Laughter can combat trauma. Spiritual cleansings could be used to fight an opioid addiction. Cactus extract may battle diabetes and obesity.

These insights are from curanderismo traditional Native American healing from the American Southwest and Latin America.

University of New Mexico professor Eliseo "Cheo" Torres' has included these thoughts in a new, unique textbook connected to his internationally-known annual course on curanderismo.

"Curanderismo: The Art of Traditional Medicine Without Borders," released last week, coincides with Torres' annual gathering of curandero students and healers around the world at the University of New Mexico. For nearly 20 years, healers and their students have come to Albuquerque to meet and exchange ideas on traditional healing that for many years were often ignored and ridiculed.

Torres, who Is also the university's vice president for student affairs, said the popularity of the annual course and a similar online class he teaches convinced him that there needed to be a textbook on curanderismo.

"This textbook came out of the experience of this class and the ideas that have been shared through the years," Torres said during a special morning ceremony with Aztec dancers on campus. "From healers in Mexico to those in Africa, many have long traditions of healing that are being rediscovered by a new generation."

Curanderismo is the art of using traditional healing methods like herbs and plants to treat various ailments. Long practiced in Native American villages of Mexico and other parts of Latin America, curanderos also are found in New Mexico, south Texas, Arizona and California.

Anthropologists believe curanderismo remained popular among poor Latinos because they didn't have access to health care. But they say the field is gaining traction among those who seek to use alternative medicine.

"I believe people are disenchanted with our health system," Torres said. "Some people can't afford it now, and they are looking for other ways to empower themselves to heal."

The textbook gives a survey of medicinal plants used to help digestive systems and how healers draw in laugh therapy to cope with traumatic experiences.

Ricardo Carrillo, a licensed psychologist and a healer based in Oakland, California, said he's seeing younger people look to curanderismo to help with challenges like addiction and physical pain.

"Yes, you have to go through detox and do all that you are supposed to do to get yourself clean," said Carrillo, who came to the Albuquerque workshop to speak. "Curanderismo can give you the spiritual tools to keep yourself clean and look to a higher power."

Among the ailments curanderos treat are mal de ojo, or evil eye, and susto, magical fright.

Mal de ojo is the belief that an admiring look or a stare can weaken someone, mainly a child, leading to bad luck, even death.

Susto is a folk illness linked to a frightful experience, such as an automobile accident or tripping over an unseen object. Those who believe they are inflicted with susto say only a curandero can cure them.

Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras

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Native American healing class sparks unique health textbook - ABC News

The President of the Alternative Medicine Association of Ghana (AMAG), Dr Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, has called for the creation of a ministry for traditional and alternative medicine as a measure to mainstream those aspects of healthcare delivery into the country's health system.

He has also urged Parliament to expedite action on the passage of the alternative medicine bill which is currently before the house, saying that would provide the legal backing for the mainstreaming of alternative medicine and ensure best practices by practitioners.

"The fact is that the creation of the ministry for alternative medicine and passage of the alternative medicine bill by Parliament will be a major step that will ensure that there is better regulation and strict enforcement of standards for all practitioners.

"It will also help in the provision of licence and certification for practitioners such that quacks in the system can be weeded out appropriately," he said.

Dr Obu was speaking at the launch of the association as well as the inauguration of its pioneer eight-member national executives in Accra last Saturday.

Standards

Dr Obu further asked for AMAG to be given a slot on the Food and Drugs Board (FDA) to ensure that quality standards in alternative medicine were enhanced.

He observed that quality and accountability were key dimensions of healthcare delivery that could be enhanced if there was better link between orthodox and alternative medicine practice in the country.

"Effective collaboration between players in conventional medicine and alternative medicine will ensure that there is a better and holistic approach to dealing with the dynamics of diseases that confront us, especially the emerging lifestyle diseases," he said.

Diligence

At the launch, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adentan, Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa, asked the executive of AMAG to be ruthless in ensuring that their members adhered to quality and ethical standards in the provision of alternative health care.

"Discipline should be your hallmark as leaders of the association because forming an association is one thing and working for credibility and integrity based on quality standards is another," he stressed.

Mr Asamoa said the time had come for stakeholders in the health sector to start moving towards integrative medicine.

He said that called for collaboration between conventional healthcare providers and alternative medical practitioners.

Continued here:

Create Ministry for traditional, alternative medicine - Association - Graphic Online

TIPP CITY

Dr. Johnna Smith loved her traditional veterinary work but wanted to offer clients something more.

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Painting with your pets

I was finding I was getting frustrated with cases I couldnt help. There wasnt a success rate I would like to have, she said, pointing to older dogs with conditions such as arthritis and kidney disease.

With that in mind and four years of traditional practice behind her, Smith, an Eaton native, decided to pursue alternative medicine for dogs and cats. The graduate of the Ohio State University School of Veterinary Medicine worked toward acupuncture certification taking online courses and traveling to Florida for a year before receiving that certification through The Chi Institute in Reddick, Fla., in 2012.

In 2016 Smith finished a two-year course for additional certification in Chinese Herbal Medicine from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society.

She now practices part time from English Veterinary Service in Tipp City while also offering traditional veterinary care at the Northridge Animal Clinic. She said she hopes to build a full-time practice locally.

Smith met Dr. Martin English and his wife, Jennifer, through the Tipp City Police Department, where her husband, Tony, is an officer. She and English talked about whether her services would fit in Tipp City. A plan for her to work from the office at 1470 W. Main St. quickly evolved.

Smith began offering traditional and alternative medicine Dr. Jos Pet Wellness and Acupuncture from the office in June. English continues to practice in the office where hes been located for 36 years.

The vast majority of Smiths clients have arthritis, back issues and torn ACLs along with allergies and skin conditions.

Acupuncture also can be used in cancer treatment. We cant cure patients, but tell people upfront it can help with quality of life while going through treatment, she said.

The basic focus of acupuncture is blood flow and use of acupuncture points to cause more or less blood flow. Acupuncture points are located across the animals body.

During a June visit, Smith treated a dog whose owners traveled from Miamisburg to continue acupuncture treatment started 18 months ago for allergies.

Sassy, the pet of Doug and Mary Horn, stood quietly as Smith placed 14 acupuncture needles in her body. After around 20 minutes, the needles were removed and the Horns were on their way. Mary Horn said she recommends the treatment. It really works, she said.

The treatment works best when incorporated early and in conjunction with traditional medicine, Smith said.

Most animals take the treatment very well, although each is different, depending on the demeanor and their specific condition. The number and frequency of treatments also varies.

Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com.

Learn more

More info: Contact Dr. Jo Smith by email at JohnnaLSmithDVM@gmail.com or call 937-667-3217.

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Acupuncture for pets? Yes, it's a thing - MyDaytonDailyNews

Gwyneth Paltrows Goop, a lifestyle company dedicated to helping people find health solutions, has become an easy target for medical bloggers and journalists who relish a good takedown.

The pile-on keeps happening because Goop keeps making claims that beg for debunking: from bogus energy healing stickers purported to be made from the same material as spacesuits (theyre not) to the claim that negative emotions can spoil your drinking water (nope) to the never-ending obsession with detoxing the body (which if youre not a heroin addict you dont need). (At Vox, weve written about many of these.)

On Thursday, the team at Goop posted what it says is the first of many articles confronting its critics. It mostly focuses on Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB-GYN and blogger whos become one of the most prominent voices in the Goop wars. (Gunters personal website has a dozen-plus posts just from this year making the case against Goop claims.)

Rather than offering a clear and coherent defense of alternative medicine, Goops statement is filled with ad hominem attacks and baldfaced hypocrisy. But its Goops central defense of its editorial decision-making that reeks most of Goopshit.

Goop mockery crystallized into a fervor early this year when the site posted this whopper of a headline: Better Sex: Jade Eggs for Your Yoni.

The post featured a Q&A with Shiva Rose, a beauty guru/healer, who claimed that inserting egg-shaped jade rocks into the vagina can help cultivate sexual energy, increase orgasm, balance the cycle, stimulate key reflexology around vaginal walls ... [it goes on for a while] ... and invigorate our life force. And Goop, of course, would be happy to sell you said eggs for just $66.

The backlash to this absurdity was swift and furious. Among the first to respond was Gunter, who pointed out that the eggs are probably ineffective and potentially dangerous. Jade is porous and can trap bacteria, increasing the risk of bacterial vaginosis or deadly toxic shock syndrome, as Voxs Belluz explained it.

Its not clear that any of this coverage has hurt Goops business. It 2016, the company raised $15 million to $20 million in venture capital. In May, it inked a magazine deal with Cond Nast. Hundreds of people recently spent between $500 and $1,500 to attend a Goop summit in Culver City, California.

Still, its clear that Paltrow and her business partners are deeply irked, particularly with Gunter, whos the primary target of the attack.

Goop singles out Gunter in the third paragraph of the statement and then invites two of its affiliated doctors to add their two cents. But they dont have much in the way of ammo. One of the doctors, Steven Gundry, grounds most of his critique in the fact that Gunter dared to use the word fuck in a blog post criticizing Goop.

I have been in academic medicine for forty years and up until your posting, have never seen a medical discussion start or end with the F-bomb, Gundry wrote.

It appears that neither Goop nor Gundry appreciates that Gunter, an OB-GYN, is actually concerned with womens health. (They implied Gunter was not on the side of women taking ownership of female sexual pleasure. Gunters rebuke of the jade eggs in fact had to do with the risk of bacterial infections.)

Theres a lot more thats passive-aggressive in the Goop post. For one, Goop complains that Gunters concern about bacterial infections from the jade eggs was strangely confident. Was it more strangely confident than saying jade eggs can help cultivate sexual energy?

You can find plenty more examples of hypocrisy, but whats really concerning is when Goop rationalizes its editorial decision-making.

We simply want information; we want autonomy over our health, Goop writes. Thats why we do unfiltered Q&As, so you can hear directly from doctors; we see no reason to interpret or influence what theyre saying, to tell you what to think.

The argument here is that the information in the Q&A (and around the site) is meant to empower women to make choices about their health. Our primary place is in addressing people, women in particular, who are tired of feeling less-than-great, who are looking for solutions these women are not hypochondriacs, and they should not be dismissed or marginalized, Goop writes.

This defense, though, is unjustifiable.

For one, as others have pointed out, marketing bogus products to women isnt dealing empowerment; its dealing false hope. Or worse: Its exploitative.

Yes, many women do not feel great. They are looking for solutions. But as a media property devoted to wellness, Goop should have a responsibility to tell them the whole story.

Where have we heard this style of defense before? From another famous broadcaster of dubious health advice: Dr. Oz.

In 2014, Oz testified before a Senate subcommittee about his role promoting green coffee extract, which he claimed aided in weight loss. My job, I feel on the show, is to be a cheerleader for the audience, he said. And when they don't think they have hope, when they don't think they can make it happen, I want to look ... for any evidence that might be supportive to them.

Hope is great. But any evidence to support it wont do. Peoples money is on the line. And so is their health. The evidence doesnt have to be 100 percent clear-cut, but it should exist.

Goop says its just asking questions about possible wellness solutions. And, as the site writes, what we dont welcome is the idea that questions are not okay. The problem is not that the Goop team isnt asking questions. Its that theyre not asking enough questions. Their curiosity should lead them to wonder, How can a piece of jade actually affect my energy levels? Whats the biological mechanism? Are there any studies on safety or efficacy at all? And if there arent, shouldnt we let readers know?

Even if the jade eggs dont pose any infection hazards, the truth still remains: Theres no evidence in support of their benefits.

Where would we be if we all still believed in female hysteria instead of orgasm equality? Goop writes. That smoking didnt cause lung cancer? If every nutritionist today saw the original food pyramid as gospel?

Yes, health myths need to be busted. But theyre not busted in softball interviews with self-styled gurus. Theyre busted in the lab.

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Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop posted a defense of its jade eggs for vaginas. It's a mess. - Vox

By: Crystal R. Albers - Updated: 22 hours ago

TORRINGTON Theres something brewing at the Goshen Enterprise Center and it just may save your life. Health Thyme, an integrative and complementary health and wellness office, bridges natural remedies with Western medicine, according to owner Nona Hubbard- Kindsvater. (I) utilize easy, economical and effective methods to help reverse chronic illnesses, Hubbard-Kindsvater said. These methods are developed on natural processes with evidence-based science backed by thousands of scientific studies and are used by medical institutions across the nation. Integrative and complementary medicine works with your physician or specialist and results in a co-treatment protocol, she said. Hubbard-Kindsvater used the common practice of drinking coffee as an example. We know people drink coffee. Why? Because it gives you energy. Another example is taking ginger for an upset stomach. Its a physiological response to a botanical source and here at Health Thyme, Im taking it back to that, she explained. Hubbard-Kindsvater creates individualized healing plans with the intention of helping improve the bodys own healing functions; thus allowing the body to operate at an optimal level. It is not difficult to obtain results, and you dont have to change your entire lifestyle to accomplish it, she said. Small changes over time equal big results long-term.Many people see results in a very short period of time. Hubbard-Kindsvater prefers a positive perspective leading to fast results and further motivation rather than a negative one that deprives and leaves a void. Health is a process, not an event, she said. Hubbard-Kindsvater grew up nearby, in Bayard, Neb. I left the area for about 30 years, and I now have the privilege of being back and bringing a new way to look at healthcare, she said. Hubbard-Kindsvater founded Health Thyme following her own battle with a crippling, chronic illness. After the medical field gave up on her, she started a journey of discovery and recovery that grew into a Complementary and Alternative Medicine degree, including Master Medical Herbalist, Clinical Aromatherapy and Holistic Nutrition Practitioner from the American College of Healthcare Sciences. She has more than 10 years of experience in her field and specializes in complex health issues. I started listening to other people who have had similar experiences, and decided to help people, she said. What I learned through my own experience in combination with my degree that is the passion I bring to this. I help my clients find their why. Health Thyme offers several programs, including Defeating Diabetes, Cancer Care Initiative, Abolishing Autoimmune, Depression, Anxiety and PTSD, Addiction Recovery, Get Back to Sleep, Witchy Woman - How to Feel Like Yourself Again, Man Up - Mens Health, Healthy Weight and more. Hubbard-Kindsvater will also host a diabetes and cancer care class in the future. Its cost-effective, Hubbard-Kindsvater said. Office visits range from $35 to $90, depending on condition complexity. The individual program of care plans cost approximately $2-$5 per day. This is for everyone, whether its a childs chronic sickness, someones general fatigue, a cold or flu or an individual just feels off, she said. Ultimately, (I) help put health back in the hands of the patient. Goshen County Economic Development Corporation has gone far beyond the extra mile to encourage and develop Health Thyme, Hubbard-Kindsvater continued. Their incubator office program gave Health Thyme the opportunity to continue to develop and expand. Come by 110 W. 22nd Ave, Lower Level on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a free consultation. Hubbard-Kindsvater has an office in Scottsbluff, Neb. by appointment only. Residents can call (307) 338-0293 to make an appointment. Health Thyme also offers natural products, free consultations and information at Torrington Farmers Markets, from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursdays at City Park. For more information, visitfacebook.com/healththymeorwww.health-thyme.com.

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'Bridging medicine with nature' - The Torrington Telegram

Sometimes it pays to look a gift horse in the mouth.

For example, take the FDA's rare course reversal on Tuesday: It let AmicusTherapeutics Inc. seek accelerated approval for rare-disease drug Galafold, after last year saying the biopharma firm would need more data before seeking approval.

Amicus shares jumped nearly 26percent on the news, which could be a positive sign for other drugmakers dealing with tricky FDA issues. They may have reason to hope the agency will be more flexible, as new commissioner Scott Gottlieb has vowed. But it's hard to tell how far that flexibility will extend -- and whether it really is the boon it seems.

About Face

The FDA changed its mind about one of Amicus Therapeutics' drugs, and the firm saw its biggest share price jump in more than 20 years

Source: Bloomberg

The FDA's decision is clearly big news for Amicus. Galafold, which treats Fabry disease, is already approved in Europe. But it faced a potentially multi-year path to the much more lucrative U.S. market. The medicine could now U.S. see approval in2018, which should substantially boost sales expectations that took a hit after the previously announced delay.

Down on the Upside

Galafold sales estimates plunged after the FDA demanded more data on the drug before considering it for approval; they should rebound after the agency changed its stance

Markets took this hint of a friendlier FDA as great news for other firms worried about getting drugs approved. For example, shares of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, which wants the agency's OK on a marijuana-derived medicine in a rare seizure disorder, rosemore than 6 percent on Tuesday. Meanwhile, PTC Therapeutics Inc. -- whose application for a muscle-wasting disease drug has gotten rocky FDA treatment so far -- rose more than 5 percent.

It Was a Good Day

A number of firms with complex dealings with the FDA saw their shares jump on Tuesday alongside Amicus

Source: Bloomberg

Anyshift in the FDA's approach is most relevant to firms making drugs for rare diseases, also known as orphan drugs. The agency is already somewhat more flexible in these cases anyway, because alternative medicines aren't available, because Congress has mandated more leeway, and because patient populations are so small that it's hard to run gold-standard clinical trials.

Firms with such treatments also get longer exclusivity periods, speedier FDA reviews, and unparalleled pricing power. According to an analysis by life-sciences data company Evaluate LLC, the average annual per-patient cost of an orphan drug last year was $140,443, compared to $27,756 for a non-orphan medicine.

Investors may think the FDA will now be even more flexible with these drugs, leading to a flood of lucrative new approvals. That jump in PTC Therapeutics' share price suggests expectations may have gotten ahead of reality, though. PTC is isforcing an FDA review of its drug over the agency's objections after its medicine failed a Phase 3 trial.

Even a more-flexible FDA doesn't necessarily mean drugs with little evidence of effectiveness or dangerous safety issues will get approved. The FDA may now review some drugs it might previously have rejected out of hand. A few medicines that might previously have been rejected may get to market. Butit's unlikely the FDA's standards will be drastically lowered.

And an FDA approval is far from aguarantee of success anyway. Someone has to pay for these costly medicines, and it's usually not patients -- it's insurers, which are increasingly throwing up roadblocks to obtaining such drugs. There have already been reported reimbursement barriers for Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.'s treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which was approved last year despite the strenuous objection of some FDA scientists due to limited evidence of its usefulness. A looser FDA won't make insurers any more willing to pay for high-priced drugs that may have safety or efficacy issues.

So the FDA's Amicus decision either represents a new approach to approvals, in which case payers and patients may balk. Or it is just a one-off or marginal shift, meaning its impact is limited. Either way, investors hoping for a flurry of new orphan-drug approvals should prepare to be disappointed.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Max Nisen in New York at mnisen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net

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One FDA About-Face Doesn't Mean an Orphan-Drug Bonanza - Bloomberg

Miami Herald

Sacred Space, University of Miami partner to educate community on wellness Miami Herald She will work with Osher Center Director Dr. Robert Schwartz, who shares her passion for alternative medicine. Schwartz was named director of the new Osher Center in May as a result of a $5 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation. Schwartz ...

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Sacred Space, University of Miami partner to educate community on wellness - Miami Herald

Submitted information

OHIO CITY The Ohio City Park Association and the Lambert Days Committee has finalized plans for the 2017 festival.

Lambert Days is always the third full weekend in July. This years dates are July 21-23. This is also the 50th anniversary of Ohio Citys celebration of the life of John W. Lambert and his invention of Americas first automobile.

This years edition of Lambert Days will feature a communitywide garage sale. For more information, contact Laura Morgan at 419.965.2515. There will also be food all weekend in the newly renovated Community Building on Ohio 118.

Friday, July 21

Festivities start off with a steak dinner (carryout is available), starting at 4 p.m. Friday. Ohio Citys American LegionHarvey Lewis Post 346 will have aflag-raising ceremony at 5 Friday evening, while kids games and inflatables will also open at 5. At 6 p.m., the Lambert Days Wiffleball Homerun Derby will take place. For more information, contactLorenzo Frye 419.771.7037.

There will also be entertainment at 6 p.m. featuring Cass Blue. At 7, there will be a adult Wiffleball tournament. For more information, contact Brian Bassett419.203.8203. A Texas Hold em Tournament will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, along with Monte Carlo Night, which begins at 8 p.m. For more information, contact Jeff Agler at 419.513.0580.

Entertainment for Friday night starts at 8 and will be the band Colt & Crew. There will also be a fireworks display at 10:15 p.m. Friday (Saturday night is the rain date).

Saturday, July 22

Saturday morning begins with a softball tournament at 8. For more information, contact Brian Bassettat 419.203.8203. There will also be a coed volleyball tournament that starts at 9 a.m. Saturday. For more information, contact Tim Matthews at 419.203.2976. The Lambert Days Kids Wiffleball Tournament starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. For more information, contact Lorenzo Frye at 419.771.7037.

Kids games and Inflatables continue at 11 Saturday morning. Cornhole tournament registration and 3-on-3 basketball tournament registration start at noon, while both tournaments begin at 1 p.m. For more information on cornhole, contact Josh Agler at 567.259.9941 and for 3-on-3 basketball, contact Scott Bigham at 419.953.9511.

The Hog Roast Dinner starts at 4 p.m. Saturday and carryout is available. There will also be music under the tent by Jeff Unterbrink at 4. Bingo will start at 5 p.m., and the night ends with entertainment by Megan White and Cadillac Ranch.

(more)

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Valtrex after expiration - Alternative medicine for herpes simplex 2 - Van Wert independent

Fifteen years ago, Julie Rehmeyer was a science journalist leading an active, outdoorsy life in New Mexico. She ran marathons, biked regularly, and taught mathematics and classics at St. Johns College. Just outside Santa Fe, on a parcel of streamside land, she had even built her own housea straw-bale construction shaded by ponderosas, meant for the family she hoped to have one day. Then, over a period of a few years, Rehmeyer lost most of her strength, endurance, and confidence, along with the ability to live a normal life. A bike ride left her bedridden. A trip to the grocery store found her using the shopping cart as a walker. At home, she could make it to her bedroom only by climbing the stairs backwards, scooting herself up a step at a time. By 2006, she was no longer able to exercise, and needed to rest whenever she wasnt working.

Through the Shadowlands , Rehmeyers new book, chronicles her struggles since then. She attempted years of conventional and alternative medicine, moved to a different state, broke up with her partner, and, finally, cobbled together a functional life. Her condition, which affects an estimated million other Americans, goes by various nameschronic fatigue syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis, and systemic exertion intolerance disease (S.E.I.D.), among others. (S.E.I.D. seems to me the most descriptive term, so Ill use it here.) The Mayo Clinic defines it as a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that cant be explained by any underlying medical condition.

Rehmeyers writing is full of verve and curiosity, and shes warmly attuned to how her plight is, in fact, familiar: all of us become weaker as we age, at times gradually and at times suddenly, and along the way we adapt ourselves to fit our diminished capabilities. Still, her story is a biting indictment of how we approach diseases that cant be reduced to tidy pathologies or a uniform set of symptoms. In a way, science failed Rehmeyer. Years of clinical studies supplied little insight into her affliction, and prescribed therapies had minimal effect. Part of the issue is that S.E.I.D. is a slippery condition with no known cure, but the deeper problem lies in the methodology of clinical trials, and in the premises of evidence-based medicine.

The most prominent study of S.E.I.D. is the PACE trial, an experiment conducted on six hundred and forty-one patients in the United Kingdom. The study was published in 2011, in the English medical journal The Lancet , and reported improvements in fatigue and physical function under two treatments: cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy. These findings were used to reinforce recommendations by Britains National Health Service. But, in the years since, the PACE trial has been sharply criticized by both scientists and patients. One of their chief objections is that the PACE research team, while collecting its data, changed the main metric of recovery from objective measures, such as fitness and employment status, to subjective ones, such as the patients self-evaluations over time. As Rehmeyer points out, this meant that the study could claim recovery even when a patients walking ability was considerably worse than that of a healthy elderly adult. (The PACE pool had an average age of forty.)

The studys conclusions were also easy to misinterpret. In a given trial, theres always variation: some people get better, some get worse, and others improve on some measures and decline on others. With S.E.I.D., where the treatments are speculative and the condition itself is not clearly defined, it makes sense that cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy would help at least some subset of people. But we should be careful when using averages to make inferences about causes and effects on individuals. S.E.I.D. is a diverse conditionindeed, it could very well be a set of conditions, amenable to various treatments but lumped under a common diagnosis. The success of some strategies for some percentage of people does not at all contradict the idea that many others need a lot more. As Simon Wessely, a contributor to the PACE study and a pillar of the English medical establishment, noted, there were a significant number of patients who did not improve with these treatments . . . PACE or no PACE , we need more research.

The controversy over the PACE study reflects a larger crisis in public health. Traditionally, the controlled trial has been considered the gold standard of medical evidence: you gather a bunch of patients and randomly assign some to a control group, which receives no treatment, and some to an experimental group, which does. You then compare the outcomes, and if the difference is large enough, exceeding the bounds of chance or natural variation, the result is said to be statistically significant. In designing the experiment, you want enough people in your study that you are likely to find a statistically significant difference; this is called high power.

There are two key problems with this approach. First, what happens when a treatment helps some patients and not others? Average improvements are, and should be, relevant to organizations such as the N.H.S., but only individual or subgroup analyses can reveal the full range of effective therapies. This, however, leads us to the second problem: if you limit your investigation to a smaller group, then it will have less statistical power. The conclusions drawn from studying subgroups are inherently noisier and likelier to misleada fact that doesnt pair well with researchers desire for snappy conclusions and clear-cut results. Though the controlled trial nicely demonstrates the efficacy of strong treatments on well-defined conditions, it falls apart, from a statistical perspective, when applied to a phenomenon that, in Rehmeyers words, science doesnt understand.

For conditions like S.E.I.D., then, the better approach may be to gather data from people suffering in the wild, combining the careful methodology of a study like PACE with the lived experience of thousands of people. Though most may be less eloquent than Rehmeyer, each may have his or her own potential path to recovery.

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A Memoir of Chronic Fatigue Illustrates the Failures of Medical Research - The New Yorker

In 2012, Americans spent about $30.2 billion on alternative veterinary practices for their pets. (Photo via iStock)

Its a situation many pet parents have faced: Your beloved fur kid just isnt itself and youre at the end of your rope. Youve maxed out on vet visits and overloaded on pet painkillers. Still, your pup is struggling with arthritis, diabetes or some other painful condition that conventional methods arent helping.

You can cross your fingers and turn to another traditional vet. Or you can join the growing number of pet owners looking to aromatherapy, chiropractic and even energy work to sooth their struggling animals.

Its called holistic medicine, and while the discipline which combines Eastern and metaphysical theories to treat mostly chronic conditions has long been common among human patients, animal specialists say its use is exploding among pet owners. They point to younger pet parents and more animal owners who live a holistic lifestyle and increasingly want their dogs, cats and even lizards to do the same.

These pet parents arent replacing stethoscopes and scalpels with pendulums and sage. Rather, experts say they are increasingly blending traditional vet care with things like reiki, color therapy and acupuncture to treat their animals inside and out.

Healing mind, body and spirit

Sometimes referred to as alternative medicine, holistic medical care is best described as treatment focused on healing mind, body and spirit. Where conventional Western medicine focuses on tests and X-rays, holistic treatment is often intuitive, with heavy focus on emotional blockages, energetic imbalances and other less tangible concepts.

The field encompasses a diverse number of specializations, including hypnotherapy, sound therapy, herbal treatments and reiki, a technique in which a practitioner uses touch to channel energy and restore balance in patients.

It may sound a little hokey to newcomers, but lots of Americans have bought into the faith-based healing modalities: An estimated 59 million Americans spent some $30.2 billion on alternative treatments in 2012, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Four-legged patients are increasingly included in those expenditures, said Tricia Stimac, president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and an active veterinarian.

While treatments can be used on exotics think lizards and snakes Stimac said the most common pets are cats, dogs and surprisingly, horses.

Acupuncture and chiropractic have been amazing modules of therapy for that species, she said, explaining horses in particular often suffer chronic pain from wearing saddles.

Years ago, she said holistic medicine was more of a fringe thing, practiced by a select few vets who had personal experience with it. Nowadays, however, its patients demanding botanicals and more for things like chronic ear infections, she said.

You realize as youve been in practice for a long period of time, that there are other options, she said. And the younger generation, they are hearing of these modalities and they are being requested.

Stimac said many pet parents belong to the Whole Foods set practicing clean eating and other holistic lifestyle choices that they extend to their pets. But, others are simply ready for something new.

We see clients that start because theyve been to 15 other regular vets and they havent had any help with their animals problems, she said. We help them and they see the success.

That doesnt mean, however, that alternative medicine is a replacement for traditional medicine entirely, she said. Rather, Stimac said alternative medicine should complement traditional methods in certain cases. Alternative medicine should not be used to replace emergency care if a pet is hit by a car or having acute heart troubles, for instance.

But the beauty is that we can not only utilize the surgeon to fix that bone or that cardiologist to add on pharmaceutical medications, but we can also use our alternative therapies to support that, she said. You can use a homeopathic to help heal the bone post surgery. You can use supplements in conjunction with heart medicines.

Soothing music, crystals used for joint pain, anxiety

It all sounded like hocus pocus to pet lover and mobile dog groomer Mary Oquendo. Then, a decade ago, her miniature pinscher, Marcus, fell sick.

He had Cushings (Syndrome), he was diabetic, every month his medications were increasing, she said. His prognosis was not good.

When she saw some crystals in a local alternative store, Oquendo impulsively grabbed a few she thought were pretty. Weeks later, when she felt her mood lift, Oquendo said she started researching the crystals properties and how they could also help her pooch.

It ultimately lead to a longer, healthier life for Marcus and a new specialty for Oquendo. who now offers crystal and reiki pet therapy, in addition to running her mobile business Pawsitively Pretty, and teaching at events like the Atlanta Pet Fair and Conference, in March.

By the time he passed away, he was off Cushings medication and we had reduced his diabetes medicine by about 25 percent, said Oquendo, who is based in Danbury, Connecticut.

These days, she is sharing what worked for her Marcus with cats and dogs suffering everything from joint pain to chronic anxiety. Sessions typically involve soothing music, placing the pet in a circle of crystals and using a pendulum placed over the animals body to guide her to where healing is most needed.

While her pet patients dont have the words to say thanks, Oquendo said they show their appreciation in their own way.

You can see it in their faces, she said.

acupuncturecolor therapygaygay atlantaholistic serviceslgbtlgbt atlantalgbt pet ownersreikivetveterinarian

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Holistic therapy for pets? Traditional vet care being blended with reiki, acupuncture - Georgia Voice

In July 2013, a 21-year-old man died of leukaemia in the Spanish city of Valencia. Mario chose to dismiss his doctors advice, turned to a so-called expert in natural and orthomolecular medicine and abandoned chemotherapy, choosing instead to fight his illness with alternative medicine. Mario was not, as some might conclude, an uneducated young man who did not know better. He was studying to become a physicist, but even this background did not prevent his believing a charlatans claims. Tragedies like this beg the question: What can journalism do to better encourage trust in scientific evidence? The4th European Conference for Science Journalistsheld on 26 to 30 June 2017 aimed to answer such questions in a series of sessions that examine the roles of policymakers, citizens, scientists, and science journalists inmaking scientific facts great again.

In a world where alternative facts, conspiracy theories, and science denialism are becoming mainstream at an alarming rate, dubious medical theories are flourishing.Toril Aalberg, lead author of the reportPopulist political communications in Europe, sees this as part of the anti-elitism that is typical of populist communication. One that sees science, and scientists, as part of the immoral elite who work against the interest of good people, adds Aalberg.

In response to Marios death,Ciudadanos, a relatively new political party, brought a proposal before Parliament demanding that health professionals should be obliged to communicate to the relevant legal authorities the practices carried out by professionals, qualified or not, who, far from the scientific evidence, could cause real prejudice to the direct health of their patients.

Not all political groups subscribe to this line of argument, however, and politicians are not above making mistakes. The Spanish former minister of health,Ana Mato, speaking at a pharmaceutical industry forum, stated that medicines for mild conditions could be replaced by natural products. Similarly, in an interview with the Spanish newspaperEl Pais,Beln Crespo, director of theSpanish Agency of Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, said that Homeopathic medicines are just like every other medicine, equating these concoctions with proven effective drugs.

In Spain, many politicians are too scared of public opinion to speak out against alternative medicine, according toElena Campos, president of theAssociation to Protect the Sick from Pseudoscientific Therapies(APETP), a campaign group founded by Marios father only two weeks after his sons death. This is completely irresponsible, says Campos in a statement toEl Pas. It means that when concerns are raised, they often go unanswered.

Unbiased reporting

The solution to this lies in accurate, responsible journalism that reports facts and allows the public to make up their minds about the effectiveness of alternative therapies. Journalism has a key role in providing fact-checking, explainsDame Anne Glover, former chief scientific adviser to the president of the European Commission.

To form an opinion about the relative merits of alternative and mainstream medicine, policymakers and the public need access to credible unbiased reporting of what the best evidence is, says Glover. If journalists stick to these principles, their work can help to catalyse public opinion against pseudoscience, and this can change politicians minds.

MEPs are very receptive to comments, and youd be surprised how much impact a question from just one voter can have, saysSofie Vanthournout, Director of the Brussels-based campaign groupSense about Science EU. In 2011, the group launched theAsk for Evidence campaign, encouraging citizens to do just that. The group supports actions that make people in power accountable for their claims.

Besides advising on how to contact policymakers, Sense about Science EU also explains how to make sense of the available evidence. This way, citizens are equipped to recognise inconsistencies, and they are less easily led by the improper use of available data.

Even when good studies are used to justify certain decisions, Vanthournout explains that many claims do not hold up. Cherry picking (choosing only a handful of data to suit an agenda) is common, she observed. As is the use of studies which had no quality control, such as peer review, and are of very low scientific quality. I also see a lot of examples of studies being provided to prove a point, which are actually very high quality but after a closer look, you see that they dont support the claim at all, she says.

In Brussels, the EU has established theScientific Advice Mechanismto help policymakers see through the claims of pseudoscience. In my view it is important to actually provide the evidence, tell policymakers what is known and what is not known, saysProfessor Pearl Dykstra, a member of the central panel of scientists that provide the recommendations. We need to trigger people to ask questions.

Joana Branco

Reprinted with the kind permission from the European Conference for Science Journalists 2017 (ECSJ2017) held in Copenhagen between 26 and 30 June 2017.

Image credit:Matt Brineyonunsplash

times.

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Unbiased reporting can help call time on pseudoscience - EuroScientist

A Sudbury woman is choosing to go the all-natural routein hopes ofhealing her stage 4 cancer.

Thousands of dollars in donations have already poured in to help her achievethat.

Jazmin Ayotte,20, is aLaurentian University student, who was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma when she was 16. Thisisa rare type of cancer which ended up spreading to Ayotte's lungs and one of her kidneys.

Ayotte says she was adamant from the beginning that she wanted to take a natural approach to deal with her cancer.

"Up until this day, I've never tried chemotherapy," she says.

Ayotte says she's tried "western medicine,"but all of those made her feel worse. Instead, she tried changing her diet andintravenous vitamins. Sheeven travelledto Mexico and the Bahamas for naturopathic treatments.

"I go to school, but it's on and off, or I'll take a semester off depending on how I'm feeling. Day to day, I deal with pain quite a bit."

The natural treatments seemed to help manage thepainuntil recently.

"I was in the hospital for a week. I was rushed in with extreme pain, and nothing could manage it," Ayottesays.

"That sparked us to research new treatments and get in touch with new doctors."

Jazmin Ayotte was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma when she was 16. (Jazmin Ayotte)

Ayotte says her family found a naturopathic treatment centre in Scottsdale, Arizona that seemspromising.

Initial genetic testingwill cost more than $30,000. After that,continued treatment and supplements will costapproximately $1,000 per month.

Treatment prices weren't immediately available on the facility'swebsite, but an initial office visit costs between $350 and$700.

Although she says she isn't exactly sure what the therapies entail, Ayotteis under the impression they include heat, laser and magnetic therapies whichfocus on improving the patient's immune system.

Ayotte says she doesn't advocate against chemotherapy. She just doesn't believe it would work for her.

"[My doctors] have given me options for palliative radiation, but that's not killing the cancer, that's dealing with the pain and other things," Ayotte says.

"I don't feel comfortable going through with that when I already have in mind that it would kill my immune system, make me feel horrible, not let me have a life at all, andnot really treat it the way I hope to be treated."

Because alternativetreatments in the United States aren't covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan,Ayotteand her family have started reaching out to others with fundraising initiatives.

Ayotte's fianc Eythan Henson started a social media trend called 'Burpees for Jaz.'The idea is to post a video of yourself doing theexercise,then tag the family's GoFundMe page.Thepage has already raised $15,000.

Superior Maple Syrup, owned by Henson'sfamily, is raising money from the sale of some of theproducts.

A stag and doe is being held in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.,later this month, with all proceeds going toward Ayotte's treatment.

Lauren Nykilchuk is selling these T-shirts in support of Jazmin Ayotte's trip to the United States for alternative treatments. (Supplied/Facebook)

A friend from high school wanted to help outtoo. LaurenNykilchuk had T-shirts left over from a school project, and isselling themwith some of the profits going to Ayotte'strip.

There's already been a widespread response to the shirts.

"It's definitely not just sticking to Sudbury,"Nykilchuksays.

"I can't put down my phone for fiveminutes without getting multiple messages about people wanting to buy shirts, asking questions about the shirts and about Jazmin. It's probably the greatest problem inthe world to have, seeing howmany people have come together and want to support this cause."

Ayotte and her mother leave for Arizona next week. She says her doctors in Canada have been skeptical of her choices, but she feels they support her in this next trip.

"Ideally, I want to be cancer free," she says.

"But I hope it gets me tobe at a point where I don't have to be on painkillers all the time, and be where Ican go to school and commit to other things where I don't have to be held back because of pain."

Original post:

Sudbury woman chooses alternative treatments for stage 4 cancer - CBC.ca

They were the whos who of West Bengals flourishing medical fraternity. Naren Pandey was a top allergy and asthma specialist practicing at one of the citys premier hospitals. Shubhendu Bhattacharya was a general medicine expert felicitated by none other than President Pranab Mukherjee in May this year. Aradeep Chatterjee, an MD in integrative oncology was equally sought after and known as much for his flashy lifestyle and his swanky BMW.

Today, the three are among three dozen others behind bars for having fake medical degrees.

Pandey had even failed his Class 12 examination and began his career as a distributor of unani medicines before donning the role of a doctor. Bhattacharya never studied in any recognised medical college while Chatterjee twice dropped out of a homeopathy college.

Police have sealed the office of Ramesh Baidya, principal of Barasat Bio-Chemical Medical College. From this office in Barasat (North 24 Parganas district) Baidya has sold hundreds of fake degrees, CID sleuths alleged. (Samir Jana)

But lack of qualification never deterred them from making it big, courtesy a racket run by a slew of dubious medical colleges that thrived as much as the professional careers of fake doctors they helped to produce.

The lid on the racket was first blown off during the first week of May when two doctors, Kushiram Haldar and Kaizar Alam, were arrested from Alipurduar and North Dinajpur districts. They had degrees from a fictitious college and were employed at government-run primary health centres. Alam had even worked at Kolkatas Ruby General Hospital one of the citys most sought-after medical care facilities.

Police investigations picked up speed after the first arrests and more doctors had their skeletons tumbling out of their cupboards. Among them was Gopal Biswas, a dentist in Falakata of Cooch Behar district in north Bengal.

Police estimate the number of fake doctors in the state between 500 and 550. At the heart of the fake medical eco-system are the fake universities and colleges.

The locked house of Suresh Agawal, founder president of Indian Board of Alternative Medicine in Bhawanipore, Kolkata. Agarwal allegedly sold fake degrees from an office barely a km away. (Samir Jana)

People with fake degrees from such institutions are practising not only in top private hospitals in Kolkata, and private health facilities in different parts of Bengal, but also in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi and Bhubaneswar, a senior police officer said.

The institutes named in the FIR are Alternative Medical Council Calcutta (AMCC) at Barasat, Indian Board of Alternative Medicine (IBAM) at Bhawanipore, Council of Alternative Systems of Medicines (CASM) at Behala and Indian Council of Alternative Medicine (ICAM) at Bowbazar.

Police claimed, these institutions had no affiliations whatsoever and awarded tens of thousands of fake degrees to aspirants from all over India and even the United States, Italy, Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

No classes were held in these colleges and all degrees were awarded by them after correspondence courses. Under Medical Council of India( MCI) rules, only three regulatory bodies are entitled to issue approval to institutes for teaching medicine: MCI for modern medicine; the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and the Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) for alternative medicine.

But the four blacklisted institutions and a host of other colleges gave out medical degrees undeterred. Rama Shankar Tiwari, a practicing doctor in Howrah district had obtained his degree from the Howrah Central Calcutta Medical College operating out of a nondescript house in Jagaccha. The college has awarded some 20,000 degrees so far, CID officials suspect.

But how the fake institutes flourished for so long is yet to be determined. The state medical council has woken up now and pledged to rid the state of the menace.

I am the whistleblower and I am coordinating with the CID. We will rid the system of fake practitioners, said Nirmal Majhi, the chairman of the council and a close aide of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The rest is here:

West Bengal's top doctors turn out fakes, arrests blow lid off thriving scam - Hindustan Times

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Rabbi Rephoel Szmerlas new Sefer entitled, Alternative Medicine in Halacha [Israel Bookshop 198 pages English 398 pages Hebrew 596 total] is divided into two sections the main part of the Sefer and the in-depth biurim in Hebrew in the back of the work. In the biurim, it is truly groundbreaking in terms of its exhaustive treatment of the aveiros of the occult: specifically, kishuf, doresh el hameisim, nichush and kosaim. It also deals with following the ways of the gentiles (Darchei Amori) and of the Mitzvah of Tamim Tehiyeh. In discussing these aveiros, the author takes us through every opinion of the rishonim.

In the body of the English text the Sefer is near exhaustive in its discussion of alternative forms of healing. In terms of the scholarship it is quite clear that we are dealing with an extraordinary Talmid Chochom.

The Sefer also has numerous haskamos from leading figures who back up the Torah erudition of the author. There are two underlying ideas that permeate the work. The first is that the multiple modalities of alternative medicines do not in their core violate the aveiros of the occult. The second underlying idea is that these alternative forms of medicine are, in fact, effective. It is this authors opinion, however, that the author makes a number of fundamental errors in coming to this conclusion, and that this thesis can seriously compromise the physical health of the Torah-observant community with the publication of this Sefer.

And while the author states that it is not his goal to encourage people to discount conventional medicine the reality is that advocating the efficacy of modalities of treatment that have statistically been proven ineffective actually does the very thing that Rabbi Szmerla claims that he is not doing: His book will perforce encourage people to discount conventional medicine in favor of the forms of medicine that he claims work. One must always keep in mind that Hashem is the ultimate Rofeh Cholim but one must also utilize and implement the proper Hishtadlus that Hashem put into the world.

THREE MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THE SEFER

Specifically, it can and does cause family members of those who suffer illness to a] squander much needed and valuable resources on ineffective treatments b] not pursue effective and proven forms of treatment c] cause unnecessary damage to those who are ill. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the moneys spent on pursuing most of these alternative treatments would be far better spent on supporting Torah learning. Rabbi Szmerla ignores the overwhelming medical evidence that these treatments have proven ineffective.

THE HASKAMOS ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSING OF HIS VIEWS

It is clear that Rabbi Szmerla is a scholar of great knowledge and depth, which is perhaps why great Rabbis provided him with approbations. However, a careful reading of a number of the approbations clearly indicate that they do not necessarily agree with his conclusions.

SEFER IS DANGEROUS

It is this authors view that this second and central thesis of the sefer is dangerous and can seriously undermine the health of many members of Klal Yisroel. People may pick up the sefer, and peruse the haskamos. They may erroneously assume that the information contained in the sefer is correct. If they discontinue their regular course of treatment, which many will do, this can be extremely problematic.

In this reviewers view, the thesis flies in the face of basic mathematics. The proper use and understanding of statistics is essential in determining whether a modality of treatment should be used or not. It is the correct hishtadlus al pi derecho hateva. That is, in fact, what modern medicine is based upon. This sefer, notwithstanding the deep Torah erudition of its author, has the potential to throw us back to the days when families of cancer victims squandered their parents lifes savings on the likes of such cures as shark cartilage.

FAULTY UNDERSTANDING OF STATISTICS

The vast majority of people that advocate the efficacy of most of the alternative medicines found in the sefer are not at all proficient in the use of advanced statistical analysis. Because of this flaw, they are unable to differentiate between what constitutes a valid study and an invalid one.

One example of this lies in those who advocate against vaccinations. They claim that they have studied the statistics behind both sides of the vast literature regarding vaccinations. However, when put to the challenge those who argue against vaccinations are fundamentally unable to answer basic questions in simple statistics. Arguing with someone in statistics who has no background in statistics is akin to arguing about translations of sentences in Hebrew with someone who does not understand a word of it.

WHEN AN ERROR IS MADE IN METZIUS

When an error is made in metzius and we are sure of the error, we do not adhere to that persons view no matter how great the individual is. This concept was told to this author by the greatest of Gedolei haPoskim in America as well as in Eretz Yisroel (Rav Dovid Feinstein Shlita, Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita, and Rav Elyashiv ztl). Thus, when the Aruch haShulchan had a fundamental misunderstanding of the dynamics of electricity the view of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ztl and other Gedolei HaPoskim won out. Yet the greatness of the Aruch haShulchan and his vast depth and erudition in dalet chelkei shulchan aruch are there for everyone to see.

MOST DISTURBING

Rabbi Szmerla dismisses the view of Rav Dovid Morgenstern Shlita, Rav Elyashiv ztl and Rav Nissim Karelitz Shlita regarding the definition if what would constitute a refuah bedukah a tested and certain cure. He writes that Chazal only required a cure having worked three times as manifest in the Shulchan Aruchs ruling on Kamiyas. Rav Morgenstern writes that it must be a statistically valid cure and cites these other authorities (See Sefer Piskei Din Vol. X p. 535). Rav Elyashiv zatzal has numerous times praised Rav Morgenstern Shlita as fluent in Kol haTorah Kulah, and the dismissal of his views and quotes of Rishonim by Rabbi Szmerla is unwarranted. But let us now examine the various forms of treatments the Rabbi advocates.

ENERGY MEDICINE

In regard to energy medicine, Rabbi Szmerla ignores the six most recent studies showing that there is absolutely no efficacy to such healing disproving Richard Gerbers earlier assertions. Rabbi Szmerla attempts to associate the Gemorahs discussion of Bboah dboah with the concept of aura. The association is far from proven. Boah is described by rishonim as a shadow. True, Rav Chaim Vital disagrees with this association, but that does not mean that it means aura. Rabbi Szmerla thus rejects the views of the Rishonim, asher mipihem anu chaim, and adopts a kabbbalistic view which he assumes is synonymous with aura. This is far from conclusive. The fact that the overwhelming scientific evidence has demonstrated that there is a lack of efficacy to this type of healing is also proof that the Boah dBoah is not, in fact, aura. [See, as just one example, the Medical Journal Pain (91 pp 79-89) Abbot, NC; Harkness, EF; Stevinson, C; Marshall, FP; Conn, DA; Ernst, E (2001). Spiritual healing as a therapy for chronic pain: a randomized, clinical trial. There are numerous others.] As far as Rabbi Szmerlas identification of qi or chi with an adaptive definition of nefesh this identification is clearly not the authorial intent of Rashi in Vayikra 17:11.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH (TT) OR HANDS ON HEALING

Therapeutic touch healing is a pseudo-science which believes that by placing their hands on, or near, a patient, practitioners are able to detect and manipulate what they say is the patients energy field. Study after study has shown that this is completely ineffective (See for example, JAMA (279:13 pp 1005-1010)Rosa, Linda; Rosa, E; Sarner, L; Barrett, S (1998-04-01). A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch. PMID 9533499. doi:10.1001/jama.279.13.1005.) including one demonstration by a nine-year old girl that practitioners of it are either charlatans or are fooling themselves. Indeed, the American Cancer Society has remarked, Available scientific evidence does not support any claims that TT can cure cancer or other diseases. Rabbi Szmerlas impressive halachic arguments that it does not constitute kishuf is irrelevant. It doesnt work beyond the placebo effect.

ACUPUNCTURE

This reviewer agrees with Rabbi Szmerla that acupuncture is, for many types of maladies, indeed, effective. However, the theories behind acupuncture the notion of restoring energy meridians has been summarily rejected by those with a thorough and grounded understanding of the underlying science behind it. Winston Churchills life was extended by his regular intake of aspirin even though the science behind it was not yet understood.

KINESIOLOGY

It is this reviewers contention that Rabbi Szmerla fails to differentiate between the current state of Kinesiology and the notion of Applied Kinesiology which he mentions on page 81. A.K. is a technique wherein the ability to diagnose illness by practitioners or to choose the required effective treatment. Practitioners claim to do so by testing muscles for strength and weakness. However, once again the vast majority of statistically valid surveys have proven beyond a sliver of a doubt that there is no validity to this method in diagnosing illness. One who is untrained in statistics will not be able to differentiate between a valid study and an invalid one and there are plenty of both. The American Cancer Society has also gone out of its way to state that the scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness.

DOWSING

Rabbi Szmerla explains that dowsing is the ability to uncover information through the use of an L shaped rod or a pendulum. He claims that dowsing is not pseudo-science by virtue of the fact that a number of respectable Rabbonim have concluded, through their experience, that dowsing is authentic. The conclusion of the scientific community is that it is no more effective than random chance guessing (see Water Witching U.S.A. (2nd ed.), Vogt, Evon Z.; Ray Hyman (1979), Chicago: Chicago University Press. ISBN 978-0-226-86297-2. via Hines, Terence (2003). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (Second ed.). Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 420).

HOMEOPATHY AND FLOWER ESSENCE

Here too, the author seems to be claiming efficacy of a discredited form of therapy. And while it is true that it may be incorrect to forbid the practice of these therapies on account of darchei amori it may be forbidden on account of wasting time and money. The statistical studies are conclusive in the idea that they do not work (See, as just one example, Bioethics (26:9 pp 508-512) Smith K (2012). Homeopathy is Unscientific and Unethical. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8519.2011.01956.x.)

GEM THERAPY

The modern day crystal therapy is compared by the Rabbi to the Even Tekumah discussed in the Gemorah in Sanhedrin (68a). However, not all Rishonim agree with this definition of Even tejumah and it is far from clear that it refers to the same type of stone. Let us also keep in mind that the Baalei haTosfos in Moed Koton 11a (dh Kavra) write that Nishtaneh hateva and that the medical cures in Chazal may not be effective nowadays. Other Poskim who rule in this manner are cited in the authoritative Nishmas Avrohom 1:4 note 14. See also Rav Akiva Eiger, Yoreh Deah 336:1 (dh Nitna) that one should not even attempt to use the remedies in the Gemorah due to the fact that we cannot properly identify the various samim discussed nor do we know exactly how to administer the remedies. See also Yam Shel Shlomo Chullin (8:12) that even the effective cures should not be done so that am haartzim not develop kefirah.

FENG SHUI

The author finds some aspects of Feng Shui as being in violation of the prohibition of Darchei Emori following the ways of the gentiles. He comes to the conclusion that this form of alternative medicine is forbidden based upon the inability to determine which aspects of it achieve true energy harmonization and which ones stem from superstitious beliefs. This reviewer believes that it the former are completely ineffective and have been proven invalid statistically.

HYPNO-THERAPY

The authors conclusions on both the effectiveness and the halachic validity of hypnotherapy are both perfectly valid. The effectiveness of hypnotherapy is accepted in the medical and scientific communities. There are issues of undergoing hypno-therapy when issues of gender and Tznius are involved. The author does not mention this and recent events have shown some serious breaches in this regard.

YOGA

Rabbi Szmerlas conclusions on Yogas effectiveness are not out of the ordinary, and do fall in line with the accepted scientific understanding of it. Halachically, he points to some problems with some aspects of Yoga meditation techniques. He does not mention another halachic problem and that is the use of the mantra perforce has one clearing his mind of all thoughts. This does not fall in line with Mitzvah of always having in mind the shaish zechiros. Anochi Hashem belief in Hashem; Lo Yihyeh there shall be no other gods; Yichud Hashem belief in the absolute Oneness of Hashem; Ahavas Hashem loving Hashem; Yiras Hashem fear of Hashem (or as the Nesivos Shalom understands it fear of losing ones kesher with Hashem; and Lo Sasuru do not stray, following apikorsus and taavah.

SHAMANIC HEALING

The author concludes that Shamanic healing is strictly forbidden.

CONCLUSION

As stated throughout this review the halachic views of the Rabbi Szmerla constitute amazing depth and profundity in the Hebrew biurim section. The medical views espoused in the main body of the book are, in this reviewers opinion and in the opinion of a number of mathematically trained doctors and scientists, quite dangerous. Traditionally, our abilities in calculating the ibbur and other such areas of Torah thought have been described by the rishonim as ki hi chachmaschem uvinaschem bainai haamim. The rejection of statistics in how medicine is applied is a dangerous trend.

The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com

Originally posted here:

Alternative Medicine in Halacha: a Review - Yeshiva World News

Havana, Jun 29.- The use of green medicine for the treatment against asthma is today a valuable tool that the Juan Manuel Marquez Pediatric Hospital develops with important results.

In an exclusive interview with Lucia Rodriguez Diaz specialist in Natural and Traditional Medicine explained that after applying the treatment, the crisis and intensity of the asthma is alleviated.

This prevents, she said, for children to be sent to intensive therapy or hospital wards in many cases, because as a preventive point of view we teach the patients what to do when the initial signs of the illness begins.

The Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Revolution approved in the 7th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party expresses that among the countrys objectives is to assure the compliance of the Action Plans to guarantee the development of the Natural and Traditional Medicine in addition to developing the natural medicine industry.

According to this premise, the specialist affirmed that they use natural medicine to prevent the crisis among asthmatic children and among the most frequently used syrups are Asmasan and Asmacan, produced by Labiofam entity.

The Juan Manuel Marquez pediatric hospital teaches techniques of massages and relaxation in order for the initial symptoms in patients can calm their anxiety and nervousness, she said.

In the school for asthmatic children, parents and teachers were given conferences in which the parents and children learned the relaxation techniques and the natural alternative medicines to control the ailment.

Rodriguez Diaz pointed out that the institution uses acupressure, which stimulates different points like the point of the nose- for example which calms the patients and allows the opening of the bronchial tree.

With the use of Traditional and Natural Medicine, asthma sufferers improve their conditions, removes the severe crisis and improves their respiration, said the specialist. (Nicole Mesa Lafargue/ACN)

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Natural and Alternative Medicine against Asthma - Radio Cadena Agramonte

Thousands of years after acupuncture was invented, controversy remains over whether the Chinese traditional medicine technique works. While previous trials have shown mixed results, a new study shows that, at the very least, those needles really do cause something to happen in our bodies.

Scientists have long been skeptical about the value of acupuncture, though practitioners have questioned whether the acupuncture in many studies was done correctly. Other trials suggest that acupuncture does work, but only as a placebo. In a study published this week in the journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, researchers measured the biological effect of the procedure. They found that if you do acupuncture correctly, your body releases more nitric oxide at the points where the needles are inserted. The nitric oxide increases blood flow and triggers your body to release natural anesthetics, which can create either warming or cooling sensations. (The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.)

The scientists inserted acupuncture needles into 25 people, ages 18 to 60 and both men and women. Then they tried two different methods. In one, they twisted the needles for two minutes every five minutes, for a total of 20 minutes. In the other, they applied electrical heat for 20 minutes.

Using a device that can measure the molecules in specific skin regions, researchers were able to detect the nitric oxide being released at these acupuncture sites for both methods.

There are caveats, as always. The sample size is small, and these results should be considered in light of more skeptical research as well. Next, the team wants to do further research to understand the underlying cellular mechanisms and the differences between the two techniques.

The rest is here:

What's happening in your body during acupuncture? - The Verge

Nearly every female lifestyle journalist worth their Himalayan pink salt descended on the first-ever Goop conference earlier this month. The result was a litany of take-downs ranging from the snarky to the overtly political.

The wellness industrial complex certainly deserves close scrutinyas does the rise of a celebrity vanity project thats turned pseudoscience into an aspirational lifestyle choice. However, as fun as it is to write about the radioactive swan-like qualities of Gwyneth Paltrow, theres a downside to sneering at wellness wholesale: We may wind up inadvertently dismissing science-backed forms of alternative and non-Western healing in the process.

Just ask Moroccan researcher and pharmacologist professor Adnane Remmal. Remmal was recently awarded a European Inventor Award for developing a new form of antibiotic that he created to fight multidrug-resistant (MDR) superbugs. According to a February report from the World Health Organization, if we rely on market forces to develop suitable treatment options to address such bugs, a new drug is unlikely to arrive in time. So what is the magic ingredient that Remmal has proved to be effective at boosting the efficacy of antibiotics? Cineolea molecule found in the essential oil derived from the eucalyptus plant.

The drug is currently under clinical trials in the country, and is slated to enter the market there in late 2017 or early 2018. A preliminary study, albeit with a very small sample size, found that 100% of 25 subjects who were treated for a MDR urinary tract infection were cured when they took a course of antibiotics boosted with this molecule. (While these results have yet to be published, there are several other studies that show the efficacy of this synergistic effect.)

Botanicals have long been known to have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, and have been responsible for success stories such as the naturally-derived cancer drug Taxol. (Other naturally-found molecules and compounds have also made their way into mainstream medicinethe active ingredient in aspirin is a synthetic version of a compound found in willow bark and other plants, and artemisinin, used to fight malaria, is derived from sweet wormwood.) Still, when Remmal began experimenting with cineole, he was unsure if the mainstream medical establishment would accept it.

In the beginning I had a resistance to the idea myself, but at the same time, in Morocco using plants to cure some diseases is not newso I was quite sure there was some active agent in botanicals, Remmal said. However in the field of infectious disease, it was difficult to convince the scientists that we can obtain better efficacy with this drug than with antibiotics. This is why I combined them together.

Indeed, Remmal believes that the molecule alone could prove as effective at battling infections as it is when paired with antibiotics, but more clinical trials on humans are needed to confirm. He has already developed an animal feed additive in Morocco that has allowed some farmers to ditch their antibiotic-laden feed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that the misuse of antibiotics in animal feed contributes to the development, persistence, and spread of resistant bacteria.

Remmals discovery serves as a good illustration of the nuance that is often lost in the wellness vortex. On one hand, a bias against complementary and alternative medicine may lead both doctors and patients to write off treatments that actually have proven benefits. On the other, the fact that a molecule found in eucalyptus oil may be useful in stopping superbugs doesnt mean that we should all give up penicillin and start munching on the plants leaves like koalas. As Remmal notes, cineole is just one molecule of about 40 that make up eucalyptus essential oil, and the quantity one would have to ingest to benefit from its antibacterial properties would likely come with severe side effects, too. In other words: details matter.

With essential oils, Id never say you cant inhale it, or put it on your skin, or put it in olive oil and make a balm for your scalp, for example, he says. The quantity which would traverse the skin in those cases will be acceptable. But to take it orally is not good. Not just useless, but dangerous.

Remmals guidance points to the need to stick to good old-fashioned science when considering the efficacy of the latest Instagram trend. If you dont, you end up putting all your faith in coconut oil or turmeric, only to find they dont live up to the hype.

But its equally important not to dismiss all alternative forms of healing as guff. Aside from botanicals, there are numerous forms of alternative or non-Western treatments shown to have real results. In the US, reputable medical colleges are increasingly offering courses in CAM topics to their students. Even Britains National Health Servicewhich, as a single-payer system, tends to be risk-averse when it comes to experimental treatmentsendorses treatments such as osteopathy, chiropractic treatments, and acupuncture. Furthermore, a growing number of studies show the measurable results of meditation and mindfulness practice to reduce problems like stress, anxiety, and high blood pressure.

To separate the wellness wheat from the chaff, its useful to train yourself about what evidence to look for when youre evaluating alternative medicine. The National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health provides guidance for the kind of information thats often missing from media write-ups of these alternative treatments, including how well one treatment approach works compared with another, potential side effects, whether study results are statistically significant, and whether the study was done in animals or in people.

Innovations like Remmals that integrate alternative healing traditions and go against the mainstream medical establishment have the potential to bring vital gains to health care. So lets not be too quick to roll our eyes at wellness as a whole. When it comes to jade eggs for your vagina, however? Laugh away.

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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Read next: All the wellness products Americans love to buy are sold on both Infowars and Goop

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Not all wellness is bullshit - Quartz

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A Jerusalem-based alternative medicine practitioner was indicted Wednesday on multiple rape and fraud charges for allegedly sexually assaulting four Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) women who sought his aid to treat depression, anxiety and other maladies.

While details of the case remain unclear, Dror Rotkowitz, 56, was charged two weeks after complaints were filed by the women to police.

According to police, Rotkowitz opened the downtown Natural Health Clinic on Hillel Street in 2008 shortly after studying alternative medicine overseas and designating himself a doctor.

Rotkowitz primarily treated ultra-Orthodox women from the capital and allegedly falsely claimed he received approval from the haredi rabbinate and leadership to practice holistic medicine.

The women allege that he repeatedly sexually assaulted them while claiming it was part of his holistic treatment plan.

All four victims said when they protested, Rotkowitz assured them that the sexual acts were necessary to cure their ailments.

His office was shut down shortly after police began investigating the complaints.

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Jerusalem: Alternative healer indicted on rape charges - The Jerusalem Post

Pink salt is everywhere: in salt grinders, craggy-looking lamps, sunset-hued slabs designed for cooking steak and even in "salt rooms" at spas. But is pink Himalayan salt worth all the attention? We checked out the science behind this recent health phenomenon.

The thing: Pink Himalayan salt is made from rock crystals of salt that have been mined from areas close to the Himalayas, often in Pakistan. It gets its rosy hue from trace minerals in the salt , like magnesium, potassium and calcium. Pink salt is often found as smaller crystals in salt grinders, as large, glowing pink or orange chunks in pink Himalayan salt lamps and in the walls of "salt chambers" at spas that promise an instant detox.

The hype: People claim the salt does all kinds of things. It's rumored to be healthier for its greater concentration of trace elements. In lamp form, companies claim that it eases symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), increases energy and improves sleep by cleansing the air from pollutants like dust and pollen. It supposedly does this by absorbing water molecules from the air and releasing negative air ions, which are said to get rid of particles like dust that can cause respiratory problems, like allergies and asthma, and affect mood. Sp as have also jumped on these claims to offer Himalayan salt-based therapies, where people sit in rooms and breathe deeply while tiny particles of salt are dispersed into the surrounding areas, ostensibly easing respiratory conditions.

Marketers tout their supposed ability to release negative ions that may enhance physical and emotional health, says Dr. Andy Weil, the founder and program director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine . This is based on the idea that air near moving water contains high levels of negative ions, which some researchers have suggested is one reason why spending time in nature has been linked to health benefits . Whether a man-made product can produce the same effect, however, is more dubious.

The research: Some data suggests that blasts of positive ionslike those from electronics or hot air may impair mood and physical health by increasing feelings of stress and anxiety, and some studies show that negative ions in the air may do the opposite and improve people's mood. But this is not a definitive claimand pink salt lamps have not been shown in studies to generate negative ions, anyway. "There is no scientific support for such claims related to Himalayan salt lamps," says Weil.

Even air purifiers that do generate negative air ionsso-called "ionizers"are typically too small to be effective, and experts don't recommend them . The salt lamps may also come with a major unrelated downside. In January, 80,000 pink Himalayan salt lamps were recalled after it was discovered that they could shock people and catch fire.

As for the edible salt, some argue that it tastes better than the regular white variety when used in cooking, and that may well be true for some people. All salts vary somewhat with respect to trace mineral content and texture, says Weil. Proponents claim that pink salt has more minerals than typical saltbut you aren't likely to get any extra health perks from eating it, Weil says. Pink Himalayan salt is nutritionally very similar to regular salt. It's just prettier and more expensive.

Salt therapies at spas are also not yet backed by solid evidence. Salt therapy has been used and debated for centuries in medical practice, but its been more recently used as a complementary or alternative medicine practice," says Dr. Lily Pien, an allergist at Cleveland Clinic. " At this time, it has not been definitely studied, and the true benefits are not well known." One possible benefit of the therapy may not come from the salt at all, she says. Giving yourself 30-45 minutes of quiet time is a known stress reliever.

The bottom line: If you want to add a pinch of pink salt to your food, go ahead, but you probably won't reap any special health benefits. Theres even less evidence for basking in the glow of a pink Himalayan salt lamp or indulging in a salt-based spa treatment. The most you'll get out of this rock is eye candy, says Weil. "Some feel it offers decorative value," he says, but don't expect much else.

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Does Pink Himalayan Salt Have Any Health Benefits? - TIME

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Yoga works as well as physical therapy for relieving back pain, a randomized trial found.

The study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, included 320 people ages 18 to 64 with moderate and persistent low back pain. Researchers assigned them to either 12 weekly sessions with a yoga instructor, 15 sessions of physical therapy over 12 weeks, or education with a book and periodic newsletters about back pain therapy. They measured pain intensity and disability with well-validated questionnaires.

In both the yoga and physical therapy groups, about half the participants achieved reduced pain and disability, and about half reduced their drug use. Those in the education group did not do as well: about a fifth showed improved physical function, 14 percent found pain relief, and 25 percent reduced their use of pain medication.

People apparently liked yoga better more people in the physical therapy and education groups dropped out of the study. The researchers controlled for race, age, income, body mass index, medications and other variables.

Id tell my friends to use yoga for back pain, said the senior author, Janice Weinberg, a professor of biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health. It is cost effective, it can be done at home or in group settings where there is social support, and it is also thought to have mental health benefits.

A version of this article appears in print on June 27, 2017, on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Alternative Medicine: Back Pain? Try Yoga.

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Back Pain? Try Yoga - New York Times