Search Results for: Dr Google

When Hope becomes Delusion and Compassion becomes Deception: An Alternative Medicine Approach to Testing New Therapies

One of the most attractive features of alternative therapies is that they offer hope. CAM treatments, by definition, are almost never validated by the usual scientific research evidence used to test mainstream medical therapies. If they were, they would no … Continue reading

Posted in General | 7 Comments

Benefits and Risks of Neutering, An Evidence Update: Effects of Neutering on Longevity and Cause of Death in Dogs

Another new study has recently been published addressing the complex issue of the risks and benefits of neutering dogs. This report certainly will not answer all the outstanding questions or quiet the debate about when and if to neuter dogs, … Continue reading

Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine | 16 Comments

From Science-Based Medicine–Veterinary Chiropractic

People are sometimes surprised to learn that all the heavy hitters of alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, etc., are inflicted on animals as well as humans. I’ve written about veterinary homeopathy, and the associated manufactroversy, in a previous post, … Continue reading

Posted in Chiropractic | 19 Comments

Intravenous Vitamin C for Cancer Treatment in Pets

Introduction Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) is a micronutrient found in many foods. Interestingly, it is essential for primates and guinea pigs, but not for any other mammals since most species can manufacture it from other substances in … Continue reading

Posted in Herbs and Supplements, Miscellaneous CAVM | 51 Comments

What’s Wrong with Integrative Veterinary Medicine?

The terminology associated with unconventional therapies has shifted a bit over the last 40 or so years. Initially, such therapies were often described as “alternative.” This fit well with the still widespread philosophical position that new or different ways of … Continue reading

Posted in General | 32 Comments

The Ethics of Referring Patients for Alternative Medical Therapies

I recently ran across an editorial on the subject of the legal and ethical issues associated with conventional doctors referring patients for alternative medical therapies. It does a nice job of highlighting an issue which I think gets too little … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Regulation, and Politics | 7 Comments

Ozone Therapy for Pets

I’ve recently run across some advertising for the wonders of ozone therapy in pets. This is a treatment that hasn’t caught on much in veterinary medicine (fortunately), but I thought I’d take a look at it before it becomes the … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous CAVM | 41 Comments

Medical Miracles: Should We Believe?

Any time there is discussion of alternative medicine, of treatments that haven’t passed the test of rigorous scientific investigation (or even been tested at all), there are miracle stories. Testimonials, anecdotes, whatever you call them, they are tales of amazing … Continue reading

Posted in General | 10 Comments

SuperVets: Entertainment, Education, or Propaganda?

It is a well-known, indisputable, and nearly universally ignored fact that anecdotes in medicine are unreliable when trying to decide which therapies work and which don’t. The experiences of individual patients don’t even reliably tell us what worked or didn’t … Continue reading

Posted in General | 3 Comments

Acupuncture Points: Do They Exist?

There are many levels at which one can, and should, evaluate a proposed medical treatment. Certainly, high level and high quality clinical trial research is likely to be the deciding factor for many interventions. But another important thing to look … Continue reading

Posted in Acupuncture | 3 Comments