Help Stamp Out Quackery PSA

[HuckleB]

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/08/help-stamp-out-quackery-1950s/

Video of the week.

:)

[xchrom]

1. ...

:spray:

[dtexdem]

2. And on that note, there's this:

http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2009/07/homeopathic_emergency_room.php

[ThatPoetGuy]

3. Recently I went to the dentist, and they plugged my gums with goo.

I came home and googled the goo, only to find that there has never been real study of its effectiveness in gums. There have been studies of its effectiveness as an antibiotic when swallowed or injected, but no studies of its use in gums.

The largest-scale studies have shown that physical therapy doesn't help at all, like this from the New England Journal of Medicine: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/339/15/1021

And yet, when I see "skeptics" rail against "quackery," they only seem concerned with the frou-frou side of medicine. "Skeptics" never seem to care one bit about non-evidence-based procedures unless the practitioners are wearing hippie shirts.

Where do you stand, HuckleB? Does it matter to you that dentists, like mine, make use of medicine that has no evidence for it? Does it matter that hospitals and doctors constantly refer patients to physical therapy, which has been proven ineffective?

Or are these procedures hunky-dory with you, because they don't burn incense?

[laconicsax]

4. The study you're citing doesn't say what you say it does.

It says that PT and Chiropractic are roughly equivalent to educational booklets when it comes to treating low-back pain and whether benefits are worth it is open to discussion.

It doesn't say that PT "doesn't help at all." Misrepresenting studies doesn't help your case.

[HuckleB]

5. That's quite a load of hogwash you've offered there.

If you're dentist is using things that have no basis or benefit to offer, then you should be talking to your dentist.

Further, you've clearly chosen to ignore that skeptics criticize the full sprectrum of health care providers when criticism is warranted. In other words, your post derives from a dishonest standpoint.

As for physical therapists (first of all, a single does not justify the claim you made, and your claim, as already noted, isn't even supported by the study), there are many problems with PT, and many unproven techniques for specific conditions. On the other hand, physical therapists and the doctors who prescribe therapy tend to inform their patients of the pros and cons, and of the evidence base that exists or doesn't exist for said treatment.

That may not justify using PT, but that is a world of difference from what acupuncturists, naturopaths and chiropractors do.

Now, perhaps you can explain why you can't see the difference.