A number of inspirations and experiences have lead me to the point where I wished to start this blog. I have an active interest in the skills of critical thinking and critical appraisal in published medical research and scientific literature. Given the name of this blog it should be obvious to many that one of my major inspirations is Dr Ben Goldacre's http://www.badscience.net. But I also have to credit the brilliant http://www.theskepticsguide.org/, http://huntinghumbug101.podbean.com/ and http://www.skepticzone.tv/ amongst other sources.
10:23 Boots Homeopathy Campaign
Sat, Jan 30 2010 09:25
Following on from the excellent open letter to Boots from the Merseyside Skeptics there is a national campaign running today to shame Boots into doing the right thing.Approximately 300 people around the country are taking part in a group homeopathic 'overdose' using 30C preparations of arsenic, nux vomica etc. Of course as this is a homeopathic preparation at 30C there are no actual molecules of the
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Boots BS Baffles Brains - Excellent Open Letter from Merseyside Skeptics Society
Thu, Nov 26 2009 10:36
| Pseudo Science, Evidence
An Open Letter to Alliance Boots
The Boots brand is synonymous with health care in the United Kingdom. Your website speaks proudly about your role as a health care provider and your commitment to deliver exceptional patient care. For many people, you are their first resource for medical advice; and their chosen dispensary for prescription and non-prescription medicines. The British public trusts Boots.
However, in evidence given recently to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, you admitted that you do not believe homeopathy to be efficacious. Despite this, homeopathic products are offered for sale in Boots pharmacies – many of them bearing the trusted Boots brand.
The Boots brand is synonymous with health care in the United Kingdom. Your website speaks proudly about your role as a health care provider and your commitment to deliver exceptional patient care. For many people, you are their first resource for medical advice; and their chosen dispensary for prescription and non-prescription medicines. The British public trusts Boots.
However, in evidence given recently to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, you admitted that you do not believe homeopathy to be efficacious. Despite this, homeopathic products are offered for sale in Boots pharmacies – many of them bearing the trusted Boots brand.
Busy Skeptical Times
Sadly I have been spending far too much time preparing my talk for the British Tinnitus Association's conference and far too little time blogging. Hopefully all the work won't be in vain. I'm planning posts on Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, Acupuncture and food supplements.
As an interesting side note I purchased a pair of Biosun Hopi ear candles to demonstrate during my talk. I tried one out at home, not in an ear but a jar of spare change. I have to say it gave off a pleasant scent while burning but the 'filter' inside it was a surprise. It was a plastic tube with a simple cross of plastic on the centre which seemed completely insufficient to block a ball of burning wax.
As an interesting side note I purchased a pair of Biosun Hopi ear candles to demonstrate during my talk. I tried one out at home, not in an ear but a jar of spare change. I have to say it gave off a pleasant scent while burning but the 'filter' inside it was a surprise. It was a plastic tube with a simple cross of plastic on the centre which seemed completely insufficient to block a ball of burning wax.
Simon Singh's Original Article on Chiropracty
Tue, Aug 11 2009 02:42
| Simon Singh, Bad Science, Chiropracty
NB. This article has had the offending section removed so please don't come sniffing around my door BCA, you'll find the coffers are already empty
Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results – and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.
You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that “99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae”. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.
Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results – and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.
You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that “99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae”. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.
Critical Thinking in Healthcare - Why Does it Matter?
Tue, Jul 7 2009 09:01
| Critical Thinking, Pseudo Science, Science, Evidence
There are a wide variety of treatments for every condition known to humanity. Some treatments have a solid research evidence base which demonstrates their safety and effectiveness, others do not. Very often personal anecdotes and testimonies are also used to demonstrate the worth of a given intervention. Does it matter whether you choose to buy into a rigorous scientific methodology or prefer to believe in a more natural approach, and if so why?
Comments (5)
Low Level Laser Therapy
Mon, Jun 15 2009 01:34
| Evidence, Treatments, LLLT
A useful guideline to bear in mind when looking at possible treatments might go something like - The relationship between likely benefit of a given treatment is inversely proportional to the number of illnesses it purports to treat. To put it another way if snake oil can cure anything then why do we take Aspirin?
That is a slightly unfair comparison to use with Low Level Laser Therapy (Cold Laser Therapy, Photobiomodulation, Transmeatal Cochlear Laser or Laser Biostimulation), however the claims that are often very strongly made for the use of LLLT in Tinnitus are probably in need of some of the 'Cold light of reality' shining upon them. Whilst a treatment for one illness may be very effective, it is unsafe to assume that the same treatment will be equally effective in a completely different illness. And yet that is what is suggested in the case of LLLT, a treatment whose main indicators are in soft tissue injury, chronic pain and wound care is now being suggested as a 'cure' for Tinnitus.
That is a slightly unfair comparison to use with Low Level Laser Therapy (Cold Laser Therapy, Photobiomodulation, Transmeatal Cochlear Laser or Laser Biostimulation), however the claims that are often very strongly made for the use of LLLT in Tinnitus are probably in need of some of the 'Cold light of reality' shining upon them. Whilst a treatment for one illness may be very effective, it is unsafe to assume that the same treatment will be equally effective in a completely different illness. And yet that is what is suggested in the case of LLLT, a treatment whose main indicators are in soft tissue injury, chronic pain and wound care is now being suggested as a 'cure' for Tinnitus.
'Hopi' Ear Candles
Mon, May 25 2009 08:26
| Ear Candles, Evidence, Treatments
The claims made for ‘Hopi’ ear candles are as varied, if not more so than the names for the treatment itself. It is often somewhat oddly described as Thermo-Auricular Therapy (TAT), which implies an application of heat to the ear, strangely this is one of the few mechanisms of action that is seldom if ever claimed. ‘Ear Candling’ and ‘Ear Coning’ are two other commonly used terms for this intervention. The candles themselves are usually made of muslin cloth or linen soaked in a mixture of paraffin and beeswax, often with a mixture of herbs and aromatic oils.
Why BadTinnitus.net?
Wed, May 20 2009 08:56
| Introduction
I am an NHS Chief Audiologist and Hearing Therapist who has a special interest in Tinnitus as a condition, and how to best manage it with and for my patients. I have been working in the NHS from January 1993 as an Audiologist and dual qualified as a Hearing Therapist in 2004. A few months ago I was asked to speak at this years British Tinnitus Association Conference. I couldn't think of anything I wished to discuss more than the degree to which people with Tinnitus are persuaded to part with significant amounts of their time and money by people offering unlikely, implausible and miracle 'secret cures'. I feel it's very important that interventions ought to have a plausible mechanism supported by a strong and developing evidence base, and that people who feel they are suffering from Tinnitus should not have that suffering unnecessarily prolonged by ill-evidenced and exploitative 'cures'.
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