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Search Results for: placebo
Another Study Shows Acupuncture is a Placebo Treatment
One consistent theme in acupuncture research is that it has proven very difficult to show any difference between the effects of acupuncture intended to treat a symptom or disease and the effects of various kinds of fake or sham acupuncture … Continue reading
Posted in Acupuncture
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Acupuncture is All Placebo
Acupuncture is among the most popular alternative therapies in the mainstream medical community. There appears to be a widespread belief that it has been scientifically proven to be a safe and effective therapy, at least for pain and nausea, and … Continue reading
Posted in Acupuncture
4 Comments
New Studies Show Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Helps Treat Concussion, but no more than Placebo Treatment
I’ve written previously about the evidence concerning hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). There are a few specific conditions for which there is reasonable evidence HBOT is a useful therapy. Unfortunately, it is becoming something of a fad treatment in veterinary medicine, … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous CAVM
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From the JREF Swift Blog- Alternative Medicine & Placebo Effects: In Pets?
My first contribution to the Swift blog at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is up today. Alternative Medicine & Placebo Effects: In Pets? Placebo effects, of course, operate for all medical therapies, effective or ineffective, conventional or alternative. But … Continue reading
Posted in General
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Clever New Study Illustrates the Importance of Placebo Controls In Veterinary Clinical Studies
I recently ran across a fantastic web site, Testing Treatments, which explains clearly and simply how we use science to test our medical treatments. For anyone not already very familiar with this process, this site will explain why a lot … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
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Caregiver Placebo Effects: New Study Shows that Owners and Vets Often Believe an Ineffective Therapy is Working When it Isn’t
The placebo effect is a critically important, and much misunderstood phenomenon which can mislead us greatly when we are trying to decide if a medical therapy is or is not effective. While most people understand the placebo effect to mean … Continue reading
Posted in General, Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
11 Comments
Acupuncture–Still a Placebo After All These Years
The scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture is far weaker than is widely supposed, even among those committed to science and science-based medicine. It has been repeatedly shown that the measurable physiological effects and apparent clinical benefits of sticking … Continue reading
Posted in Acupuncture
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Placebo Treatment for Asthma: Works for the Mind but not the Lungs
Note: I originally wrote this for Science-Based Medicine, but Dr. David Gorski has posted a far more detailed review of the study, which I encourage everyone to read, so I am just posting my thoughts on the subject here. The … Continue reading
Posted in General
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Another Acupuncture Study Shows It’s a Placebo
Acupuncture is one of the CAM modalities most widely accepted as scientifically proven to be effective, at least for pain and maybe nausea. Even providers skeptical of the mystical roots and language of the practice will often suggest that it … Continue reading
Posted in Acupuncture
13 Comments
The Placebo Effect In Song
Happy Birthday, SketpVet! 🙂 Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. Not a momentous event for the world at large, but yet another reminder of the fleeting nature of time for me. Apparently, in the last year I have … Continue reading
Posted in General, Humor
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