Denialism Blog

Category: Altie Meds

  • More inanity from our friend Null

    OK, so it’s a repost from the old blog. I’m on vacation so gimme a break. –PalMD

    When I get bored, I sift through the “articles” section of Gary Null’s site to see what kind of stupidity he is willing to host. Thankfully, it never takes long to find the stupid. This time, it was more on the so-called blood type diet. The article (not written by Null, just hosted on his site) is one of those wonderful oeuvres whose very title contains an unfounded assertion. Exposing falsehoods such as this may have its own benefits, but I would like to show how poor logic can easily lead to poor conclusions.

    The assertion—that blood type and diet are related—is prima facie false and somewhat bizarre. It’s like saying eye color and urine volume are related—yes, both have to do with the human body, but what possible relationship could they have? On what basis should one assert this?
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  • GM foods cause delusions

    Here at denialism blog, we’ve written a bit about so-called Morgellons syndrome. Every once in a while, when I tire of sanity, I scan the news for more Morgellons madness, and when it comes to madness, Mike Adams never disappoints.

    In his latest foray into paranoid idiocy, he tries to link this non-existent illness to genetically modified (GM) foods. And what abuses of logic does he use to create this connection?

    He starts with the classic “begging the question“. The entire first section of his article simply assumes that Morgellons exists as some sort of unique pathology. On what does he base his assumption? On two things: anecdotal reports, and the fact that it is being studied by the CDC (at the urging of “interest groups”). The CDC study has not been completed, and there is still no reason to think that Morgellons is anything other than delusions of parasitosis in a shiny new polyester suit. That doesn’t stop him from creating broad, unsupported connections.

    He quotes a noted fake expert, Randy Wymore, who has spent a great deal of time studying Morgellons—at least, he says he has. He hasn’t really published anything to support his claims. Then he quotes many un-notable people who have supposedly analyzed Morgellons “fibers”—-this has never been done systematically and published. All that exists is anecdotal reports of individual “researchers”. According to some of these folks, they have found Agrobacterium DNA in these fibers.

    And then he stops.

    Because I’m not a paranoid conspiracy theorist, I had to look this up. Apparently, Agrobacterium is a favorite bugaboo of the wackier wing of the anti-GM food movement.

    This is a pretty classic piece. In trying to link two somewhat wacky ideas, a crank uses smoke and mirrors to distract from the fact that he has no logical argument. But the reason to look for logical fallacies in an argument is not to immediately invalidate an idea—it is to evaluate whether or not a particular argument is prima facie invalid. Might there be a link between this new form of delusional parasitosis and GM foods? Sure, I suppose it’s not beyond the realm of the possible. The point is that his reasoning does not support his assertion.

    When reading about assertions that seem a little strange, it pays to parse the argument for logical fallacies and denialist tactics.

    That is, if you are interested in the truth.

  • Read intelligently because the next crank you read may be your last

    A reader of ours ran into a questionable book ad, and being a good citizen, sent it on to me. I glanced at it, and it seemed to be the usual silly book purporting to cure all that ails, but on deeper inspection, it was much uglier.

    The book says that it “renders insulin and related medicines unnecessary within four days…”. This is a bit scary, not because this would be a bad thing, but because many diabetics are completely dependent on insulin to live. But, hey, maybe this is a good diet plan for type II diabetics and will at least help them reduce their need for meds. I mean, it could be, right? A quick trip to google disabused me of any thoughts of intellectual generosity.

    The Crank
    i-83ab5b4a35951df7262eefe13cb933f2-crank.gif
    Dr. Gabriel Cousens is the writer who promises to get you off insulin. While I applaud the idea of healing people, his claims are obviously suspicious. I mean, why are the rest of us so ignorant that we are blindly keeping diabetics on all these evil medicines?
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  • Homeopathy Awareness Week?

    Skepchick has apparently discovered that, as of yesterday, this is World Homeopathy Awareness Week. (Yes, starts on a Thursday…they were going to start on Monday, but the succussion took a while.)

    Well, I can get behind a public service like this. My contribution will be a side-to-side comparison of a homeopathic treatment and a real one. Let’s pick a fun disease, say, heart attacks (the website I found offered homeopathic remedies for anthrax, but I think I’ll skip that).

    Unfortunately, this will require a brief tutorial on myocardial infarctions (MIs, heart attatcks). As is usual with my medical posts, this will be a gross oversimplification, but good enough to explain the issue.

    An MI occurs when part of your heart muscle stops receiving enough oxygenated blood. There are a variety of possible ways for this to happen, but most of the time we are talking about a typical acute MI, where a specific artery becomes suddenly occluded. When this happens, a person usually experiences chest pain, and, if the heart attack is serious enough, heart failure, arrhythmias, and death.

    Over the last couple of decades we’ve figured out how to interrupt the natural history of MIs. Clot-dissolving medications or angioplasty can be used to quickly open up an artery, hopefully saving the heart muscle from death. In addition, several medications can be used to help save lives. Beta-blockers, aspirin, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and statins have all been proved to help in an acute MI or to prevent further MIs. The literature to support these practices is quite voluminous but just to give you a sampling, see the references below.

    Now let’s examine the homeopath’s guide to heart attacks…
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  • There is no such thing as alternative medicine

    What is alternative Medicine, anyway?

    That’s a great question. I know it is, because I asked it. I get this question almost daily. The secret answer is that there is no such thing as alternative medicine. You don’t believe me? Why not–I am a doctor.

    There are several ways to define alternative medicine, and sometimes it is contrasted with “complementary medicine”. CM refers to treatments that “complement” traditional medicine, while AM refers to treatments that stand in the stead of mainstream medicine. CAM is a broad category used to refer to both.

    So what’s my problem? How can I say that there is no such thing?

    Because “mainstream” medicine is medicine that works. It has been studied, tested, deployed, followed, and it is proven to do what it says. Alternative medicine is any treatment that is not yet, or may never be, mainstream. If it is found to work, it becomes mainstream very rapidly. If it is not proven to work, it remains “alternative”.

    So, I guess there is, after all, such a thing as alternative medicine. It is any treatment that doesn’t work. Why would anyone want that?

    There’s lots of answers to that question. There are also several incorrect answers. The most common incorrect answer describes a conspiracy of doctors and Big Pharma. Others include the myth that patients are dissatisfied with their physicians and the care they provide. In fact, most people like their doctors. But they like their friends even more, and if a friend testifies about a great new potion, well, why not try it?

    Why not, indeed. Your doctor knows quite a bit about the medications being prescribed, and the problems being treated. Your friend, alas, does not.

    When someone offers you an “alternative therapy”, ask them what it is an alternative to. Does it work better that something else? Is it safer? How do you know? Why should I believe you?

    Those questions apply to your doctor as well, but hopefully, you have already decided whether or not you trust your doctor and modern medicine. Try applying this simple test–when you have crushing chest pain and shortness of breath, who do you want to call: the GNC guy or an ambulance?

    Maybe further explanation is needed to tease out the difference between “real” medicine and “alternative” medicine.

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  • More from a local "alternatician"

    I recently posted an article on a particular “holistic” doctor’s take on salt–the bottom line is the bottom line; more expensive is better. You’d think I’d call it a day.

    However, if someone is going to advertise widely, he’s leaving himself open for criticism. How can one family physician have so many answers? He sells books and DVDs purporting to cure and treat a remarkable number of diseases from arthritis to thyroid disorders to fibromyalgia. These works are not available for free, so I can’t evaluate their validity. They may contain harmful advice, helpful advice, or none at all. The hype, though, is pretty remarkable.

    For example, he sells a book called “Overcoming Thyroid Disorders”. This book:

    provides information on safe and effective natural therapies to help the body heal itself. Dr. Brownstein provides over 30 actual case studies of his success in treating thyroid disorders.

    I’m not sure what the big deal is. Medical science has been successfully treating thyroid disease for decades. It’s offering a service that, well, isn’t really needed. I’m also not so sure what is so exciting about offering “30 actual case studies” except that the rest of the sentence says “of his success in treating” these problems. He seems to be saying that, at least in 30 of his patients, he’s done a decent job treating thyroid disease.

    My God! I hope so! Treating thyroid disease is basic to the practice of primary care medicine, and when it gets too complicated, endocrinologists can help out. I have also successfully treated dozens (more, really) of people with thyroid disease. I don’t brag about it because it’s part of my job (and I’m not selling anything).

    People have every right to write books, sell them, and profit from them. People should just be aware of what they are buying.

    Richard Dawkins said, ” If you are in possession of this revolutionary secret of science, why not prove it and be hailed as the new Newton? Of course, we know the answer. You can’t do it. You are a fake.” This was meant to make the point that those who offer up miracles are usually unable to deliver. If this guy knows so may remarkable things about medicine that no one else does, why isn’t he more widely known? Why hasn’t he published his results in peer-reviewed journals? I doubt he’s “a fake”. But what makes him think he has a special insight that the rest of the medical community missed out on?

    The answer is probably that his books bring comfort and control to people dealing with frustrating health problems. A person buys a book like this because they feel bad, and they want to feel better. Some books on health contain useful advice, some don’t. Perhaps the advertised tomes give good advice…I don’t know. But hyping a problem (the difficulty of treating thyroid disorders) and selling a solution (the book) seems a little icky too me. It just doesn’t seem to mesh well with my duty to help those in need with proven techniques, without selling them something they probably don’t need. Perhaps I’m being too critical. If I have a patient with simple hypothyroidism, I do an evaluation, and I can often treat them with a medication that costs pennies a day. I rely on the medical literature and my relationship with the patient to make a treatment plan. I don’t rely on charisma (I just don’t have that much) and I don’t rely on extravagant promises (seems too much like lying).

    Well, to each his own.

  • Salt your way to health

    As it turns out, in my own neck of the woods there is a small woo-factory. I came upon it when I saw an internet add extolling the virtues of salt, as long as it’s expensive salt. The author of the article turns out to be a doctor in my very metropolitan area. There is so much woo here that it may take a few posts to get through it all.

    The article is called “Salt Your Way to Health” and is featured on the website for a company that just happens to sell, well, fancy salt. There is a bit of a cage match going on with my internal writer and internal scientist. To properly deconstruct and critique this article would create an unreadably long post. So please indulge me with a little patience as I toe the lines of readability and de-wooification.

    Salt and Hypertension

    Before firing up the de-wooificator, I’m going to have to tell you a little bit about salt and hypertension. Sodium chloride (salt) is essential to human life. Salt is the primary extracellular electrolyte in the body, and we can’t live without it. Common American table salt also contains trace amounts of added iodine to prevent goiters. That being said, consuming too much salt has health consequences. First, in people with congestive heart failure, too much can make it difficult to breath, and even kill.

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  • Balance your energy for only $1 a minute!

    I am not pleased. I am not pleased at all. Of course, hospitals need to make money, and in my part of the country, that’s getting damned hard. More and more people are jobless, without insurance, and broke. Hospitals are focusing more on customer service—and that includes providing what the customer wants whether or not there is any evidence to support it. Orac maintains a database of such atrocities occurrences. This is from a table card at a large, local hospital.

    ENERGY BALANCING
    FOR PATIENTS
    Energy Work is a calming technique
    in which the body’s energy field is
    eased into relaxation.

    $1 per minute (15 minutes=$15)

    For an appointment call
    Integrative Medicine at (redacted)

    This service can be billed to your room.

    Arghh!!! Here we are, well into the evidence-based revolution, and a hospital is offering the Reiki-equivalent of a 900 number. I wonder if they also try to drag it out. I can just see what’s going to happen when I come in with my next kidney stone:

    Pal: How is my energy field doing?

    Obi Wan: I can’t tell yet. You must continue.

    Pal: How are you measuring the effect?

    Obi Wan: I’m trained. You must continue.

    Pal: Are you done yet?

    Obi Wan (checking watch): I should be finished in another 45 seconds. You must continue.

    Pal: Is this really gonna cost me 10 dollars?

    Obi Wan: No. We’re up to $15. Tip isn’t included.

    I really, really hope my patients aren’t being offered this service. It seems to me that if anyone is claiming that this treatment has an effect, there must be a doctor’s order for it. And this doctor ain’t ordering any.

  • Detoxification–the pinnacle of quackery

    In another fit of sloth, I am migrating one of my favorites over from my old blog. If you haven’t read it, it’s new to you! –PalMD

    Many of my patients ask me about it; the TV is full of ads for it; you can’t avoid it. “Detoxification” is apparently the pinnacle of modern health care, if you believe folks like Joseph Mercola and Gary Null, and the dozens of adds on late-night TV.

    For me to explain to you why even the very idea is laughable, I have to teach you a bit of human biochemistry—just a little, I promise. My scientific readers will find this grossly oversimplified, but hopefully they will forgive me.

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  • You say pranic, I say panic–let's call the whole thing off

    I was thinking about poor Orac and his death crud, so I thought I’d do a little research for him.

    I did a quick google search for holistic healing (call a doctor? Are you kidding?) and immediately found my answer–Pranic Healing.

    First, I gotta tell you, it’s a deal–a steal, really–because you get knowledge, and no one can take that away from you. I mean, penicillin, you take it, you’re cured, and that’s it–nothing left, just “wham bam thank you ma’am”.

    The Level One class is under $400.00. Compared to the expense of a doctors visit (about $80.00), and some online research from reputable medical sites (free), it’s, well–I’m crying, really.

    Let’s look at the course description. Starting at the bottom:

    This course is intended for Energy Healers, Physicians, Nurses, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, or anyone interested in a safe and powerful energetic healing system.

    Basically, anyone can take the class, as long as they are interested in a “safe and powerful energetic healing system.” What in the world?

    Reduce Stress — Support Physical and Emotional Healing
    The Pranic Healing Level 1 class teaches energetic scanning to balance the chakra system for healing simple and complex illnesses. A person’s energy field holds the template for the physical body. When the chakras in the energy field are balanced, the physical body is healthy.

    MCKS Pranic Healing is taught directly and succinctly so that anyone, with or without energy training, or previous knowledge of energy healing can effect and support healing for oneself and for others.

    Sweeping and energizing are taught as powerful healing techniques.

    Energies are taught to be directed with intention.

    Protocols are provided for healing many specific ailments from simple headaches to chronic disorders.

    Learn distance healing and energetic hygiene.

    Lovely, just lovely. Sounds so–weird.

    Pranic Healing is an advanced form of energy medicine based on energy centers lying along the major acupuncture meridians.

    So, to summarize, this is a “healing modality” based on ayurvedic ideas (chakras), and acupuncture meridians. Both ideas are complete bullshit. Recent studies have invalidated the already bizarre theory of acupuncture meridians, and ayurvedic medicine is just another untested, unproven “alternative” to real medicine.

    So, should you take a class in Pranic Medicine? It seems obvious from where I sit, and I hope you feel a little closer to the answer.