing Britt Hermes. For me, this is enough reason to do a bit of reading and find out who DCH is and what motivates her. Here is what I found out (I added some * to the quotes [all in italics] and comments below).

DCH has an impressive presence on the Internet […] Read the rest here: Colleen Huber vs Britt Hermes

Monday 15 January 2018

The ‘Dunning-Kruger Effect’: how it explains alternative medicine

A cognitive bias known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect has, I think, considerable relevance in alternative medicine. The effect means that, the less you know, the less able you are to recognize how little you know, and the less likely you are to recognize your limitations. Consequently, your confidence in yourself is inflated and you believe […]

Read the rest here: The ‘Dunning-Kruger Effect’: how it explains alternative medicine

Eugenics, UCL and freedom of speech

Jump to follow-up On Monday evening (8th January 2018), I got an email from Ben van der Merwe, a UCL student who works as a reporter for the student newspaper, London Student.  He said “Our investigation has found a ring of academic psychologists associated with Richard Lynn’s journal Mankind Quarterly to [...]

DC's Improbable Science: Truth, falsehood and evidence: investigations of dubious and dishonest science

Read the rest at: Eugenics, UCL and freedom of speech

Sunday 14 January 2018

The ‘Dorn Method’ – relatively new and totally bogus

Recently, I was asked about the ‘Dorn Method’. In alternative medicine, it sometimes seems that everyone who manages to write his family name correctly has inaugurated his very own therapy. It is therefore a tall order to aim at blogging about them all. But that’s been my goal all along, and after more than 1,000 […]

Read the rest here: The ‘Dorn Method’ – relatively new and totally bogus

Saturday 13 January 2018

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam 

Rice Harvesting in Viet Nam

Harvesting rice. Phuong D. Nguyen / Shutterstock.com

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is one of Earth’s most agriculturally productive regions and is of global importance for its exports of rice, shrimp, and fruit. The 18m inhabitants of this low-lying river delta are also some of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change. Over the last ten years around 1.7m people have migrated out of its vast expanse of fields, rivers and canals while only 700,000 have arrived.

On a global level migration to urban areas remains as high as ever: one person in every 200moves from rural areas to the city every year. Against this backdrop it is difficult to attribute migration to individual causes, not least because it can be challenging to find people who have left a region in order to ask why they went and because every local context is unique. But the high net rate of migration away from Mekong Delta provinces is more than double the national average, and even higher in its most climate-vulnerable areas. This implies that there is something else – probably climate-related – going on here.

Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam by Alex Chapman & Van Pham Dang Tri, The Conversation UK, Jan 9, 2018 


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‘Censored for curing cancer’: the Gerson re-visited

This announcement caught my eye:

START OF 1st QUOTE
Dr Patrick Vickers of the Northern Baja Gerson Centre, Mexico will deliver a two hour riveting lecture of ‘The American Experience of Dr Max Gerson, M.D.’ 
The lecture will present the indisputable science supporting the Gerson Therapy and its ability to reverse advanced disease. Dr Vickers […]

Read the rest here: ‘Censored for curing cancer’: the Gerson re-visited

Friday 12 January 2018

Critical thinking is good for you – please give it a try!

This blog is almost entirely about critical thinking as it applies to the realm of alternative medicine, and I have written about it more often than I care to remember. For instance, in one post I concluded that criticism  in alternative medicine is directed almost exclusively towards those who are outside the realm. Criticism from the inside […]

Read the rest here: Critical thinking is good for you – please give it a try!

Thursday 11 January 2018

Chiropractors and naturopaths should keep their hands off our kids, if you ask me

This survey assessed chiropractic (DC) and naturopathic “doctors”‘ (ND) knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour with respect to the pediatric patients in their practice. Cross-sectional surveys were developed in collaboration with DC and ND educators. Surveys were sent to randomly selected DCs and NDs in Ontario, Canada in 2004, and a national online survey was conducted in […]

Read the rest here: Chiropractors and naturopaths should keep their hands off our kids, if you ask me

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Chinese herbs for Alzheimer’s disease? An excellent example of how fatally flawed research misleads us all

Can conventional therapy (CT) be combined with herbal therapy (CT + H) in the management of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to the benefit of patients? This was the question investigated by Chinese researchers in a recent retrospective cohort study funded by grants from China Ministry of Education, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology […]

Read the rest here: Chinese herbs for Alzheimer’s disease? An excellent example of how fatally flawed research misleads us all

Tuesday 9 January 2018

Fighting for Homeopathy on the NHS

This is the title of an editorial by Alan Schmukler. You probably remember him; I have featured him before, for instance here, here, and here. This is what was recently on Schmukler’s mind (I have added a few references referring to comments of mine added below):

England’s National Health Service (NHS) is proposing that NHS […]

Read the rest here: Fighting for Homeopathy on the NHS

Monday 8 January 2018

Homeopathy: the 2005 NHMRC report and its criticism re-analysed

We have discussed the NHMRC report on homeopathy several times – see, for instance, here, here and here. Perhaps understandably, homeopaths have great difficulties accepting its negative findings, and have complained about it ever since it was published. Now, a very detailed and well-researched analysis has become available of both the report and its criticism. Here […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy: the 2005 NHMRC report and its criticism re-analysed

Sunday 7 January 2018

“The cancer industry is a medical conspiracy against humanity” (The Turmeric story)

The title of this post is a statement recently made in an article by Mike Adams in ‘Alternative Medicine News’:

The cancer industry goes to great lengths to deny patients access to any information that they might use to prevent, treat or cure cancer without requiring expensive (and highly toxic) medical interventions. That’s what makes […]

Read the rest here: “The cancer industry is a medical conspiracy against humanity” (The Turmeric story)

Saturday 6 January 2018

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #1

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Show this cartoon to anyone who doubts we need huge action on climate change

Climate Cartoon Article Vox 

This story focuses on a scenario from climate scientist Joeri Rogelj, which would give us a 66 percent chance at limiting warming to 2 degrees, which would requires no emissions by 2065, followed by negative emissions. But a previous version of this story said we would need to reach no emissions by 2050, which is part of a scenario in which we give ourselves a 50 percent chance at staying under 1.5 degrees warming — a far less realistic goal.

Show this cartoon to anyone who doubts we need huge action on climate change by Alvin Chang and David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 5, 2018 


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