Daily Archives: December 22, 2021

A new study published in theJournal of Cognitive Enhancementinvestigated the websites of 371 neurofeedback providers in the United States. The overwhelming majority of these providers made claims in relation to at least one clinical condition (e.g., anxiety, ADHD), and a quarter of them used hype words (e.g., miracle cure) to do so. Only 36% of providers had a medical degree or a doctoral degree in psychology.

Electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback is a highly controversial form of therapy that provides patients with immediate biofeedback of their brain activity and teaches them to self-regulate their brain waves. The therapy is conducted across as many as 40 training sessions, at costs estimated between $3,00010,000 in the United States.

Importantly, the scientific literature has called to question the efficacy of neurofeedback training, with experimental studies suggesting that the benefits of training can be achieved with placebo and may be driven by psychosocial suggestion. Given that neurofeedback services are being widely offered to the public, study authors Anna Wexler and her team wanted to explore the claims being made by providers. The researchers embarked on the first systematic study of the advertising claims of neurofeedback providers in the US.

The study authors first identified 371 websites of neurofeedback providers in the US, after consulting four different directories. Two coders analyzed the websites, coding for clinic type, target audience, interventions offered, products being sold, language use, clinical indications advertised, and patient testimonials.

While neurofeedback clinics were identified across the US map, there were particular hotspots in the major cities of Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and New York. The overwhelming majority of websites (97%) made claims regarding at least one clinical issue, the most common being anxiety (92%), ADHD/ADD (86%), and depression (82%).

Additionally, 90% suggested improvements related to cognitive enhancement (e.g., focus, concentration). Wexler and her team note that there is little empirical evidence that neurofeedback is effective in any of these ways and some websites listed conditions for which there is even less evidence, like Aspergers syndrome (19%) and bipolar disorder (16%).

About three-quarters of the websites used language suggestive of complementary and alternative medicine, for example, using words like holistic and natural. About a quarter used hype language to advertise unrealistic benefits, adopting expressions like miracle cure. Many websites appeared to target vulnerable populations, with 75% targeting parents and 27% targeting the elderly. Other common targets were athletes (33%) and business executives (23%).

Alarmingly, only 32% of providers had a doctoral degree related to psychology and 4% had a medical degree. Most (74%) were certified by the Board Certified in Neurofeedback (BCN), which is a credential intended to show competency but not a legal license to practice. While the BCN certification that most providers reported having does require a significant investment of timea university-level neuroanatomy course, 36 hours of didactic education, 25 hours of mentoring, and 100 neurofeedback sessionsonly two hours of training are devoted to the research evidence base for neurofeedback (BCIA 2004; BCIA 2019), Wexler and colleagues point out.

The study authors note that their study was limited since they were unable to include all neurofeedback providers in the US, investigating only those they identified from four directories. Still, the findings offer a snapshot into the advertising claims of neurofeedback clinics and raise concern that some providers are presenting overblown claims that are not justified by the current scientific data.

While it is not unethical per se to offer the public an experimental treatment, the provision of such services requires informing clients of the mixed evidence and of the experimental nature of the procedure (at minimum), the authors say. Given that a quarter of websites in our sample utilized hype language, and that 43.9% made use of patient testimonials, it seems likely that at least some of these providers are not accurately representing the current state of the science regarding enhancement.

The study, Neuroenhancement for sale: assessing the website claims of neurofeedback providers in the United States, was authored by Anna Wexler, Ashwini Nagappan, Deena Kopyto, and Rebekah Choi.

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Study raises ethical concerns over misleading website claims from neurofeedback providers in the United States - PsyPost

Dr. Mitsie Vargas| Ledger columnist

The Integrative medicine approach can save lives or at least offer an alternative to managing chronic conditions while maintaining a high quality of life. In some cancer cases, it provides a way to provide comfort and hospice care. In my practice, I try to get the pet owners to understand that a cancer diagnosis does not necessarily mean you need to euthanize your pet right then.

Cancer is a rising concern and we keep diagnosing all sorts of cancerous processes in dogs, catsand exotics. Western medicine offers certain options like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy that will eradicate the tumors or at least attempt to. There is a lot of research regarding vaccines to protect pets against certain kinds of cancer. We are lucky to have the University of Florida involved in several clinical trials and advancing many of these options.

In my opinion, an integrative approach offers the best quality of life for the affected pets. In some cases, getting rid of the tumor surgically then following up with herbals, food therapy, and acupuncture will raise the immune system and relieve pain resulting in a longer lifespan.

What happens when the tumor is inoperable or there are no Western options? Well, then we focus on the Traditional Chinese Veterinary medicine approach and discover the underlying pattern in hopes that addressing that will result in minimizing the cancer process. This is the most remunerating aspect for me as a practitioner; when I can offer hope to pets in dim situations.

I wanted to share a successful case of a kitty named Peaches that came to us with a diagnosis of suspected Lymphoma. He had been vomiting daily, would not eat, and was rapidly declining. His mom was referred to us by her veterinarian. He had been through some Western treatment options and had an ultrasound confirming the infiltrative nature of the lymphoma in his gastroenteric tract

I told the owner that Peaches did not know about his diagnosis so he was living in the present moment and could fully enjoy life if we could help move the gut in the right wayand improve his appetite. It would be our job to provide as much love and support while using Vitamin B12 aquapuncture, food therapy, and herbal medicines to care for him.

A diagnosis of Spleen Qi/Yin deficiency was made. He was put on the herbal formula Happy earth and given some food recommendations. Some supplements like probiotics and bentonite clay were prescribed.

The best thing about this story is that Peaches is currently doing well oneyear post-diagnosis and continues receiving herbal therapy and biweekly aquapuncture treatments. His latest Lymphoma test blood panel confirms his diagnosis and although we know the cancer is there, we are pleased it is not causing disease. He has stopped vomiting and has gained almost 2 poundssince we started therapy. This case exemplifies how TCVM for palliative care can extend the longevity and quality of life and perhaps keep a cancerous, invasive tumor from proliferating.

Dr. Mitsie Vargas is at Orchid Springs Animal Hospital in Winter Haven. She can be reached at drv@osahvets

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Additional methods of treating cancer in pets - The Ledger

Since the start of the pandemic, journals have retracted more than 200 COVID-19related papers and counting, most of them in 2021. But such papers represent only about 5 percent of the more than 3,000 retractions weve indexed this year in the Retraction Watch Database. In what has become an annual tradition, here we present the top retraction stories of the year.

1Like a lot of people, Victor Grech, a pediatric heart specialist in Malta, really likes Star Trek. The problem is that Grech was able to turn an Elsevier journal called Early Human Development into something of a scientific fanzine, publishing dozens of articles for the periodical that were in a galaxy far, far outside the scope of its editorial interests. The publisher learned about the problematic papers in late 2020 from Hampton Gaddy, an undergrad at the University of Oxford in the UK. Grechs articles covered topics such as the role of nurses in Star Trek, the banality of evil in Star Trek, and the portrayal of doctors in, you guessed it, Star Trek. Grech eventually lost more than two dozen papers to retraction.

2In 2015, officials at the University of Colorado Denver concluded that one of its former faculty members, Hari Koul, needed to correct or retract nine papers over concerns about problematic images in the articles. But six years later, most of those articles remained intactand many of the journals involved said theyd never heard of the investigation. After Retraction Watch reported on the delay, journals pulled three articles by Koul, who had left Denver for Louisiana State University Health Science Center (LSU HSC) in Shreveport and eventually ended up at the schools New Orleans campus. Then, after local media reported on other allegations Retraction Watch had mentioned, LSU HSC New Orleans said it was investigating, and Koul stepped downfrom his post as department chair.

3When the journal Vaccine published a study in June claiming that COVID-19 vaccinations killed two people for every death they prevented, the scientific community was outraged. Two members of the journals editorial board stepped down to protest the article, which was written by Hararld Walach, described on his Wikipedia page as a parapsychologist and advocate of alternative medicine. Vaccine quickly issued an expression of concern for the paper and subsequently retracted it. Meanwhile, Walach, whose institution in Poland terminated his position in response to the controversy, has defended his groups analysis, saying that the data, while imperfect, were analyzed correctly. He also lost another paper, in JAMA Pediatrics, on COVID-19 and masks for children.

4Last year, scientists began to express doubts about the validity of data theyd been receiving from Jonathan Pruitt, a behavioral ecologist with a prestigious position at McMaster University in Canada, whose field research on spiders had helped underpin many publications. Pruitts articles quickly began to fall, and over the next year he lost a dozen papers. Late this year, Pruitts doctoral dissertation, which hed received from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was withdrawn. Pruitt was placed on paid leave from McMaster and removed from the prestigious Canada 150 Chairs website.

5When Cyriac Abby Philips, a gastroenterologist in India, published a 2018 paper about a young woman whod suffered liver disease after taking herbal supplements, he didnt think that three years later hed be considering suing the journal for defamation. Philipss legal troubles started when he and his colleagues published their case study in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology, an Elsevier title. Herbalife, which makes dietary supplements including the ones the patient took, pressured the journal, which ultimately decided to retract the work for legal reasons, as stated in the original retraction notice. That notice was later changed to say that the scientific methodology, analysis and interpretation of data underlying the article were insufficienta claim Philips called highly defamatory. He threatened to sue the publisher and the journal for the equivalent of US $1.35 million. The retraction notice promptly was changed again, and now cites legal pressures as it initially did.

6Retractions often take years, but not in this case. Barely a month after the publication of a paper claiming female scientists fare better under male mentors, Nature Communications retracted the article amid a storm of criticism. Written by a group from the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University, the paper was lambasted from the moment it appeared online in mid-November. As one statistician tweeted, the paper doesnt tell us much about the impact of gender on mentorship but it sure does tell us that the statistics community needs to do a better job teaching scientists about correlation, causation, and confounding. The authors said they agreed with the journals decision and said they felt deep regret that the publication of our research has both caused pain on an individual level and triggered such a profound response among many in the scientific community.

7Pierre Kory, then of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, testified to Congress in May 2020 that MATH+an intensive care regimen that includes methylprednisolone, ascorbic acid, thiamine, heparin, and co-interventionsslashed the risk of death from COVID-19 by 75 percent compared with other regimens. Then, last December, he and his colleagues published a paper in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine about MATH+ (to which they later added the controversial drug ivermectin) saying as much, prompting questions from other experts about whether the effectiveness of the approach was overstated. Those concerns appear to be warranted. In November, the journal retracted Korys paper, citing inaccurately reported data from one of the study sites in the analysis.

8In late 2020, the journal Eurosurveillance announced that, in response to an international petition, it was looking more closely at a paper it had published at the start of the year on the validity of PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 (at the time called 2019-nCoV). The news heartened critics of the article, who argued that PCR testing wasnt capable of identifying the virusand thus, positive tests were meaningless and shouldnt be used to guide public policy, especially economically damaging steps such as lockdowns. But two months later, the editors issued a statementsaying that the paper would stand (or more precisely, the criteria for a retraction of the article have not been fulfilled).

9Advocates for the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 have little in the way of robust evidence to support their belief that the deworming drug is effective against the infection. One study many ivermectin fans pointed to this year appeared in Viruses in the spring. The randomized controlled trial purportedly found that a single dose of the drug led to fewer symptoms, lower viral load and reduced hospital admissions. Except that wasnt true. As BBC News reported, the study was found to have blocks of details of 11 patients that had been copied and pasted repeatedlysuggesting many of the trials apparent patients didnt really exist. The authors acknowledged that theyd mixed up their data files, and in November the journal retracted the paper, but not before the study had become part of a meta-analysis on the virtues of ivermectin for COVID-19, which as of this writing remains uncorrected.

10Finally, one of our favorites for the year. The Arabian Journal of Geosciences was forced to retract 44 articles from a special issue after readers pointed out that they appeared to be utter gibberish. The first clue? The titles read like a bunch of graduate students playing drunk Mad Libs: Neural networkbased urban rainfall trend estimation and adolescent anxiety management; Distribution of earthquake activity in mountain area based on embedded system and physical fitness detection of basketball. A guest editor of the journal, which is owned by Springer Nature, at one point blamed an email hack for the nonsense articles. In fact, the 44 were just the tip of the sand dune for Springer Nature. More than 400 papers in journals owned by the companyand hundreds more at journals owned by Elsevierhave been flagged for similar problems.

Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus are the founders ofRetraction Watch. Email them atteam@retractionwatch.com, follow them on Twitter @RetractionWatch, and sign up for their daily newsletter.

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The Top Retractions of 2021 - The Scientist

In a notable development, the first long-acting injectable shot for preventing HIV was approved by the Food and Drug Administration this week, ushering in what could be a new era in the battle against AIDS.

The medicine, which is called Apretude, offers a significant advancement in combating what continues to be a highly infectious disease. In 2019, approximately 36,800 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with HIV and an estimated 34,800 were infected that same year, according to the latest data from the federal government. As many as 1.2 million Americans, meanwhile, are believed to be living with the disease.

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By endorsing a first injectable for HIV prevention, FDA creates alternative to pills and a battle among drug makers - STAT

Does God exist? Is there life after death? When did time begin? Which came first-the hen or the egg? These are among some of the most intriguing puzzles that constantly tease our brains. Ironically, answers to such posers remain unanswered.

There are two more equally troublesome questions for which answers are as elusive as those that have haunted mankind. Thy are: 1) What kind of food (rice or wheat or millets or something else) should we eat to lead a healthy life? 2) Which system of medicine (allopathy or ayurveda or homeopathy or something else) can we be dependent on for providing the perfect cure to all ailments?

People are in a fix to arrive at some conclusions by way of answers for these two vital questions. Every health-conscious citizen is in an utter state of confusion as they are bombarded by vociferous arguments and counters put forth by the food crusaders championing their own brand of foods and medicinal systems. With panacea nowhere in sight, the hapless citizens are trying everything and spending heavily even while putting their life in peril.

What to eat?

Everything was more or less honky-dory till the dawn of the new millennium. We used to devour rice, curries and pickles thrice a day along with curd.There never was (and never will) a dearth of delicacies for non-vegetarians.

For Telugu-speaking people, pickles like avakaya (mango), gongura (sorrel leaves), chintakaya (tamarind) and nimma kaya (lemon), were an intrinsic part of their cuisine. Jars filled with a dozen types of mango pickles, most of them prepared in summer by the family grannies and elders, would invariably occupy a pride of place on the dining table. The meal of our grandparents and parents was incomplete without having avakaya badda (a piece of mango pickle). Kids used to go to school after eating the leftover meal, called chaddiannam, with the available pickle, in the absence of 'tiffins.'Idli, vada, dosa, puri, bread etc replaced this traditional food as 'light' breakfast food.

Alas, of late, those who relished the abovementioned pickles went into an altogether different phase with doctors suggesting people to shun them forthwith. Our poor avakaya has become a banned substance now. The consumption of chaddiannam is now viewed as anuncivilised act and yummy curd and ghee are considered as a grave threat to our nerves system. Sprouts were suggested as a healthy breakfast meal but even this faded away in course of time.

All said and done, rice is our staple food, unlike North Indians. Slowly chapathis made their way into our meal. The wheat-made product became the evening meal of people, especially aged persons suffering from diabetes. The era of chapathis is slowly getting eased out by the innumerable kinds of millets that are being thrust on us. It has reached a stage where propagators of millets consider rice-eaters as potential patients. Amid this brings forth a never-ending organic or inorganic debate. The heavier priced organic millets are the norm of the day as consumption of rice is getting to be dubbed as a taboo by the proponents of 'millets for health' philosophy.

When it comes to handling those suffering from diabetes, nutritionists suggest a cup of rice, a phulka (chapathi without oil) and more veggies. Of course, it is still pizzas and burgers that the younger generation patronises. In tune with the diet and food habits recommended by the present day medical practitioners, salads, with all kinds of vegetables, have become a part of our daily food.

We grew up listening to the dictum, an apple a day, keeps the doctor away, but now-a-days, eating apples is considered anathema to one's healthy well-being. "Are you into apples? Let me tell you, it will serve no purpose! They do not have the nutritional value of the good old days. Apples should be eaten as they are plucked from the tree,"is the sagacious suggestion from a friend.

There is an apprehension that apples are glistened with a coat of wax and hence dangerous. We know that honey is linked to extraordinary health benefits such as bolstering the heart, quick healing of wounds, and the blood antioxidant status. However, people are baffled when reading news reports about pure honey getting contaminated with jaggery syrup.

A well-wisher by now might have asked you to straightaway ban three white substances-sugar, salt and maida power.

The Hyderabad-headquartered National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), as part of 'My Plate for the Day' recommendation, advocates that a healthy diet needs to include nearly 500 gms of vegetables and fruits accounting for at least eight percent of the daily calorie intake. However, more than 80% of Indians do not meet this recommendation, according to NIN Director Dr R Hemalatha.

In the last two years, NIN established Nutrition Surveillance System (NSS) in six States through the Anganwadi centers of the ICDS, which is an integrated approach to assess population nutrition. I wonder why our doctors don't write 'as per NIN recommendations' when they make dietary suggestions. Instead of dumping a lot of powders and other so-called 'balanced diet' manufactured by multinational companies, can't we trust the home-grown brains who are equally determined to make the citizens hale and healthy?

Medical dilemmas

Equally disturbing issue is the choice we ought to make on the medical front. People have tremendous faith in allopathy, an archaic term for science-based modern medicine. Though allopathy fails to provide a complete cure for some ailments, people repose faith on this type of medicinal system for its proven benefits.

Unable to bear the costs of tests and medicines, the economically-poorer lot opted for alternative medicinal methods. COVID-19 shook people's confidence on allopathy because of the delay in inventing a sure-shot medicine for the dreaded virus. Change of treatment protocols by an authority like the World Health Organisation (WHO) further impacted people's faith in modern medicine.

What were life-saving injections, that was heavily black-marketed were dropped from treatment later. The vaccination too didn't provide desired results to the people. Many people died even after taking two of vaccination. What adds confusion is the latest suggestion from health authorities that everyone should go for the booster doses at regular intervals to survive.

The highly dangerous trial and error method practiced by the modern doctors had a devastating impact on the physique and finances of public. That is why there was a mad rush to get herbal medicine prepared by ayurvedic practitioners like Anandaiah in Andhra Pradesh.

It is reported in media that some studies found an inverse relationship between smoking and COVID-19 infection. They contradicted the age-old belief that smokers are more vulnerable to infections in general and to respiratory infections in particular. It was indeed music to the ears of smokers. In hindsight, one really does not know what is right and whom to believe.

The modern, science-based medicine is undoubtedly the backbone of our healthcare systems, but alternative therapies like ayurveda and homoeopathy are gaining popularity prompting gurus like Baba Ramdev to launch a successful business on the back of selling herbal medicines and products by showcasing the Indian's age-old traditional healing system.

The Union Government has a Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) to promote traditional systems. When we are sure of the efficacy of the modern medicine, allopathy, then why should we have Ayush? People are forced to try their luck in alternative medicines by spending hugely. I know a good number of people who use all three types of medicines with a belief that one among them would click. Generic medicine seems to be the new norm in the face of skyrocketing medical costs.

I don't see any sincere attempt from the government side to clear the food and medicine dilemmas that have been troubling people. Multi-crore research institutions, being run with tax-payers money, are unable to come up with a concrete solution for the issues at hand. I strongly feel that social media is the main villain for this Indian food and medical predicament.

The government should not allow every Tom, Dick and Harry to make videos on food and medicine and post them on social media platforms. Most of them are spreading a fear-psychosis among gullible public and creating hype and speculation for their own benefit. A way out will be in the government opening public information centres to clear doubts of people on food and medicines without further delay.

(The author, a PhD in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist, journalism educator and communication consultant)

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The great Indian food and medicine dilemmas - The Hans India