Updated Edition!
Tui Na is a massage technique that is based on the Taoist principles of TCM. It involves a range of manipulations usually performed by an operator’s finger, hand, elbow, knee, or foot applied to muscle or soft tissue at specific parts of the body. According to one website of TCM-proponents “Tui Na makes use of various hand techniques in combination with acupuncture and other manipulation techniques. To enhance the healing process, the practitioner may recommend the use of Chinese herbs. Many of the techniques used in this massage resemble that of a western massage like gliding, kneading, vibration, tapping, friction, pulling, rolling, pressing and shaking. In Tui Na massage, the muscles and tendons are massaged with the help of hands, and an acupressure technique is applied to directly affect the flow of Qi at different acupressure points of the body, thus facilitating the healing process. It removes the blockages and keeps the energy moving through the meridians as well as the muscles. A typical session of Tui Na massage may vary from thirty minutes to an hour. The session timings may vary depending on the patient’s needs and condition. The best part of the therapy is that it relaxes as well as energizes the person. The main benefit of Tui Na massage is that it focuses on the specific problem, whether it is an acute or a chronic pain associated with the joints, muscles or a skeletal system. This technique is very beneficial in reducing the pain of neck, shoulders, hips, back, arms, highs, legs and ankle disorders. It is a very effective therapy for arthritis, pain, sciatica and muscle spasms. Other benefits of this massage therapy include alleviation of the stress related disorders like insomnia, constipation, headaches and other disorders related to digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems. The greatest advantage of Tui Na is that it focuses on maintaining overall balance with both physical and mental health. Any one who wants to avoid the side effects of drugs or a chemical based treatment can adopt this effective massage technique to alleviate their pain. Tui Na massage therapy is now becoming a more common therapy method due to its focus on specific problems rather than providing a general treatment.”
This clearly begs the question IS IT EFFECTIVE?
This systematic review assessed the evidence of Tui Na for cervical radiculopathy. Seven databases were searched. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) incorporating Tui Na alone or Tui Na combined with conventional treatment were included. Five studies involving 448 patients were found. The pooled analysis from the 3 trials indicated that Tui Na alone showed a significant lowering immediate effects on pain score with moderate heterogeneity compared to cervical traction. The meta-analysis from 2 trials revealed significant immediate effects of Tui Na plus cervical traction in improving pain score with no heterogeneity compared to cervical traction alone. None of the RCTs mentioned adverse effects. There was very low quality or low quality evidence to support the results.
The authors concluded that “Tui Na alone or Tui Na plus cervical traction may be helpful to cervical radiculopathy patients, but supportive evidence seems generally weak. Future clinical studies with low risk of bias and adequate follow-up design are recommended.”
In my view, this is a misleading conclusion. A correct one would have been: THE CURRENT EVIDENCE IS INSUFFICIENT TO DRAW ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TUI NA.
Why?
Here are some of the most obvious reasons:
- there are far too few studies for a firm conclusion,
- the included RCTs lack scientific rigour,
- all trials originate from China where reliability seems to be a serious problem,
- traction is not a useful therapy for radiculopathy,
- the primary studies violate research ethics by not reporting adverse effects.
Personally, I am getting very tired of conclusions stating ‘…XY MAY BE EFFECTIVE/HELPFUL/USEFUL/WORTH A TRY…’ It is obvious that the therapy in question MAY be effective, otherwise one would surely not conduct a systematic review. If a review fails to produce good evidence, it is the authors’ ethical, moral and scientific obligation to state this clearly. If they don’t, they simply misuse science for promotion and mislead the public. Strictly speaking, this amounts to scientific misconduct.
Drug and alcohol dependencies are notoriously difficult to treat effectively. Patients and their families are often desperate and willing to try anything. This seems like an ideal ground for acupuncturists who are, in my experience, experts in putting up smokescreens hiding the true value of their treatment.
The best way to determine the value of any intervention is probably conducting a systematic review of the evidence from rigorous clinical trials. Today we are in the fortunate position to have not just one of those articles; but do they really tell us the truth?
This brand-new systematic review investigated the effects of acupuncture on alcohol-related symptoms and behaviors in patients with this disorder. The PubMed database was searched until 23 August 2016, and reference lists from review studies were also reviewed. The inclusion criteria were the following: (1) being published in a peer-reviewed English-language journal, (2) use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), (3) assessing the effects of acupuncture on psychological variables in individuals with a primary alcohol problem, and (4) reporting statistics that could be converted to effect sizes.
Seventeen studies were identified for a full-text inspection, and seven (243 patients) of these met our inclusion criteria. The outcomes assessed at the last post-treatment point and any available follow-up data were extracted from each of the studies. Five studies treated patients by inserting a needle into several acupoints in each ear. Two studies stimulated body points with or without ear stimulation. Four studies treated control patients with a placebo needle or under a completely different type of intervention, such as relaxation or transdermal stimulation, whereas the remaining studies inserted needles into nonspecific points. The patients were treated for 2 weeks to 3 months, and the treatment duration per session was 15–45 min. The results of the meta-analysis demonstrated that an acupuncture intervention had a stronger effect on reducing alcohol-related symptoms and behaviours than did the control intervention. A beneficial but weak effect of acupuncture treatment was also found in the follow-up data.
The authors concluded that although our analysis showed a significant difference between acupuncture and the control intervention in patients with alcohol use disorder, this meta-analysis is limited by the small number of studies included. Thus, a larger cohort study is required to provide a firm conclusion.
I am used to reading poor research papers, but this one is like a new dimension. Here are just the most obvious flaws:
- by searching just one database, the likelihood of missing studies is huge,
- by excluding non-English papers, the review automatically becomes non-systematic,
- the included studies differed vastly in many respects and can therefore not be pooled.
As it happens, a further meta-analysis has just been published. Here is its abstract:
Acupuncture has been widely used as a treatment for alcohol dependence. An updated and rigorously conducted systematic review is needed to establish the extent and quality of the evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture as an intervention for reducing alcohol dependence. This review aimed to ascertain the effectiveness of acupuncture for reducing alcohol dependence as assessed by changes in either craving or withdrawal symptoms.
Methods
In this systematic review, a search strategy was designed to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in either the English or Chinese literature, with a priori eligibility criteria. The following English language databases were searched from inception until June 2015: AMED, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and PubMed; and the following Chinese language databases were similarly searched: CNKI, Sino-med, VIP, and WanFang. Methodological quality of identified RCTs was assessed using the Jadad Scale and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.
Results
Fifteen RCTs were included in this review, comprising 1378 participants. The majority of the RCTs were rated as having poor methodological rigour. A statistically significant effect was found in the two primary analyses: acupuncture reduced alcohol craving compared with all controls (SMD = −1.24, 95% CI = −1.96 to −0.51); and acupuncture reduced alcohol withdrawal symptoms compared with all controls (SMD = −0.50, 95% CI = −0.83 to −0.17). In secondary analyses: acupuncture reduced craving compared with sham acupuncture (SMD = −1.00, 95% CI = −1.79 to −0.21); acupuncture reduced craving compared with controls in RCTs conducted in Western countries (SMD = −1.15, 95% CI = −2.12 to −0.18); and acupuncture reduced craving compared with controls in RCTs with only male participants (SMD = −1.68, 95% CI = −2.62 to −0.75).
Conclusion
This study showed that acupuncture was potentially effective in reducing alcohol craving and withdrawal symptoms and could be considered as an additional treatment choice and/or referral option within national healthcare systems.
This Meta-analysis is only a little better than the first, I am afraid. What its conclusions do not sufficiently reflect, in my view, is the fact that the quality of the primary studies was mostly very poor – too poor to draw conclusions from (other than ‘acupuncture research is usually lousy’; see figure below). Therefore, I fail to see how the authors could draw the relatively firm and positive conclusions cited above. In my view, they should have stated something like this: DUE TO THE RISK OF BIAS IN MANY TRIALS, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACUPUNCTURE REMAINS UNPROVEN.
The authors of the first meta-analysis open the discussion by proudly declaring that “the present study is the first meta-analysis to examine the effect of acupuncture treatment on patients with alcohol use disorder and to provide data on the magnitude of this effect on alcohol-related clinical symptoms and behaviours.” They discretely overlook this meta-analysis from 2009 (and several others which even their rudimentary search would have identified):
Nineteen electronic databases, including English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese databases, were systematically searched for RCTs of acupuncture for alcohol dependence up to June 2008 with no language restrictions. The methodological qualities of eligible studies were assessed using the criteria described in the Cochrane Handbook.
Eleven studies, which comprised a total of 1,110 individual cases, were systematically reviewed. Only 2 of 11 trials reported satisfactorily all quality criteria. Four trials comparing acupuncture treatment and sham treatments reported data for alcohol craving. Three studies reported that there were no significant differences. Among 4 trials comparing acupuncture and no acupuncture with conventional therapies, 3 reported significant reductions. No differences between acupuncture and sham treatments were found for completion rates (Risk Ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.91 to 1.25) or acupuncture and no acupuncture (Risk Ratio = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.79 to 1.67). Only 3 RCTs reported acupuncture-related adverse events, which were mostly minimal.
The results of the included studies were equivocal, and the poor methodological quality and the limited number of the trials do not allow any conclusion about the efficacy of acupuncture for treatment of alcohol dependence. More research and well-designed, rigorous, and large clinical trials are necessary to address these issues.
One does not need to be an expert in interpreting meta-analyses, I think, to see that this paper is more rigorous than the new ones (which incidentally were published in the very dubious journals). And this is why I trust the conclusions of this last-named meta-analysis more than those of the new one: the efficacy of acupuncture remains unproven. And this means that we should not employ or promote it for routine care.
The world of homeopathy is getting very excited: HOMEOPATHY AWARENESS WEEK is approaching (it’s starting 10 April). An ideal occasion, I think, for making a celebratory offer to all homeopaths:
I am suggesting to give a free lecture on any homeopathy-related subject of your choosing. This, I hope, might increase homeopaths’ awareness of the science, research and evidence for or against homeopathy.
Which professional organisation could possibly say no to such a generous offer?
None with an interest in evidence, surely!
Homeopathy has been the number one subject on this blog from its very beginnings. It regularly attracts lively discussions, and I am confident that I could generate an even better dialogue, if you let me present the evidence. I think I am almost uniquely qualified to give such a lecture, not least because I have the following types of expertise:
- I have given about 800 lectures on alternative medicine and therefore know what to do,
- I have a sound knowledge of evidence-based medicine,
- I possess the ability to tell good from poor science,
- I have experience as a patient treated by a homeopath,
- I have research experience in homeopathy (clinical trials, systematic reviews, etc.),
- I have published many scientific papers on the subject,
- I possess many years of clinical experience,
- I have been trained in homeopathy and used it as a clinician,
- I can think critically,
- I regularly review the emerging literature,
- finally, I have recently published a book entitled HOMEOPATHY, THE UNDILUTED FACTS.
The specifics of my offer are as follows:
- I will give a 45-min lecture to your organisation.
- I will then answer questions for up to 30 min.
- This can be scheduled at a location and a time of day that suits you.
- I will not charge a lecture fee.
- You will cover my travel cost from my home in Suffolk to your venue.
- Depending on the location of the venue and timing of the lecture, I might need to stay overnight and would hope you can foot the bill for that.
- There will be no other costs involved.
- My offer is limited to a time-window during which I plan to be in the UK. The best time for me would be July and August.
I am convinced that we all might profit from such lectures:
- You might learn about science, the evidence, the need for thinking critically, etc.
- And I might learn a bit more about the views and concerns of homeopaths.
Therefore, I hope that my offer will find plenty of takers. If you are interested, please contact me via this blog.
How Jackfruit Kills Cancer… This title hardly left any doubt that jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) is effective in curing cancer. The website [url disabled by admin because of suspected phishing site] continued in this vein:
“Jackfruit contains phytonutrients like lignans, saponins, and isoflavones, which have anticancer, antihypertensive, anti-ulcer, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties (2).
Isoflavones are also beneficial phytoestrogens that have been proven to reduce the risk of breast, endometrial, and prostate cancers (4,5).
Saponins, on the other hand, kill cancer cells by directly binding to cells as well as boosting white blood cell activity and preventing cell differentiation and proliferation (6,7).
Lastly, the cancer-preventing abilities of the fruit are due in part to dietary TF-binding lectins (8). The pulp has the ability to reduce the mutagenicity of carcinogens and combat the proliferation of cancer cells (9).
In addition, the fruit contains carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols that lower blood pressure, fight stomach ulcers, boost metabolism, support nerve function, and play a role in hormone synthesis. They also contain polysaccharides that boost immunity by interacting with white blood cells, including T cells, monocytes, macrophages, and polymorphonuclear lymphocytes (10).
Each part of the fruit and tree can be used: the flowers help stop bleeding in open wounds, prevent ringworm infestations, and heal cracks in dry feet while the root is used to treat skin diseases, asthma, and diarrhea. Additionally, the wood has a sedative and abortifacient effect…”
END OF QUOTE
To many desperate cancer patients, this would sound convincing, not least because the references provided by the author look sophisticated and seem to back up most of the claims made.
But where are the references to clinical trials showing that jackfruit does cure this or that type of cancer? Where is the evidence that it does “lower blood pressure, fight stomach ulcers, boost metabolism, support nerve function, and play a role in hormone synthesis”? Where are the data to prove that it does “boost immunity”?
I did conduct a ‘rough and ready’ Medline search and found precisely nothing; not a single clinical trial that would confirm the multiple claims made above.
You are not surprised?
Neither am I!
But what about the desperate cancer patients?
How many fell for the scam? How many gave up their conventional cancer treatments and used jackfruit instead? How many consumers know that it is not unusual for plants to contain lignans, saponins, isoflavones and many other ingredients that have amazing effects in vitro? How many know that this rarely translates into meaningful health effects in human patients?
We will never know.
One thing we do know, however, is that articles like this one can cost lives, and that alternative cancer cures are and always will be a myth.
Is spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) dangerous? This question has kept us on this blog busy for quite some time now. To me, there is little doubt that SMT can cause adverse effects some of which are serious. But many chiropractors seem totally unconvinced. Perhaps this new overview of reviews might help to clarify the issue. Its aim was to elucidate and quantify the risk of serious adverse events (SAEs) associated with SMT.
The authors searched five electronic databases from inception to December 8, 2015 and included reviews on any type of studies, patients, and SMT technique. The primary outcome was SAEs. The quality of the included reviews was assessed using a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews (AMSTAR). Since there were insufficient data for calculating incidence rates of SAEs, they used an alternative approach; the conclusions regarding safety of SMT were extracted for each review, and the communicated opinion were judged by two reviewers independently as safe, harmful, or neutral/unclear. Risk ratios (RRs) of a review communicating that SMT is safe and meeting the requirements for each AMSTAR item, were calculated.
A total of 283 eligible reviews were identified, but only 118 provided data for synthesis. The most frequently described adverse events (AEs) were stroke, headache, and vertebral artery dissection. Fifty-four reviews (46%) expressed that SMT is safe, 15 (13%) expressed that SMT is harmful, and 49 reviews (42%) were neutral or unclear. Thirteen reviews reported incidence estimates for SAEs, roughly ranging from 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 250,000,000 manipulations. Low methodological quality was present, with a median of 4 of 11 AMSTAR items met (interquartile range, 3 to 6). Reviews meeting the requirements for each of the AMSTAR items (i.e. good internal validity) had a higher chance of expressing that SMT is safe.
The authors concluded that it is currently not possible to provide an overall conclusion about the safety of SMT; however, the types of SAEs reported can indeed be significant, sustaining that some risk is present. High quality research and consistent reporting of AEs and SAEs are needed.
This article is valuable, if only for the wealth of information one can extract from it. There are, however, numerous problems. One is that the overview included mostly reviews of the effectiveness of SMT for various conditions. We know that studies of SMT often do not even mention AEs. If such studies are then pooled in a review, they inevitably generate an impression of safety. But this would, of course, be a false-positive result!
The authors of the overview are aware of this problem and address it in the following paragraph: “When only considering the subset of reviews, where the objective was to investigate AEs (37 reviews), then 8 reviews (22%) expressed that SMT is safe, 13 reviews (35%) expressed that SMT is harmful and 16 reviews (43%) were neutral or unclear regarding the safety of SMT. Hence, there is a tendency that a bigger proportion of these reviews are expressing that SMT is harmful compared to the full sample of reviews…”
To my surprise, I found several of my own reviews in the ‘neutral or unclear’ category. Here are the verbatim conclusions of three of them:
- It is concluded that serious cerebrovascular complications of spinal manipulation continue to be reported.
- The most common serious adverse events are vertebrobasilar accidents, disk herniation, and cauda equina syndrome.
- These data indicate that mild and transient adverse events seem to be frequent. Serious adverse events are probably rare but their incidence can only be estimated at present.
I find it puzzling how this could be classified as neutral or unclear. The solution of the puzzle might lie in the methodology used: “we appraised the communicated opinions of each review concerning the safety of SMT based on their conclusions regarding the AEs and SAEs. This was done by two reviewers independently (SMN, LK), who judged the communicated opinions as either ‘safe’, ‘neutral/unclear’ or ‘harmful’, based on the qualitative impression the reviewers had when reading the conclusions. The reviewers had no opinion about the safety/harmfulness of SMT before commencing the judgements. Cohen’s weighted Kappa was calculated for the agreement between the reviewers, with a value of 0.40–0.59 indicating ‘fair agreement’, 0.60–0.74 indicating ‘good agreement’ and ≥0.75 indicating ‘excellent agreement’. Disagreements were resolved by a third reviewer (MH).”
In other words, the categorisation was done on the basis of subjective judgements of two researchers. It seems obvious that, if their attitude was favourable towards SMT, their judgements would be influenced. The three examples from my own work cited above indicates to me that their verdicts were indeed far from objective.
So what is the main message here? In my view, it can be summarized in the following quote from the overview: “a bigger proportion of these reviews are expressing that SMT is harmful …”
Yes, yes, yes – I know that, if you are a chiropractor (or other practitioner using mostly SMT), you are unlikely to agree with this!
Perhaps you can agree with this statement then:
As long as there is reasonable doubt about the safety of SMT, and as long as we cannot be sure that SMT generates more good than harm, we should be very cautious using it for routine healthcare and do rigorous research to determine the truth (it’s called the precautionary principle and applies to all types of healthcare).
Several months ago, the Gibraltar Homeopathic Council (GHC) had called for an emergency meeting to discuss the future of Gibraltar. At that meeting, members voiced grave concern over Brexit; the main problem, they predicted, would be that Spain might use the general confusion during the early days of the negotiations to claim back their homeland. It was then that they decided to meet with their patron, Prince Charles. A secret meeting was thus held at High Grove in the presence of leading UK homeopaths, and a cunning plan was devised.
Back in Gibraltar, a team of researchers went to work to develop and test ‘Rock C30’. This novel and innovative remedy is produced by potentising Gibraltar rock according to the ‘like cures like’ principle. Pilot studies were hurriedly arranged, and their results indicated that Rock C30 was indeed a powerful remedy that neutralised all ambitions of individuals wanting to take possession of Gibraltar. Its mechanism of action is as yet unclear, but homeopaths believe it works holistically via stimulating the vital force. The study concluded that Rock C30 added to the water supplies of a small group of Spanish chauvinists proved to totally abolish their desire to consider annexing Gibraltar. The remedy caused no adverse effects and is therefore ready for routine application on a large scale.
The report which has been leaked to the Daily Mail also stated that the development of the new remedy was inspired by the research done on ‘Berlin Wall’, an equally effective solution to potentially difficult situations. Well-informed circles close to the GHC indicate that large supplies of Rock C30 have already been smuggled into Spain and are about to be dropped into the water supplies of its capital.
The president of the GHC apparently stated that ” this is an exciting development which will guarantee the future of Gibraltar as an integral part of the UK.” The patron of the GHC, Prince Charles, is said to have mumbled: “I am pleased not just for the sake of Gibraltar, but also for the sake of homeopathy. Even my cows in Cornwall have been more clever than those despicable homeopathy-deniers; my cows always knew it works.”
THE CHRONICLE OF CHIROPRACTIC is not a publication I usually read, I have to admit. But perhaps I should, because this article from its latest edition is truly fascinating. Here are the crucial excerpts:
“A so called “debate” on vertebral subluxation was held at the recent chiropractic educational conference held by the controlling factions of the Chiropractic Cartel: The World Federation of Chiropractic, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges and the American Chiropractic Association. Every few years this faction of the profession makes an attempt to disparage vertebral subluxation and those who practice in a subluxation model by trotting out its long list of Subluxation Deniers.
This year was no different.
David Newell, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Anglo European College of Chiropractic, made a number of unsubstantiated claims and engaged in logical fallacies that would shock even the casual observer. As an example, Newell made the statement:
“The subluxation as vitalistic concept, an impediment in and of itself to health and well being, impeding the expression of higher intelligence is not only entirely bereft of any evidence whatsoever but is a complete non starter even as a scientific question.”
…Newell claimed that what is dangerous about the use of vertebral subluxation are concepts and behavior associated with its use. Newell stated that subluxations are used by some in the profession to “scare or misinform patients” and gave the following examples of claims he has issues with:
- You cannot be healthy with them
- They will lead to serious disease
- Chiropractors are the only ones that can help
- A chiropractic manipulation is unique
- You need to come back for the rest of your life
- You need to bring your children otherwise they will not develop properly
Newell claimed that such statements are “confusing, un-evidenced and detrimental to our standing as a profession in the outside world” and that “at worse, sometimes used to justify approaches to care and practice models that are unacceptable both inside and outside of the profession.”
Newell … continued his tirade against his perceived threat to public health stating vertebral subluxation and the concepts attached to it are: “. . . used to generate dependancy through fear or coercion. Here, use of such words and concepts essentially as smoke screens for a model of care dominated by a coercive business ethic are strongly reputationally damaging and are not OK.” …Newell further claimed that the concept of ” . . . subluxation as an impediment to innate intelligence is bereft of science and evidence” and that “. . . this approach will be inadmissible to characterise a modern healthcare profession. Describing the profession in such language will further isolate and marginalise.”…”The irony” he states “. . . is of course that there are much better explanations, concepts and terms. Much of what is seen in practice can be explained by sound science and scientific language and so a subluxation model isn’t even needed.”
He went on to engage in further expressions of logical fallacies by stating: “Even on a simple level, science has yet to answer questions as to what a subluxation is as a defined entity, can it be validly and reliably identified, can it be validly and reliably shown to have gone post manipulation and is such disappearance associated with meaningful clinical change in patients.”
In reality, there is a rich evidence base that demonstrates the validity and reliability of numerous methods of measurements focused on the various components of vertebral subluxation as well as evidence demonstrating reduction or correction of it with resulting positive health outcomes.
Unfortunately, most simply go along with statements such as Newell’s either out of ignorance, simple aquiesence or collegiality.
Imagine the plight of students in a chiropractic program being exposed to Newell’s dogma, scientism and denial of even the existence of vertebral subluxation. That he is even given a stage and an audience is a failure of leadership within the ranks of those who purport to embrace the vitalistic concept of vertebral subluxation.
We laugh and mock those who contend the Earth is flat, yet Subluxation Deniers are given voice by schools and political organizations along with a role in determining the subluxation research agenda. And its the leadership on the traditional, conservative side of the profession that does this – as evidenced by his even being entertained at an educational conference billed as the largest and most important gathering of chiropractic educators and researchers.
Not a single objection to his, or any other Deniers, participation by the leadership in the vitalistic faction. In fact, quite the opposite – he was given the opportunity to spew his Flat Earth nonsense to a wide audience who educate the future of this profession.
Imagine a meeting at NASA where a Flat Earther is given a voice and a vote on the Mars Mission.
This was and is a failure of leadership within the vitalistic, conservative, traditional faction of the chiropractic profession.”
END OF EXCERTS
On this blog, we have heard again and again that the chiropractic profession is in the middle of a fundamental reform, that it has given up the idiotic concepts of its founders, that it has joined the 21st century, that it is becoming evidence-based, that progress is being made etc. etc. However, sceptics have always doubted these claims and pointed out that chiropractic minus its traditional concepts would merely become a limited type of physiotherapy.
From the above article, I get the impression that the notion of reform might be a bit optimistic. The old guard seems to be as alive and powerful as ever, fighting as fiercely as always to preserve chiropractic’s nonsensical cult.
Some will, of course, claim that the above article shows exactly the opposite of what I just stated. They will try to persuade us that it is evidence for the struggle of the new generation of chiropractors instilling reason into their brain-dead peers. It is evidence, they will claim, for the fact that there is a healthy discussion within the profession.
Yet this is simply not true: The maligned Mr Newell is NOT a chiropractor!
To me, the above article suggests that, for the foreseeable future, chiropractic will remain where it always has been: firmly anchored in the realm of quackery.
THE TELEGRAPH reported that “homeopathic medicines will escape an NHS prescribing ban even though the Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has dismissed the treatments as ‘rubbish’ and a waste of taxpayers money.”
But why?
This sounds insane!
Sorry, I do not know the answer either, but below I offer 10 possible options – so bear with me, please.
The NHS spends around £4 million a year on homeopathic remedies, the article claimed. Sandra Gidley, chairwoman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “We are surprised that homeopathy, which has no scientific evidence of effectiveness, is not on the list for review. We are in agreement with NHS England that products with low or no clinical evidence of effectiveness should be reviewed with urgency.”
The NHS Clinical Commissioners, the body which was asked to review which medications should no longer be prescribed for NHS England, said it had included drugs with ‘little or no clinical value’, yet could not offer an explanation why homeopathic medicines had escaped the cut. Julie Wood, Chief Executive, NHS Clinical Commissioners said: “Clinical commissioners have always had to make difficult choices about prioritising how they spend their budget on services, but the finance and demand challenges we face at the moment are unprecedented. Clinical Commissioning Groups have been looking at their medicines spend, and many are already implementing policies to reduce spending on those prescribeable items that have little or no clinical value for patients, and are therefore not an effective use of the NHS pound.”
Under the new rules, NHS doctors will be banned from routinely prescribing items that are cheaply available in chemists. The list includes heartburn pills, paracetamol, hayfever tablets, sun cream, muscle rubs, Omega 3 fish oils, medicine for coughs and colds and travel vaccinations. Coeliacs will also be forced to buy their own gluten-free food.
So, why are homeopathic remedies excluded from this new cost-saving exercise?
I am puzzled!
Is it because:
- The NHS has recently found out that homeopathy is effective after all?
- The officials have forgotten to put homeopathics on the list?
- In times of Brexit, the government cannot be bothered about reason, science and all that?
- The NHS does not need the money?
- Homeopathic globuli look so pretty?
- Our Health Secretary is in love with homeopathy?
- Experts are no longer needed for decision-making?
- EBM has suddenly gone out of fashion?
- Placebos are now all the rage?
- Some influential person called Charles is against it?
Sorry, no prizes for the winner of this quiz!
Therapeutic Touch is a therapy mostly popular with nurses. We have discussed it before, for instance here, here, here and here. To call it implausible would be an understatement. But what does the clinical evidence tell us? Does it work?
This literature review by Iranian authors was aimed at critically evaluating the data from clinical trials examining the clinical efficacy of therapeutic touch as a supportive care modality in adult patients with cancer.
Four electronic databases were searched from the year 1990 to 2015 to locate potentially relevant peer-reviewed articles using the key words therapeutic touch, touch therapy, neoplasm, cancer, and CAM. Additionally, relevant journals and references of all the located articles were manually searched for other potentially relevant studies.
The number of 334 articles was found on the basis of the key words, of which 17 articles related to the clinical trial were examined in accordance with the objectives of the study. A total of 6 articles were in the final dataset in which several examples of the positive effects of healing touch on pain, nausea, anxiety and fatigue, and life quality and also on biochemical parameters were observed.
The authors concluded that, based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made regarding the use of TT, as a non-invasive intervention for improving the health status in patients with cancer. Moreover, therapeutic touch was proved to be a useful strategy for adult patients with cancer.
This review is badly designed and poorly reported. Crucially, its conclusions are not credible. Contrary to what the authors stated when formulating their aims, the methods lack any attempt of critically evaluating the primary data.
A systematic review is more than a process of ‘pea counting’. It requires a rigorous assessment of the risk of bias of the included studies. If that crucial step is absent, the article is next to worthless and the review degenerates into a promotional excercise. Sadly, this is the case with the present review.
You may think that this is relatively trivial (“Who cares what a few feeble-minded nurses do?”), but I would disagree: if the medical literature continues to be polluted by such irresponsible trash, many people (nurses, journalists, healthcare decision makers, researchers) who may not be in a position to see the fatal flaws of such pseudo-reviews will arrive at the wrong conclusions and make wrong decisions. This will inevitably contribute to a hindrance of progress and, in certain circumstances, must endanger the well-being or even the life of vulnerable patients.
Traditional and folk remedies have been repeatedly been reported to contain toxic amounts of lead. I discussed this problem before; see here, here, and here. Recently, two further papers were published which are relevant in this context.
In the first article, Indian researchers presented a large series of patients with lead poisoning due to intake of Ayurvedic medicines, all of whom presented with unexplained abdominal pain.
In a retrospective, observational case series from a tertiary care center in India, the charts of patients who underwent blood lead level (BLL) testing as a part of workup for unexplained abdominal pain between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. The patients with lead intoxication (BLLs >25 μg/dl) were identified and demographics, history, possible risk factors, clinical presentation and investigations were reviewed. Treatment details, duration, time to symptomatic recovery, laboratory follow-up and adverse events during therapy were recorded.
BLLs were tested in 786 patients with unexplained abdominal pain, and high levels were identified in 75 (9.5%) patients of which a majority (73 patients, 9.3%) had history of Ayurvedic medication intake and only two had occupational exposure. Five randomly chosen Ayurvedic medications were analyzed and lead levels were impermissibly high (14-34,950 ppm) in all of them. Besides pain in abdomen, other presenting complaints were constipation, hypertension, neurological symptoms and acute kidney injury. Anemia and abnormal liver biochemical tests were observed in all the 73 patients. Discontinuing the Ayurvedic medicines and chelation with d-penicillamine led to improvement in symptoms and reduction in BLLs in all patients within 3-4 months.
The authors of this paper concluded that the patients presenting with severe recurrent abdominal pain, anemia and history of use of Ayurvedic medicines should be evaluated for lead toxicity. Early diagnosis in such cases can prevent unnecessary investigations and interventions, and permits early commencement of the treatment.
The second article German researchers analysed 20 such ‘natural health products’ (NHPs) from patients with intoxication symptoms. Their findings revealed alarming high concentrations of mercury and/or lead (the first one in “therapeutic” doses). 82 % of the studied NHPs contained lead concentrations above the EU limit for dietary supplements. 62 % of the samples exceeded the limit values for mercury. Elevated blood lead and mercury levels in patients along with clinical intoxication symptoms corroborate the causal assumption of intoxication (s).
The authors concluded that, for NHPs there is evidence on a distinct toxicological risk with alarming low awareness for a possible intoxication which prevents potentially life-saving diagnostic steps in affected cases. In many cases patients do not communicate the events to their physicians or the local health authority so that case reports (e.g. the BfR-DocCentre) are missing. Thus, there is an urgent need to raise awareness and to initiate more suitable monitory systems (e.g. National Monitoring of Poisonings) and control practice protecting the public.
The authors of the 2nd paper also reported a detailed case report:
Patient, male, 31 with BMI slightly below normal, non-smoker, was referred to the neurological department of the university clinic with severe peripheral poly neuropathy and sensory motor symptoms with neuropathic pain. The patient was in good general state of health until approximately 3 weeks before hospital admission; he spent his holiday in Himalaya region and came back with headaches and fatigue. He was taking pain medication without any relieve; his routine blood values were normal. He claimed to take no further medications. Since poly neuropathy and fatigue could be caused by pesticides or other poisoning, i.e. heavy metals, we have been consulted for taking a detailed exposure history. While in the clinic, 3 different NHPs were found in form of globules, (a, b, c for morning, lunch time and evening respectively), which he imported from his trip to Asia and ingested 3 times a day against stress. We have analyzed these 3 NHPs and found: 45 μg/g, 53,000 μg/g and 28 μg/g lead (for morning, midday and evening globules, respectively) and additionally 15.72 μg/g mercury in the “evening globules”. Since, his blood metal levels were: 340 μg/L Pb and 15 μg/L Hg a diagnosis of heavy metal intoxication was made. Slowly occurring clinical recovery after starting chelation therapy corroborated with the causal assumption proposed. He was released for further consultancy to his family physician. The administrated treatment and the improvement of his status corroborate lead and mercury intoxication.
The researchers finish their paper with this stark warning: In many countries, even in Germany, no comprehensive nutria vigilance- or poisoning monitoring system exists, from which the application of natural health products and the consequent intoxication can be estimated. There is also an urgent need for comprehensive scientifically evaluated studies based on efficient national monitoring to protect the consumer from heavy metal intoxications. There are no comparable surveillance systems like the US ABLES program for lead- and no surveillance systems for mercury exposures allowing any comparisons. Exposure to lead and mercury from environmental sources remains an overlooked and serious public health risk.
