Results for: homeopathy
The Wild West: Tales of a Naturopathic Ethical Review Board
In Arizona, a naturopathic institutional review board has been set up to examine the ethics of naturopathic research projects. It's going about as well as naturopathic training and practice.
Separating Fact from Fiction in the Not-So-Normal Newborn Nursery: Chiropractic and Craniosynostosis
Pediatricians, particularly those who spend a significant amount of time caring for newborns, see a lot of babies with unusually-shaped heads. Although to be fair, the fact that the overwhelming majority of vaginally-delivered babies, and quite a few born via Caesarean section, will have a transient and abnormal shape to their heads makes it, well, not unusual. In fact, I rarely make...
On the “right” to challenge a medical or scientific consensus
While everyone has the "right" to challenge a scientific consensus, overthrowing a scientific consensus takes data. Lots and lots of data. Few people realize how difficult it is.
The DC as PCP? Drug Wars Resume
Chiropractors are once again engaged in intra-fraternal warfare over the chiropractic scope of practice, a saga we’ve chronicled before on SBM. (See the references at end of this post.) Every time it looks like the warring factions have buried their differences, they come rising to the surface like zombies. The International Chiropractors Association (ICA), representing the “straight” faction, wants chiropractic to continue...
ND Confession, Part 1: Clinical training inside and out
Despite claims to the contrary, a naturopathic education is not comparable to that of a physician, and the biggest gap is in clinical training after classroom instruction ends.
“Naturopathic Diaries: Confessions of a Former Naturopath”
Note: In addition to this brief endorsement of Britt’s website, I have also posted my regular every-other-Thursday post, this week discussing the actions taken by the State of Florida to prevent Brian Clement, of the Hippocrates Health Institute, from practicing medicine. Another note: since this post, Britt has started writing for SBM. See “ND Confession, Part 1: Clinical training inside and out.”...
A Scientist in Wonderland
Edzard Ernst is one of those rare people who dare to question their own beliefs, look at the evidence without bias, and change their minds. He went from practicing alternative medicine to questioning it, to researching it, to becoming its most prolific critic. I have long admired his work, and I finally met him in person when we were invited to speak...
Opposing Chiropractic: Persecution or Justified Criticism?
The saga of chiropractic began in 1895 when D.D. Palmer, a magnetic healer, announced that “95 percent of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae, the remainder by luxations of other joints.” Palmer opened the first chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa, offering a three-week course of study at the Palmer School and Cure, subsequently renamed the Palmer School of Chiropractic. The school...
Are skin-lightening glutathione injections safe and effective?
Naturopaths advertise injections claimed to lighten skin. Are these products safe and effective?
Unfalsifiable Beliefs
As we search for a logo for SBM or the SfSBM, Mark Crislip has been a strong advocate of using an image of Sisyphus, endlessly pushing a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down again. It’s a bit too self-defeating to be enthusiastic about that suggestion, but it does reflect a common feeling among all of us here...