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Posts Tagged natural health remedies

Immunisation Awareness Society followers – what the new page rules show Grant Jacobs Jan 14

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On the rare occasions that I have written about vaccine ‘concern’ groups, my interests have been with the accuracy of their claims and how readers who are uncertain about the science can recognise inaccurate claims.

A related element is if the source is trustworthy.

Sometimes this is easier to deal with as you don’t need to grapple with the details of the science, but simply understand the group’s actions and aims.

My aim is to alert readers of the IAS what the ‘page rules’ in the end of the IAS Facebook ‘About’ page are setting out to do and why these rules show the IAS is not worth your trust.[1]

Realistically this article will probably be mostly read by my usual readers, but hopefully a few who have read the IAS page will consider what I have to offer. Don’t feel shy about writing and offering your thoughts. (Politely, of course!)

The thoughts offered below equally apply to other forums.

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Dear journalists and editors, (again) Grant Jacobs Nov 14

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Some time ago I wrote to you over your advocating unsound treatments in reporting fund-raising efforts.

I now find myself writing again on much the same issue, this time regards your advocating unsound services. The issues are so similar I find myself drawing on my earlier words.

Please, when you decide to ‘advocate’ for a service, check that it is sound.

Articles about services offering hope of treating illness no doubt sell copy, but with that comes responsibility.

These articles, with their details of how to contact the service provider at the bottom, effectively advocate the service to the reader.

Sure, you could argue whether the treatment is sound is for the reader to judge before giving them their money – but wouldn’t that be newspapers shirking their moral responsibilities?

If you put down details of the service in the article you’re effectively putting your weight behind it.

Editors, like most people, will be aware that articles in the press carry some weight of creditability, rightly or wrongly. There will be an expectation among many that the media has checked ‘the facts’.[1]

It seems to me either that this checking should done, and done properly, or the advocacy dropped.

My brief missive here follows from an article espousing the services of an iridologist published yesterday in the New Zealand Herald that was brought to my attention by my colleagues.[2]

Even the briefest of background research would have revealed that iridology is nonsense. Quaint, well-meaning nonsense, perhaps, but nonsense nevertheless.

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Guest post: Ruth and her cancer Grant Jacobs Oct 11

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Once in a long time I feel a comment, such as this written by Terry Given at Respectful Insolence, is worth offering to a wider audience. Minor edits, including using full names, were at Terry’s request.

My wife Ruth Given (neé Skelly) died on 23SEP2012, one week after our 6th anniversary and 5 weeks before her 46th birthday, of lymphangitis carcinomatosis. New Years eve 2008/2009 we found a lump in her breast. two days later we had it checked out at our GP – yep, it was a lump. the GP booked an emergency mammogram and told us the appointment would arrive in the mail shortly. Ruth was a Nurse and I’m an engineer. we figured that unlike fine wine this wouldn’t improve with time, so on the monday I took Ruth to a private breast clinic and had a mammogram. The next day we got the bad news – DCIS, a 65mm tumour in the L breast and a small lump in the R breast. we scheduled a mastectomy immediately, and argued the surgeon into a double. Ruth had both breasts removed on the thursday, and we found that the R breast was also cancerous. Fifty grand well spent.

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What kind of vegetable or fruit describes this NZ Herald article? Grant Jacobs Sep 17

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(Occasionally I just have to point out silly nonsense…)

Being such a short piece, I hope the NZ Herald can forgive my quoting most of the body of Top five: Foods matched to your body in full, which advises that readers should “Match foods to parts of the body for optimum health benefits”, going on to suggest:

1. Healthy Bones: Bony-looking foods such as rhubarb, rich in vitamin K, and celery, rich in silicon, are both good for bones and healthy joints.

2. Heart to Heart: Tomatoes have four chambers and are red, just like the heart and they are proven to reduce the risks of heart disease. Unlike many other fruits and vegetables, they are even better for you when cooked.

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Shaun Holt on iridologist Ruth Nelson’s treatment of cancer patient Yvonne Maine Grant Jacobs Sep 06

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Wellington professor of medicine, Shaun Holt, recently spoke to Radio Live about the Health and Disability’s Commissioner’s report into iridologist Ruth Nelson’s treatment of cancer patient Yvonne Maine:

YouTube Preview Image

One of the topic he raises is what might be done to avoid these cases from arising. Dr. Swee Tan, the surgeon who treated Mrs Main, suggested a registration scheme. I had mixed feelings at that:

My own thoughts, as a non-medical person-on-the-street, are that in one sense registration might legitimise the more moderate use of ’remedies’ like iridology, which grates given that many, if not most, of these remedies are nonsense under any use, but on the other hand registration offers some control over the worst extremes of misuse by obligating practitioners to adhere to guidelines.

Shaun felt there was no sense in registering practices that don’t work, comparing it to registering psychics. Instead he felt that the law should be used where practitioners make fraudulent claims or harm someone, including contributing to someone’s death.

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Iridologist’s treatment of cancer criticised by Health and Disability Commissioner Grant Jacobs Sep 03

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Today the TVOne website hosts a damning summary of a Health and Disability Commisioner’s report on an iridologist who,

… recognised from the beginning that the lesion “looked cancerous” and that it was beyond her ability to treat, the HDC said.

Despite that, the provider treated the lesion for 18 months.

TVOne goes on to write,

Despite being aware the lesion was likely to be cancerous, the provider did not inform the woman of her opinions about the severity of the woman’s condition or that the lesion was worsening during the course of the treatment, the HDC said.

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Bad science: baking soda, fungi, cancer, nuclear fallout, rosacea Grant Jacobs Sep 02

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Partly because it’s the weekend, partly because the NZ Skeptics conference is on, I wander through some examples where critical reasoning was absent.[1]

According this blurb for the second edition of the Sodium Bicarbonate e-book, baking soda is the cure-all. Titled Sodium Bicarbonate – Rich Man’s Poor Man’s Cancer Treatment, by Mark Sircus, merely fixing cancer was not enough for the second edition:

“The main thrust of the first edition was on the use of sodium bicarbonate for cancer treatment. This vastly expanded second edition extends coverage into important areas of kidney disease, diabetes, treatment of flu and the common cold, and other areas of general medicine. Truly sodium bicarbonate is a universal medicine that is nutritional as well as safe and is of help no matter what syndrome we are facing.”

Yes, that right, baking soda is the cure to end them all![2]

They’ve even recommend it for use to weather “the toxic [oil slick] storm that continues to build over the Gulf region.” (Clarification in square brackets mine.)

The blurb writes “This authoritative volume is the only full medical review available on the subject.” I’m not surprised, although not for the reason the author would like. I’d quibble at their use of the word ‘medical’, too.

I’ll let you entertain yourself with—as the blurb puts it—The Mightly Mallet of Baking Soda. You might also want to read the respectfully insolent case on this.

I found the book’s advertising blurb via a web forum, Beyond Vaccination, sidetracking while following leads on New Zealander Hilary Butler’s involvement with the Renatas after the death of their daughter, Jasmine - the subject of a recent coroner’s inquiry.[3] Hilary is also the founder of the anti-vaccine Immune Awareness Society. (This forum is also linked from Peter and Hilary Butler’s website Beyond Conformity: “We alse run an Oceania FORUM,BEYOND VACCINATION, where you will find more information, and people to talk to.”)

At Beyond Vaccination member ‘Barefoot’ posted a link to the book’s blurb titled ‘Knock out the Flu with Baking Soda’. That post was edited by Hilary Butler (aka ‘Momtezuma Tuatara’[4]).

Did she correct the forum member of the bad science on offer? No.

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Campbell Live on influenza vaccines Grant Jacobs Apr 19

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Last night local current affairs program Campbell Live ran a story comparing two staff members and their decision to vaccinate or not, ’of course’ choosing one ‘for’ and one ‘against’ for balance.

You can view the footage* and read the comments they quoted and subsequent comments on-line. (To get back to the quoted comments from the video footage, you’ll need to keep pressing ‘View previous comments’ until you’ve got them all displayed – there’s a few hundred of them now!)

Overall the story seems well done. We’ve discussed communication of vaccine issues before here – what do think of Doctor Cameron‘s efforts?

Here’s what Aspiring Health, from twitter, thinks: ’Seriously Dr Cameron on @CampbellLiveNZ is the jolliest GP ever!’ He certainly presents with gusto and exudes bonhomie. Personally, I think he did an excellent job.

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“We’re so used to getting a prescription that’s it’s surprising when we don’t” Grant Jacobs Mar 09

38 Comments

Earlier in the year, in a discussion about those with illness that medicine cannot offer a treatment for, a commenter, Lynley Hood, offered the long and thoughtful comment copied below. I’m bringing it up as a guest post of sorts as I feel it deserves to be more widely read. You’ll want to read it to the end, it’s the final answer that I think raises something worth thinking about.

(Update: This is not about azoor. Replace azoor with any illness that has no accepted treatment. Consider a parent of a child being treating for cancer whose oncologist has told them they cannot do more for their child. Consider, even, something mild like a common cold.)

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Talking points: endless genomes and microbes, natural products industry, drunk animals, earthquake waves Grant Jacobs Mar 05

4 Comments

For a little light relief, a short collection of talking points that I wrote some time ago but for some reason never published. (I’ve no idea why.)

More genomes than you can shake a stick at

This summary of a news report from Science headlines how BGI aims to dominate the world of genome sequencing, including setting up centres outside of China and plans to sequence a million human genomes. Not to mention a million plant and animal genomes and a million microbial genomes. (The full report is subscription-only.)

More microbes that you might think

Food for thought via twitter:

Sandra Porter @digitalbio

Uncultured microbe session #AAASmtg There are more [oceanic] microbes than stars in known universe.

When animals binge.[1a] Not something you see everyday: an elk stuck up a tree. Admittedly not very far up a tree. It’s not so much that this elk has climbed the tree, so much as drunkenly tangled itself up in it. Some of the comments are entertaining too: Read the rest of this entry »

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