The UK mainstream media have so far failed to report on this new and highly worrying development: in a rare show of unity, the UK practitioners of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) have formed the ‘SCAM Union’ (SCAMU) – pronounced ‘scam you’ – and decided to go on strike. Their demands are straightforward:
- increase pay in line with inflation;
- full recognition of their profession;
- right to regular 15 min tai chi breaks.
Already last week, they staged a two-day nationwide walkout.
- Homeopaths stopped seeing patients and some had to start taking remedies at the C 2000 potency to keep calm but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Chiropractors did not adjust a single subluxation and started cracking jokes instead but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Naturopaths failed to detox a single patient but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Crystal healers kept their crystals under wraps but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Osteopath mobilized not a single joint but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Acupuncturists failed to insert a single needle but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Vaginal steamers only steamed the odd dim sum for lunch but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Ear candlers did not light a single candle and instead aligned them in a visual picket line but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Aromatherapists refused to open any bottles with essential oil but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Herbalists simply said ‘Thyme will tell’ but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Bach flower therapists had to consume their own Rescue Remedies in large quantities but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
- Holistic practitioners claimed to be wholly distraught but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.
Perhaps the most outrageous thing about these events is that the UK press studiously ignored the all-out strike (one broadsheet editor commented: “if it’s not about Megan, we are not interested). Merely King Charles seemed alarmed and was overheard privately mumbling to Camilla: “What next?”
PS
I have been told that some of my readers have difficulties knowing when I am pulling their legs. So, let me confirm: every word here is uninvented – or was that uninventive?
26 Responses to BREAKING NEWS: Widespread strikes of SCAM practitioners immobilize the wellness industry
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The problem is that the homeopaths failed to follow their own principles. They should have diluted their strike action to the point where not a single one was striking then you would have seen amazing positive results!
good point!
for a similar reason, one should never pay for their services but only show them a wallet that once contained money.
@Edzard
Professor, you have received credit many times for allowing post that oppose your views. Why have you begun now censoring three of my post in the last week.
My posts were on subject, and supplied the evidence you request to support claims.
Are you part of the TNI ?
Have you ever looked at the ‘rules’ that I try to follow on this blog:
14 fairly simple rules should be observed when commenting on my blog.
All posts should be in understandable English; with rare exceptions, I will not post comments that I find incomprehensible.
Libelous statements will not be posted.
Personal insults will not be posted and trolls will be banned.
People who keep insulting others will be banned.
Comments must be on-topic.
Nothing published here must be taken as medical advice.
All my statements are comments in a legal sense.
Conflicts of interest should always be disclosed.
I will stop discussions on any particular topic if I feel that enough has been said and things are getting boring or repetitive.
I will not post comments which are overtly nonsensical or untrue.
I will prevent commentators from monopolizing the discussion.
Commentators should use only one name or identifier.
Commentators can use names other than their own.
I will not normally enter into discussions with people who do not disclose their full identities.
@EE
Ahhh yes, a typical ambiguous reply. You would never want pin yourself down to specifics.
You won’t post because it would implicate those I challenge.
if you say so
I have to confess that I really appreciated the lack of horrible pongs from the essential oils. 😀
Can they be kept sealed forever?
Love your sense of humor and delivery Edzard! LOL
The day chiropractors start cracking jokes instead of necks, will be the day I begin to see hope for this group.
I fully endorse this strike action but wish it was permanent.
combining different forms of MT with exercise is better than MT or exercise alone
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28826164/
There was moderate level evidence to support the immediate effectiveness of cervical spine manipulation in treating people with cervical radiculopathy.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25681406/
Our review adds new evidence to the Neck Pain Task Force and suggests that mobilization, manipulation, and clinical massage are effective interventions for the management of neck pain.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26707074/
Upper cervical spine thrust manipulation or mobilisation techniques are more effective than control (low to high evidence), while thoracic manipulations are not.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26059857/
SMT can be considered an effective treatment modality, with this review suggesting it providing superior, small, short-term effects for pain intensity, frequency and disability when compared with other manual therapies.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejp.1632
A multimodal care approach of exercise, combined with mobilisation or manipulation for subacute and chronic MND with or without headache, reduced pain, improved function, and global perceived effect in the short and long term.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004250.pub3/full
Someone went quote mining. All that digging cant be good for your back and you may have developed subluxations. It is time for you to visit a chiro for some SMT.
actually, it’s MA/SR over the past 10 years. They tend to agree with each other. Does that create some cognitive dissonance on your end?
Reference 3: Further down the page is:
Cited by:
Clinical Effectiveness and Efficacy of Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation for Spine Pain.
Gevers-Montoro C, Provencher B, Descarreaux M, Ortega de Mues A, Piché M.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021 Oct 25;2:765921. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2021.765921. eCollection 2021.
“Due to the low quality of evidence, the efficacy of SMT compared with a placebo or no treatment remains uncertain.”😂
QUOTE
Quote mining (also contextomy) is the fallacious tactic of taking quotes out of context in order to make them seemingly agree with the quote miner’s viewpoint, to make the comments of an opponent seem more extreme, or to make it seem that the opponent holds positions they don’t in order to make their positions easier to refute or demonize. It’s a way of lying. …
Quote mining is an informal fallacy and a fallacy of ambiguity, in that it removes context that is necessary to understand the mined quote.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Quote_mining
I was told by a chiro that he can cure my cognitive dissonance by getting rid of spinal subluxations. Apparently, I had them for over 10 years and didn’t know. He asked me to pay upfront for 20 sessions. After that he advised me to see him periodically for a tune up to keep subluxations at bay.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021 Oct 25;2:765921.
“In summary, SMT may be as effective as other recommended therapies for the management of non-specific and chronic primary spine pain, including standard medical care or physical therapy. Currently, SMT is recommended in combination with exercise for neck pain as part of a multimodal approach.“
“The low quality of placebo interventions used for SMT trials may be partly to blame for the low quality of this evidence, the large degree of uncertainty, and the difficulty in drawing consistent conclusions (119).”
Thanks for posting Talker…needed this chuckle!
You are welcome, David.
LOLOLOL!
It was lights out for Energy Medicine practitioners, but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATION’S HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICEABLE.
In fact, people now had more money left to pay their real energy bills …
Perfect Richard! Love the comment!
Wowsa….great post as always Pete Attkins!
Love your response on this one. It’s interesting how there are those who continue to cherry-pick the “studies” to fit their fancy.
Speaks volumes.
If one pays attention one would see that I shared MA and SR but Pete referenced a narrative review. I wonder if he knows the difference?
If one pays attention one would see that, on Saturday 28 January 2023 at 13:01 the chiro‑troll quoted only 2 paragraphs, but each contains “may be” 🤣
If one pays attention one would see that, on Friday 27 January 2023 at 18:09 the chiro‑troll quoted: “combining different forms of MT with exercise is better than MT or exercise alone”.
Well, genius, the results of A+B vs B and A+B vs A isn’t very likely to show that A+B is worse than A or B alone, is it. 🤣
Edzard: “Chiropractors did not adjust a single subluxation and started cracking jokes instead but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.”
David Nette: “The day chiropractors start cracking jokes instead of necks, will be the day I begin to see hope for this group.”
Chiro‑troll spams the comments with the usual knee-jerk 🛎️ off-topic humourless wibble and BS.
Sigh. There is evidence that cSMT has an equivalent outcome to exercise. Example: Am Fam Physician. 2012;86(1):80.
Therefore the question to be answered is if there is an additive effect? It appears there is.
Now introducing a sham will help answer to what extent is that additive effect but regardless, based on what has been published, that additive effect appears to be there. From a neurophysiological view this makes sense.
Now do I still need to hold your hand?
So, the chiro‑troll agrees with the fact that A+B versus A or B trials always generate a positive result[1][2]. Good.
Going back to what triggered the chiro‑troll into trolling some of the commentators…
Edzard: “Chiropractors did not adjust a single subluxation and started cracking jokes instead but NOBODY NOTICED AND THE EFFECT ON THE NATIONS HEALTH WAS NOT NOTICABLE.”
David Nette: “The day chiropractors start cracking jokes instead of necks, will be the day I begin to see hope for this group.”
Chiro‑troll spams the comments with the usual knee-jerk off-topic humourless wibble and BS, and created a diversion by combining cSMT with exercise.
Well guess what, genius: neither cSMT nor exercise are chiropractic treatments; treatments performed only by chiropractors.
What is it that the chiroquackers cannot understand about the blindingly obvious fact that chiropractic is a branch of SCAM.
References
1. Ernst E, Lee MS. A trial design that generates only ”positive” results. J Postgrad Med. 2008 Jul-Sep;54(3):214-6. doi: 10.4103/0022-3859.41806. PMID: 18626172.
2. https://edzardernst.com/?s=%22A%2BB+versus+B%22
Pete: So, the chiro‑troll agrees with the fact that A+B versus A or B trials always generate a positive result[1][2].
I never said it didn’t (although I would not state always).
Pete: neither cSMT nor exercise are chiropractic treatments;
I never said they were exclusive to chiropractic.
Same old Pete, offering nothing of value to a discussion.
The “additive effect? ”
They say hindsight is 20/20 hence there is not a single day that goes by when I wish we knew then, what we know now.
Had my wife Sandy and I read informative blogs like this on chiropractic neck manipulations, there is absolutely no way she would have continued to agree to these “additive treatments”. Maintenace, they called it…I call it Roulette.
Benefit…what benefit?
From our (victims) perspective, this neck manipulation technique continues to be flat out wrong. The recidivous (the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend) and constantly cherry picking of “SMT findings” by the Chiropractic community on the “safety and benefits” of this neck procedure is ridiculous at best, tragic at worst.
We appreciate so much the voices of reason and scientific evidence expressed on this site. Our voices have been silenced much over the last fifteen years, just having to deal with the day-to-day ramifications of Sandy’s ongoing stroke related injuries.
Sites like this give up hope that someday, somehow, the emperor will be exposed as having no clothes, and that others will be spared the needless suffering that we have had and continue to suffer through.
Sadly, Sandy’s prognosis is not good, but she is a fighter. It is only by the grace of God, her young healthy lifestyle and the amazing Surgeons, Doctors and Nurses, that she survived at all and made it this far.