Category: Traditional Chinese Medicine

A Misguided Study to Test the Reliability of Traditional Chinese Medicine Pulse Diagnosis

Pulse diagnosis and tongue diagnosis are widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. They are based on imagination, not on anatomical and physiologic reality.

/ December 26, 2017

CAM use leads to delays in appropriate, effective arthritis therapy

A preference to use CAM before seeking medical advice may be harming patients with inflammatory arthritis.

/ November 16, 2017

Liver cancer, naturally

Aristolochic acid, a highly toxic substance naturally found in some traditional herbal medicines, may be a significant cause of liver cancer.

/ November 2, 2017

Facial Cupping: A Kinder, Gentler, Sillier Kind of Cupping

A new cupping fad using silicone devices is gentler than traditional cupping, but even sillier. There is no evidence of health benefits.

/ October 31, 2017

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine): New Developments

Evidence for the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine is scanty, unconvincing, and often fraudulent. China is seeing a resurgence of TCM, even teaching it to children. But in Australia, restrictions are being placed on misleading advertising.

/ September 26, 2017
Acupuncture

Cries the acupuncturist, “Medicine is biased against us, and there’s a double standard!”

A recent article in Popular Science argues that medicine has a bias against acupuncture, holding it to a higher standard of evidence than conventional medical interventions. Even if there is a double standard, the answer is not to recommend acupuncture, but rather to stop recommending medical procedures that don't work.

/ May 8, 2017

Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 05/07/2017.

Death from alternative medicine impersonators. An acupuncture study done so acupuncturists can get insurance money? A chiropractor has to refund the feds one million dollars. And more.

/ May 7, 2017

Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/30/2017

Stroke from chiropractic. Measles in Minnesota. Fraudulent methodologies? How do your remove homeopathy from a product? Acuwhatever. And more.

/ April 30, 2017

Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/16/2017

Mumps cases, like infected parotids, swell. Doctors win with false news?!? More acupuncture studies not recognized as negative. Paying for pseudo-medicine in Vermont. Your consciousness is in your organs. And more.

/ April 16, 2017

Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/09/2017

The NECSS is coming. Acupuncturists mimic chiropractic. Flu vaccine prevents death. In the UK they care more for cats than people. The problem is my middle burner, not too many burgers. And more.

/ April 9, 2017