Resource on Alternative Medicine

This page is intended as a resource on alternative medicine, basically a dump of links. It’s continually under construction, and was begun near the beginning of 2006. So its length will probably correlate directly to the amount of time since then.

I include links both endorsing and skeptical of alternative medicine. Most sites focus on one particular aspect, such as homeopathy or acupuncture. Mostly this is for my own benefit, but if you make use of this, more power to you. Please note that inclusion of a link here should not be construed to be an endorsement of a site or a point of view.

One final word. If you use this resource, you and you alone are responsible for applying any information you may find. I don’t give medical advice, and while I do know a few things about medicine, I am not a medical doctor by training, nor do I recommend or oppose any particular treatment modality for your situation. Please consult your healthcare practitioner for treatment of any specific condition. Use common sense, and inform yourself.

Finally, this page is continually under construction. It was last updated Jan 21, 2007.

Contents

* General Alternative Medicine
* Homeopathy
* Osteopathy
* Chelation
* Acupuncture
* Meditation
* Yoga
* Famous Doctors
* Skepticism and Pseudoskepticism
* Skepticism of skeptics
* Kevin Trudeau and Natural Cures

General Alternative Medicine (neutral sites, or sites presenting both sides)

* National Library of Medicine (general medicine resource, contains PubMed and MedlinePlus)
NCCAM:http://nccam.nih.gov
Altmedconsult. I am finding this page to be a good resource for studies on herbal supplements, though he had to stop posting as of 5/10/04 because of apparent conflict of interest. These pages belong to Dr. Steven Bratman, an expert and author of several books on herbal supplements and alternative remedies, who also supports double-blind studies on the subject.
Alt Med Resource”:http://www.altmedresource.com/. More up to date resource on academic studies of alternative medicine.
My alternative medicine category
The FDA’s page of qualified health claims. Qualified health claims are marketing claims, enforced by the FDA, that are based on clinical studies. For example, several studies support supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids for cutting coronary artery disease risk. Also on this page are topics such as green tea, lycopene, and various vitamins.
21 CFR Part 101 – Regulations on what claims can be made without prior FDA approval, important for the dietary supplement industry!
Jigsaw Health and blog (Pat Sullivan encourages use of both alternative and conventional medical resources, especially on chronic illness issues)
David Gumpert”:http://www.davidgumpert.com and his blog The Complete Patient. David’s BusinessWeek.com columns deal with the business of healthcare, and his blog entries provide an insightful look at the chaotic nexus where healthcare, government, and business all meet.
Mark Schauss”:http://www.markschauss.com/, founder of Carbon Based Corporation, discusses healthcare related items.

Homeopathy

• PubMed search
• NCCAM’s page on homeopathy
• FDA Consumer Magazine, Dec. 1996
• Water memory (homeopathy relies on the idea that water has a “memory”)
• BBC’s investigation of homeopathy (fairly neutral to somewhat against)
• HPathy
• HPathy’s response to Lancet article declaring end of homeopathy
• Another response to Lancet article

Osteopathy

• PubMed search

Chelation

Note: a chelation therapy (Ca disodium EDTA) seems to be approved by the FDA for “heavy metal intoxication,” (e.g. lead and mercury) diagnosed through blood tests. However, some doctors claim that chelation can be used to treat some neurological or developmental disorders, such as the autism spectrum disorders, which they hypothesize are related to heavy metal poisoning.

• Dr. Rashid Buttar Update 3/5/06: Dr. Buttar’s site is up and running, and contains some videos about chelation, including some news stories. Also included is the following:

Be careful of believing everything you hear or read. Don’t take anyone’s word when it comes to your own health. You are ultimately responsible and if you take the wrong advice, the consequences can be serious. Don’t take anything even I say at face value. Do your own homework and come up with your own logical conclusion.

Wise advice indeed when it comes to any health issue.

Acupuncture

• Random John Reloaded search
• PubMed search
• Acupuncture may deactivate some areas of the brain
• Discover Magazine article from Sept 1998 – describes PET scans in subjects who had acupuncture

Meditation

• Random John Reloaded search
• NCCAM page on body-mind
• Article in Time magazine (now premium)

Yoga

• Random John Reloaded search
• Random John Reloaded category
• PubMed search
• Yoga basics (much content available by subscription, but news is available for free)
• Yoga Journal
• A recent WebMD article shows that a yoga and meditation routine leads to improvement in heart-disease risk factors and blood pressure

Ayurveda

• PubMed search
• NCCAM page on ayurveda

Famous Doctors

• Dr. Andrew Weil
• Dr. Joseph Mercola
• Dr. Jeff Bradstreet
• Dr. Rashid Buttar
• Dr. Deepak Chopra

(pseudo)Skepticism

• Blogs
  • Orac Knows now at ScienceBlogs
  • Prometheus
• Sites related to Dr. Stephen Barrett (known vigilant foe of alternative medicine)
  • Quackwatch
  • Homeowatch
  • Naturowatch
  • National Council Against Health Fraud
  • Many others exist as well, and I’m not going to list them all. I think he has about 27 websites all dedicated to bashing chiropractors, naturopaths, and other practitioners of alternative medicine.
• Others
  • Skeptic’s Dictionary (the site’s intent is to provide a skeptical point of view of mysticism, religion, the paranormal, and so forth but has many entries on alternative medicine)
  • In Aug 2005, the British medical journal The Lancet published an article on a meta-analysis and accompanying editorial declaring “The End of Homeopathy.” A link to this article or a summary will be posted when one is found.

Skepticism of (pseudo)skeptics

• Who watches the quackwatchers?
• Websites related to Tim Bolen, consumer health advocate who has been tracking Stephen Barrett and his “quackbusters”
  • Quackpotwatch (the site exists, but as of mid Feb 2005 its accessibility was spotty)
  • NA against health fraud
  • Bolen report
• Articles about pseudoskepticism (i.e. assuming that an issue has been settled in the negative while claiming skepticism)
  • Wikipedia article
  • Alternative Science – skeptical look at scientific discovery by journalist Richard Milton. I think this site is worth looking at, because it examines the process of scientific discovery. I don’t agree with everything he’s said or all of his positions, however.
  • Suppressed Science’s page on pseudoskepticism. I should note that especially in this case, a link is not an endorsement. These guys propose some ideas that are pretty shaky, especially their alternative to the HIV retrovirus theory of AIDS. However, they do describe pseudoskeptical arguments.
  • Debunking pseudoskeptical arguments by Winston Wu. (Note I had to use the internet archive for this link; the original geocities link seems to be perpetually down due to bandwidth or something else.) I don’t know Winston Wu, but the page has a good description of a lot of pseudoskeptical arguments.
  • On Pseudoskepticism by Marcello Truzzi, founder of CSICOP and well-known for his defense of skepticism against pseudoskeptical arguments (and, unfortunately, lost CSICOP to the pseudoskeptics).
  • Closeminded Science by Bill Beatty with lots of links about pseudoskepticism, pathological skepticism, and the arguments that pseudoskeptics make
  • My own entries

So, why do I focus here on pseudoskepticism? Because unlike honest skepticism, pseudoskepticism closes the door to learning and discovery. Most of the pages described here talk about a “debate closed” mentality. Skepticism, on the other hand, leaves the door open until evidence is pretty much overwhelming, and even then it is possible that the theory as it shakes out isn’t the proper explanation. In other words, there is always room for questioning, learning, and improvement. For example, the evidence for the HIV theory of AIDS is pretty overwhelming at this point (despite the assertions of suppressedscience.net), but it is possible that another explanation is the truth. If/when we find out what that explanation is, we can apply it to the AIDS issue.

Kevin Trudeau and Natural Cures

In my opinion, this guy represents the worst of alternative medicine. In most cases, he doesn’t advocate alternative medicine, but alternative to medicine. Or, even worse, alternative to health. In any case, don’t give the guy your money. Flee from him!

• Natural Cures website – double-u double-u double-u dot naturalcures dot concom (No, I’m not going to give him a link. If you’re that curious, type it into your browser’s address field.)
• My blog entry
• ABC News investigation (Yeah, they cite quackwatch here, but in this case, I agree with Barrett. Unfortunately, Barrett casts his net far too wide, choosing to go after all practitioners of alternative medicine, at least if he think he has a chance of getting money or notoriety.)