Results for: back pain
Chiropractic and Stroke: Evaluation of One Paper
Do not trust the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you or I were going to be hanged.” ~ Oliver Cromwell In the blogosphere, the proponents of chiropractic often quote the following paper, with the abstract: Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care Results of a Population-Based Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study Spine. 2008 Feb 15;33(4 Suppl):S176-83. by Cassidy JD,...
Are Cardiologists Ordering Too Many CT Angiograms?
A really snazzy new invention allows doctors to see inside their patients’ hearts as never before: the CT angiogram. It produces gorgeous 3-D video images of the beating heart in action. It allows us to see the blood flow through the heart’s chambers and it shows any plaque in the coronary arteries. Cardiologists are understandably excited about this new tool. Too excited....
Death by “alternative” medicine: Who’s to blame?
One of the more annoying duties I used to have several years ago at our cancer center was to “show the flag” at our various affiliates by attending their tumor boards. I say “annoying” not so much because the tumor boards themselves were onerous or even uninteresting but rather because traveling to them used to cut into my already limited time for...
Another State Promotes the Pseudoscientific Cult that is “Naturopathic Medicine.” Part 4
The “Science” and Ethics of “Natural Medicines” (and Nutrition) cont. This is the continuation of a discussion concerning the explicit claim of “naturopathic physicians”* to being experts in the use of “natural medicines,” defined as “medicines of mineral, animal and botanical origin.” Last week’s post established that the cult has chosen to profit from the “retail selling of medications,” as evidenced by the relevant...
The Placebo Myth
King Arthur: Now stand aside, worthy adversary. Black Knight: ‘Tis but a scratch. King Arthur: A scratch? Your arm’s off. Black Knight: No it isn’t. King Arthur: What’s that, then? Black Knight: [after a pause] I’ve had worse. King Arthur: You liar. Black Knight: Come on ya pansy.King Arthur: [after Arthur’s cut off both of the Black Knight’s arms] Look, you stupid...
The FDA Cracks Down on Fake Cancer Cures
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency that regulates the drug industry in the US, put out a press release yesterday warning “Individuals and Firms to Stop Selling Fake Cancer ‘Cures’.” The press release reports: “Although promotions of bogus cancer ‘cures’ have always been a problem, the Internet has provided a mechanism for them to flourish,” said Margaret O’K. Glavin, the...
The media versus the frontiers of medicine and surgery
A couple of months ago, one of my esteemed co-bloggers, Wally Sampson, wrote an excellent article about borderlines in research in conventional medicine. Such borderlines are particularly common in my area of expertise (cancer, which is also Dr. Sampson’s area of expertise) because there are so many cancers for which we do not as yet have reliably curative therapies. Patients faced with...
Mercury Must Be Bad – If Not in Vaccines, In Teeth
Those of us who are baby boomers or older can remember playing with mercury when we were young. The thermometer broke, and you pushed the little globules around. Or you fooled around with the stuff in science class. My husband says he used to get mercury to flow over the surface of a dime and make it look really shiny. Who knew...
Monkey business in autism research
NOTE: I had originally planned on posting Part II of a series on cancer screening. However, something came up on Friday that, in my estimation, requires a timely response. I should also inform readers that, because next Monday is a holiday here in the U.S., I haven’t yet decided whether I will be doing a post next week or not. Stay tuned...
Near Death Experiences and the Medical Literature
MIRACLE MAX: See, there’s a big difference between mostly dead, and all dead. Now, mostly dead: he’s slightly alive. All dead, well, with all dead, there’s usually only one thing that you can do. INIGO: What’s that? MIRACLE MAX: Go through his clothes and look for loose change. — The Princess Bride Can you trust anyone when they purport to tell you...