Scientology and chiropractic: is there a link?

Recently, I stumbled across this website and the following text: “Measles are an implant Scientology can handle using New Era Dianetics,” said Scientology chiropractor Colonel Dr. Roberto Cadiz. “As a chiropractor, I see mock ups of so-called serious diseases all the time,” Dr. Cadiz remarked. “And fully 99% of the time these diseases are chronic subluxations caused […]

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American Loon #2256: Frank Simon

The American Family Association is a group of bigoted, unhinged fundamentalists. The national leaders are crazy enough, but the wild-eyed Talibanists you find in their various state chapters might occasionally be even crazier. Frank Simon is the director of the Kentucky chapter, and he...

Read the full lunacy: #2256: Frank Simon Encyclopedia of American Loons

Homeopathy for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: no good evidence for effectiveness

The aim of this update of a Cochrane review was to assess the effectiveness and safety of homeopathic treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Hold on, the bit about safety is odd here and does not bode well: one cannot possibly assess the safety of an intervention on the basis of just a few trials. […]

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The association between chiropractic and opioid use

This systematic review was aimed at investigating the current evidence to determine whether there is an association between chiropractic use and opioid receipt. Controlled studies, cohort studies, and case-control studies including adults with noncancer pain were eligible for inclusion. Studies reporting opioid receipt for both subjects who used chiropractic care and nonusers were included. Data […]

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Leech therapy, if you ask me, it sucks!

Hirudotherapy, also known as leech therapy, has been used to treat a wide range of disorders for thousands of years. It is also mentioned as a minimal invasive technique called Jalaukavacharana in the Sushruta Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit text of Ayurvedic medicine. But a long history is a fallacious argument (appeal to tradition) when used […]

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American Loon #2255: Matthew Silverstone

His book. B.M. Hegde is a legendary promoter of quantum woo whose career seems mostly devoted to claiming that Ayurvedic medicine is superior to science-based medicine. It is perhaps  indicative of something that they managed to spell his name wrong...

Read the full lunacy: #2255: Matthew Silverstone Encyclopedia of American Loons

Vidatox, homeopathy’s answer to cancer or outright fraud?

I just came across the most amazing cancer cure: it’s called VIDATOX 30C, and it is a true wonder. Well, on second thought, I might take that this back. Is it really true? Or is it perhaps a most despicable health fraud? The Vidatox website makes the following claims for VIDATOX: it is based on […]

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Leah Blacknell (1964-2019): another victim of cancer quackery?

Leah Blacknell, started raising funds ~3 years ago for alternative cures of her stage 4 lung cancer. Blacknell who, after her acting career, had become a yoga teacher said at the time that, in the UK, she was given “a fairly brutal and bleak diagnosis, but one I am determined to challenge”. Her partner, Jez […]

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Burning mouth syndrome: a case-report of (harmful?) effects of homeopathy

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a rare but potentially debilitating condition. So far, individualised homeopathy (iHOM) has not been evaluated or reported in any peer-reviewed journal as a treatment option. Here is a recently published case-report of iHOM for BMS. At the Centre of Complementary Medicine in Bern, Switzerland, a 38-year-old patient with BMS and […]

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American Loon #2254: Alyssa Shull

Alyssa Shull is a graduate of Oral Roberts University, and the founder of The Pink Lid, a conference for teen girls “about self-worth, identity, value, and purity.” We hope, for the sake of self-worth, identity and value, that the conference fails to have an impact among its intended audience (we...

Read the full lunacy: #2254: Alyssa Shull Encyclopedia of American Loons

Celebrity-based acupuncture: fallacious logic in practice

The field of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) has long been actively supported by many celebrities. In 2006, we tried to  study the phenomenon systematically. Here is our abstract: OBJECTIVE: To collect contemporary accounts of celebrity use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), to aid clinicians in determining which CAM treatments patients are likely to use. […]

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Freedom of speech in homeopathy: as diluted as the remedies?

I was recently struck by a short notice by the FACULTY OF HOMEOPATHY (FoH): Following the publicity we got after the announcement of our royal patronage, it seems like a good time to  remind all members of our media policy. If you are contacted by the media, please contact the faculty and get some advice […]

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American Loon #2253: Sherry Shriner

Oh, heavens.  The rabbit hole is a fascinating place, but the webs of lunacy are often woven according to logics so foreign to any rational mind, that unravelling the ideas going into them is tricky. For instance, the National Economic Security and Recovery Act (NESARA) was a set of proposed...

Read the full lunacy: #2253: Sherry Shriner Encyclopedia of American Loons

So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) helps improve patients’ health behaviour. True or false?

The use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) are claimed to be associated with preventive health behaviors. However, the role of SCAM use in patients’ health behaviors remains unclear. This survey aimed to determine the extent to which patients report that SCAM use motivates them to make changes to their health behaviours. For this purpose, a […]

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You think that personality and stress are risk factors for cancer? PLEASE THINK AGAIN!

Professor Anthony Pelosi just published an intriguing paper. Here is the abstract: During the 1980s and 1990s, Hans J Eysenck conducted a programme of research into the causes, prevention and treatment of fatal diseases in collaboration with one of his protégés, Ronald Grossarth-Maticek. This led to what must be the most astonishing series of findings […]

Read the rest here: You think that personality and stress are risk factors for cancer? PLEASE THINK AGAIN!