Tag: Linus Pauling

The return of the revenge of high dose vitamin C for cancer

Vitamin C is back in the news as a cancer cure. Is it? No, no it is not.

/ February 10, 2014

“Alternative” cancer cures in 1979: How little things have changed

When it comes to quackery, the decades and names change, but the song remains the same, as it has since the era of disco and earlier.

/ April 29, 2013

On the “individualization” of treatments in “alternative medicine,” revisited

As I contemplated what I’d like to write about for the first post of 2012, I happened to come across a post by former regular and now occasional SBM contributor Peter Lipson entitled Another crack at medical cranks. In it, Dr. Lipson discusses one characteristic that allows medical cranks and quacks to attract patients, namely the ability to make patients feel wanted,...

/ January 2, 2012

High dose vitamin C and cancer: Has Linus Pauling been vindicated?

Treating cancer with high-doses of vitamin C is a zombie idea that began with Linus Pauling, and has failed to die ever since. But has new research vindicated this idea? No. No in any meaningful way. This work is the very definition of a long run for a short slide.

/ August 18, 2008