Buteyko Breathing Technique – Nothing to Hyperventilate About
A reader recently sent in a link to a New York Times article that discussed an alternative breathing technique developed in Russia for the treatment of asthma called the Buteyko Method, or the Buteyko Breathing Technique (BBT), and asked for an evaluation of the claims on SBM. This post will attempt to be a reasonably comprehensive evaluation of Buteyko and his therapy...
2009’s Top 5 Threats To Science In Medicine
As 2009 comes to an end, it seems that everyone is creating year-in-review lists. I thought I’d jump on the list band wagon and offer my purely subjective top 5 threats to rational thought in healthcare and medicine. Of course, it strikes me as rather ironic that we’re having this discussion – who knew that medicine could be divorced from science in...
“Toxins”: the new evil humours
They say that everything old is new again and that is certainly true in the world of “alternative” health. One of the axiomatic premises of contemporary “alternative” health puts its believers behind the times … by approximately 500 years. A fundamental premise held by believers in “alternative” health is that we are swimming in a world of “toxins” and those “toxins” are...
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December 24, 2009
Lithium for ALS – Angioplasty for MS
Peter Lipson reported Monday about new research suggesting that multiple sclerosis may be caused by venous blockage. He correctly characterized some of the hype surrounding this story as “irrational exuberance.” This is a phenomenon all too common in the media – taking the preliminary research of an individual or group (always presented as a maverick) and declaring it a “stunning breakthrough,” combined...
Medical Fun with Christmas Carols
Warning: If you are offended by humor that depends on psychiatric and medical diagnoses, read no further. Disclaimer: Before anyone complains (and in this age of exaggerated political correctness, someone surely will), let me make it clear that I mean no disrespect to people suffering from the illnesses mentioned below. I have the greatest empathy for sick people, and I have encountered...
Multiple Sclerosis and Irrational Exuberance
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is fascinating illness that can range from mild annoyance to debilitating nightmare. The frightening nature and unclear cause of the disease makes it a magnet for questionable medical therapies (i.e. quackery). A piece published last week in (surprise!) The Huffington Post helps fuel the fires of suspicion and paranoia while failing to shed any light on the future of...
Radiation from medical imaging and cancer risk
Science-based medicine consists of a balancing of risks and benefits for various interventions. This is sometimes a difficult topic for the lay public to understand, and sometimes physicians even forget it. My anecdotal experience suggests that probably surgeons are usually more aware of this basic fact because our interventions generally involve taking sharp objects to people’s bodies and using steel to remove...
Measles
It looks like the H1N1 pandemic is fading fast. I am amazed at how lucky we were, at least in the hospitals where I work. A month ago all the ICU beds were full, most of the ventilators were in use and we were wondering how we were going to triage the next batch of patients who needed advanced life support and...
Are the benefits of breastfeeding oversold?
As a mother, I am a passionate advocate of breastfeeding and I breastfed my four children. As a clinician, though, I need to be mindful not to counsel patients based on my personal preferences, but rather based on the scientific evidence. While breastfeeding has indisputable advantages, the medical advantages are quite small. Many current efforts to promote breastfeeding, while well meaning, overstate...
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December 17, 2009
Communicating with the Locked-In
Facilitated communication is exploitation supported by false hope and good intentions. Brain-machine interfaces are progressing with agonizing slowness, but offer true potential in actually permitting paralyzed people to communicate and even regain movement.