complementary medicine

In the BMJ there has been an interesting discussion on the merits of CAM, with rational scientists like David Colqhoun leading the fight (but getting voted down for doing so) http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e1075?tab=responses Responses are in inverse posing order.

I hear that Offit is planning a new book on alternative medicine.... Quite a lot to bite off imo, considering how his field of expertise is in vaccines/pediatrics primarily. I think one of the best books was Rose Shapiro's "Suckers" - "How alternative medicine makes fools of us all"

I took a look at this thread about salt lamps... http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161585 but I have a particular issue with salt caves that was only briefly mentioned. Our local skeptics group just had an exchange with the person who brought a new Himalayan salt...

Mark Crislip has written a piece over at the Science Based Medicine blog where he makes a case for establishing a secondary airline industry based on the principles of "Alternative Flight": It's a very entertaining read, and it shows why the proponents of complementary and alternative medicine...

On Friday, December 7 Ontario Skeptics is holding a Public Meeting; the first in a series of presentations on the topic of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Professor Michael De Robertis will speak on homeopathy, and award-winning journalists Paul Benedetti and Wayne MacPhail will speak...

Hello, everyone -- For those who don't know, I'm just over 6 months pregnant. Jackalpup should be coming along in August. I'm curious as to whether any of you folks out there have run into various unsupported ideas -- whether it be "old wives' tales" or other kinds of superstitions -- and...

Today in the travel section the Washington Post has a wide-eyed article written by somebody who visited a local "wellness spa." While that irks me, if somebody wants to pay to get some dubious massage, and crow about how relaxed they feel, I can't complain too much (yes, I can complain some)...

This article in today's Daily Mail will probably stir up the woos a bit. Quite well balanced for the Mail.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5007118.stm Does anyone have a link or other access to the full text? I'd like to forward a copy to the RCVS today as well as just framing it to put it on the wall.

Complementary medicine practioners guilty of "serious professional misconduct" At last the GMC is taking its responsibilities seriously. Full article here

Once more, the woo-woos have seduced another victim. Actress (or must I say actor in these PC times?) Sylvia Millecam has died of breast cancer, having been traeted by a total of 26 alternative practitioners and refusing medical treatment. Quote: Her general practitioner had first identified a...