test of time
The Canadian Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has announced that it will launch Canada’s first bachelor’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Greenlit by the B.C. government to fill what it calls rising demand in the labour market, the new program marks a major step in Canadian recognition of TCM. However, skeptics of TCM and other so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) remain wary of movement in this direction.
TCM is regulated in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, with more than 7,000 licensed practitioners working in these provinces.
John Yang has worked for nearly a decade toward KPU’s bachelor’s degree, which will welcome its inaugural cohort starting September 2025. As chair of KPU’s TCM program, he hopes the new offering will boost its acceptance and encourage more integration with the Canadian health-care system. “The degree program can let the public [feel] more confident that we can train highly qualified TCM practitioners. Then there will be more mainstream public acceptance,” he said. “Currently we are not there yet, but I hope in the future there’s an integrated model.”
The degree will add topic areas like herbology and more advanced TCM approaches to the current diploma’s acupuncture-focused study, as well as courses in health sciences, arts and humanities, ethics and working with conventional health practitioners, says Sharmen Lee, dean of the B.C. school’s faculty of health. “You’re getting a much broader, deeper education that allows you to develop additional competencies, such as being able to critically think, to evaluate and participate in research, and all of those other things that a university-based education can provide.” Lee believes future graduates will be able to work alongside with biomedical professionals, with some becoming researchers as well — able to pursue post-grad studies abroad. “They start to understand the fundamentals of conducting research, of reviewing published studies and then … to critically analyze what that means so that they can apply that to their practice,” Lee said. “It’s going to help to elevate the practice of traditional Chinese medicine … in our province.”
With the World Health Organization (WHO) encouraging governments toward integrating traditional and complementary medicine into their health-care systems, there’s a need for researchers to develop strong evidence to guide policy-makers, says Nadine Ijaz, an assistant professor at Carleton University in Ottawa and president of the International Society for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Research. “Most Canadians at some point in their lifetime are using some form of what we call traditional and complementary medicine: that might be acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, vitamins, yoga … people who are participating in Indigenous healing ceremonies within their own communities,” she said. “How are governments to make good determinations about what to include? What is rigorous? What is safe? What is effective and what is cost effective, in addition to what is culturally appropriate?”
More research and scientific inquiry is a good thing, but it depends on the type of research, says Jonathan Jarry, a science communicator for the McGill Office of Science and Society and co-host of the health and medicine podcast Body of Evidence. Jarry said many studies on SCAM are low quality: too few participants, too short in duration, lacking follow-up or a proper control group. It’s an issue that plagues research on conventional therapies too, he acknowledged. “I’m all for doing research on things that are plausible enough that they could realistically have a benefit, but then you have to also do very good, rigorous studies. Otherwise you’re just creating noise in the research literature.”
Ijaz and a group of colleagues around the globe are working toward determining strong research parameters without forcing alternative approaches “into a box where they don’t fit.” For instance, a randomized controlled trial is the gold standard of research in biomedicine and excellent for studying pharmaceutical drugs and their effects, because participants in the control group get a placebo, perhaps a sugar pill, that means they can’t tell if they’re being treated with medication or not. But it doesn’t work for studying acupuncture treatment, chiropractic or even psychotherapy, Ijaz pointed out. “If you’re getting an acupuncture treatment, you usually know that you’re getting a treatment…. It’s a little bit challenging to develop a placebo control for for those approaches,” said Ijaz. “When we apply that particular gold standard to researching all therapeutic approaches … it sort of privileges the issue in favour of pharmaceutical drugs immediately.”
“A randomized controlled trial is the gold standard of research in biomedicine and excellent for studying pharmaceutical drugs … but it doesn’t work for studying acupuncture treatment, chiropractic or even psychotherapy.” When I hear nonsensical drivel like this, I know what to think of a university course led or influenced by people who believe this stuff. They should themselves go on a course of research methodology for beginners rather that try brainwashing naive students into believing falsehoods.
Alternative cancer clinics (I’d prefer to call them SCAM cancer clinics), that provide treatments associated with hastening death, actively seek to create favorable views of their services online. An unexplored means where such clinics can shape their public appeal is their Google search results.
For this study, a team of researchers retrieved the Google listing and Google reviews of 47 prominent SCAM cancer clinics. They then conducted a content analysis to assess the information cancer patients are faced with online.
The results show that Google listings of alternative treatment providers rarely declare that the clinic is a SCAM clinic versus a conventional primary cancer treatment provider (12.8% declared; 83.0% undeclared). The clinics were highly rated (median, 4.5 stars of 5). Reasons for positive reviews included:
- treatment quality (n = 519),
- care (n = 420),
- outcomes (n = 316).
288 reviews claimed that the clinics cured or improved cancer. Negative reviews presented SCAM clinics to:
- financially exploit patients with ineffective treatment (n = 98),
- worsen patients’ condition (n = 72),
- provide poor care (n = 41),
- misrepresent outcomes (n = 23).
The authors concluded that the favorable Google listing and reviews of alternative clinics contribute to harmful online ecosystems. Reviews provide compelling narratives but are an ineffective indicator of treatment outcomes. Google lacks safeguards for truthful reviews and should not be used for medical decision-making.
These findings suggest that the Google listings and reviews of SCAM cancer clinic create a favorable online impression to prospective patients. Google listings and reviews are thus part of a most effective multi-level propaganda network promoting SCAM even for the most desperately ill of all patients. As discussed some time ago, in the UK, such misinformation can even be traced back to King Charles. In nearly all cases, these clinics were labeled as speciality primary cancer options. Only a few clinics were marked as an ‘alternative’ option. Positive reviews stated that alternative treatments can cure cancer or prolong life, even in terminal cases. Positive reviews also undermine evidence-based cancer treatments in favor of SCAM. They generate an impression that dangerously misleads patients. As we have seen repeatedly on this blog, the results can be devastating, e.g.:
- SCAM: So-Called Alternative Medicine (Societas): Amazon.co.uk: Ernst, Edzard: 9781845409708: Books
- So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) for cancer: does it prolong survival?
- Leah Bracknell (1964-2019): another victim of cancer quackery?
- Germany, the ‘promised land’ for cancer quacks
- Use of alternative medicine hastens death of cancer patients
- Fatalities in a German alternative medicine clinic caused by 3BP?
- Suzanne Somers has died – another victim of so-called alternative medicine?
The BBC has repeatedly misled the public on matters related to so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). Examples include:
- Dangerous BS from the BBC
- The BBC, Michael Mosely, air ionization, depression, and an appalling lack of critical thinking.
Recently the BBC published an article about Ashwagandha. Here it is in its untouched beauty:
Ashwagandha is a herb (Withania somnifera) in the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes and chilli peppers. It has been used in traditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda) for thousands of years to make preparations for treating various ailments, from infectious diseases, like tuberculosis, to pain and inflammation, baldness and hiccups. In classic Ayurvedic texts, it’s also described as a ‘mental strength promoter’ (or ‘Balya’).
While lots of research has been done on ashwagandha, studies for specific conditions can be sparser. Perhaps the most recent assessment of its use for stress and anxiety comes from a 2022 review of studies by the Cochrane Collaboration, which is internationally recognised for its high-standard medical reviews. Although the Cochrane researchers were only able to find 12 studies on the subject, which together tested the herb on just 1,002 participants, their findings did suggest that ashwagandha can lower stress and anxiety. The researchers rated the ‘certainty’ of the evidence as ‘low’ and called for more detailed studies, though.
The benefits of ashwagandha are thought to be related to natural steroids called withanolides, but this group includes hundreds of compounds, with tens having been isolated from ashwagandha so far. As with any herbal remedy, the combination of compounds and the exact concoction you get depends on how and where the plant is grown, and how it’s prepared. This means that not all supplements based on the same plant are equal.
Remember, too, that herbal doesn’t mean risk-free. For some people, ashwagandha causes drowsiness and more serious side effects aren’t unknown. It’s best to treat it like a drug and not ‘just’ a herb.
The review cited in the article is this one:
Clinical trial studies revealed conflicting results on the effect of Ashwagandha extract on anxiety and stress. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of Ashwagandha supplementation on anxiety as well as stress. A systematic search was performed in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar from inception until December 2021. We included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that investigate the effect of Ashwagandha extract on anxiety and stress. The overall effect size was pooled by random-effects model and the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CIs) for outcomes were applied. Overall, 12 eligible papers with a total sample size of 1,002 participants and age range between 25 and 48 years were included in the current systematic review and meta-analysis. We found that Ashwagandha supplementation significantly reduced anxiety (SMD: −1.55, 95% CI: −2.37, −0.74; p = .005; I2 = 93.8%) and stress level (SMD: −1.75; 95% CI: −2.29, −1.22; p = .005; I2 = 83.1%) compared to the placebo. Additionally, the non-linear dose–response analysis indicated a favorable effect of Ashwagandha supplementation on anxiety until 12,000 mg/d and stress at dose of 300–600 mg/d. Finally, we identified that the certainty of the evidence was low for both outcomes. The current systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of RCTs revealed a beneficial effect in both stress and anxiety following Ashwagandha supplementation. However, further high-quality studies are needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the plant.
This review is NOT a Cochrane Review; what is more (and more important), it seem rather uncritical.
The BBC article seems to down-play the safety issue related to Ashwagandha. As we have discussed on this blog, Ashwagandha is far from harmless. In fact, Ashwagandha has been shown to be a herb with a high risk of hepatobiliary toxicity as well as heart problems.
So, why does the BBC misinform the public?
Search me.
This study aimed to investigate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention to prevent the recurrence of low back pain.
WalkBack was a two-armed, randomised clinical trial, which recruited adults (aged 18 years or older) from across Australia who had recently recovered from an episode of non-specific low back pain that was not attributed to a specific diagnosis, and which lasted for at least 24 h. Participants were randomly assigned to an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention facilitated by six sessions with a physiotherapist across 6 months or to a no treatment control group (1:1). The randomisation schedule comprised randomly permuted blocks of 4, 6, and 8 and was stratified by history of more than two previous episodes of low back pain and referral method. Physiotherapists and participants were not masked to allocation. Participants were followed for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months, depending on the date of enrolment. The primary outcome was days to the first recurrence of an activity-limiting episode of low back pain, collected in the intention-to-treat population via monthly self-report. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated from the societal perspective and expressed as incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. The trial was prospectively registered (ACTRN12619001134112)
Between Sept 23, 2019, and June 10, 2022, 3206 potential participants were screened for eligibility, 2505 (78%) were excluded, and 701 were randomly assigned (351 to the intervention group and 350 to the no treatment control group). Most participants were female (565 [81%] of 701) and the mean age of participants was 54 years (SD 12). The intervention was effective in preventing an episode of activity-limiting low back pain (hazard ratio 0·72 [95% CI 0·60–0·85], p=0·0002). The median days to a recurrence was 208 days (95% CI 149–295) in the intervention group and 112 days (89–140) in the control group. The incremental cost per QALY gained was AU$7802, giving a 94% probability that the intervention was cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $28 000. Although the total number of participants experiencing at least one adverse event over 12 months was similar between the intervention and control groups (183 [52%] of 351 and 190 [54%] of 350, respectively, p=0·60), there was a greater number of adverse events related to the lower extremities in the intervention group than in the control group (100 in the intervention group and 54 in the control group).
The authors concluded that an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention significantly reduced low back pain recurrence. This accessible, scalable, and safe intervention could affect how low back pain is managed.
Rigorous clinical trials of excercise therapy are difficult to conceive and conduct because of a range of methodological issues. For instance, there is no obvious placebo and thus it is hardly possible to control for placebo effects. Nonetheless, the benefits of exercise therapy for back pain is undoubted. As previously discussed on this blog, a recent systematic review concluded that “the relative benefit of individualized exercise therapy on chronic low back pain compared to other active treatments is approximately 38% which is of clinical importance.”
I have always been convinced of the health benefits of excercise. In fact, 40 years ago, when I did my inaugural lecture at the University of Munich (LMU), excercise was its topic and I concluded that, if exercise were a pharmaceutical product, it would out-sell any drug. The new study only confirms my view. It adds to our knowledge by suggesting that exercise also reduces the risk of recurrences.
Forget about spinal manipulation, acupuncture, etc., despite the undeniable weaknesses in the evidence, exercise is by far the most promissing treatment for back pain
An article in ‘METRO’ caught my eye – not least because it quotes me. Here are a few edited excerpts:
Peter Stott lost his first wife to cancer in 1998. Her death, he believes, was due to geopathic stress (GS) – harmful energies that originate from the Earth. ‘I found out that the house where we had lived had a serious GS problem,’ he says. The discovery prompted him to become a professional ‘dowser’, devoting his life to finding and managing geopathic stress.
But what exactly is this mysterious force erupting from the surface of the Earth – and can it really harm people?Geopathic stress is said to cause discomfort and health issues for certain individuals. These energies, also called ‘harmful Earth rays’ by believers, can be detrimental, beneficial or neutral according to those who think they are ‘in the know’.
The word ‘geopathic’ is derived from the Greek words ‘Geo’ meaning the Earth and ‘pathos’, meaning disease or suffering – hence the term pathogens, the medical terms for bugs that make us ill.
Dowsing, practitioners say, is a method used to detect the presence of various subtle Earth energies and assess their nature and quality. They argue that some of these energies can be linked to geomagnetic anomalies caused by flowing underground water, dry faults and fissures, subterranean cavities, or mineral and crystal deposits.
Dowsing is carried out by a dowser, practitioners who try to find the source of these energies using special tools, such as pendulums, rods, and bobbers – essentially sexed-up tree branches. The person holds the tool, waiting for it to move or react, which they take as a sign that they’ve found what they’re looking for. The odd practice can allegedly also be used to identify leaks, stress fractures, environmental pollutants, electromagnetic fields, nutritional deficiencies, black spots, and, rather oddly, sexing pigeons.
Peter claims that a skilled dowser effectively advises on the optimal placement of buildings and structures to mitigate the impact of geopathic stress, and often possesses the ability to reduce or eliminate it through the use of various methods. He emphasises the fact that GS ‘does not affect everybody in the same way. Cancer has been described as “a disease of location”,’ he says. ‘And if there is a family history of cancer – as there was in my late wife’s case – a person can be more susceptible to GS being a contributing factor in succumbing to the disease.’ Peter believes that GS impacts our immune system, depleting its resources and hindering its ability to function optimally. By eliminating GS from our surroundings, we allow our immune system to operate more efficiently, he contends. Our susceptibility to GS varies, he says, with some experiencing mild symptoms like sleep disturbances and fatigue, while others may face more severe health issues such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
In 2017, rather incredibly, a report revealed that 10 out of 12 water companies in the UK were employing the practice of water dowsing to identify and locate leaks. Even more incredibly, last year, it emerged that Thames Water and Severn Trent Water were still using this form of ‘witchcraft’ for leak detection, despite scientific research indicating its lack of efficacy.
But water companies aren’t the only ones turning to dowsers for help. Peter believes that ‘it is also possible to carry a token or amulet on your person that has been imbued with the powers of protection by someone who is proficient in [dowsing]’. ‘This can protect you from GS and other detrimental energies wherever you go anywhere throughout the world,’ he claims. ‘Other protection techniques can also offer a degree of protection.’
However, Dr Edzard Ernst, a man who has dedicated years of his life to examining questionable, science-based claims, won’t be enlisting the services of a GS specialist or house healer anytime soon. ‘Geopathic stress cannot cause health problems for the simple reason that it does not exist,’ says the retired physician. ‘It is a sly invention of quacks who exploit gullible consumers. The methods to diagnose GS are as bogus as the ones that allegedly treat it. But the quacks don’t mind – as long as the consumer pays.’
Peter fully acknowledges ‘that dowsing and this work in general is not a catch-all solution for every ailment or every person’s situation’. ‘However, often we are approached by people who are “at the end of their tether” due to their exasperation of experiencing events or circumstances in their lives that are not well catered for in the mainstream wellbeing sector,’ he says. ‘I can only speak personally, I cannot speak for the possibly tens of thousands of dowsers around the world. If our work can help ease a person’s experience of life then that is a good enough reason to continue to help where I can’. He adds that ‘we are never going to change the minds of people like Dr Edzard Ernst’, someone ‘who seems to focus exclusively on debunking anything for which there is not a scientific explanation’. Moreover, science, he notes, ‘is moving on with research done into quantum physics and the theory that everything in the universe is connected and is also accessible to everyone’.
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Oh, dear Peter!
Perhaps you should learn the difference between critical evaluation and debunking (this ‘debunker’ has shown more forms of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) to be worthy of integrating into the NHS than anyone else).
Perhaps you should read up about the difference between evidence and belief?
And perhaps the chapter on dowsing in my book could help you in this endeavour:
Dowsing is a common but unproven method for divining water and other materials. In alternative medicine, it is sometimes used as a technique for diagnosing diseases or the causes of health problems.
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- Dowsers employ a motor automatism, amplified through a pendulum, divining rod or similar device. The effect is that the device seemingly provides an independent, visible reaction, while the dowser is, in fact, its true cause.
- Dowsing is used by some homeopaths as an aid to prescribe the optimal remedy and as a tool for identify a miasm or toxin load.
- The assumptions upon which dowsing is based lack plausibility.
- Dowsing has not often been submitted to clinical trials.
- All rigorous attempts to test water dowsing have failed, and it is no longer considered a viable method for this purpose.
- The only randomized double-blind trial that has tested whether homeopaths are able to distinguish between a homeopathic remedy and placebo by dowsing failed to show that it is a valid method. Its authors (well-known homeopaths) drew the following conclusion: “These results, wholly negative, add to doubts whether dowsing in this context can yield objective information.”[1]
- If dowsing is employed for differentiating between truly effective treatments (rather than homeopathic remedies), the risk of false choices would be intolerably high, and serious harm would inevitably be the result.
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Astrology is a subject that regularly crops up in the realm of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). Thus we have dealt with it on several occasions, e.g.:
- Astrology determines mortality … torture the data until they confess!
- Astro-homeopathy: “a beautiful blend of Astrology and Homoeopathy”
Many SCAM proponents evidently believe that astrology works.
The question is, does astrology have any value at all in healthcare?
Several recent papers go some way in answering it.
The first paper evaluated the existing research base on correlates of belief in astrology and fortune-telling. the researchers conducted a scoping review to synthesize the available literature base on belief in astrology and to review the evidence for “fortune-telling addiction” using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. Databases of PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCO, and SCOPUS were searched for relevant studies published in peer-reviewed journals.
The search findings revealed the association of belief in astrology with cognitive, personality, and psychological factors such as thinking style, self-concept verification, and stress. Case studies on “fortune-telling addiction” have conceptualized it as a possible behavioral addiction and have reported symptoms such as distress, cravings, and salience.
The second study examined the relationship between Western zodiac signs and subjective well-being in a nationally representative American sample from the General Social Survey (N = 12,791). Well-being was measured across eight components:
- general unhappiness,
- depressive symptoms,
- psychological distress,
- work dissatisfaction,
- financial dissatisfaction,
- perceived dullness of one’s life,
- self-rated health,
- unhappiness with marriage.
Parametric and nonparametric analyses consistently revealed no robust associations between zodiac signs and any of the well-being variables, regardless of whether demographic factors were controlled for. The effect sizes were negligible, accounting for 0.3% or less of the variance in well-being, demonstrating that zodiac signs lack predictive power for well-being outcomes. An additional analysis revealed that astrological signs were no more predictive of than random numbers. Thus, a randomly generated number between 1 and 12 is statistically as predictive of one’s well-being as one’s zodiac sign.
The authors concluded that these findings challenge popular astrological claims about the influence of zodiac signs on well-being and quality of life.
The third paper reports a retrospective, single-center cohort study of 2545 adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection presenting to the emergency room over a 14-month period (September 2020 to November 2021). COVID-19 infectivity was determined based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Western and Chinese Zodiac signs were designated using date of birth. Both Zodiac signs were evaluated for risk of infection and death.
Mortality rates across the zodiac and astrology signs showed no statistical difference using the 12-sample test for equality of proportions. Coincidentally, the mean age for the deceased was 74.5 years, and it was 53.9 years for those alive, resulting in a difference of 20.6 years. A two-sample t-test confirms that the observed difference of 20.6 years of age between the two groups is statistically significant with a p-value <0.05. The coefficient of the predictor age is statistically significant. The odds ratio estimate of age is 1.06, with the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) being (1.048, 1.073). This means that the odds of dying increase by 6% for every additional year.
The authors concluded that there was no statistical significance between Western and Chinese Zodiac signs and mortality or infections.
So, does astrology have any value in healthcare?
The answer is as simple as it is unsurprising:
No!
Yes, I have done it again: another book!
In order to let you know what it is all about, allow me to post the intoduction here:
Medicine has always relied on extraordinary innovators. Without them, progress would hardly have been possible, and we might still believe in the four humours and be treated with blood letting, mercury potions, or purging. The history of medicine is therefore to a large extent the history of its pioneers. This book is about some of them. It focusses on the mavericks who separated themselves from the mainstream and invented alternative medicine, healthcare that remained outside conventional medicine.
Few people would deny that differences of opinion are necessary for progress. This is true for healthcare as it is for any other field. Divergent views and legitimate debate have always been important drivers of innovation. Yet, some opinions have been so thoroughly repudiated by evidence as to be considered demonstrably wrong and harmful.
The realm of alternative medicine is full of such opinions. They are personified by men who created therapies based on wishful thinking, fallacious assumptions, and pseudoscience. Many of the alternative modalities – therapies or diagnostic methods – that are today so surprisingly popular have been originated by one single person. This book is about these men. It is an investigation into their lives, ideas, pseudoscience, and achievements and an attempt to find out what motivated each of these individuals to create treatments that are out of line with the known facts.
The book is divided into two parts. The first section sets the scene by establishing what true discoveries in medicine might look like. It offers short biographical sketches of my personal choice of some of my ‘medical icons’. In addition, it provides the necessary background about the field of alternative medicine. The second section is dedicated to the often strange men who invented these bizarre alternative treatments and diagnostic methods. In this section, we discuss in some detail the life and work of these individuals. Moreover, we critically evaluate the evidence for and against each of these modalities. An finally, we attempt to draw some conclusions about the strange men who invented bizarre alternative methods.
Having studied alternative medicine for more than three decades and having published more scientific papers on this subject than anyone else, the individuals behind the extraordinary modalities have intrigued me for many years. By describing these eccentric men, their assumptions, motivations, delusions, and failures, I hope to offer both entertainment as well as information. Furthermore, I aim at promoting my readers’ ability to tell science from pseudoscience and at stimulating their capacity of critical thinking.
I am glad to hear that the Vatican is issueing new guidelines on supernatural phenomena. The document, compiled by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will lay out rules to assess the truthfulness of supernatural claims. Reports of such phenomena are said to have soared in recent years in an era of social media – sometimes spread through disinformation and rumour. The guidelines are likely to tighten criteria for the screening, analysis, and possible rejection of cases.
Apparitions have been reported across the centuries. Those recognised by the Church have prompted pilgrims, and popes, to visit spots where they are said to have taken place. Millions flock to Lourdes in France, for example, or Fatima in Portugal, where the Virgin Mary is alleged to have appeared to children, promising a miracle – after which crowds are said to have witnessed the sun zig-zagging through the sky. The visitation was officially recognised by the Church in 1930.
But other reports are found by church officials to be baloney. In 2016, an Italian woman began claiming regular apparitions of Jesus and Mary in a small town north of Rome after she brought back a statue from Medjugorje in Bosnia, where the Virgin Mary is also said to have appeared. Crowds prayed before the statue and received messages including warnings against same-sex marriage and abortion. It took eight years for the local bishop to debunk the story.
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Perhaps the Vatican should also have a look at faith healing*, the attempt to bring about healing through divine intervention. The Bible and other religious texts provide numerous examples of divine healing, and believers see this as a proof that faith healing is possible. There are also numerous reports of people suffering from severe diseases, including cancer and AIDS, who were allegedly healed by divine intervention.
Faith healing has no basis in science, is biologically not plausible. Some methodologically flawed studies have suggested positive effects, however, this is not confirmed by sound clinical trials. Several plausible explanations exist for the cases that have allegedly been healed by divine intervention, for instance, spontaneous remission or placebo response. Another explanation is fraud. For instance, the famous German faith healer, Peter Popoff, was exposed in 1986 for using an earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife giving him the home addresses and ailments of audience members which he purported had come from God during his faith healing rallies.
Faith healing may per se be safe, but it can nevertheless do untold indirect harm, and even fatalities are on record: “Faith healing, when added as an adjuvant or alternative aid to medical science, will not necessarily be confined to mere arguments and debates but may also give rise to series of complications, medical emergencies and even result in death.”
Alternatively, the Vatican might look at the healing potential of pilgrimages*, journeys to places considered to be sacred. The pilgrims often do this in the hope to be cured of a disease. The purpose of Christian pilgrimage was summarized by Pope Benedict XVI as follows:
To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.
There are only few scientific studies of pilgrimages. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore whether pilgrims visiting Lourdes, France had transcendent experiences. The authors concluded that visiting Lourdes can have a powerful effect on a pilgrim and may include an “out of the ordinary” transcendent experience, involving a sense of relationship with the divine, or experiences of something otherworldly and intangible. There is a growing focus on Lourdes as a place with therapeutic benefits rather that cures: our analysis suggests that transcendent experiences can be central to this therapeutic effect. Such experiences can result in powerful emotional responses, which themselves may contribute to long term well-being. Our participants described a range of transcendent experiences, from the prosaic and mildly pleasant, to intense experiences that affected pilgrims’ lives. The place itself is crucially important, above all the Grotto, as a space where pilgrims perceive that the divine can break through into normal life, enabling closer connections with the divine, with nature and with the self.
Other researchers tested the effects of tap water labelled as Lourdes water versus tap water labelled as tap water found that placebos in the context of religious beliefs and practices can change the experience of emotional salience and cognitive control which is accompanied by connectivity changes in the associated brain networks. They concluded that this type of placebo can enhance emotional-somatic well-being, and can lead to changes in cognitive control/emotional salience networks of the brain.
The risks involved in pilgrimages is their often considerable costs. It is true, as the text above points out that “millions flock to Lourdes in France”. In other words, pilgrimiges are an important source of income, not least for the catholoc church.
A more important risk can be that they are used as an alternative to effective treatments. This, as we all know, can be fatal. As there is no good evidence that pilgrimiges cure diseases, their risk/benefit balance as a treatment of disease cannot be positive.
So, will the new rules of the Vatican curtail the risks on supernatural healing practises? I would not hold my breath!
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* for references see my book from where this text has been borrowed and modified.
The BBC stands for reliable information, at least that’s what I used to believe. After reading a recent article published on the BBC website, I have my doubts, however. See for yourself; here are a few excerpts:
On a holiday to Kerala on India’s south-western Malabar Coast, Shilpa Iyer decided to visit Kotakkal, a town that became famous after the establishment of Arya Vaidya Sala, Kerala’s best-known centre for the practice of Ayurveda, in 1902. Seven days later, she left the historical treatment centre after completeing panchakarma, a cleansing and rejuvenating programme for the body, mind and consciousness.
“There was nothing really wrong, but I was always busy with the demands of modern life and plagued with continual aches and pains. So, I decided to focus on my own health,” Iyer says.
Panchakarma, a holistic Ayurvedic therapy, involves a series of detoxifying procedures. It integrates herbal medicines, cleansing therapies, personalised diet plans and wellness activities to eliminate the root cause of disease, revive and rejuvenate the body, and ensure health and longevity.
Iyer says she left “feeling lighter, healthier and better than ever before”. She isn’t the only one who signed up for an Ayurvedic treatment in Kerala; the holistic system of medicine is a way of life in this coastal paradise.
… Ayurveda translates to “knowledge of life” and originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. It is based on the ideology that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, spirit and environment, and places great emphasis on preventive strategies rather than curative ones. The ancient system of medicine is centred on the idea of universal interconnectedness between prakriti (the body’s constitution) and doshas (life forces). Varied combinations of the five elements — aakash (sky), jal (water), prithvi (earth), agni (fire) and vayu (air) – create the three doshas.
Dr Gaurang Paneri, an Ayurveda practitioner, explains every person has the three doshas, vata, pitta and kapha, in varying strength and magnitude. “The predominant dosha determines their prakriti. Diseases arise when doshas are affected because of an external or internal stimulus (typically linked to eating habits, lifestyle or physical exercise). Ayurveda works to ensure harmony between the three,” he says…
The small state has more than 100 Ayurvedic government-run hospitals, 800 Ayurvedic pharmaceutical factories and 800 Ayurvedic medicine dispensaries. As many as 120 holiday resorts and private wellness centres offer specialised treatments such as kasti vvasti, an oil-based treatment for back pain and inflammation in the lumbosacral region; elakkizhi, a treatment with heated herbal poultices to tackles aches, pains and muskoskeletal trauma; njavara kizhi, a massage therapy for arthritis or chronic musculoskeletal discomfort; and shirodhara, a restorative therapy to ease stress and anxiety and that involves pouring warm, medicated oil over the forehead.
Most treatment centres offer therapies and treatments for a range of health issues, including immunity, mental health, anxiety, pain management, weight loss, skin and health care, sleep issues, psoriasis, eczema, eye care, arthritis, sciatica, gastric problems and paralysis. The treatments typically include dietary changes, herbal medicines, massage therapies, poultices, meditation and breath exercises…
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I find such advertisements disguised as journalism disturbing:
- No mention that the treatments in question lack conclusive evidence of effectiveness.
- Not a word about the fact that many can be outright dangerous.
- No mention of the often exorbitant fees visitors are asked to pay.
Please do better next time you report about health matters, BBC!
It has been reported that 5 people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said. Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. came under fire for not going public quickly with problems known internally as early as January. Yet the first public announcement came only on 22 March. Company officials said 114 people were being treated in hospitals after taking products — including Benikoji Choleste Help meant to lower cholesterol — that contain an ingredient called benikoji, a red species of mold. Some people developed kidney problems after taking the supplements, but the exact cause was still under investigation in cooperation with government laboratories, according to the manufacturer.
“We apologize deeply,” President Akihiro Kobayashi told reporters last Friday, bowing for a long time to emphasize the apology alongside three other top company officials. He expressed remorse to those who have died and have been taken ill and to their families. He also apologized for the troubles caused to the entire health food industry and the medical profession, adding that the company was working to prevent further damage and improve crisis management.
The company’s products have been recalled — as have dozens of other products that contain benikoji, including miso paste, crackers, and a vinegar dressing. Japan’s health ministry put up a list on its official site of all the recalled products, including some that use benikoji for food coloring. The ministry warned the deaths could keep growing. The supplements could be bought at drug stores without a prescription from a doctor, and some may have been purchased or exported before the recall, including by tourists who may not be aware of the health risks.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical had been selling benikoji products for years, with a million packages sold over the past 3 fiscal years, but a problem crept up with the supplements produced in 2023. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said it produced 18.5 tons of benikoji last year. Some analysts blame the recent deregulation initiatives, which simplified and sped up approval for health products to spur economic growth.
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Anouther source reported that Japanese authorities on Saturday raided a drug factory after a pharmaceutical company reported at least five deaths and 114 hospitalizations possibly linked to a health supplement. About a dozen Japanese health officials walked into the Osaka plant of the Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., as seen in footage of the raid widely telecasted on Japanese news. The health supplement in question is a pink pill called Benikoji Choleste Help. It is said to help lower cholesterol levels. A key ingredient is benikoji, a type of red mold. The company has said it knows little about the cause of the sickness, which can include kidney failure. It is currently investigating the effects in cooperation with Japan’s government.
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More recent reports update the figure of affected individuals: Japanese dietary supplements at the center of an expanding health scare have now been linked to at least 157 hospitalizations, a health ministry official said Tuesday.The figure reflects an increase from the 114 hospitalization cases that Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said on Friday were linked to its products containing red yeast rice, or beni kōji.
A Kobayashi Pharmaceutical spokeswoman confirmed the latest hospitalization cases without elaborating further.
Benikoji is widely sold and used; not just in Japan. It comes under a range of different names:
- red yeast rice,
- red fermented rice,
- red kojic rice,
- red koji rice,
- anka,
- angkak,
- Ben Cao Gang Mu.
It is a bright reddish purple fermented rice which acquires its color from being cultivated with the mold Monascus purpureus. Red yeast rice is used as food and as a medicine in Asian cultures, such as Kampo and TCM.
It contains lovastatin which, of course, became patented and is marketed as the prescription drug, Mevacor. Red yeast rice went on to become a non-prescription dietary supplement in the United States and other countries. In 1998, the U.S. FDA banned a dietary supplement containing red yeast rice extract, stating that red yeast rice products containing monacolin K are identical to a prescription drug, and thus subject to regulation as a drug.
