Month: January 2013

Support Cancer Research and Own a Piece of the SkepDoc’s Handiwork

I donated a knit afghan to the auction by Skeptics for the Protection of Cancer Patients. I made it myself. Proceeds go to cancer research in the name of Stanislaw Burzynski as a birthday present to publicize his many misdeeds against cancer patients.  It’s warm and cuddly. Please consider bidding to reward my MANY hours of work and support cancer research.  You...

/ January 21, 2013

The antivaccine movement and “autism biomed” versus “outgrowing” autism

A commonly misunderstood aspect of autism and autism spectrum disorders (particularly by antivaccinationists and believers in the quackery known as “autism biomed”) is that autism is not a condition of developmental stasis. It is a condition of developmental delay. Autistic children can and do exhibit improvement in their symptoms simply through growth and development. However, parents who subject their children to “autism...

/ January 21, 2013

Houstoncancerquack.com Campaign Aims to Shame Burzynski While Raising Money for Legitimate Cancer Research

David Gorski already mentioned this on Monday,  but Burzynski’s birthday is rapidly approaching (January 23rd) and I want to encourage our readers to donate to the Burzynski birthday campaign. Burzynski’s misdeeds are highlighted by the stories on the website The OTHER Burzynski Patient Group   If you haven’t already visited that site and read some of the stories, please do. 26 patient...

/ January 18, 2013

Systematic Review claims acupuncture as effective as antidepressants: Part 1: Checking the past literature

A recent systematic review in PLOS One raised the question whether acupuncture and other alternative therapies are as effective as antidepressants and psychotherapy for depression. The authors concluded  differences were not seen with psychotherapy compared to antidepressants, alternative therapies [and notably acupuncture] or active intervention controls or put it differently, antidepressants alone and psychotherapy alone are not significantly different from alternative therapies...

/ January 18, 2013

Naturopaths push for licensing in Massachusetts (again)

I have some good news and some bad news about a Massachusetts naturopathy practitioner licensing bill. First the bad news: the bill passed both the Massachusetts House and Senate in December of last year. Now, I am certainly no expert in the arcane workings of the Massachusetts legislature, but after doing a bit of research I’ve come to wonder if the way the...

/ January 17, 2013

The Placebo Narrative

Science journalist Sharon Begley wrote a recent piece in The Saturday Evening Post about Placebo Power. The piece, while generally better than the typical popular writing on placebos, still falls into the standard placebo narrative that is ubiquitous in the mainstream media. The article is virtually identical to a dozen other articles I have read on placebo effects in the popular press,...

/ January 16, 2013

Nonsense about the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation

There is a widespread belief that low energy electromagnetic radiation fields can cause a wide variety of health issues. Fortunately, there is no convincing evidence that such fears are warranted.

/ January 15, 2013

Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski’s antineoplastons versus patients

Prelude: Doin’ the Antineoplaston Boogaloo with Eric Merola and Stanislaw Burzynski In December I noted that Eric Merola, the “film maker” (and, given the quality of his work, I do use that term loosely) who was responsible for a movie that was such blatant propaganda that it would make Leni Riefenstahl blush were she still alive (Burzynski The Movie: Cancer Is Serious...

/ January 14, 2013

SCAMlandia. CAM in Oregon.

I quite like Portlandia. I find it funny and it captures a part of Portland. I recognize large swaths of the city’s culture in the show. Other representations of the city I recognize less. Sunset publishes beautiful photographs of the NW, but when I look at the photos I think, that section of the city never looks that good. It is quite...

/ January 11, 2013

The Shred Diet: A Minimally Kooky Way To Lose Weight

With New Years’ weight loss resolutions freshly made, let’s take a science-based look at another of the latest diet books being promoted by various public relations agencies. In my last post we explored the claims made by the hysterical Eat To Save Your Life authors in their book featuring a demonic cheeseburger on its cover jacket. Today I will review, Shred: The...

/ January 11, 2013