irrationality
If you think that homeopathy is risk-free, you should read what this US homeopath proclaims on his website. I have copied several sections from his lengthy article (everything that is in normal print is his writing; mine is in bold). The author first gives a general introduction into homeopathy and why he believes in it; then he continues:
…Now, on the surface, you might think that since there is some common ground between homeopathy and vaccinations, that homeopathic doctors would be, all-in, when it comes to vaccines. The fact is, most homeopaths today are against vaccinations. The main reason for that is not because of the underlying principle, but because the process have been perverted by eugenics. Today, the real purpose of vaccinations is to cause sterilization and early death. Bill Gates spends billions of dollars on global vaccination, admittedly, to reduce the population. All kinds of heavy metals like aluminum, mercury and other poisons and pathogens are put into vaccinations. People, especially children, are given many more times the amount of vaccinations today than they were decades gone by, when it can be argued, vaccinations were effective and were needed.Even cancer viruses have, on record, been put into vaccinations. There is no actual vaccine for cancer. The only reason to put cancer viruses in the mix is to create more cases of cancer. In this day and age, one of the most dangerous things you can do for your health is to get vaccinated…
With homeopathy, you never have to worry about heavy metals, cancer viruses or other poisons being mixed in with the natural ingredients. Even though some of the underlying foundations of homeopathy and vaccinations are similar, there are a number of differences. With vaccinations, the actual disease that they are allegedly trying to build up immunity to is in the injection. In homeopathy, that is not the case, except in rare exception, and due to the dilution process, there is never any risk. Another difference is that homeopathic remedies are taken orally, rather than injected…
Homeopathic remedies have no side effects. That’s a great thing. On the other hand, every drug comes with lots of side effects. And then, you can get in a vicious cycle where you keep taking (or being prescribed) more and more drugs to deal with more and more side effects. In time, this often leads to emergency “live saving” surgery. When they are successful and the patient doesn’t die on the operating table, everyone praises modern medicine for saving those millions of lives, all the while ignoring that the reason those millions of surgeries were needed in the first place, was due to those allegedly wonderful and so-called scientifically proven drugs. Plus, many times, these surgeries aren’t truly needed. If the patient would simply quit taking the drugs, the body could, often, heal itself from life threatening conditions…
Homeopathy is much more well known in Europe and various other nations than it is known in the United States. There is a huge medical conspiracy against the use of homeopathy and other medical modalities that threaten the financial dominance of the current medical industry. The conspiracy extends world-wide, but it is strongest in the USA…This conspiracy is being perpetrated on a conscious level, for going on 200 years. Then, on the heels of that, there is a massive amount of ignorance from ironically, highly educated people, who have been influenced by the conspirators. (Most of these people you might not be able to classify as conspirators, because they believe what they are saying.) Doctors who have never even tried a homeopathic remedy on themselves, or their patients, often say that there is no evidence that homeopathy works. When you point to the innumerable raving fans of homeopathy around the world, each of whom have testimonies of homeopathic remedies working extremely well, the detractors simply call those, anecdotal evidence, not worthy of consideration. When you point out some of the clinical case histories of undeniable healings that have come to patients of homeopathic doctors, the opponents of homeopathy chalk it all up to the placebo effect. They say they want scientific proof and that none exists, but the truth is, numerous studies have shown very positive results, and have outperformed drugs and/or placebo. There are more than 150 placebo controlled clinical studies, most of which have shown positive results, either compared with a placebo or compared with a conventional drug. Moreover, they did so with zero side effects, (unlike drugs, which often have that little side effect known as, death.) And yet, the detractors always have a Rolodex of never ending excuses, why those studies, “don’t count.” They range from, the studies are too small; they are conducted by people who believe in homeopathy – (I’m serious!); the doctors aren’t well known enough; there must have been some breakdown of the scientific procedure that has yet to come out, etc. These people are unable to deal with the conundrum, that homeopathic remedies become more potent, with dilution, instead of less potent, like you would assume. From there, they assume that it can’t work, and no matter how much healing is done with homeopathic remedies, it’s nothing more than mind of matter, (placebo effect.) …The evidence is overwhelming to anyone with an open mind that homeopathy is for real. Does everyone magically become well? Will you not have to die? You know the answers to that, and nobody is suggesting it.
What is undeniable is that the pharmaceutical industry peddles toxic drugs that do more harm than good, by far. Big pharma corporations get caught faking studies, bribing doctors and all kinds of dirty, illegal activity, for which they are fined billions of dollars. To call them purveyors of science is laughable. There are drugs like Vioxx, that have killed anywhere from tens of thousands to more than a million people (depending on whether you go by Merck and the FDA statistics, or outside investigators), which, shockingly, aren’t even pulled from the market by the government. The company finally quits peddling them once the lawsuits make it unprofitable…
I’ve finally come to the conclusion that these people aren’t interested in finding the truth. They only want to protect their status quo, and well as their paradigms of how the world works. They don’t have room for experiential evidence. When these type of people write research papers smearing homeopathy, they are being intellectually dishonest. They consciously obfuscate facts and mold findings to seem to conform to their beliefs – let the evidence be damned…
These medical mafia type of people, don’t even care about logic. They stopped making sense a long, long time ago. When you are done reading these two articles, if you have a modicum of an open mind, you will at the very least, not be able to deny that there really is a very genuine conspiracy against homeopathy…
Such utter nonsense speaks, I think, for itself. Therefore perhaps just this as my comment.
I have said and written it often: the homeopathic remedy might be harmless, however, many homeopaths are clearly not.
In a way, I should be thankful to the author of this truly amazing article enforcing my point.
Many proponents of alternative medicine seem somewhat suspicious of research; they have obviously understood that it might not produce the positive result they had hoped for; after all, good research tests hypotheses and does not necessarily confirm beliefs. At the same time, they are often tempted to conduct research: this is perceived as being good for the image and, provided the findings are positive, also good for business.
Therefore they seem to be tirelessly looking for a study design that cannot ‘fail’, i.e. one that avoids the risk of negative results but looks respectable enough to be accepted by ‘the establishment’. For these enthusiasts, I have good news: here is the study design that cannot fail.
It is perhaps best outlined as a concrete example; for reasons that will become clear very shortly, I have chosen reflexology as a treatment of diabetic neuropathy, but you can, of course, replace both the treatment and the condition as it suits your needs. Here is the outline:
- recruit a group of patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy – say 58, that will do nicely,
- randomly allocate them to two groups,
- the experimental group receives regular treatments by a motivated reflexologist,
- the controls get no such therapy,
- both groups also receive conventional treatments for their neuropathy,
- the follow-up is 6 months,
- the following outcome measures are used: pain reduction, glycemic control, nerve conductivity, and thermal and vibration sensitivities,
- the results show that the reflexology group experience more improvements in all outcome measures than those of control subjects,
- your conclusion: This study exhibited the efficient utility of reflexology therapy integrated with conventional medicines in managing diabetic neuropathy.
Mission accomplished!
This method is fool-proof, trust me, I have seen it often enough being tested, and never has it generated disappointment. It cannot fail because it follows the notorious A+B versus B design (I know, I have mentioned this several times before on this blog, but it is really important, I think): both patient groups receive the essential mainstream treatment, and the experimental group receives a useless but pleasant alternative treatment in addition. The alternative treatment involves touch, time, compassion, empathy, expectations, etc. All of these elements will inevitably have positive effects, and they can even be used to increase the patients’ compliance with the conventional treatments that is being applied in parallel. Thus all outcome measures will be better in the experimental compared to the control group.
The overall effect is pure magic: even an utterly ineffective treatment will appear as being effective – the perfect method for producing false-positive results.
And now we hopefully all understand why this study design is so very popular in alternative medicine. It looks solid – after all, it’s an RCT!!! – and it thus convinces even mildly critical experts of the notion that the useless treatment is something worth while. Consequently the useless treatment will become accepted as ‘evidence-based’, will be used more widely and perhaps even reimbursed from the public purse. Business will be thriving!
And why did I employ reflexology for diabetic neuropathy? Is that example not a far-fetched? Not a bit! I used it because it describes precisely a study that has just been published. Of course, I could also have taken the chiropractic trial from my last post, or dozens of other studies following the A+B versus B design – it is so brilliantly suited for misleading us all.
A recent article by Frank King (DC, ND) caught my eye. In it, he praises homeopathy in glowing terms. First I was not sure whether he is pulling my leg; then I decided he was entirely serious. Am I mistaken?
Here is the crucial passage for you to decide:
Even though the founder of homeopathy lived more than 200 years ago, he wrote about genetics. Samuel Hahnemann, MD, not only emphasized the importance of natural healing methods, he also recognized the influence of genetics in some types of illnesses.
Hahnemann used the term miasm to refer to the source of chronic diseases. He recognized several miasms, such as psora (meaning “itch”), syphilis, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and cancer. In addition to recognizing and naming these miasms, he developed homeopathic remedies to address and correct them.
When your patient treatment protocols reach a plateau with chiropractic and nutritional support, consider turning to the constitutional homeopathic remedies, miasms, and detoxification formulas. Toxins inhibit the body’s ability to heal by interfering with the normal nerve pathways.
For example: Due to the steady growth in heavy-metal exposure modern civilization has experienced since the Industrial Revolution, mercury could be considered a modern miasm. Animal studies indicate that mercury’s negative effects can carry through to future generations, just as some of the other miasms do.
Mercurius is homeopathically prepared mercury to help address the symptoms of mercury toxicity, which can manifest as slow thought processes, chilliness, weak digestion, sore throat, and night sweats.
This is just one of the more than 1,300 Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States ingredients recognized by the FDA.
Homeopathy can be the perfect complement to chiropractic care. It can correct the energetics (including the genetics) of the deepest areas of the body, mind, and emotions, where the hands of the chiropractor can’t reach.
In case you don’t know much about homeopathy, it is true that Hahnemann believed in ‘miasms’, i.e. noxious vapours as the cause of a disposition to certain diseases. Even by Hahnemann’s standards, it turned out to be one of his more crazy ideas. To claim that, by believing in miasms, he foresaw the science of genetics is more than a little far-fetched.
In case you are not sure what toxins do in our body, rest assured that only chiropractors believe they inhibit the body’s ability to heal by interfering with the normal nerve pathways.
And in case you think you suffer from slow thought processes, chilliness, weak digestion, sore throat, and night sweats and thus feel like rushing to the next pharmacy to buy some Mercurius, don’t! This would not eliminate any mercury from your body, it would just eliminate cash from your pocket (in that sense, homeopathy might indeed occasionally reach where the hands of the chiropractor can’t reach).
One can say a lot about alternative medicine, I think, but nobody can deny that it regularly provides us with perfect (unintentional) comedy.
Kinesiology tape is all the rage. Its proponents claim that it increases cutaneous stimulation, which facilitates motor unit firing, and consequently improves functional performance. But is this just clever marketing, wishful thinking or is it true? To find out, we need reliable data.
The current trial results are sparse, confusing and contradictory. A recent systematic review indicated that kinesiology tape may have limited potential to reduce pain in individuals with musculoskeletal injury; however, depending on the conditions, the reduction in pain may not be clinically meaningful. Kinesiology tape application did not reduce specific pain measures related to musculoskeletal injury above and beyond other modalities compared in the context of included articles.
The authors concluded that kinesiology tape may be used in conjunction with or in place of more traditional therapies, and further research that employs controlled measures compared with kinesiology tape is needed to evaluate efficacy.
This need for further research has just been met by Korean investigators who conducted a study testing the true effects of KinTape by a deceptive, randomized, clinical trial.
Thirty healthy participants performed isokinetic testing of three taping conditions: true facilitative KinTape, sham KinTape, and no KinTape. The participants were blindfolded during the evaluation. Under the pretense of applying adhesive muscle sensors, KinTape was applied to their quadriceps in the first two conditions. Normalized peak torque, normalized total work, and time to peak torque were measured at two angular speeds (60°/s and 180°/s) and analyzed with one-way repeated measures ANOVA.
Participants were successfully deceived and they were ignorant about KinTape. No significant differences were found between normalized peak torque, normalized total work, and time to peak torque at 60°/s or 180°/s (p = 0.31-0.99) between three taping conditions. The results showed that KinTape did not facilitate muscle performance in generating higher peak torque, yielding a greater total work, or inducing an earlier onset of peak torque.
The authors concluded that previously reported muscle facilitatory effects using KinTape may be attributed to placebo effects.
The claims that are being made for kinesiology taping are truly extraordinary; just consider what this website is trying to tell us:
Kinesiology tape is a breakthrough new method for treating athletic sprains, strains and sports injuries. You may have seen Olympic and celebrity athletes wearing multicolored tape on their arms, legs, shoulders and back. This type of athletic tape is a revolutionary therapeutic elastic style of support that works in multiple ways to improve health and circulation in ways that traditional athletic tapes can’t compare. Not only does this new type of athletic tape help support and heal muscles, but it also provides faster, more thorough healing by aiding with blood circulation throughout the body.
Many athletes who have switched to using this new type of athletic tape report a wide variety of benefits including improved neuromuscular movement and circulation, pain relief and more. In addition to its many medical uses, Kinesiology tape is also used to help prevent injuries and manage pain and swelling, such as from edema. Unlike regular athletic taping, using elastic tape allows you the freedom of motion without restricting muscles or blood flow. By allowing the muscles a larger degree of movement, the body is able to heal itself more quickly and fully than before.
Whenever I read such over-enthusiastic promotion that is not based on evidence but on keen salesmanship, my alarm-bells start ringing and I see parallels to the worst type of alternative medicine hype. In fact, kinesiology tapes have all the hallmarks of alternative medicine and its promoters have, as far as I can see, all the characteristics of quacks. The motto seems to be: LET’S EARN SOME MONEY FAST AND IGNORE THE SCIENCE WHILE WE CAN.
The UK ‘Society of Homeopaths’ just proudly made this announcement: “From today, patients will be able to choose a homeopath belonging to a register vetted and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). The Society of Homeopaths’ voluntary register has been accredited under a new scheme set up by the Department of Health and administered by an independent body, accountable to Parliament.”
No, it is not April fools day, but it is clearly time to rejoice and to start believing in homeopathy. Not an easy task, you might say; perhaps this new and equally amazing article outlining 10 reasons to love homeopathy will make it a little more feasible (as it is pure comedy gold, I have only shortened it very slightly)?
1. For Love: Love your family, love thy neighbor, love your homeopath. Even if you don’t need a homeopath, your aunt, your grandmother, or grandchild might…
2. For money. Homeopathic medicines are generally less expensive than patent medicines, which have prices driven by profit, not by cost nor benefit…
3. For your bodies, minds, spirits, and communities. Homeopathy works… How is it possible that everyone can find instances where a homeopathic doctor was able to solve a problem…?
4. Because you are royalty. Kings and queens have used homeopathy – with positive effects. The Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II has a personal physician – a homeopath. She has used homeopathic medicines for her pets as well. If it’s good enough for royalty, it’s good enough for you.
5. Because someday you might need a chiropractor, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Acupuncturist, an Osteopathic Doctor, an Ayurvedic practitioner, or even a midwife. …Attacking homeopathy, suggesting it be banned, is a first step in the wrong direction. Many medical disciplines are attacked independently, with a goal to remove them all from your market, your freedom to choose. If we ban homeopaths, ask yourself – who’s next?
6. For Your Freedoms: Freedom to choose Homeopathy. Freedom to choose your medicines and treatments. There are many who might prefer that you have fewer freedoms, especially those with something to sell. There are many nonsense restrictions on your freedom to choose, and freedoms avoid, specific medical treatments. It’s your body, your mind, your spirit, and your life. You have the right to choose…
7. For your symptoms. The medical model classifies all symptoms as indications of illness. It does not recognize that symptoms can be indications of healthiness, and seldom recognizes that symptoms can be indications of healing or fighting illness. Homeopathy looks at symptoms from a completely different viewpoint…
8. For your health. Today, it’s illegal to market a product that claims to ‘improves your health’, without reference to illness. All ‘health claims’ must reference ‘a disease or health related condition’. It is illegal to sell a ‘health product’ without a reference to scientific studies of ‘illness’. Medicine, is blind to health. Homeopathy challenges many medical dogmas, opening a door open to a more comprehensive, broader, more clear view of healthiness – not just illness.
9. For your Doctor. Whether your doctor is a homeopath or not, she might need access to homeopathic ideas and medicines. Homeopathy is practiced by many doctors, dentists, naturopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists, physician assistants, nurses, even veterinarians, and more. If homeopathy is banned, these medical professionals will be limited, or forced to hide their beliefs and activities.
10. For science. Some argue that homeopathy cannot pass the tests of science. These are people who do not understand science. Science does not find truths, it asks questions and seeks answers. The answers it finds, if they are useful, raise higher, more important questions. When science is stifled, when science becomes illegal, we all lose.
This is all so very sweet that I almost hesitate to bring you back to reality. But I have to, this is no blog for dreamers!
Here is a reminder what level-headed, independent and thorough experts have to say about homeopathy; I am sorry, if their statement comes a bit like a cold shower to the irrationalists: “the evidence from research in humans does not show that homeopathy is effective for treating the range of health conditions considered.”
So, what should we make of the UK government’s decision to register homeopaths? Personally, I now look forward to the day when parliament starts discussing the new London airport for flying carpets – but, as always, I look forward to your answers.
Chiropractors, like other alternative practitioners, use their own unique diagnostic tools for identifying the health problems of their patients. One such test is the Kemp’s test, a manual test used by most chiropractors to diagnose problems with lumbar facet joints. The chiropractor rotates the torso of the patient, while her pelvis is fixed; if manual counter-rotative resistance on one side of the pelvis by the chiropractor causes lumbar pain for the patient, it is interpreted as a sign of lumbar facet joint dysfunction which, in turn would be treated with spinal manipulation.
All diagnostic tests have to fulfil certain criteria in order to be useful. It is therefore interesting to ask whether the Kemp’s test meets these criteria. This is precisely the question addressed in a recent paper. Its objective was to evaluate the existing literature regarding the accuracy of the Kemp’s test in the diagnosis of facet joint pain compared to a reference standard.
All diagnostic accuracy studies comparing the Kemp’s test with an acceptable reference standard were located and included in the review. Subsequently, all studies were scored for quality and internal validity.
Five articles met the inclusion criteria. Only two studies had a low risk of bias, and three had a low concern regarding applicability. Pooling of data from studies using similar methods revealed that the test’s negative predictive value was the only diagnostic accuracy measure above 50% (56.8%, 59.9%).
The authors concluded that currently, the literature supporting the use of the Kemp’s test is limited and indicates that it has poor diagnostic accuracy. It is debatable whether clinicians should continue to use this test to diagnose facet joint pain.
The problem with chiropractic diagnostic methods is not confined to the Kemp’s test, but extends to most tests employed by chiropractors. Why should this matter?
If diagnostic methods are not reliable, they produce either false-positive or false-negative findings. When a false-negative diagnosis is made, the chiropractor might not treat a condition that needs attention. Much more common in chiropractic routine, I guess, are false-positive diagnoses. This means chiropractors frequently treat conditions which the patient does not have. This, in turn, is not just a waste of money and time but also, if the ensuing treatment is associated with risks, an unnecessary exposure of patients to getting harmed.
The authors of this review, chiropractors from Canada, should be praised for tackling this subject. However, their conclusion that “it is debatable whether clinicians should continue to use this test to diagnose facet joint pain” is in itself highly debatable: the use of nonsensical diagnostic tools can only result in nonsense and should therefore be disallowed.
Most of the underlying assumptions of alternative medicine (AM) lack plausibility. Whenever this is the case, so the argument put forward by an international team of researchers in a recent paper, there are difficulties involved in obtaining a valid statistical significance in clinical studies.
Using a mostly statistical approach, they argue that, since the prior probability of a research hypothesis is directly related to its scientific plausibility, the commonly used frequentist statistics, which do not account for this probability, are unsuitable for studies exploring matters in various degree disconnected from science. Any statistical significance obtained in this field should be considered with great caution and may be better applied to more plausible hypotheses (like placebo effect) than the specific efficacy of the intervention.
The researchers conclude that, since achieving meaningful statistical significance is an essential step in the validation of medical interventions, AM practices, producing only outcomes inherently resistant to statistical validation, appear not to belong to modern evidence-based medicine.
To emphasize their arguments, the researchers make the following additional points:
- It is often forgotten that frequentist statistics, commonly used in clinical trials, provides only indirect evidence in support of the hypothesis examined.
- The p-value inherently tends to exaggerate the support for the hypothesis tested, especially if the scientific plausibility of the hypothesis is low.
- When the rationale for a clinical intervention is disconnected from the basic principles of science, as in case of complementary alternative medicines, any positive result obtained in clinical studies is more reasonably ascribable to hypotheses (generally to placebo effect) other than the hypothesis on trial, which commonly is the specific efficacy of the intervention.
- Since meaningful statistical significance as a rule is an essential step to validation of a medical intervention, complementary alternative medicine cannot be considered evidence-based.
Further explanations can be found in the discussion of the article where the authors argue that the quality of the hypothesis tested should be consistent with sound logic and science and therefore have a reasonable prior probability of being correct. As a rule of thumb, assuming a “neutral” attitude towards the null hypothesis (odds = 1:1), a p-value of 0.01 or, better, 0.001 should suffice to give a satisfactory posterior probability of 0.035 and 0.005 respectively.
In the area of AM, hypotheses often are entirely inconsistent with logic and frequently fly in the face of science. Four examples can demonstrate this instantly and sufficiently, I think:
- Homeopathic remedies which contain not a single ‘active’ molecule are not likely to generate biological effects.
- Healing ‘energy’ of Reiki masters has no basis in science.
- Meridians of acupuncture are pure imagination.
- Chiropractic subluxation have never been shown to exist.
Positive results from clinical trials of implausible forms of AM are thus either due to chance, bias or must be attributed to more credible causes such as the placebo effect. Since the achievement of meaningful statistical significance is an essential step in the validation of medical interventions, unless some authentic scientific support to AM is provided, one has to conclude that AM cannot be considered as evidence-based.
Such arguments are by no means new; they have been voiced over and over again. Essentially, they amount to the old adage: IF YOU CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE A CAT IN YOUR GARDEN, A SIMPLE PICTURE MAY SUFFICE. IF YOU CLAIM THERE IS A UNICORN IN YOUR GARDEN, YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE CONVINCING. An extraordinary claim requires an extraordinary proof! Put into the context of the current discussion about AM, this means that the usual level of clinical evidence is likely to be very misleading as long as it totally neglects the biological plausibility of the prior hypothesis.
Proponents of AM do not like to hear such arguments. They usually insist on what we might call a ‘level playing field’ and fail to see why their assumptions require not only a higher level of evidence but also a reasonable scientific hypothesis. They forget that the playing field is not even to start with; to understand the situation better, they should read this excellent article. Perhaps its elegant statistical approach will convince them – but I would not hold my breath.
Bach Flower Remedies are the brain child of Dr Edward Bach who, as an ex-homeopath, invented his very own highly diluted remedies. Like homeopathic medicines, they are devoid of active molecules and are claimed to work via some non-defined ‘energy’. Consequently, the evidence for these treatments is squarely negative: my systematic review analysed the data of all 7 RCTs of human patients or volunteers that were available in 2010. All but one were placebo-controlled. All placebo-controlled trials failed to demonstrate efficacy. I concluded that the most reliable clinical trials do not show any differences between flower remedies and placebos.
But now, a new investigation has become available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Bach flower Rescue Remedy on the control of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in rats.
A randomized longitudinal experimental study was conducted on 18 Wistar rats which were randomly divided into three groups of six animals each and orogastrically dosed with either 200μl of water (group A, control), or 100μl of water and 100μl of Bach flower remedy (group B), or 200μl of Bach flower remedy (group C) every 2 days, for 20 days. All animals were fed standard rat chow and water ad libitum.
Urine volume, body weight, feces weight, and food intake were measured every 2 days. On day 20, tests of glycemia, hyperuricemia, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and total cholesterol were performed, and the anatomy and histopathology of the heart, liver and kidneys were evaluated. Data were analyzed using Tukey’s test at a significance level of 5%.
No significant differences were found in food intake, feces weight, urine volume and uric acid levels between groups. Group C had a significantly lower body weight gain than group A and lower glycemia compared with groups A and B. Groups B and C had significantly higher HDL-cholesterol and lower triglycerides than controls. Animals had mild hepatic steatosis, but no cardiac or renal damage was observed in the three groups.
From these results, the authors conclude that Bach flower Rescue Remedy was effective in controlling glycemia, triglycerides, and HDL-cholesterol and may serve as a strategy for reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease in rats. This study provides some preliminary “proof of concept” data that Bach Rescue Remedy may exert some biological effects.
If ever there was a bizarre study, it must be this one:
- As far as I know, nobody has ever claimed that Rescue Remedy modified cardiovascular risk factors.
- It seems debatable whether the observed changes are all positive as far as the cardiovascular risk is concerned.
- It seems odd that a remedy that does not contain active molecules is associated with some sort of dose-effect response.
- The modification of cardiovascular risk factors in rats might be of little relevance for humans.
- A strategy for reducing cardiovascular risk factors in rats seems a strange idea.
- Even the authors cannot offer a mechanism of action [other than pure magic].
Does this study tell us anything of value? The authors are keen to point out that it provides a preliminary proof of concept for Rescue Remedy having biological effects. Somehow, I doubt that this conclusion will convince many of my readers.
Medical treatments with no direct effect, such as homeopathy, are surprisingly popular. But how does a good reputation of such treatments spread and persist? Researchers from the Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution in Stockholm believe that they have identified the mechanism.
They argue that most medical treatments result in a range of outcomes: some people improve while others deteriorate. If the people who improve are more inclined to tell others about their experiences than the people who deteriorate, ineffective or even harmful treatments would maintain a good reputation.
They conducted a fascinating study to test the hypothesis that positive outcomes are overrepresented in online medical product reviews, examined if this reputational distortion is large enough to bias people’s decisions, and explored the implications of this bias for the cultural evolution of medical treatments.
The researchers compared outcomes of weight loss treatments and fertility treatments as evidenced in clinical trials to outcomes reported in 1901 reviews on Amazon. Subsequently, in a series of experiments, they evaluated people’s choice of weight loss diet after reading different reviews. Finally, a mathematical model was used to examine if this bias could result in less effective treatments having a better reputation than more effective treatments.
The results of these investigations confirmed the hypothesis that people with better outcomes are more inclined to write reviews. After 6 months on the diet, 93% of online reviewers reported a weight loss of 10 kg or more, while just 27% of clinical trial participants experienced this level of weight change. A similar positive distortion was found in fertility treatment reviews. In a series of experiments, the researchers demonstrated that people are more inclined to begin a diet that was backed by many positive reviews, than a diet with reviews that are representative of the diet’s true effect. A mathematical model of medical cultural evolution suggested that the size of the positive distortion critically depends on the shape of the outcome distribution.
The authors concluded that online reviews overestimate the benefits of medical treatments, probably because people with negative outcomes are less inclined to tell others about their experiences. This bias can enable ineffective medical treatments to maintain a good reputation.
To me, this seems eminently plausible; but there are, of course, other reasons why bogus treatments survive or even thrive – and they may vary in their importance to the overall effect from treatment to treatment. As so often in health care, things are complex and there are multiple factors that contribute to a phenomenon.
In 2004, I published an article rather boldly entitled ‘Ear candles: a triumph of ignorance over science’. Here is its summary:
Ear candles are hollow tubes coated in wax which are inserted into patients’ ears and then lit at the far end. The procedure is used as a complementary therapy for a wide range of conditions. A critical assessment of the evidence shows that its mode of action is implausible and demonstrably wrong. There are no data to suggest that it is effective for any condition. Furthermore, ear candles have been associated with ear injuries. The inescapable conclusion is that ear candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged.
Sadly, since the publication of this paper, ear candles have not become less but more popular. There are about 3 000 000 websites on the subject; most are trying to sell products and make claims which are almost comically misguided; three examples have to suffice:
- The candles work on a chimney principle, drawing any impurities to the surface where they can be gently removed. They equalise the pressure in the head and ears, making them suitable for most conditions.
- These candles are cleansing, soothing and relaxing which helps with chills / colds, feeling of pressure in the ear, tinnitus and everyday noise / sensory overload.
- As it burns, the cone’s ingredients turn to vapour and the airflow creates a vibrational effect. Warmth, vibration and vapour massage the ear canal breaking down any blockages. Wax, toxins and impurities are then drawn out by suction from the heat and vacuum effect of the burning cone. Ear Candling also stimulates the ear’s circulatory system and upper lymph system aiding the body’s natural healing responses.
I said ALMOST comical because such nonsense has, of course a downside. Not only are consumers separated from their cash for no benefit whatsoever, but they are also exposed to danger; again, three examples from the medical literature might explain:
- Otolaryngologists from London described a case of ear candling presenting as hearing loss, and they concluded that this useless therapy can actually cause damage to the ears.
- A 50-year-old woman presented to her GP following an episode of ear candling. After 15 minutes, the person performing the candling burned herself while attempting to remove the candle and spilled candle wax into the patient’s right ear canal. On examination, a piece of candle wax was found in the patient’s ear, and she was referred to the local ear, nose, and throat department. Under general aesthetic, a large mass of solidified yellow candle wax was removed from the deep meatus of the ear. The patient had a small perforation in her right tympanic membrane. Results of a pure tone audiogram showed a mild conductive hearing loss on the right side. At a follow-up appointment 1 month later, the perforation was still there, and the patient’s hearing had not improved.
- A case report of a 4-year-old girl from New Zealand was published. The patient was diagnosed to suffer from otitis media. During the course of the ear examination white deposits were noticed on her eardrum; this was confirmed as being caused by ear candling.
I should stress that we do not know how often such events happen; there is no monitoring system, and one might expect that the vast majority of cases do not get published. Most consumers who experience such problems, I would guess, are far to embarrassed to admit that they have been taken in by this sort of quackery.
It was true 10 yeas ago and it is true today: ear candles are a triumph of ignorance over science. But also they are a victory of gullibility over common sense and the unethical exploitation of naive hope by greedy frauds.
