supplements
While medical experts across the world have expressed dismay at Trump’s appointment of Robert Kennedy, the ‘International chiropractors Association’ has just published this remarkable note:
Donald J. Trump made it official that he was nominating Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Secretary-designee Kennedy has spent his entire career championing the health of the nation through education, advocacy, research and when needed litigation.
Among his many accomplishments are protecting the environment with Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council His work at Riverkeeper succeeded in setting long-term environmental legal standards. Kennedy won legal battles against large corporate polluters. He became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law in 1986 and founded the Pace’s Environmental Litigation Clinic which he co-directed for a decade.
It would be in the Pace Law Review that the landmark paper, “Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury” (https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1681&context=pelr) would be published in 2011.
Kennedy became laser focused on the autism epidemic while giving lectures on the dangers of mercury in fish, he was repeatedly approached by the mothers of children born healthy who regressed into autism after suffering adverse reactions from childhood vaccines, including their concern about the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, being used in vaccines including the Hepatitis B vaccine given at birth. Kennedy’s approach to the issue was the same as it always, looking at the science. He assembled a team who gathered all the science and reviewed the issues with him. This resulted in the publication of the book, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak
The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury—a Known Neurotoxin—from Vaccines.
After establishing and leading the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, last year Kennedy stepped back from the organization to throw his hat in the ring to be President. Becoming the embodiment of his uncle John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!”, Kennedy reached out to President Trump to form an alliance to focus on the crisis of chronic disease in the United States, and suspended his campaign to focus on the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Initiative.
ICA President, Dr. Selina Sigafoose Jackson, who is currently in Brazil promoting the protection of chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession stated, “Many ICA members have been supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s philanthropic activities and are all in on the MAHA Initiative. The Mission, Vision, and Values of the ICA align with the stated goals of the MAHA Initiative. We stand ready to provide policy proposals and experts to serve as advisors to the incoming Administration and to Secretary Kennedy upon his swearing in.”
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Perhaps I am permitted to contrast this with some health-related truths about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (my apologies, if the list is incomplete – please add to it by posting further important issues):
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has, since about 20 years, been a leading figure of the anti-vaccine movement.
- During the epidemic, he pushed the conspiracy theory that “the quarantine” was used as cover to install 5G cell phone networks.
- He claimed that “one out of every six American women has so much mercury in her womb that her children are at risk for a grim inventory of diseases, including autism, blindness, mental retardation and heart, liver and kidney disease.”
- He wrote that, “while people were dying at the rate of 10,000 patients a week, Dr. Fauci declared that hydroxychloroquine should only be used as part of a clinical trial. For the first time in American history, a government official was overruling the medical judgment of thousands of treating physicians, and ordering doctors to stop practicing medicine as they saw fit.”
- He pushed the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 had been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.”
- He claimed in a 2023 podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective”.
- In a 2021 podcast, he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines.
- He founded Children’s Health Defense’ that spreads fear and mistrust in science. One chiropractic group in California had donated $500,000 to this organisation.
- In 2019, he visited Samoa where he became partly responsible for an outbreak of measles, which made 5,700 people sick and killed 83 of them.
- He called mercury-containing vaccines aimed at children a holocaust. In 2015, he compared the horrors committed against Jews to the effects of vaccines on children. “They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country.”
- He repeatedly alleged that exposure to chemicals — “endocrine disruptors” — is causing gender dysphoria in children and contributing to a rise in LGBTQ-youth. According to him, endocrine disruptors are “chemicals that interfere with the body’s hormones and are commonly found in pesticides and plastic.”
- He stated “Telling people to “trust the experts” is either naive or manipulative—or both.”
- He plans to stop water fluoridation.
- He slammed the FDA’s “suppression” of raw milk.
- He said that a worm ate part of his brain which led to long-lasting “brain fog.”
- He has a 14-year-long history of abusing heroin from the age of 15. The police once arrested him for possession; he then faced up to two years in jail for the felony but was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty.
- He stated: “WiFi radiation … does all kinds of bad things, including causing cancer…cell phone tumors behind the ear.”
- He claimed that rates of autism have increased even though “there has been no change in diagnosis and no change in screening either.” Yet, both have changed significantly.
- He wrote: (Fauci’s) “obsequious subservience to the Big Ag, Big Food, and pharmaceutical companies has left our children drowning in a toxic soup of pesticide residues, corn syrup, and processed foods, while also serving as pincushions for 69 mandated vaccine doses by age 18—none of them properly safety tested.”
- He stated that cancer rates are skyrocketing in the young and the old – a statement that is evidently untrue.
- He authored a viral post on X: “FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”
- He has also aligned himself with special interests groups such as anti-vaccine chiropractors.
- He stated categorically: “You cannot trust medical advice from medical professionals.”
- He said he’s going to put a pause on infectious diseases research for 8 years.
- He promoted the unfounded theory that the CIA killed his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy.
- He linked school shootings to the increased prescription of antidepressants.
- An evaluation of verified Twitter accounts from 2021, found Kennedy’s personal Twitter account to be the top “superspreader” of vaccine misinformation on Twitter, responsible for 13% of all reshares of misinformation, more than three times the second most-retweeted account.
PS
Let me finish with a true statement: The World Health Organization has estimated that global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives in the past 50 years.
We all tend to believe that natural means harmless. Sadly this notion is far from true. The Korea Adverse Event Reporting System (KAERS) compiles spontaneously reported adverse event data for medicinal products including herbal medicines. This study analyzed adverse event data specifically related to herbal medicine products from the KAERS database.
Individual case safety reports (ICSRs) encompassing 84 types of herbal medicine products, identified by item codes from 2012 to 2021, were extracted from the KAERS database. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the characteristics of the extracted reports, and adverse event information was systematically categorized and analyzed based on the MedDRA System Organ Class and preferred term classification.
In total, 1,054 ICSRs were extracted, with some documenting multiple adverse events in a single ICSR, resulting in 1,629 extracted adverse events. When categorized by the MedDRA System Organ Class, gastrointestinal disorders were the most prevalent (28.7%), followed by skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders (20.1%). Based on the preferred terms, the most frequently reported adverse events were:
- diarrhea (5.8%),
- urticaria (5.3%),
- pruritus (4.7%),
- rash (4.4%),
- abdominal discomfort (4.2%).
The most frequently reported herbal medicines were:
- Bangpungtongseong-san (297 cases),
- Kyeongok-go (144 cases),
- Eunkyo-san (108 cases).
The authors conclused that spontaneously reported adverse events associated with herbal medicine products were systematically documented using the KAERS database. This study, which focused on voluntarily reported adverse reactions, underscores the need for additional research to estimate the incidence rate of adverse events and assess causality.
The authors also noted that serious adverse events, including death, life-threatening conditions, initial or prolonged hospitalization, and other importantmedical events, were individually evaluated for each reported adverse event. Out of the 1,054 ICSRs, 48 (4.6%) included one or more serious adverse events (four ICSRs were identified with duplicate labels spanning two serious adverse event categories). Further, among the 1,629 adverse events, 99 (6.1%) were identified as serious adverse events. Two cases of death were reported, with causality categorized as unknown or unlikely. Regarding life-threatening conditions, three cases of dyspnea, nausea, and dizziness have been reported, all of which resulted in recovery. Thirty-one cases of initial or prolonged hospitalization have been reported. Among the adverse events associated with hospitalization (51 events in total, considering the multiple events reported in one ICSR with hospitalization), the most frequent were:
- increased aspartate amino transferase and alanineaminotransferase levels (7 case seach),
- dyspnea (3 cases),
- liver function test abnormality (2 cases),
- nausea (2 cases),
- rash (2 cases).
Sixteen cases of other important medical events were reported, and among 43 related events, dyspnea (5 cases), angioedema (4 cases), urticaria (4 cases), anaphylactic reaction (3 cases), chest discomfort (2 cases), and dizziness (2 cases) were reported.
Yes, the ‘natural equals harmless’ fallacy is very widespread. It certainly is an excellent advertising gimmick. However, as this study demonstrates very clearly, it is as fallacious as it is dangerous.
It has been reported that a chiropractor from Boulder City, US, has lost his license to practice for five years. The sentence could be extended if he does not adhere to requirements imposed by the Chiropractic Physicians’ Board of Nevada.
During a hearing, Tenney and his attorney, Hal Reiser, appeared before the board via Zoom to discuss the 25 charges against him. These charges stemmed from him reportedly hosting seminars to provide various services, treatments, nutritive supplementation devices related to diabetes, weight loss and neuropathy.
In a unanimous vote, the board approved Tenney’s voluntary surrender of his license effective immediately. Within 30 days, he must pay $44,514 in fees, costs and fines to the Chiropractic Physicians’ Board of Nevada. He must also provide refunds to three of the complainants in the case, in the amount of nearly $25,000. His attorney said that has been done and that in all, Tenney has refunded more than $150,000 to those who paid following one of his seminars and will continue to do so.
“Dr. Tenney’s failure to comply with any term or condition of this Settlement Agreement will result (in the) Board staff changing the public information related to Dr. Tenney from voluntary surrender to revoked,” a board report states. “Thereafter, Dr. Tenney’s license will be treated as having been revoked, and Dr. Tenney may not apply for reinstatement for at least 10 years after the change of such status.” Once the five-year period is up, Tenney would have to appear before the board for reinstatement.
“Some of the reviewed contracts contain references to an entity called Boulder Wellness,” the report states. “In the course of the investigation, it was determined that Boulder Wellness is a fictitious business name for Boulder Chiropractic, Inc. registered with the Clark County Clerk’s office on July 27, 2020.”
Though the contracts indicated a set price for the goods and services to be provided, they showed that Tenney would negotiate the price of contracts with the patients, ranging from a low of $1,500 to a high of $9,000, the document states. Most of the patients in the reviewed contracts paid in cash on the day of the signing of the contracts.
The board had received a consumer complaint from Patient FH about his and his wife’s attendance at a seminar and subsequent enrollment in a wellness program sold by Tenney in September 2021 in Pahrump.
From April 16, 2022 to Aug. 22, 2022, he hosted more than 50 seminars, sometimes two a day, with a total of 895 participants over that span. These seminars were held in Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
After learning all this, you might ask who is Tad Tenney?
Tad Tenney grew up and graduated in Prescott, Arizona in 1987. After spending two years on a missionary tour of Argentina on behalf of the LDS church, he returned home fluent in Spanish. He attended Snow College where he played basketball for a year. After a successful year, he transferred to Salt Lake Community College where he obtained an Associates of Arts. It was here that he fell in love with the idea of becoming a doctor of Chiropractic care.
Tad went onto attend college in Dallas Texas and obtained his Bachelor of Science and Chiropractic care. He moved to Boulder City in 1998 where he opened his practice. Over the last twenty years as his practice has evolved to include a whole health approach for every individual he encounters through his practice. Since his practice opened, he has had more than thirty thousand patient visits and over ten thousand individual patients. The Boulder City Chiropractic Health now specializes in the treatment of diabetes, neuropathy, back and joint pain, depression, and anxiety. It is truly a passion for him as his patients continue to recover without medications or surgery.
In 2018, Tenner was asked: “What are some things that help you continue through difficult moments?” He replied as follows: “Daily I keep a few sayings in mind. The first is: “Every day is a new life to a wise man.” The second is: “no matter what your past is you have a spotless future.” My mom often shared the second with me. These remind me that no matter the shortcomings or failures, I can change it all tomorrow or in the days ahead.”
It looks to me like Tenner needs to change quite a lot to achieve a spotless future.
Advocates of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) almost uniformly stress the importance of prevention and pride themselves to make much use of SCAM for the purpose of prevention. SCAM, they often claim, is effective for prevention, while conventional medicine tends to neglect it. Therefore, it seems timely to ponder a bit about the subject.
It makes sense to differentiate three types of prevention:
- Primary prevention aims to prevent disease or injury before it ever occurs.
- Secondary prevention aims to reduce the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred.
- Tertiary prevention aims to soften the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects.
Here I will includes all three and I will ask what SCAM has to offer in any form of prevention. I will do this by looking at what we have previously discussed on this blog in relation to several specific SCAM and add in each case a very brief evaluation of the evidence.
Acupuncture
- Acupuncture for the prevention of headache? How to fool (almost) everyone with an RCT – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Acupuncture for chronic migraine prevention? Two new systematic reviews yield encouraging evidence – ENCOURAGING EVIDENCE
Chiropractic
- Chiropractic manipulation and primary prevention. It’s time that chiropractors stop misleading the public in order to fill their pockets – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- ‘Maintenance care’ is very good for chiropractic economics … but not for anything else! – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- No evidence that spinal manipulation improves immune function – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Chiropractic maintenance care: boosting chiropractic cash flow in perpetuity – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Birth-trauma: a diagnosis that richly fills the pockets of many chiropractors – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- If you don’t want to get the flu…consult your chiropractor urgently! – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Herbal medicine
- Prevention of acute radiation-induced proctitis with Aloe vera – ENCOURAGING EVIDENCE
- Can Chinese Medicine Be Used for Prevention of Corona Virus Disease? – NO CONVINVING EVIDENCE
Homeopathy
- Effectiveness of Homeopathic Arsenicum album 30C in the Prevention of COVID-19 – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Disturbing news on the recent trial of homeopathy for COVID prevention – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- A new study of homeopathy for the prevention of COVID-19 infections – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Is this the crown of the Corona-idiocy? Nosodes In Prevention And Management Of COVID -19 – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Homeopathic Prevention and Management of Epidemic Diseases – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Influenzinum: the homeopathic flu prevention that does not prevent flu – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Homeopathy for preventing and treating acute respiratory tract infections in children – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- A new trial of homeopathy for preventing COVID-19 infections – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Oscillococcinum, the homeopathic solution to the coronavirus threat? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- An RCT suggests that homeopathy can prevent epidemics!!! But how reliable is this evidence? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- HOMEOPATHS LOVE IT: the epidemiological evidence suggesting that homeopathy works – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Understanding homeoprophylaxis: it is dangerous nonsense!!! – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- “Homeoprophylaxis, the homeopathic vaccine alternative, prevents disease through nosodes.” NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Boiron’s new study of homeopathy NO GOOD EVIDENCE
Mind-body therapies
- Meditation for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Transcendental meditation (TM) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Osteopathy
Does Osteopathy Prevent Motion Sickness? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Supplements
- Multivitamins in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Zinc for the prevention or treatment of acute viral respiratory tract infections in adults? A new systematic review – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Vitamin D for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19? NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Do Vitamin, Mineral, and Multivitamin Supplements Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Does vitamin D supplementation lower the risk of cancer and precancers? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Glucosamine is associated with decreased risk of lung cancer – ENCOURAGING EVIDENCE
Yoga
- Yoga for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: more than wishful thinking? – NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE
- Who says it’s all negative? The addition of yoga to aerobic exercise programs reduces global cardiovascular risk – ENCOURAGING EVIDENCE
I hope you agree: this list is impressive!
- Impressive in the way of showing how often we have discussed SCAM for prevention in one form or another.
- Impressive also to see how little positive evidence there is for effective prevention with SCAM
Of course, this is merely based on posts that were published on my blog. Some will argue that I missed out on some effective SCAMs for prevention. Others might claim that I judged some of the the above cited articles too harshly. If you share such sentiments, I invite you to show me the evidence – and I promise to look at it and evaluate it critically.
Meanwhile, I will draw the following conclusion:
Despite the prominent place prevention assumes in discussions about SCAM, the actual evidence fails to show that it has an important role to play in primary, secondary or tertiary prevention.
Many patients seek Chinese herbal medicines (CHM) from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics. This study aimed to estimate the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in adults diagnosed with obesity, with or without CHM.
Patients with obesity aged 18 to 50 years were identified using diagnostic codes from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database between 2008 and 2018. The researchers randomized 67,655 patients with or without CHM using propensity score matching. All patients were followed up from the start of the study until MACEs, death, or the end of 2018. A Cox proportional regression model was used to evaluate the hazard ratios of MACEs in the CHM and non-CHM cohorts.
During a median follow-up of 4.2 years, the CHM group had a higher incidence of MACEs than the non-CHM control cohort (9.35 versus 8.27 per 1,000 person-years). The CHM group had a 1.13-fold higher risk of MACEs compared with the non-CHM control (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07–1.19; p <0.001), especially in ischemic stroke (aHR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.07–1.31; p <0.01), arrhythmia (aHR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.14–1.38; p <0.001), and young adults aged 18 to 29 years (aHR = 1.22; 95%
CI: 1.05–1.43; p <0.001).
The authors concluded that, although certain CHMs offer cardiovascular benefits, young and middle-aged obese adults receiving CHM exhibit a higher risk of MACEs than those not receiving CHM. Therefore, TCM practitioners should be cautious when prescribing medications to young patients with obesity, considering their potential cardiovascular risks.
I am not sure why the authors concluded that “certain CHMs offer cardiovascular benefits”; their data do not support this statement and I am not aware of any such evidence either. The more valid result of this study is that the use of CHMs is a risk factor for cardiovascular health in obese people. I fear that this might also be true for non-obese individuals and could also apply to non-cardiovascular areas of health.
Just like any other form of herbal therapy, CHMs can contain toxic ingredients and might interact with prescribed medications. Unlike most other forms of herbal treatments CHMs are known to be often contaminated (e.g. with heaviy metals) and/or adulterated (e.g. with illegal amounts of synthetic drugs). as they typically contain a multitude of herbs, the risk of interactions is also increased. Our 2013 review shoed that “herbal medicinal products (HMPs) were adulterated or contaminated with dust, pollens, insects, rodents, parasites, microbes, fungi, mould, toxins, pesticides, toxic heavy metals and/or prescription drugs. The most severe adverse effects caused by these adulterations were agranulocytosis, meningitis, multi-organ failure, perinatal stroke, arsenic, lead or mercury poisoning, malignancies or carcinomas, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome, nephrotoxicity, rhabdomyolysis, metabolic acidosis, renal or liver failure, cerebral edema, coma, intracerebral haemorrhage, and death. Adulteration and contamination of HMPs were most commonly noted for traditional Indian and Chinese remedies, respectively.”
My advice has therefore long been very clear and outspoken:
CHMs are best avoided!
The Carl and Veronica Carstens Foundation is providing EUR 600,000 for 2 research projects to identify effective so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) therapies for post-COVID syndrome. The one that I will focus on here is headed by a member of my ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME, Prof Dr Gustav Dobos, Essen University Hospital.
The project is entitled: Multimodal group programme based on Kneipp
It is being described as follows:
A team of researchers led by Prof Gustav Dobos and Dr Heidemarie Haller, in cooperation with Prof Mark Stettner and Prof Christoph Kleinschnitz from the Department of Neurology at Essen University Hospital, will conduct a single-blind, randomised controlled study with two arms. A total of 86 subjects with post-COVID syndrome will be included and randomly divided into two groups.
Group 1 will undergo a 10-week group programme based on the Kneipp therapy pillars. The subjects will meet once a week, so there will be two sessions for each Kneipp pillar. These will include an educational and a practical part with the aim of developing their own strategies for coping with illness and actively integrating these into their everyday lives.
- Plant-based wholefoods and medicinal teas will be used to strengthen convalescence.
- Mindful exercise sessions in nature should help to utilise the effect of daylight and vitamin D on the immune system.
- In the area of hydrotherapy, water treatments, dry brushing, wraps and compresses will be used.
- There will be medical advice on herbal medicine options for individual symptoms such as sleep disorders, digestive problems, pain, coughs, anxiety or circles of thought.
The aim is to facilitate a balance of lifestyle in professional, family and social areas by means of organisational therapy. Relaxation and meditation techniques, for example, are taught for this purpose. In order to consolidate what they have learnt, participants in group 1 also receive a self-help book and homework.
Group 2 is the control group and is initially placed on a waiting list. In both groups, standard therapy is (additionally) permitted at any time. A symptom and therapy diary will also be kept in both groups.
The primary aim is to test whether the group programme as an add-on to standard therapy can improve self-help skills and alleviate the burden of post-COVID symptoms more than standard therapy alone. Parameters of quality of life, cardiovascular and pulmonary performance and the so-called flourishing of the test subjects as motivated personalities are also recorded at 4 points in time before, during and up to 16 weeks after the end of the intervention phase.
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And why do I call this study ‘nonsensical’?
Mainly because the results of the trial are known before even the first patient was recruited!
How come?
Because, as we have previously discussed here at nauseam, A+B will always be more than B alone. Kneipp therapy plus usual care will have more effects than usual care alone, even if Kneipp therapy generates nothing but placebo effects. This is particularly true, of course, for subjective outcome measures.
So, the conclusion of the trial, once it is published, will state something like this:
Our study has shown that the multimodal group programme based on Kneipp is effective in reducing the symptoms of post-COVID.
And what is wrong with that?
Plenty!
It means that money and effort will be wasted, that science will be undermined, and that we will be potentially misled about the effectiveness of mixed bag of treatments called ‘Kneipp therapy’. Perhaps it is effective (beyond placebo), but perhaps it’s not – this study will not tell us either way.
Cancer often causes reduced resilience, quality of life (QoL) and poorer overall well-being. To mitigate these problems, so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is often advocated for patients with cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of an interdisciplinary integrative oncology group-based program (IO-GP) on the resilience and use of SCAM in patients with cancer.
This was a prospective, observational, single-center study. Resilience (RS-13), SCAM usage (I-CAM-G), QoL (SF-12) and health-related lifestyle factor (nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical exercise) data were collected for 70 patients who participated in a 10-week IO-GP between January 2019 and June 2022 due to cancer. The IO-GP was offered at the setting of a university hospital and was open to adult patients with cancer. It contained elements from mind-body medicine and positive psychology, as well as recommendations on healthy diet, exercise and SCAM approaches. Patients who completed the IO-GP at least 12months prior (1-4.5years ago) were included in this study. Statistical analysis included descriptive analysis and parametric and nonparametric tests to identify significant differences (P<.05).
Resilience increased significantly ≥12months after participation in the IO-GP (n=44, P=.006, F=8.274) and had a medium effect size (r=.410). The time since the IO-GP was completed (“12-24months,” “24-36months,” and “>36months”) showed no statistically significant interaction with changes in resilience (P=.226, F=1.544). The most frequently used SCAM modalities within the past 12months were vitamins/minerals (85.7%), relaxation techniques (54.3%), herbs and plant medicine (41.1%), yoga (41.4%) and meditation (41.4%). The IO-GP was the most common source informing study participants about relaxation techniques (n=24, 64.9%), meditation (n=21, 72.4%) and taking vitamin D (n=16, 40.0%). Significantly greater levels of resilience were found in those practicing meditation (P=.010, d=−.642) or visualization (P=.003, d=−.805) compared to non-practitioners.
The authors concluded that IO-GPs have the potential to empower patients with cancer to continue using SCAM practices—especially from mind-body medicine—even 1 to 4.5 years after completing the program. Additionally, resilience levels increased. These findings provide notable insight into the long-term effects of integrative oncology interventions on resilience and the use of SCAM, especially in patients with breast cancer.
Really?
“Long-term effects of integrative oncology interventions”?
I am sorry, but I see no effects here at all. All I do see are correlations.
For all we know, the outcomes might have even been better if no SCAMs had been offered.
For all we know, the main reason for the observed changes is simply the passage of time.
CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION!
There is, of course, little wrong with conductiong studies of this nature – even though they are never really informative, in my view – but there is much wrong when the bias of the authors kicks in and they imply (in the title and throughout the text of their paper) that their interventions were the cause of the observed outcome. This does not provide “notable insight”, it merely misleads some people who are less able to think critically.
WISHFUL THINKING IS NOT SCIENCE!
Sadly, this simple lesson seems to be ever so hard to comprehend by SCAM researchers. One does not need to look far to find hundreds of SCAM studies that are plagued by the same or similar biases. As a result, SCAM research is gradually becoming the laughing stock of real scientists.
It has been reported that the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has revoked the certifications for two prominent US physicians. They are both (in)famous for leading an organization that promotes ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19.
- Pierre Kory, MD, is no longer certified in critical care medicine, pulmonary disease, and internal medicine, according to the ABIM website.
- Paul Ellis Marik, MD, is no longer certified in critical care medicine or internal medicine.
Marik is the chief scientific officer and Kory is president emeritus of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, a group they founded in March 2020. The FLCCC gained notoriety during the height of the pandemic for advocating ivermectin as a treatment for COVID. It now espouses regimens of supplements to treat “vaccine injury” and also offers treatments for Lyme disease.
Kory and Marik stated, “we believe this decision represents a dangerous shift away from the foundation principles of medical discourse and scientific debate that have historically been the bedrock of medical education associations.” The FLCCC said in the statement that it, along with Kory and Marik, are “evaluating options to challenge these decisions.” Kory and Marik said they were notified in May 2022 that they were facing a potential ABIM disciplinary action. An ABIM committee recommended the revocation in July 2023, saying the two men were spreading “false or inaccurate medical information,” according to FLCCC. Kory and Marik lost an appeal. In a 2023 statement, Kory and Marik called the ABIM action an “attack on freedom of speech.”
To this, Wikipedia adds that, Marik is the inventor of the “Marik protocol”, also known as the “HAT” protocol, which proposes intravenous administration of hydrocortisone, ascorbic acid, and thiamine as a treatment for preventing sepsis for people in intensive care. Marik’s own initial research, published with four other authors in Chest in 2017, showed a dramatic evidence of benefit. The single-center, observational study compared outcomes of 47 consecutive sepsis patients who were treated with HAT during a 7-month period to 47 consecutive control patients during the preceding 7-month period. The study reported 19 deaths in the control group and 4 deaths in the treatment group. Marik’s findings received attention on social media and National Public Radio, but drew criticism from the wider medical community for being science by press conference. ER doctor Jeremy Faust was one of a number of skeptics of the results, noting the low reliability of the study design and potential for bias. The controversy prompted other groups to conduct studies of the HAT protocol. A systematic review of six randomized and five non-randomized controlled trials in 2021 eventually concluded that the claimed benefits of the protocol could not be confirmed.
In November 2022, Pierre Kory and the FLCCC began marketing a cocktail of supplements and drugs (e.g. ivermectin and nitazoxanide) for other viruses, influenza and Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Like the FLCCC-advocated COVID treatments, the recommendations lacked credible supporting scientific evidence. The cocktail could cost over $500.
Wikipedia also mentions that, in March 2024, Kory and Marik published an op-ed in The Hill claiming that long COVID was caused by COVID-19 vaccination instead of COVID-19 infection. The op-ed was republished by the German disinformation outlet Disclose.tv. The fact-checking website Health Feedback found that the op-ed relied on anecdotes that did not provide evidence to support the claim.
This study evaluated efficacy of krill oil supplementation, compared with placebo, on knee pain in people with knee osteoarthritis who have significant knee pain and effusion-synovitis. It was designed as a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that took place in 5 Australian cities. Participants with clinical knee osteoarthritis, significant knee pain, and effusion-synovitis on magnetic resonance imaging were enrolled from December 2016 to June 2019; final follow-up occurred on February 7, 2020.
The patients received
- 2 g/d of krill oil (n = 130)
- or matching placebo (n = 132) for 24 weeks.
The primary outcome was change in knee pain as assessed by visual analog scale (range, 0-100; 0 indicating least pain; minimum clinically important improvement = 15) over 24 weeks.
Of 262 participants randomized (mean age, 61.6 [SD, 9.6] years; 53% women), 222 (85%) completed the trial. Krill oil did not improve knee pain compared with placebo (mean change in VAS score, -19.9 [krill oil] vs -20.2 [placebo]; between-group mean difference, -0.3; 95% CI, -6.9 to 6.4) over 24 weeks. One or more adverse events was reported by 51% in the krill oil group (67/130) and by 54% in the placebo group (71/132). The most common adverse events were musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, which occurred 32 times in the krill oil group and 42 times in the placebo group, including knee pain (n = 10 with krill oil; n = 9 with placebo), lower extremity pain (n = 1 with krill oil; n = 5 with placebo), and hip pain (n = 3 with krill oil; n = 2 with placebo).
The authors concluded that, among people with knee osteoarthritis who have significant knee pain and effusion-synovitis on magnetic resonance imaging, 2 g/d of daily krill oil supplementation did not improve knee pain over 24 weeks compared with placebo. These findings do not support krill oil for treating knee pain in this population.
This is a rigorous and well-presented study. Apart from the ineffectiveness of krill, it confirms two issues very clearly:
- Placebo effects plus regression to the mean can lead to symptomatic improvements.
- Adverse effects occur even with placebo therapy.
Krill is a small crustacean consumed by whales, penguins and other sea creatures. It is a source of omega 3 fatty acids. The alleged benefits of krill supplements include anti-inflammatory effects. So, it could theoretically help reducing the inflammation that is part of knee osteoarthritis.
A review including five trials with 700 patients using krill oil for knee pain was recently published. Results showed no significant difference between krill oil and placebo for knee pain, knee stiffness, and lipid profiles. However, krill oil demonstrated a significant small effect in improving knee physical function. Trial sequential analysis provided certainty that krill oil enhances knee physical function compared to placebo and indicated no improvement in knee pain, but the findings for knee stiffness need to be confirmed by further research. The authors concluded that krill oil supplementation did not significantly improve knee pain, stiffness, or lipid profile, although it may help knee physical function. Based on these findings, krill oil supplementation is not yet justified for knee pain.
The two papers should settle the issue: KRILL IS NOT EFFECTIVE FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS. Will this stop the many manufacturers of krill supplements selling their products to gullible consumers? I would not hold my breath.
When I still worked as a clinician, I have looked after athletes long enough to know that they go for everything that promises to improve their performance. It is thus hardly surprising that Olympians would try all sorts of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) regardless of whether the therapy is supported by evidence or not. Skeptics are tempted to dismiss all of SCAM for improving fitness. But is that fair? Is it true that no evidence evists for any of them?
The short answer to this question is NO.
Here I have looked at some of the possibilities and show you some of the Medline-listed papers that seem to support SCAM as a means of improving fitness:
Acupuncture
Ashwagandha
Balneology
Cupping
Ginkgo biloba
Ice
Kinesiology tape
Massage guns
Percussion massage
Sports massage
Tai massage
Vibrational massage
Yoga
Please do not mistake this for anything resembling a systematic review of the evidence; it is merely a list to give you a flavour of what is out there. And please don’t assume that the list is complete; I am sure that there is much more.
Looking at the articles that I found, one could get the impression that there is plenty of good evidence to support SCAM for improving fitness. This, however, would be wrong. The evidence for almost every of the above listed therapies is flimsy to say the least. But – as I stated already at the beginning – in my experience, this will not stop athletes to use them.
