Category: Science and Medicine
Functional Medicine IV
When I started this series on Functional Medicine, David Gorski suggested looking at Mark Hyman’s web page, which I had seen months before, but thought did not reveal much. That was a wrong. It shows a lot, and I suggest bloggers et al review it. So I decided on a fourth “functional medicine” (FM) installment, in search of what it FM really...
Science-Based Medicine 101: Reproducibility
So far I have explained why most research (if not carefully designed) will lead to a false positive result. This inherent bias is responsible for many of the illusionary treatment benefits that we hear about so commonly through the media (whether they’re reporting about CAM or Western medicine), because it is their job to relay information in an entertaining way more so...
Why We Need Science: “I saw it with my own eyes” Is Not Enough
I recently wrote an article for a community newspaper attempting to explain to scientifically naive readers why testimonial “evidence” is unreliable; unfortunately, they decided not to print it. I considered using it here, but I thought it was too elementary for this audience. I have changed my mind and I am offering it below (with apologies to the majority of our readers),...
The Microbial Metagenome
First some background. I was first directed to the Marshall protocol by a reader who wondered about the information the found on the web. So I went to the web and looked at the available information, much as any patient would, and discussed what I found there. I have subsequently been lead to believe that none of the information on the website...
The Rise of Placebo Medicine
It is my contention that terms such as “complementary and alternative medicine” and “integrative medicine” exist for two primary purposes. The first is marketing – they are an attempt at rebranding methods that do not meet the usual standards of unqualified “medicine”. The second is a very deliberate and often calculating attempt at creating a double standard. We already have a standard...
Health care reform and primary sources
One thing I always encourage my residents and students to do is to go to primary sources. If someone tells you that thiazide diruetics should be the first line treatment for hypertension, get on MedLine and see if that assertion is congruent with the evidence. It’s important to see how we arrive at broad treatment recommendations, how strong and consistent the evidence...
Vertebroplasty for compression fractures due to osteoporosis: Placebo medicine
When seemingly science-based medicine turns out to be placebo medicine.
Functional Medicine III
Let’s look at one example. A unknown number of Functional Medicine adherents broadcast call-in programs on radio stations. One FM physician, a Dr. “D” in Northern California graduated from UC Davis School of Medicine (Central California’s Sacramento Valley.) I find her program fascinating, requiring some attentive listening. Dr. D’s recommendations for people’s complaints and conditions are often complex, a chimera of standard...
Science-Based Medicine 101: How To Establish A Source’s Credibility
I thought I’d do a little SBM 101 series for our lay readers. Forgive me if this information is too basic… at least it’s a place to start for those who are budding scientists and critical thinkers. 🙂 *** Which news source do you trust more: The New York Times or The National Enquirer? Which news reporter would you trust more: Charlie...
Quack Clinics
Reuters recently reported on the raid of a stem-cell clinic in Hungary. This is welcome news, if the allegations are correct, but really is only scratching the surface of this problem – clinics offering dubious stem cell therapies to desperate patients. And in fact this is only one manifestation of a far greater problem – the quack clinic. They represent a serious...