I must admit that, in recent months, I neglected my ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME. As my regular readers will know, this is an assembly of extraordinary researchers – extraordinary in the sense that they all have been busy studying so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) without ever managing to publish a single negative result.
At present, the ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME includes the following 27 men and women:
- Miek Jong (homeopathy, Norway)
- Josef M Schmid (homeopathy, Germany)
- Meinhard Simon (homeopathy, Germany)
- Richard C. Niemtzow (acupuncture, US)
- Helmut Kiene (anthroposophical medicine, Germany)
- Helge Franke (osteopathy, Germany)
- Tery Oleson (acupressure , US)
- Jorge Vas (acupuncture, Spain)
- Wane Jonas (homeopathy, US)
- Harald Walach (various SCAMs, Germany)
- Andreas Michalsen ( various SCAMs, Germany)
- Jennifer Jacobs (homeopath, US)
- Jenise Pellow (homeopath, South Africa)
- Adrian White (acupuncturist, UK)
- Michael Frass (homeopath, Austria)
- Jens Behnke (research officer, Germany)
- John Weeks (editor of JCAM, US)
- Deepak Chopra (entrepreneur, US)
- Cheryl Hawk (chiropractor, US)
- David Peters (osteopathy, homeopathy, UK)
- Nicola Robinson (TCM, UK)
- Peter Fisher (homeopathy, UK)
- Simon Mills (herbal medicine, UK)
- Gustav Dobos (various SCAMs, Germany)
- Claudia Witt (homeopathy, Germany/Switzerland)
- George Lewith (acupuncture, UK)
- John Licciardone (osteopathy, US)
Today, an article by Stephanie Benz published in L’Express caught my attention. It mentions a man who might well qualify as a candidate for my illustre assembly. As it is in French, let me summarise it for you.
The article focusses on the bixarre actions of Professor Julien Nizard. He is the vice-dean of Nantes University’s medical school, who stands accused of abusing his academic standing to promote SCAM, while suppressing scientific critique. Serving as an institutional shield for pseudo-sciences, Nizard uses his leadership at the university and within the Collège Universitaire de Médecine Intégrative et Thérapies Complémentaires (CUMIC) to introduce SCAM into official medical training.
The article explicitly notes Nizard’s defense, instruction, or validation of several SCAM practices, including:
- Acupuncture
- Hypnosis / Hypnotherapy
- Osteopathy
- Socio-aesthetic care (often used as part of supportive cancer care)
- Auriculotherapy (ear acupuncture)
- Various other “soft medicines” and non-medicinal interventions (INMs) lacking robust, peer-reviewed clinical proof.
To shield his SCAM programs from internal dissent, Nizard has allegedly turned to unusual administrative and legal pressures against critical faculty members and advocates of evidence-based medicine, like the Collectif No Fakemed. His tactics are said to include:
- Legal Threats and Institutional Action: Nizard has reportedly threatened to drag critical colleagues before the National Order of Physicians (CNOM) or pursue defamation lawsuits to silence them.
- Professional Hostility: Internal whistleblowers and professors attempting to uphold strict evidence-based standards report facing a hostile work environment, administrative stonewalling, and explicit professional pressure meant to damage their academic standing if they publicly oppose his pseudo-scientific initiatives.
- Political Manipulation: He uses behind-the-scenes lobbying at the ministerial level to bypass traditional university peer-review processes, relying on political influence to institutionalize practices that fail to meet baseline clinical research standards.
The article motivated me to look up Julien Nizard in order to find out what papers he has published in the realm of SCAM. The result is impressive. I found 7 abstracts of his SCAM-related papers listed on Medline.
Recent guidelines for managing fibromyalgia highlight the importance of a graded-care approach, tailoring treatment to predominant symptoms, and appropriately integrating nonpharmacological treatments and complementary medicine (CM). Many fibromyalgia patients turn to nonpharmacological treatment and CM for various reasons, including concerns about medication side effects and persistent symptoms despite pharmacological treatment. In addition, these approaches are sometimes mistakenly, but often, perceived as natural and, therefore, widely accepted as well-tolerated with minimal risks. However, as with many patients using CM, fibromyalgia patients frequently engage in these practices without informing their physicians, often because of fear of a negative reaction. This can occur in contexts that lack adequate safeguards, such as treatment by noncertified practitioners, undocumented practices, excessive costs, or unsafe environments. In this narrative review, we first provide updated definitions of these practices, discuss their potential benefits and associated risks, and explore the challenges in their evaluation. We then summarize key findings from the literature before proposing a structured approach for discussing these practices with fibromyalgia patients. This includes assessing their prior experiences, expectations, and motivations for long-term adherence. We also offer guidance on selecting qualified practitioners and ensuring a sufficiently safe treatment environment. Finally, we highlight essential “red flags” that pain specialists and health care providers should discuss with patients, emphasizing the need for caution or even discontinuation of certain practices when these warning signs are present.
The majority of nurses have a favourable opinion of complementary therapies. This makes it easier to identify the therapies used by patients. Being trained in and practising a complementary therapy strengthens the nursing skills and helps to give it new meaning. Nurses must play an active part in the ongoing structuring of integrative medicine in France.
Neuropsychiatric disorders are one of the frequent complications of neurocognitive disease, and have an impact on the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Non-phamacologic interventions are recommended as first-line treatment. The Snoezelen method is a multisensory stimulation method based on the assumption that acting on sensoriality can improve neuropsychiatric symptoms and thus quality of life, but its level of evidence is controversial. To explore this, we performed a systematic literature review of randomized controlled articles focusing on the use of the Snoezelen method in patients with cognitive disorders. Eighteen studies were included. The clinical outcomes studied were multiple (behavior, mood, cognition, functional capacities and biomedical parameters). When the Snoezelen method was compared to the “standard activities” group, it appears to be effective on short-term behavior. This was more negligible when the method was compared to others non-pharmacological interventions. Although the Snoezelen method could be effective on mood, cognition, and functional abilities, its level of evidence remains low. Furthers mixed studies (quantitative and qualitative) would be an interesting approach to delve into this topic in the most holistic way by integrating the patients, the caregivers and the cost of the method.
Background: Low Back Pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide, 90% of which is nonspecific. Manual therapy is one of the recommended treatment modalities. However, reported outcomes may be variable. This review aims to identify their scope in the context of the development of a Core Outcome Set (COS), which is defined as « an agreed standardised set of outcomes that should be measured and reported, as a minimum, in all clinical trials in specific areas of health or health care ».
Methods: A scoping review with risk of bias assessment of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of manual therapy for nonspecific LBP was conducted using MEDLINE, CENTRAL, PEDro, WebOfScience and ClinicalTrials.gov, from 2010 up to August 2024. Manual therapy was considered the use, alone or in combination, of manipulations (high velocity, low amplitude), mobilisations (low-grade velocity, small-to-large amplitude) or soft tissue relaxation (especially massage, trigger points, muscle contractions).
Results: Out of 3929 articles, 147 RCTs and 74 protocols were included. Two main outcomes emerged: pain intensity (assessed by numerical rating scale or visual analogue scale) and disability (mostly assessed by Rolland-Morris Disability Questionnaire or Oswestry Disability Index). Range of motion is the most frequent clinical outcome assessed. Psychological factors such as fear-avoidance beliefs, kinesiophobia and catastrophising, and healthcare consumption, particularly medication, are also frequent. Most of the outcomes were patient-reported outcomes.
Conclusion: Consistent with a previous COS on nonspecific low back pain, manual therapy appears to address the same outcomes. Clinical trials in manual therapy should focus on using the existing COS by measuring pain intensity using a numerical rating scale, disability using the ODI 2.1a or the 24-item RMDQ, health-related quality of life using the SF-12 or the 10-item PROMIS. Additionally, due to the gap between clinical research and pain experience, trials should consider conducting subgroup analyses to identify effects on outcomes related to gender or age, paying particular attention to health inequalities by carrying out analyses based on socioeconomic status, as these factors are well known to significantly impact pain experience and access to care.
Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective technique to treat patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease. The surgical procedure of DBS implantation is generally performed under local anesthesia due to the need for intraoperative clinical testing. However, this procedure is long (5-7 h on average) and, therefore, the objective that the patient remains co-operative and tolerates the intervention well is a real challenge.
Objective: To evaluate the additional benefit of electroacupuncture (EA) performed intraoperatively to improve the comfort of parkinsonian patients during surgical DBS implantation.
Methods: This single-center randomized study compared two groups of patients. In the first group, DBS implantation was performed under local anesthesia alone, while the second group received EA in addition. The patients were evaluated preoperatively, during the different stages of the surgery, and 2 days after surgery, using the 9-item Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), including a total sum score and physical and emotional subscores.
Results: The data of nine patients were analyzed in each group. Although pain and tiredness increased in both groups after placement of the stereotactic frame, the ESAS item “lack of appetite”, as well as the ESAS total score and physical subscore increased after completion of the first burr hole until the end of the surgical procedure in the control group only. ESAS total score and physical subscore were significantly higher at the end of the intervention in the control group compared to the EA group. After the surgical intervention (D2), anxiety and ESAS emotional subscore were improved in both groups, but the feeling of wellbeing improved in the EA group only. Finally, one patient developed delirium during the intervention and none in the EA group.
Discussion: This study shows that intraoperative electroacupuncture significantly improves the tolerance of DBS surgery in parkinsonian patients. This easy-to-perform procedure could be fruitfully added in clinical practice.
Background: It is currently considered that around 30% of chronic pain patients are totally refractory to medical treatment. Among patients who remain responsive to medical treatment, it is estimated that between 20% and 50% are likely to discontinue treatment due to severe side effects. Given these therapeutic difficulties, a significant number of patients turn to complementary therapies.
Objective: The LineQuartz® is a medical device that combines 3 complementary therapies, namely, music therapy, light therapy, and chromotherapy. We propose to evaluate its effectiveness in chronic pain patients.
Methods: Between October 2021 and October 2022, 44 patients aged between 23 and 85 years (mean: 55.4 years) were included in a prospective study. All patients had background pain intensity greater than 4/10 on the Numerical Pain Scale (NS). Treatment consisted of 4 half-hour sessions, divided into one session per week for 3 weeks (21 days). Patients were assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) the day before starting treatment (Day 0) and the day after the end of treatment (Day 22).
Results: Apart from the BPI item, “relationship with others,” all items improved significantly (p < 0.050). Background pain intensity (NS) and frequency of painful attacks improved very significantly (p < 0.001). The HAD anxiety subscore was also significantly improved (p < 0.001). Discussion. This open pilot study supports the idea that LineQuartz® has a place among complementary therapies dedicated to the treatment of chronic pain. However, these results need to be confirmed by a controlled study.
Context: In addition to curative care, supportive care is beneficial in managing the anxiety symptoms common in patients in sterile hematology unit. We hypothesize that personal massage can help the patient, particularly in this isolated setting where physical contact is extremely limited. The main objective of this study was to show that anxiety could be reduced after a touch-massage® performed by a nurse trained in this therapy.
Methods: A single-center, randomized, unblinded controlled study in the sterile hematology unit of a French university hospital, validated by an ethics committee. The patients, aged between 18 and 65 years old, and suffering from a serious and progressive hematological pathology, were hospitalized in sterile hematology unit for a minimum of three weeks, patients were randomized into either a group receiving 15-minute touch-massage® sessions or a control group receiving an equivalent amount of quiet time once a week for three weeks. In the treated group, anxiety was assessed before and after each touch-massage® session, using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire with subscale state (STAI-State). In the control group, anxiety was assessed before and after a 15-minute quiet period. For each patient, the difference in the STAI-State score before and after each session (or period) was calculated, the primary endpoint was based on the average of these three differences. Each patient completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire before the first session and after the last session.
Results: Sixty-two patients were randomized. Touch-massage® significantly decreased patient anxiety: a mean decrease in STAI-State scale score of 10.6 [7.65-13.54] was obtained for the massage group (p ≤ 0.001) compared with the control group. The improvement in self-esteem score was not significant.
Conclusion: This study provides convincing evidence for integrating touch-massage® in the treatment of patients in sterile hematology unit.
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Are you as impressed as I am?
Not only has this vice-dean of a medical school shown how to properly defend SCAM by innovative means including legal threats, he has also found the time to publish 7 Medline-listed papers on various forms of SCAM! I am even more impressed that someone with so little valid SCAM research can become such an ardent “defender of the indefensible”. But what impresses me most is this: in all his publications, I cannot find a single negative result, nor a word of SCAM-related criticism.
This, by Jove, is a remarkable achievement!
I hope you all agree that it deserves inclusion into my ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME.
Bienvenue Julien!
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