pain
This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial compared the effects of individualized homeopathic medicinal products (IHMPs) and placebo after 4 months of intervention in patients with chronic low-back pain (LBP).
- the small sample size might have the result unreliable;
- the marginal level of statistical significance;
- the fact that 5+5+8+13=31 and not 30;
- the fact that the study originated from India where hardly any negative studys of homeopathy see the light of day;
- the fact that allmost all of the many authors of this paper are affiliated with homeopathic institutions;
- the existance of a strangely similar study that has recently reported largely negative results.
Tuina, or Tui Na is based on the notion that imbalances of the life-force, qi, can cause blockages or imbalances that lead to symptoms and illness. Tuina massage is similar to acupressure in that it targets specific acupoints. Practitioners use fingers to apply pressure to stimulate these points.
Some people suggest that Tuina might benefit diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), but the evidence is inconclusive. This review evaluated its clinical efficacy and safety for DPN treatment.
Ten databases were searched, covering the period from their inception to February 21, 2024. Relevant data were extracted from studies meeting the inclusion criteria, and a meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan
5.3 software.
A total of 24 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1,989 participants were included. Patients in the experimental group received Tuina in addition to routine treatments and nursing of DPN. Patients in the control group received routine treatments and nursing of DPN, including health education, dietary guidance, blood sugar control, and oral vitamin B or mecobalamin.
The meta-analysis showed that, compared to various control therapies, Tuina demonstrated a higher overall clinical efficacy rate and improved Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS) scores, indicating that Chinese Tuina may provide benefits beyond conventional treatment. Furthermore, improvements were observed in the motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities (MNCV and SNCV) of certain specific nerves, such as the common peroneal nerve, sural nerve, and ulnar nerve. Although the differences in MNCV and SNCV of the tibial and median nerves were not statistically significant, the overall improvement in clinical outcome supports the notion that Tuina is superior to conventional treatment.
The authors concluded that Chinese Tuina therapy is a safe and effective treatment option for DPN. It can alleviate clinical symptoms and improve the MNCV of the common peroneal nerve as well as the SNCV of the sural and ulnar nerves. Its efficacy in the tibial and median nerves remains unconfirmed, highlighting a need for future large-scale, high-quality RCTs.
There are several reasons why I cannot accept the conclusion that Tuina is effective for DPN, e.g:
- All the RCTs were of the notorious A+B vs B design that – as discussed ad nauseam on this blog – does not control for placebo effects and thus never generate negative results.
- None of the RCTs were single or double blind which means that expectation and therapist influence would have impacted on the findings.
- All of the studes originate from China; we have often discussed why such studies are notoriously unreliable. Funding for the review was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and Jilin Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project.
- Most of the studies are published in journals and/or laguages that are not accessible to non-Chinese readers.
- None of these serious limitations are discussed by the review authors.
I REST MY CASE
It has been reported that a woman who suffered a severe headache after injuring her neck during a workout died following a visit to a chiropractor. Joanna Kowalczyk, aged 29, declined a procedure at hospital for her injury and chose instead to try chiropractic. Her medical history showed she regularly suffered migraines and joint hypermobility issues. She also had an undiagnosed connective tissue disorder which made her susceptible to arterial dissections.
Ms Kowalczyk told the chiropractor that she had discharged herself from hospital. The chiropractor was unaware of her medical history but nevertheless manipulated her neck. It is thought Ms Kowalczyk suffered an arterial dissection when she injured her neck in the gym and that she suffered acute dissections to the same location when a chiropractor cracked her neck. She died on October 19, 2021, at Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital several days after her chiropractic treatment.
Now her coroner has raised concerns that chiropractors aren’t required to check patient medical records after Ms Kowalczyk’s death. Specifically, the coroner’s report raised two matters of concern:
1. The evidence from the attending paramedic was that she was not aware that symptoms of a stroke can stop after a short time as clearly set out on NHS website and guidance, and that this was not part of her training. This was directly contrary to the Head of Operations’ evidence that this was part of both paramedic training and annual continuing professional development. This was a concerning feature given the accepted evidence of the time critical period to treat patients with symptoms potentially indicative of stroke.
2. The evidence on behalf of the treating chiropractor was that he did not consider it necessary to request GP records or hospital records, before assessment or treatment despite being informed about the Deceased’s recent hospital attendance, investigation which was recommended, and her discharge against medical advice. Even in the updated consent form I have been provided with, which was designed by the British Chiropractic Association, there is no prompt or question designed for the chiropractor to ask to consider obtaining medical records before assessment or treatment, and when this may be appropriate, and the only reference to medical records is a consent to communicate as deemed necessary for the treatment, and for a report to be sent to the GP after treatment. I am concerned that consideration to obtaining medical records should always be given before assessment, particularly where recent medical treatment or investigations has been undertaken.
Receiving a Regulation 28 (Prevent Future Deaths) report from the coroner, the GCC stated that the case may raise some concerns for chiropractors and their patients and published the following additional comment:
The chiropractor involved is subject to a GCC investigation, which was paused to allow for the coronial process. This is standard procedure.
It is not appropriate for us to comment further as it could prejudice proceedings. It is inappropriate and unprofessional for chiropractors to speculate publicly on the details of the case, or the identity of the individual involved.
All matters brought to the attention of the GCC are risk assessed and are considered by an Investigating Committee. More about the investigation process.
In her report, the Coroner has asked the GCC to consider the following concern.
(I am) “concerned that consideration to obtaining medical records should always be given before assessment, particularly where recent medical treatment or investigations has been undertaken.”
We will give full and careful consideration to her concern. Given the clinical matters involved, we are seeking expertise (from across the profession, and beyond) to consider the impact of such a step – including on the care and safety of all patients. The Registrar will be writing to the coroner in the next week to set out how her concerns will be considered, and the expected timing of that work.
We have been in contact with leaders from across the profession and are grateful to them all for their support of our proposed approach.
____________________________
The GCC’s main task is the protection of consumers. I have repeatedly pointed out that they seem to have forgotten this and seem to think it is to promote chiropractic in every way they can, e.g.:
- The UK General Chiropractic Council (yet again) protects the chiro rather than the patient
- The General Chiropractic Council “regulates chiropractors to ensure the safety of patients” … well, you could have fooled me!
- Hurray! The new professional standard by the General Chiropractic Council protects UK chiropractors
- Death of a chiropractic patient prompts a reaction by the UK General Chiropractic Council
- The UK General Chiropractic Council: fit for purpose?
- The GCC “seems to be a little self-regulatory chiropractic bubble where chiropractors regulate chiropractors.”
- The death of Mr Lawler highlights the scandals of chiropractic
Let’s hope the GCC takes the occasion of yet another tragic and unnecessary death as a wake-up call for finally getting its act together!
We often encounter multiple systematic reviews on (almost) the same topic. This provides us with interesting comparisons and is, I think an opportunity to learn. Here is an example: two reviews of auricular acupuncture for post/peri-operative pain.
- A recent review from the Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; Rehabilitation Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China
Purpose: We conducted a more comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture (AA) in perioperative pain management.
Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) findings were retrieved from the Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wanfang, VIP, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases from their inception to March 2024 using the search terms “pain”, “auriculotherapy”, and “randomized controlled trial”. The experimental group was treated with AA alone or in combination with analgesic drugs, whereas the control group was treated with sham auricular acupuncture, placebo, conventional treatment, or no treatment. The primary outcome was the perioperative pain score. The secondary outcomes were analgesic requirements, anxiety score, and adverse events (AEs). RevMan version 5.4 was used for data analysis.
Results: The analysis included a total of 21 RCTs with 1527 participants. AA was superior to the control group for reducing pain intensity (mean difference [MD]= −0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.72 to −0.17) and analgesic requirement (standardized mean difference [SMD]= −0.88, 95% CI: −1.29 to −0.46). Perioperative anxiety improvement did not differ significantly between the AA and control groups (MD= −5.45, 95% CI: −32.99 to 22.09). Subgroup analysis showed that AA exerted a significant analgesic effect as a preoperative intervention and in orthopedic surgery. The results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrated the stability of the results of the meta-analysis. AA-related AEs were mainly nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. None of the patients in the experimental group dropped out of the trial due to AA-related AEs.
Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that AA may be a promising treatment option for improving perioperative pain with few AEs. However, owing to the low quality of the current evidence, large-sample, high-quality RCTs are needed to prove this conclusion.
- A not so recent review from the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Greifswald, Germany and the Department of Complementary Medicine, Exeter, UK.
The number of publications on the peri-operative use of auricular acupuncture has rapidly increased within the last decade. The aim was to evaluate clinical evidence on the efficacy of auricular acupuncture for postoperative pain control. Electronic databases: Medline, MedPilot, DARE, Clinical Resource, Scopus and Biological Abstracts were searched from their inception to September 2007. All randomised clinical trials on the treatment of postoperative pain with auricular acupuncture were considered and their quality was evaluated using the Jadad scale. Pain intensity and analgesic requirements were defined as the primary outcome measures. Of 23 articles, nine fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Meta-analytic approach was not possible because of the heterogeneity of the primary studies. In eight of the trials, auricular acupuncture was superior to control conditions. Seven randomised clinical trials scored three or more points on the Jadad scale but none of them reached the maximum of 5 points. The evidence that auricular acupuncture reduces postoperative pain is promising but not compelling.
____________________________
Before you now claim that the second review, with me as senior author, is bound to be far too critical, let me tell you that its two other authors were not from my team and are known proponents of acupuncture.
Some notable differences between the two reviews include the following:
- Our review was published in 2008, while the Chinses review is brand-new and dates from 2025.
- The Chinese team searched several Chinese data-banks, while we only searched Western ones.
- Our review included 9 RCTs, while the new review included 21 RCTs.
- Nine studies in the Chinese review were from China, whereas only 1 study in our review originated from China.
- The authors of the Chinese review stated that large-sample, high-quality RCTs are needed to prove their conclusion, while we thought that further rigorous research and independent replications, which effectively exclude bias, seem warranted.
So, what can we learn from comparing these papers?
- Obviously, as time goes by, more studies get published.
- In the case of acupuncture, most recent studies originate from China. As we have often discussed, Chinese acupuncture trials almost invariably report (false) positive results. It follows that, in future, we will see more and more (false) positive reviews of acupuncture (and other TCM topics). At present, I see no rational way of dealing with this problem (other than not at all considering papers from Chinese authors).
- It is often easy to find indications of bias in the way authors formulate their conclusions. Impartial researchers advocate to PROVE their assumptions, while scientists want to test them in the most rigorous way possible.
The most interesting finding from this comparison is, in my view, that our 2008 conclusion would also be well-suited for the 2025 review – I would argue even better than the odd conclusions from the original authors. What the evidence suggested in 2008 is very much the same evidence as 17 years later:
The evidence that auricular acupuncture reduces peri-operative pain is promising but not compelling.
And what does this fact – that the evidence does not clearly move in a positive direction – imply? I think, it suggests that the treatment in question is hardly worth taking seriously. In other words even my re-drafted conclusion above needs to change:
The evidence that auricular acupuncture reduces peri-operative pain is not compelling!
I just learnt that THOMAS WEIHMAYR has died. You probably don’t know this name. So, permit me to tell you a bit about Thomas.
We first met about half a century ago. Even though he was several years younger than I, we became good friends. When Thomas decided to study medicine in Munich, I had already graduated. When he had finished and wanted to do a doctoral thesis, I became his supervisor. When, as a junior doctor, he looked for a hospital appointment, I found him one. When I became a professor in Hannover, he came and volunteered in my department for a little while. When I moved to Vienna, he and his wife visited regularly. When I finally moved to Exeter, they became frequent guestA of ours.
After several hospital appointments, Thomas took on the job as medical director of a small hospital. Later he became a GP in Munich. During all these years, we occasionally published papers together. Medline lists 13 of our papers:
- Garlic and blood lipids.
- Therapeutic effectiveness of Crataegus
- Phytotherapy. 8: Varia
- UK and German media differ over complementary medicine
- Cardiovascular risk factors and hemorheology. Physical fitness, stress and obesity
- The way to rational phytotherapy–a trip with impediments
- Phytotherapy. 3: Use in diseases of the respiratory tract
- Phytotherapy. 6: Nervous system applications
- Phytotherapy. 5: Gastrointestinal tract (2)
- Changes in blood rheology of grossly obese individuals during a very low calorie diet
- Phytotherapy. 7: Applications in the urogenital tract
- Phytotherapy. 2: Use in cardiovascular diseases (and dementia)
- Phytotherapy. 1. Use in diseases of the locomotor system
Four years ago – only weeks after he had given up his GP practice and was looking forward to an active retirement – Thomas’ wife phoned to tell us that, from one day to the next, Thomas had become paraplegic (paralysed from the waist down) due to a freak infection of his 5th cervical vertebra. He then had to have major surgery and subsequently spent ~9 months in hospital before he came back home in a wheelchair.
Since then, we emailed regularly and I also visited him several times in Munich. I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone who carried such a devastating fate with so much courage, humor and style. Thomas in his wheelchair tried hard to be the same joyful chap he always had been.
We laughed, discussed, laughed some more and drank wine much like in the old days. We all knew that his days were counted.
I am unable to find the words expressing my respect for his courage and I cannot describe how much I will miss my friend Thomas.
Removing the chest tube in cardiac patients after surgery is one of the worst experiences of hospitalization in the intensive care units. Various pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are available to control pain in these patients. This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of reflexology massage and respiratory relaxation on pain following chest tube removal in cardiac surgery patients of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Shiraz, Iran, in 2023.
The study was a double-blind randomized clinical trial performed on 140 patients who underwent heart surgery and had a chest tube in Shiraz, Iran. The samples were randomly divided into four groups:
1- control group,
2- respiratory relaxation group,
3- foot reflex massage group,
4- a combination of respiratory relaxation and reflexology massage.
To collect data, two demographic questionnaires, and a visual analog scale were used.
The participants of the 4 groups were not meaningfully different in terms of age, BMI, duration of surgical operation, gender, job, education, place of residency, number of chest tubes, history of operation (P = 0.99, 0.31, 0.06, 0.81, 0.97, 0.96, 0.17, 0.10, 0.89 respectively).
The mean scores of pain intensity during chest tube removal, and 15 min after chest tube removal were not statistically different among the 4 groups. However, just after chest tube removal, the mean scores of pain intensity differed meaningfully among four groups (P = 0.008).
The authors concluded that the results showed that reflexology massage and respiratory relaxation both reduce pain immediately after chest tube removal in heart surgery patients. Also, the combination of these two techniques was more effective in reducing patients’ average pain.
Double blind?
Really?
How did they do that?
Here is their description:
“For the blinding purpose of the study, a nurse who worked at the ICU had to record the pain intensity and the data, so the possible researcher bias did not impact the results. Also, the patients knew the concept of the study but did not know that there were whether in single relaxation groups or mixed methods groups and did not know that other patients had different methods used for them. Also, the pain intensity data for the control group was routinely checked by the nurses, and along with the fact that they had no information that some of the patients were in the intervention groups and received complementary and alternative therapies, therefore, their data were also considered blinded. Therefore, the study could have their initial aim to use the double-blinded design.”
Double blind usually means that the therapist and the patient were masked as to the group alloca. Blinding the nurse is fine, but the therapists were not blind and could therefore have influenced the patients via verbal and non-verbal communications.
According to the authors, patients did not know whether they were “in single relaxation groups or mixed methods groups”. I think that cannot be true. Even if it were, what about the control group? Surely every patient knows whether or not he/she receives a reflexology massage!
It follows, I think, that the study was NOT double-blind, not even single-blind!
Does that matter?
Yes!
Firstly, I don’t want to be misled in this way.
Secondly, as blinding did not happern, the findings can be explaind by the effects of patient expectation and might therefore NOT be the result of the therapies. In other words, the conclusions drawn by the authors are not warranted.
Do Chiropractors Break Necks? This is an interesting question. “Dr.” Greg Malakoff (Chiropractor/Neurologist, Board Certified) provided the following answer (never mind that he seems to mean ‘do chiros cause strokes?’):
… The total disinformation that seems to be republished monthly on the news concerning chiropractors and strokes is based on a study performed in the 1950’s, that has been totally discredited. However, students these days are rather lazy and every time a meta analysis is performed on this old study it reaches all the news stations because their main sponsors are drug companies and they don’t want you having the opportunity to get well without their products. A meta analysis is simply someone reading the old study, and writing a book report on it.
If they were to actually study what has been discovered since the 1950’s, which is a tremendous amount of valid scientific research, not one done on a cadaver and deliberately making false conclusions, they would discover a few things, that I feel you should know.
The typical stroke victim if they survive has stroke posture, which consists of the arm being flexed and a lower leg extended. That would be a whole lot of brain damage, but we don’t see the entire motor strip damaged on brain scans. We typically see just a small area with an infarct. That area is the internal capsule. Picture a vase with all it’s stems entering into the narrow portion of it. All the neurons in the brain that leave it from different areas of the motor cortex with long nerves that go to innervate the muscles that you want to move are exiting through this narrow opening called the internal capsule.
Why is that important to know if you ever want a chance at being healthy? The arteries in the back of your neck, called the vertebral arteries do not go there, they do not go to the internal capsule where we see the stroke damage. That part of the brain is being fed by the carotid arteries that are in the front of your neck. That means the chiropractor is not the problem, we are not affecting those arteries. Case closed.
However, there is a type of more severe stroke related to the back of the neck arteries called vertebral artery dissection. These arteries feed the brain stem and the vital centers in there. The vital centers are what keep you breathing and your heart beating. That means, that I have never been sued by a victim of this because they are going to be dead before they get off of the table. That doesn’t happen, well it hasn’t happened to me or just about any other chiropractor. People can get this type of artery damage, but it is proven to be practically impossible to tear those arteries by a chiropractic adjustment. It would require hundreds of pounds of force to tear those arteries with a chiropractic adjustment. So unless your chiropractor is the size of a Polar Bear, there is a good chance you are remaining sick or in pain for no reason at all.
I know, what about that playboy model who died from the chiropractor that she went to? The incompetent medical examiner said that was the cause, but apparently he and all the media don’t read well. She had fallen and hurt the arteries in her neck a month earlier. The E.R. didn’t bother to do an ultrasound Doppler study of her arteries and if they had, they might have realized that she was injured more severely. Instead, she sought help for her neck pain a month later from a chiropractor. Most chiropractors do not have ultrasound Doppler equipment in their office. Neither do most urgent medical care centers. In this case, the adjustment aggravated the severe insult that she had sustained a month earlier. Perhaps he is guilty of taking for granted that the E.R. had done it’s job properly. She should never have been released from the E.R.
While it was all over the news everyday, every hour of every day for weeks, just how often does something like this occur? You are more likely to get blown up out of the sky by a terrorist, and as you are falling to earth still in your seat, get struck by lightning and shot and stabbed by terrorists that have parachuted out of another plane to make sure they had finished their job. However, they too get struck by lightning and you fall to the ground safely where you are now eaten by a land shark.
With that in mind, millions of people are suffering daily for decades because they are afraid of a chiropractic adjustment. This is the safest and most powerful form of treatment known to modern medical science. The number 3 leading cause of death in America is from medicine. Compare that to the one woman that died from a chiropractor in Canada. The case is kind of famous because that was the case that had Chiropractic outlawed in a province. The patient was obese, smoked, was diabetic, and took birth control pills. She had died of a stroke a month after going to the chiropractor. She was the perfect storm of walking disease and as I stated earlier, if the chiropractor was to have caused the stroke, she was not walking out of his office.
There are millions of dollars to be made off of your medical misery. You being sick helps fuel our economy. However, if you want the opportunity to be healthy it can’t be achieved with a lifestyle of drugs. Chiropractors have been labeled back pain doctors, but we are really brain doctors. Our treatment affects your brain and your brain is responsible for creating good health. If you are a drug company, then you would want people to be sick and miserable enough to buy your product. If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired your best chance of not staying that way is to visit a chiropractor. Don’t let all the disinformation keep you miserable and unhealthy.
___________________
I find Malakoff’s answer relevant nnot least because it demonstrates a few points that are important:
- Some chiros call themselves doctors and manage to fool consumers in assuming that they are medically competent.
- Some even call themselves neurologists, it seems.
- They are the exact opposite of competent.
- They understand neither science, nor medicine, nor the methodologies used.
- They have misunderstood so much about [patho)physiology that it’s frightening to think they treat ill people.
- Despite all this they love to use pseudo-scientific language.
- They use it to impress and to white-wash their quackery and the chiropractic profession.
- They have an unrealistic view about the value of chiropractic.
- They are in denial about the risks of spinal manipulation.
- They are consumed by conspiracy theories without even attempting to provide evidence in their support.
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.
______________
A healing crisis?
A crisis of collective stupidity, I’d say!
The ‘Healy’ has featured on this blog before and is thus known to my regulars: The ‘Healy’: deep cellular healing with quantum bollocks. Now the ‘Healy’ has won an award … albeit a negative one: the Austrian Skeptiks necative prize ‘GOLDENES BRETT VORM KOPF’ (Golden Plank before the Head)
Other nomineed for the award were:
- The broadcaster AUF1 TV, which has been categorised as right-wing extremist.
- The Austrian Veterinary Association known to support homeopathy for animals.
At yesterday’s gala in the Vienna City Hall, it was announced that the ‘Healy’ is the proud winner.
A total of 160 nominations were received by the Vienna Sceptics (Gesellschaft für kritisches Denken, GkD), which awards the prize on behalf of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP). On the basis of all these nominations, a ‘shortlist’ of three was subsequently agreed upon by the jury.
The organisers explained in their press release that the ‘Healy’ is advertised as a medical device for the treatment of pain, including chronic pain and migraines, as well as for the supportive treatment of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety with a lot of pseudo-scientific phraseology.
A ‘quantum sensor’ allegedly measures the ideal ‘frequency’ of the user and causes a ‘bioenergetic field harmonisation’. However, the ‘quantum sensor’ turns out to be nothing more than a simple infrared diode, available for 20 cents. By contrast, consumers are asked to pay up to 4,500 Euros for the ‘Healy’!
Several research platforms, medical information portals and consumer centres have come to damning conclusions about the device. There is talk of ‘bioresonance scams’, ‘dubious frequency therapy’ for which there is a lack of scientific evidence and an ‘esoteric scam’. In addition to the considerable commercial interest and widespread use, the jury said that the manufacturer’s way of dealing with critics was also decisive for the win.
Having recently favoured the Austrian Veterinary Association (AVA) to win the award, I am in two minds. On the one hand, I am disappointed that the AVA did not make it. On the other hand, having reported about the ‘Healy’s extraordinary quantum bollocks some time ago, I am delighted that a worthy winner has been found and crowned.
This update of a systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of spinal manipulations as a treatment for migraine headaches.
Amed, Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Mantis, Index to Chiropractic Literature, and Cochrane Central were searched from inception to September 2023. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) investigating spinal manipulations (performed by various healthcare professionals including physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors) for treating migraine headaches in human subjects were considered. Other types of manipulative therapy, i.e., cranial, visceral, and soft tissue were excluded. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence.
Three more RCTs were published since our first review; amounting to a total of 6 studies with 645 migraineurs meeting the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of six trials showed that, compared with various controls (placebo, drug therapy, usual care), SMT (with or without usual care) has no superior effect on migraine intensity/severity measured with a range of instruments (standardized mean difference [SMD] − 0.22, 95% confidence intervals [CI] − 0.65 to 0.21, very low certainty evidence), migraine duration (SMD − 0.10; 95% CI − 0.33 to 0.12, 4 trials, low certainty evidence), or emotional quality of life (SMD − 14.47; 95% CI − 31.59 to 2.66, 2 trials, low certainty evidence) at post-intervention. A meta-analysis of two trials showed that compared with various controls, SMT (with or without usual care) increased the risk of adverse effects (risk ratio [RR] 2.06; 95% CI 1.24 to 3.41, numbers needed to harm = 6; very low certainty evidence). The main reasons for downgrading the evidence were study limitations (studies judged to be at an unclear or high risk of bias), inconsistency (for pain intensity/severity), imprecision (small sizes and wide confidence intervals around effect estimates) and indirectness (methodological and clinical heterogeneity of populations, interventions, and comparators).
We cocluded that the effectiveness of SMT for the treatment of migraines remains unproven. Future, larger, more rigorous, and independently conducted studies might reduce the existing uncertainties.
The only people who might be surprised by these conclusions are chiropractors who continue to advertise and use SMT to treat migraines. Here are a few texts by chiropractors (many including impressive imagery) that I copied from ‘X’ just now (within less that 5 minutes) to back up this last statement:
- So many people are suffering with Dizziness and migraines and do not know what to do. Upper Cervical Care is excellent at realigning the upper neck to restore proper blood flow and nerve function to get you feeling better!
- Headache & Migraine Relief! Occipital Lift Chiropractic Adjustment
- Are migraines affecting your quality of life? Discover effective chiropractic migraine relief at…
- Neck Pain, Migraine & Headache Relief Chiropractic Cracks
- Migraine Miracle: Watch How Chiropractic Magic Erases Shoulder Pain! Y-Strap Adjustments Unveiled
- Tired of letting migraines control your life? By addressing underlying issues and promoting spinal health, chiropractors can help reduce the frequency and severity of migraines. Ready to experience the benefits of chiropractic for migraine relief?
- Did you know these conditions can be treated by a chiropractor? Subluxation, Back Pain, Chronic Pain, Herniated Disc, Migraine Headaches, Neck Pain, Sciatica, and Sports Injuries.
- When a migraine comes on, there is not much you can do to stop it except wait it out. However, here are some holistic and non-invasive tips and tricks to prevent onset. Check out that last one! In addition to the other tips, chiropractic care may prevent migraines in your future!
Evidence-based chiropractic?
MY FOOT!
