Category: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Skeptics in the Pub. Cholera.
Prologue from the serialization of the novel Skeptics in the Pub: Cholera.

The World Health Organization promotes quackery yet again
The World Health Organization held the First WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit this weekend. Unfortunately, its claims of being "evidence-based" aside, the conference followed the WHO's usual pattern of serving as propaganda, not science. The summit was one-sided, organized by believers with the only speakers being believers, to promote a predetermined policy goal of promoting traditional medicine and justify "integrating" it with...

The Beekeeper: Sentinel Chicken?
Bee venom. Will it help Andy's rheumatism? Doubtful

Aromatase inhibitors and acupuncture in breast cancer: Spinning a negative study, four years later
Four years ago, I wrote about an essentially negative study looking at whether acupuncture could alleviate joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors, a common treatment for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. The study's back, and it doesn't look any more positive.

Some Sepsis Stuff
Sepsis interventions. Some don't work and some don't work.

Does Acupuncture Increase Red and White Blood Cells and T-Cells?
An article by a medical acupuncturist claims that acupuncture increases red and white blood cells and T-cells. The evidence is far from convincing.

NCCIH Strategic Plan 2021–2025: Meet the new plan, same as the old plan…?
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health recently released its latest 5 year strategic plan. It's basically the same as the last strategic plan, but with one new addition. It's not really a new addition, but it signals a resurrection of an old trope about "integrating" quackery with science-based medicine.

The risks associated with alternative medicine
In a new paper, the types and severity of harms from different types of alternative medicine are described.

Exploitation of Mammals for Traditional Remedies
A recent review hints at the extent to which endangered mammals are exploited for fake medicines.