alternative therapist
The General Chiropractic Council (GCC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with NHS England, the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to collaborate where there is suspected criminal activity on the part of a GCC member in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making.
I find this interesting and most laudable!
But I also have seven questions, e.g.:
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor explains that the patient’s problem is caused by a subluxation of the spine, an entity that does not even exist? Apparently this happens every day.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor treats a patient without prior informed consent? Apparently, this happens regularly.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor fails to warn a patient that his/her manipulations can cause harm and even put him/her in a wheelchair? Apparently this (the lack of warning) happens all the time, and some chiropractors even insist that their manipulations are entirely safe.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor claims that spinal manipulations are effective for curing the patient’s problem, while the evidence does not support the claim? Apparently this happens more often than not.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor persuades a patient to have expensive long-term maintenance therapy for preventing health problems, while the evidence for that appoach is less than convincing? Apparently this happens rather frequently.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if the chiropractor issues advice that is both outside his/her competence and detrimental to the health of the patient (for instance, advising parents not to vaccinate their kids)? Apparently this happens a lot.
- Does it amount to criminal activity in relation to the provision of clinical care or care decision-making, if a chiropractor advises a patient not to do what a real doctor told him/her to do? Apparently this is far from a rare occurance.
I would be most grateful, if the GCC would take the time to answer the above questions.
Many thanks in advaance.
The objective of this paper, as stated by its authors, was to develop an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) through a broad-based consensus process on best practices for chiropractic management of patients with chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain.
Using systematic reviews identified in an initial literature search, a steering committee of experts in research and management of patients with chronic MSK pain drafted a set of recommendations. Additional supportive literature was identified to supplement gaps in the evidence base. A multidisciplinary panel of experienced practitioners and educators rated the recommendations through a formal Delphi consensus process using the RAND Corporation/University of California, Los Angeles, methodology.
The Delphi process was conducted January–February 2020. The 62-member Delphi panel reached consensus on chiropractic management of five common chronic MSK pain conditions:
- low-back pain (LBP),
- neck pain,
- tension headache,
- osteoarthritis (knee and hip),
- fibromyalgia.
Recommendations were made for non-pharmacological treatments, including:
- acupuncture,
- spinal manipulation/mobilization,
- other manual therapy;
- low-level laser (LLL);
- interferential current;
- exercise, including yoga;
- mind–body interventions, including mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT);
- lifestyle modifications such as diet and tobacco cessation.
Recommendations covered many aspects of the clinical encounter, from informed consent through diagnosis, assessment, treatment planning and implementation, and concurrent management and referral. Appropriate referral and comanagement were emphasized.
Therapeutic recommendations for low back pain:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan. The following are recommended, based on current evidence.
- Exercise
- Yoga/qigong (which may also be considered “mind–body” interventions)
- Lifestyle advice to stay active; avoid sitting; manage weight if obese; and quit smoking
- Spinal manipulation/mobilization
- Massage
- Acupuncture
- LLL therapy
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or interferential current may be beneficial as part of a multimodal approach, at the beginning of treatment to assist the patient in becoming or remaining active.
- Combined active and passive: multidisciplinary rehabilitation
- CBT
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Therapeutic recommendations for neck pain:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan for maximum therapeutic effect. The following are recommended, based on current evidence.
- Exercise (range of motion and strengthening).
- Exercise combined with manipulation/mobilization.
- Spinal manipulation and mobilization
- Massage
- Low-level laser
- Acupuncture
- These modalities may be added as part of a multimodal treatment plan, especially at the beginning, to assist the patient in becoming or remaining active:
- Transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS), traction, ultrasound, and interferential current.
- Yoga
- Qigong
Therapeutic recommendations for tension headache:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan for maximum therapeutic effect. The following are recommended, based on current evidence:
- Reassurance that TTH does not indicate presence of a disease.
- Advice to avoid triggers.
- Exercise (aerobic).
- Spinal manipulation
- Acupuncture
- Cold packs or menthol gels
- Combined active and passive
- CBT
- Relaxation therapy
- Biofeedback
- Mindfulness Meditation
Therapeutic recommendations for knee osteoarthritis:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan. The following are recommended, based on current evidence:
- Exercise
- Manual therapy
- Ultrasound
- Acupuncture, using “high dose” (greater treatment frequency, at least 3 × week)
- LLL therapy
Therapeutic recommendations for hip osteoarthritis:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan. The following are recommended, based on current evidence6
- Exercise
- Manual therapy
Therapeutic recommendations for fibromyagia:
- Consider multiple approaches. Both active and passive, and both physical and mind–body interventions should be considered in the management plan. The following are recommended, based on current evidence:
- Exercise (aerobic and strengthening)
- Advice on healthy lifestyle
- Education on the condition
- Spinal manipulation
- Myofascial release
- Acupuncture
- LLL therapy
- multidisciplinary rehabilitation
- CBT
- mindfulness meditation
- yoga
- Tai chi,
- Qigong
The authors concluded that these evidence-based recommendations for a variety of conservative treatment approaches to the management of common chronic MSK pain conditions may advance consistency of care, foster collaboration between provider groups, and thereby improve patient outcomes.
This paper is an excellent example of a pseudo-scientific process resulting in unreliable outcomes.
- The Delphi process was conducted some 4 years ago
- Because of the truly weird inclusion criteria, the findings are based essentially on just 3 systematic reviews.
- Anyone who has ever tried to conduct a consensus excercise knows that the outcome will almost entirely depend on who is chosen to sit on the panel. So, all you have to do to obtain pro-chiro recommendations is to select a few pro-chiro ‘experts’ who then write the recommendations!
- A “best practices for chiropractic management” may sound reasonable but, looking at the therapeutic recommendation, one easily realizes that the authors cast their nets so wide that the result has little to do with what differentiates chiropractic from Physiotherapists or osteopaths.
It is therefore not surprising that the recommendations are laughably unreliable: can, for instance, anyone explain to me why “advice on healthy lifestyle and education on the condition” are recommended for fibromyalgia but not for any other condition?
This paper is, in my view, chiropractic pseudo-science at its most ridiculous!
All it really does is it tries to legitimise all sorts of therapies as part of the chiropractic toolbox. My advice to patients is to:
- consult a physio if you need exercise therapy or LLL or manual therapy or ultrasound or interferential current or TENS or cold packs or massage;
- consult a clinical psychologist if you need CBT, or mindfulness, biofeedback;
- consult a doctor if you want rehab or education or lifestyle advice or reassurance;
- etc. etc.
And please avoid chiropractors who pretend they can do all of the above, while merely wanting to manipulate your neck.
“Crusade Against Naturopathy” (Kreuzzug gegen Naturheilkunde) is the title of a recent article (in German – so, I translated for you) published in ‘MULTIPOLAR‘. It is a defence of – no, not naturopathy – quackery. The authors first defend the indefencible Heilpraktiker. Subsequently, they address what they call ‘The Homeopathy Controversy‘. This is particularly ridiculous because homeopathy is not a form of naturopathy. Yes, it uses some natural materials, but it also employs any synthetic substance that you can think of.
The section on homeopathy contains many more amusing surprises; therefore, I have translated it for you [and added a few numers in square brackets that refer to my brief comments below]:
According to a representative survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research in 2023, 35 per cent of homeopathy users are fully convinced of its effectiveness, while 55 per cent rate it as partially effective. Only nine per cent of respondents described homeopathic medicines as completely ineffective. [1]
Nevertheless, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced at the beginning of 2024 that he wanted to abolish homeopathy as a health insurance benefit. Stefan Schmidt-Troschke, paediatrician and managing director of the ‘Gesundheit Aktiv Association’, then launched a petition for the preservation of homeopathic medicines as statutory benefits in statutory health insurance. The petition was signed by more than 200,000 people. In March 2024, the cancellation of homeopathy and anthroposophic medicines as additional statutory benefits was revoked. [2]
Shortly afterwards, in May 2024, the ‘German Medical Assembly’ passed a motion against homeopathy to bring about a total ban for doctors. Dr Marc Hanefeld, official supporter of the ‘Informationsnetzwerk Homöopathie’, was behind the motion. Doctors should be banned from practising homeopathy in future, as well as billing via statutory and private health insurance. [3]
The case of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin shows just how much influence opponents of homeopathy have: for years, the hospital’s website stated ‘that homeopathic medicine can cure or improve even the most serious conditions’. After fierce protests – including from the health journalism portal MedWatch – the statement was removed. [4]
My comments:
- Effectiveness is not something to be quantified by popular votes. Responsible healthcare professionals employ rigorous clinical trials for that purpose.
- Lauterbach caved in because of the pressure from the Green Party and insists that his plans are merely postponed.
- The ‘German Medical Assembly’ decided that the use of homoeopathy in diagnostics and therapy does not constitute rational medicine. German doctors continue to be free to practice homeopathy, if they so wish.
- The notion that ‘homeopathic medicine can cure or improve even the most serious conditions’ is so obviously and dangerously wrong that it had to be corrected. This has little to do with the influence of opponents but is due to the influence of the evidence.
I feel that, if proponents of homeopathy want to save their beloved quackery from the face of the earth, they could at least get their facts right and think of some agruments that are a little less ridiculous.
I came across this remarkable chapter entitled “Reiki in Companion Animals “. As it comes from the Department of Clinical Studies and the Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the paper ought to be taken seriously, I thought. It seems that I was mistaken!
Here is the unaltered abstract:
The word “Reiki” is derived from two Japanese words “Rei” and “kei” meaning spiritually guided life energy. Reiki helps an individual to feel from disease, grow emotionally, spiritually and mentally. In case of animal, Reiki helps to build trust between pets and owner, promotes healing decrease psychological issues and keep an animal healthy. The major energies Reiki attunement include earth energy, heavenly energy and heart energy. Furthermore, the three degrees of chakra i.e., the heart chakra, the throat chakra and third eye chakra, allow an individual to love unconditionally, open path to consciousness and build trust, respectively. Some practitioner in Reiki train for years to understand the energy and how to navigate delicate and subtle energy which shifts within themselves and their participants, where instead of realigning your bones and muscles tension. The process of Reiki is something anyone can learn and something you can learn fairly swiftly, especially for animals. Reiki allows us to perform at a level where our positive energy flows freely. Reiki should not be an alternative to veterinarian medical care, but seen instead as an aid in the diagnosis to recovery.
Are you as baffled as I am? Here are some of my most immediate questions:
What is “Reiki attunement”?
What is “earth energy”?
What is “heavenly energy”?
What is “heart energy”?.
What is “the heart chakra”?
What is “the throat chakra”?
What is “the third eye chakra”?
What is an “open path to consciousness”?
What is “a level where our positive energy flows freely”?
None of these terms or concepts are defined. Why not? The answer is that they are not definable; they are mystical notions without meaning aimed at a gullible public (a polite way of avoiding the word bullshit).
Needless to say that the rest of the chapter is packed with some of the worst proctophasia and pseudo-science I have ever come across. The fact is that Reiki is nonsense, and nonsense should not be used to treat either humans or animals. If you are not convinced, please explain to me what this sentence tries to tell us: “Some practitioner in Reiki train for years to understand the energy and how to navigate delicate and subtle energy which shifts within themselves and their participants, where instead of realigning your bones and muscles tension.”
QED!
It is already 7 years ago that I listed several ‘official verdicts on homeopathy‘, i.e. conclusions drawn by independent, reputable bodies evaluationg the evidence for or against homeopathy:
“The principles of homeopathy contradict known chemical, physical and biological laws and persuasive scientific trials proving its effectiveness are not available”
Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
“Homeopathy should not be used to treat health conditions that are chronic, serious, or could become serious. People who choose homeopathy may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments for which there is good evidence for safety and effectiveness.”
National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia
“These products are not supported by scientific evidence.”
Health Canada, Canada
“Homeopathic remedies don’t meet the criteria of evidence based medicine.”
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
“The incorporation of anthroposophical and homeopathic products in the Swedish directive on medicinal products would run counter to several of the fundamental principles regarding medicinal products and evidence-based medicine.”
Swedish Academy of Sciences, Sweden
“We recommend parents and caregivers not give homeopathic teething tablets and gels to children and seek advice from their health care professional for safe alternatives.”
Food and Drug Administration, USA
“There is little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific condition”
National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health, USA
“There is no good-quality evidence that homeopathy is effective as a treatment for any health condition”
National Health Service, UK
“Homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebos, and that the principles on which homeopathy is based are “scientifically implausible””
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, UK
Since then, there have been many more statements from similar organisations (does someone know of a complete list? if so, please let me know). One such statement is from French veterinarians: Avis 2021- 3 sur l’Homéopathie vétérinaire. Aloow me to translate the crucial passages for you:
Opinion 2021- 3 on Veterinary Homeopathy. The Report of a Working Group on Veterinary Homeopathy, an Opinion on Veterinary Homeopathy adopted in the academic session on May 6, 2021. The report ecommends that :
no medical discipline or practice claiming to be a medical discipline should be exempt from the ethical duty of testing its claims;
in this respect, clinical studies on the individual, reconciling scientific rigor and practical constraints, be explored, and in particular the N of 1 trials described in human medicine;
veterinary medicine be defined as evidence-based medicine, and not as allopathic medicine;
it is reaffirmed that veterinary medicine must above all be holistic, and that consequently the label of holistic veterinary medicine cannot be monopolized by particular practices;
homeopathy in veterinary medicine, as in human medicine, is not currently recognized nor can it be claimed as an exclusive veterinary medical activity;
institutional communication provides ongoing information on the scientific approach, evidence-based medicine and complementary medicine, tailored respectively to veterinarians, the general public and, in particular, animal keepers;
veterinary surgeons who, in the absence of recognized scientific proof of the efficacy of homeopathy in particular, wish to pursue this activity, particularly as a complementary medicine, should be fully aware of their increased responsibilities due to the current lack of scientific confirmation of efficacy;
it is possible to use homeopathic preparations, insofar as the medical decision to use a complementary and non-alternative therapy systematically requires informed consent, and does not result in a loss of opportunity by delaying the diagnostic procedure and/or the establishment of a recognized effective treatment;
that, in order to provide the information needed to obtain informed consent, a prescription for a homeopathic preparation should be accompanied, on any suitable medium, by a statement to the effect that, in the current state of knowledge, veterinary homeopathy has a contextual effect;
that the term “homeopathic medicine” be eventually replaced by “homeopathic preparation” in national and European legislation, that labelling state that “the efficacy of the preparation has not been demonstrated in accordance with current standards”, and that homeopathic preparations cannot claim the properties of vaccines or replace them, without incurring criminal sanctions;
in veterinary medicine, no university diploma in homeopathy be awarded by schools and other public establishments, and that training in homeopathy only take place within the framework of training that takes into account the realities of the scientific approach;
as part of their initial training, veterinary schools are places for debate and training in critical thinking, by offering interdisciplinary seminars on non-conventional approaches;
_____________________________
So, the next time someone claims “homeopathy has been proven to work in animals”, let’s show them what the experts think of this notion.
I recently published an article in the German newspaper ‘DIE WELT‘ about the Bavarian Homeopathy trial. My comments did not go down well with the German Association of Homeopathic Doctors (DZVhÄ). Here is their ‘OPEN LETTER’ (my translation) in response to my article (the numbers [in bold brackets refer to my comments below):
Berlin, 11 December 2024: Open letter to Ulf Poschardt, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Die Welt, asking whether Prof. Edzard Ernst is really still acceptable as a WELT author. This letter refers to E. Ernst’s article ‘Why a globule study was discontinued’ (DIE WELT, Tuesday, 3 December 2024).
Edzard Ernst is a member of the GWUP (Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften). (1) This organisation within the so-called sceptic movement has set itself the task of pointing out in the health sector that belief in alternative medicine (‘pseudoscience’) prevents more effective therapies from being used. (2) From this point of view alone, Ernst’s polemic against the iHOM study by the Technical University of Munich[1] misses the mark by a mile, as the study design explicitly does not envisage treating patients with recurrent cystitis ‘either with individually selected homeopathic remedies or a placebo’. On the contrary, it provides for all patients to be treated strictly in accordance with the rules of evidence-based medicine if necessary and if the findings are clear, but also to investigate whether concomitant homeopathic treatment could lead to a reduction in the frequency of antibiotic use. It must be assumed that Ernst has read the study design, but either he is deliberately omitting the true aim of the study or he is simply unable to recognise the difference between a study and his personal fight against homeopathy (3). In both cases, he cannot be taken seriously (!) as an expert on scientific issues in the field of medicine, and certainly not in a serious print medium such as WELT.
Health services research shows: Homeopathy can save antibiotics
The members of the Bavarian state parliament, some of whom were cross-party supporters of this study, were clearly aware of the results of healthcare research, according to which homeopathy can help to reduce the use of antibiotics in defined clinical pictures. In France, for example, a large survey (EPI3-MSD cohort study[2]) came to the conclusion that GPs who use homeopathy for respiratory diseases only use around half as many antibiotics as their conventionally working colleagues. (4) To date, however, there have been no studies that have investigated this at the highest scientific level (randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled). Against the background of increasing antibiotic resistance worldwide, it was therefore neither ‘ignorance on the part of the Bavarian state government’ nor a foreseeable ‘waste of money’ to investigate this option.(5) If you add to this the fact that panel doctors with an additional qualification in ‘homeopathy’ can even get confirmation in black and white from their panel doctors’ association that their antibiotic consumption is below the average for their respective specialist group, then it would be “unethical” – in complete contrast to Ernst’s assessment – not to have attempted this study. (6)
The article shows the ideological ‘blinding’ of Edzard Ernst
It is clear that Mr (7) Ernst’s ideological ‘blinding’ as an exponent of the sceptic movement (8) leads him, consciously or unconsciously, to draw conclusions that are contrary to open-ended science (9). Reducing the use of antibiotics in the fight against the increasing development of resistance is simply a medical necessity, and those who do not or do not want to face up to this task are manoeuvring themselves into scientific obscurity with flimsy interpretations. (10) The fact that there are individual cases (Italy, child, middle ear infection, globules, dead) in which a method was not applied with sufficient care or expertise does not change this. It should be added at this point that there are always examples in the field of conventional medicine where misdiagnoses can lead to complications or even death. In addition, the RKI (Robert Koch Institute) estimates 9,700 deaths[3] due to antimicrobial resistance, and the trend is rising! Against this dramatic backdrop, Mr Ernst’s polemic should actually be out of the question. (11)
One must come to the same conclusion if one scrutinises the meaning of the reference to a ‘series of experiments in the Third Reich’ and a ‘Homeopathy World Congress’ under Nazi rule. The attempt to discredit homeopathy by pointing out the involvement of homeopathically orientated doctors in the Third Reich is well known. (12) Of course, this usually ignores the fact that the doctors convicted of crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg medical trial were exclusively representatives of the scientific medicine of the time. (13)
However, Ernst’s references to the ‘Third Reich’ conceal something else: the ‘Society of Truth-Loving Men’, which studied the effectiveness of homeopathy in 1835, was a Masonic lodge, and although it was a ‘double-blind trial’, it was of course not ‘the first randomised, placebo-controlled double-blind trial in the history of medicine’, as it is accepted and applied today as a scientific experiment with strict ethical and legal regulations. The first such study worthy of its name was not conducted until 1947 (treatment of tuberculosis with streptomycin). (14)
And of course there was the so-called ‘Donner Report’ (after Dr Fritz Donner), which Ernst indirectly refers to and which summarises the results of drug trials in the ‘Third Reich’. The result was indeed not convincing in favour of homeopathy (15), but this report had a not inconsiderable ‘flaw’: it is extremely problematic in terms of source criticism because it was not written until around two decades after the end of the Second World War, and the original documents Donner referred to have not reappeared and must therefore be considered lost. (16)
If, like Mr Ernst, one sets out in search of arguments against homeopathy and goes back more than half a century (17), then it would also be fair and obvious to mention that the homeopathic medical profession commissioned the Institute for the History of Medicine of the Robert Bosch Foundation years ago to scientifically investigate the role of homeopathic doctors during National Socialism (Mildenberger 2016[4]). The result: to quote Mr Ernst from a different context, there is no more ‘dirt on their sleeves’ than with other professional and socially relevant groups. (18)
Edzard Ernst ignores the current state of homeopathic research
‘Sugar pellets are the basis of many homeopathic treatments. However, all previous research (19) has shown that their effect does not exist.’ This statement by Edzard Ernst is simply wrong! The current state of research is described by the University of Bern as follows: ‘Summarising the current state of preclinical and clinical research, it can be concluded that homeopathic preparations show specific effects that differ from placebo when they are used appropriately…’[5]. (20)
But Ernst could have come up with the idea of comparing the quality of old studies with the current meta-analyses up to a systematic review of six such meta-analyses (Hamre and Kiene, 2023[6]). But he didn’t! If he had, he would have had to admit that the quality and rigour of the latest scientific homeopathy research need not shy away from comparison with studies in conventional medicine. (21)
Based on positive study results, additional homeopathic treatment was included as a treatment option in the medical S3 guideline ‘Complementary medicine in the treatment of oncological patients’[7] in 2021. Ernst also deliberately ignores this treatment recommendation from scientific medical societies. (22)
Edzard Ernst is part of a sceptic association and not the international research community
As an activist of the GWUP (23), Ernst is known for the fact that he has not been scientifically active for a long time (24), but regularly tries to discredit those scientists who conduct research into complementary medical procedures. (25) This uncollegial behaviour has meant that Ernst has not been invited to speak at international scientific research congresses on integrative and complementary medicine for a long time. (26) Agitation, however, is no substitute for a fact-based exchange, but prevents dialogue, in this specific case about the meaning of the Bavarian state government’s commitment. Furthermore, polemics do not contribute in the slightest to coming even a small step closer to a solution to the obvious problem of increasing antibiotic resistance (27). As a reputable print medium, WELT is therefore advised to distance itself from Mr Ernst and his comments or to dismiss him.
[1] https://www.ihom.nephrologie.med/de#iHOM-Studie
[2] https://www.dzvhae.de/homoeopathische-arzneimittel-antibiotika-notstand/epi3laser_study_de-18/
[3] https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/Service/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2022/06_2022.html
[4] https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835318793-der-deutsche-zentralverein-homoeopathischer-aerzte-im-nationalsozialismus.html
[5] https://www.ikim.unibe.ch/forschung/uebersichten_zum_stand_der_forschung/homoeopathie/index_ger.html
[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37805577/
[7] https://register.awmf.org/de/leitlinien/detail/032-055OL
_____________________________________
- If you want to demonstrate how well informed you are, it is always a good idea to start with a falsehood: I left the GWUP about a year ago, a move that created considerable huhah in Germany.
- Wrong again: “The GWUP has set itself the task of promoting science and scientific thinking.”
- My description of the study did not mention that homeopathy was to be used as an add-on. I thought this was obvious (not least because otherwise the study would have not been ethical) but I gladly admit it was my mistake to not spell this out for those who are slow on the uptake.
- These studies merely show that homeopaths tend to prescribe less antiiotics, and the quoted French study was so convincing that the French government promptly ceased the reimbursement of homeopathy.
- I would still argue that my comment is entirely correct here.
- The notion that it might be unethical not to study homeopathy in expensive clinical trials flies in the face of medical ethics.
- Have I been demoted?
- I probably should be flattered to be called an ‘exponend for the skeptic movement’; however, this is far from what I am. I am simply a scientist trying his best to inform the public responsibly.
- In my WELT article, I point out that virtually every respectable panel worldwide looking at the evidence has concluded that homeopathy is a dangerous nonsense. Does that not suggest that my conclusions might be more accurate than those of homeopaths?
- I am all for rigorous research into the over-prescribing of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, etc. – so much so that I would have used the Euro 800 000 not for the nonsensical homeopathy study but for that purpose.
- Do I detect a bit of the ‘Tu quoque’ fallacy here?
- I mentioned the project not primarily because I wanted to discredit homeopathy, but mostly because it was the largest research project ever conducted in homeopathy. Omitting it in a review of the history would have been wrong.
- The Nuremberg Doctors Tribunal tried barely more than a handfull of physicians, while, in total, hundreds had committed crimes agaimst humanity.
- The 1835 study was a placebo-controlled, randomised study; the streptomycin trial was the first to be generally aknowledged.
- From all we know, the results were devastatingly negative, not just “not convincingly in favour”.
- The original files of the project disappeared in the hands of homeopaths after WWII.
- No, I did a review of the history, for which puropose it is inevitable to go back in time.
- Do I detect more ‘Tu quoque’ fallacy here?
- Mea culpa: I should have written: “all previous credible research”.
- Yes, we recently discussed the current state of research on my blog.
- And we also discussed this review; in neither instance were we impressed!
- The guidelines had to rely on the Frass study which has since been disclosed as fraudulent.
- When you issue a falsehood, it is best to repeat it; only then you can make sure to discredit yourself completely.
- And when you tell one lie, you might as well tell a few more (a simple Medline search would have told them that I am ‘research-active’ to the present day!)
- I have often noticed that homeopaths find it tough to accept or even deal with criticism; they thus often prefer to interpret it as a personal attack and discreditation.
- Yes, why not? It’s fun to add yet another falsehood to the hilarious mix of lies and ad hominem attacks!
- A comment in a newspaper cannot possibly find “a solution to the obvious problem of increasing antibiotic resistance”. This has to be found with rigorous research – something homeopaths would not recognise if it bit them in their behinds.
I am, of course, not surprised that the German homeopath did not like my article. Yet, I am truly amazed by their emarrassingly poor (but highly amusing) arguments against me and my comments. I had hoestly thought they had more sense.
Homeopathy is ‘First-Line-Medicine’ – at least this is what a German pro-homeopathy website recently proclaimed. The notion, it informs us, is based on EU law.
But is that true?
Does the ‘Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council on organic production (…)’ really recommend homeopathy for treating animals?
This is what the EU law states (my translation from a German original):
‘Diseases shall be treated immediately to avoid animal suffering; chemically-synthesised allopathic veterinary medicinal products, including antibiotics, may be administered, if necessary, under strict conditions and under the responsibility of a veterinarian, when treatment with phytotherapeutic, homeopathic and other remedies is inappropriate … phytotherapeutic and homeopathic preparations are preferable to chemically synthesised allopathic veterinary medicinal products, including antibiotics, provided that their therapeutic effect is guaranteed for the species concerned and the disease to be treated’.
Let’s analyse the text and find out what it really means. It states that:
- Vets should treat suffering animal without delay.
- They should use conventional therapies when homeopathy is inappropriate.
- Homeopathics are preferable, if their therapeutic effect is guaranteed for the species concerned and the disease to be treated.
So, homeopathy is recommended under two important and well-defined conditions:
- They have to be appropriate.
- They have to be proven to be effective.
It is amply clear that homeopathy has not been proven to be effective in any condition that afflicts animals. As this is so, homeopathics are evidently inappropriate.
But why, does the EU make it so complicated?
I don’t know the answer to this question but suspect that there was plenty of lobbying going on, and they had to find a phraseology that apeases the homeopaths and their industry.
We had to deal with Hongchi Xiao several times before:
- Slapping therapy? No thanks!
- China Power and Influence
- Slapping therapy: therapist arrested and charged with manslaughter by gross negligence
Slapping therapy is based on the notion that slapping patients at certain points of their body has positive therapeutic effects. Hongchi Xiao, a Chinese-born investment banker, popularised this SCAM which, he claims, is based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is also known as ‘Paida’—in Chinese, this means ‘to slap your body’. The therapy involves slapping the body surface with a view of stimulating the flow of ‘chi’, the vital energy postulated in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Slapping therapists believe that this ritual restores health and eliminates toxins. They also claim that the bruises which patients tend to develop after the treatment are the visible signs of toxins coming to the surface. Hongchi Xiao advocates slapping as “self-healing method” that should be continued until the skin starts looking bruised. He and his follows conduct workshops and sell books teaching the public which advocate slapping therapy as a panacea, a cure-all. The assumptions of slapping therapy fly in the face of science and are thus not plausible. There is not a single clinical trial testing whether slapping therapy is effective. It must therefore be categorised as unproven.
Now it has been reported that Hongchi Xiao has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of a 71-year-old diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin during one of his workshops.
Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence for failing to get medical help for Danielle Carr-Gomm as she howled in pain and frothed at the mouth during the fourth day of a workshop in October 2016. The Californian healer promoted paida lajin therapy which entails getting patients to slap themselves repeatedly to release “poisonous waste” from the body. The technique has its roots in Chinese medicine and has no scientific basis and patients often end up with bruises, bleeding — or worse.
Xiao had extradited from Australia, where he had been convicted of manslaughter after a 6-year-old boy died when his parents withdrew his insulin medication after attending one of his workshops in Sydney. “I consider you dangerous even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders,” Justice Robert Bright said during sentencing at Winchester Crown Court. “You knew from late in the afternoon of day one of the fact that Danielle Carr-Gomm had stopped taking her insulin. Furthermore, you made it clear to her you supported this.” Bright added Xiao only made a “token effort” to get Carr-Gomm to take her insulin once it was too late and had shown no sign of remorse as he even continued to promote paida lajin in prison.
Carr-Gomm was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1999 and was desperate to find a cure that didn’t involve injecting herself with needles, her son, Matthew, said. She sought out alternative treatments and had attended a previous workshop by Xiao in Bulgaria a few months before her death in which she also became seriously ill after ceasing her medication. However, she recorded a video testimonial, calling Xiao a “messenger sent by God” who was “starting a revolution to put the power back in the hands of the people to cure themselves and to change the whole system of healthcare.”
Xiao had congratulated Carr-Gomm when she told other participants at the English retreat that she had stopped taking her insulin. By day three, Carr-Gomm was “vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was howling in pain and unable to respond to questions,” prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said.
A chef who wanted to call an ambulance said she deferred to those with holistic healing experience. “Those who had received and accepted the defendant’s teachings misinterpreted Mrs. Carr-Gomm’s condition as a healing crisis,” Atkinson said.
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A healing crisis?
A crisis of collective stupidity, I’d say!
In this case study, the authors describe an adult patient who struggled with persistent warts on the plantar surface of the foot for several years. All medical therapies were exhausted, so the patient turned to medical hypnosis as a last resort.
The patient experienced complete resolution of all his warts after three sessions of medical hypnosis. The suggestions used in the treatment included:
- strengthening the immune system,
- increasing blood flow in the foot,
- visualizing immune mechanisms destroying infected cells,
- the regrowth of healthy tissue.
After 3 years, the authors are still in contact with the patient, and he reports no recurrence of the disease.
The authors concluded that this case report adds to the existing body of the literature supporting the use of medical hypnosis in the treatment of warts. It demonstrates that medical hypnosis can be a valuable complementary or alternative treatment option for patients with persistent warts who have not responded to conventional therapies. It also highlights the need for further research to better understand the mechanisms by which hypnosis influences the resolution of warts and to identify the most effective types of suggestions for treatment.
Oh, dear!
Warts are viral infections. They can persist for months and years and disappear suddenly without apparent reason. What the authors of this case report observed is exactly this phenomenon of spontaneous recovery. There is no sound evidence that hypnotherapy or any similar treatment will speed up the disappearance of warts.
Many years ago, we did a trial of ‘distant healing’ for warts. It confirmed the ineffectiveness of this approach:
Purpose: Distant healing, a treatment that is transmitted by a healer to a patient at another location, is widely used, although good scientific evidence of its efficacy is sparse. This trial was aimed at assessing the efficacy of one form of distant healing on common skin warts.
Subjects and methods: A total of 84 patients with warts were randomly assigned either to a group that received 6 weeks of distant healing by one of 10 experienced healers or to a control group that received a similar preliminary assessment but no distant healing. The primary outcomes were the number of warts and their mean size at the end of the treatment period. Secondary outcomes were the change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and patients’ subjective experiences. Both the patients and the evaluator were blinded to group assignment.
Results: The baseline characteristics of the patients were similar in the distant healing (n = 41) and control groups (n = 43). The mean number and size of warts per person did not change significantly during the study. The number of warts increased by 0.2 in the healing group and decreased by 1.1 in the control group (difference [healing to control] = -1.3; 95% confidence interval = -1.0 to 3.6, P = 0.25). Six patients in the distant healing group and 8 in the control group reported a subjective improvement (P = 0.63). There were no significant between-group differences in the depression and anxiety scores.
Conclusion: Distant healing from experienced healers had no effect on the number or size of patients’ warts.
My conclusion of the above case study is therefore very different from that of the original authors:
This case report adds nothing to the existing body of the literature on medical hypnosis or on the treatment of warts other than misleading the public.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition affecting children
and adults, characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Despite the effectiveness of conventional treatments, such as stimulants, side effects drive interest in alternative therapies like homeopathy. This systematic review was aimed at determining the effectiveness of homeopathy as a treatment for ADHD.
A comprehensive search of PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify clinical studies evaluating homeopathic treatments for ADHD. After applying selection criteria, eight studies were reviewed, consisting of randomized controlled trials, comparative studies, randomized open-label Pilot study, and clinical trials, were included in the final review.
The results suggest that some homeopathic treatments showed potential in reducing ADHD symptoms, particularly inattention and hyperactivity.
The authors concluded that homeopathy, particularly individualized treatment, shows promise as an adjunct or alternative treatment for ADHD, especially for those children whose caregivers seek alternatives to stimulant medications. Studies report that homeopathic treatment can significantly improve ADHD symptoms in some children, particularly when the correct remedy is identified. However, the evidence is mixed, with several studies showing improvements that may be attributable to the consultation process rather than the remedy itself. Given the increasing interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among parents of children with ADHD, homeopathy may provide a valuable therapeutic option. Nevertheless, larger, more rigorous trials are required to confirm these findings and establish clear guidelines for its use in clinical practice. The potential for homeopathy to serve as an adjunct to conventional treatments, especially for younger patients or those intolerant to stimulants, remains an area worthy of further exploration.
What journal publishes such misleading drivel? It’s the African Journal of biomedical Research. No, I also had never heard of it! And who are the authors of this paper, their titles and affiliations? Here they are:
- Professor & HOD, Department of Anatomy, Dr. D.Y. Patil Homoeopathic Medical College & Research Centre, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India,
- Professor & HOD, Department of Homoeopathic Pharmacy, Dr. D.Y. Patil Homoeopathic Medical College &
Research Centre, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India, - Department of Homoeopathic Pharmacy, Dr. D.Y. Patil Homoeopathic Medical College & Research Centre, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India,
- Department of Homoeopathic Pharmacy, Dr. D.Y. Patil Homoeopathic Medical College & Research Centre, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India,
- Principal, Professor & HOD, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Dr. D.Y. Patil Homoeopathic
Medical College & Research Centre, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Pimpri, Pune,
Maharashtra, India.
Five guys with the same name?
No, one chap with 5 rather pomopous titles!
And what is wrong with this ‘systematic review’?
Everything!
It has almost none of the qualities that render a paper a systematic review. Foremost, it does not account for the quality of the primary studies – the most reliable show no effect!
Therefore, I’d like to re-phrase and shorten the conclusions as follows:
There is no reliable evidence to shoe that homeopathy is effective for ADHD.
