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Author Archives: skeptvet
Things Holistic Vets Say About Cancer that Should Make Pet Owners Run the Other Way
Cancer is a common and frightening disease, and many pet owners will have to face making decisions about cancer care for their pets at some point. While there are many therapies that can improve quality of life for a veterinary … Continue reading
Posted in General
9 Comments
Selected Effects of Neutering in German Shepherd Dogs
As part of my ongoing surveillance of evidence concerning the benefits and risks of neutering, I have identified a new study on the subject. Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., Thigpen, A. P. and Willits, N. H. (2016). Neutering of … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
7 Comments
How to Prove a Therapy is Effective Even When its Not
Over the years, I have written a lot about how we come to hold and maintain false beliefs in medicine. Perhaps the lion’s share of this lies in anecdotes, which are powerfully persuasive despite all the sources of bias and … Continue reading
Neutering and Cancer Risk In Cats
I have written extensively about the scientific evidence concerning the benefits and risks of neutering. Overall, the data is complex, and significant effects of neutering on specific health risks are rarely definitively demonstrated. One of the most controversial issues, the … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
8 Comments
The Unfortunate Role of Alternative Medicine in the Animal Hospice Movement
I first wrote about the subject of hospice care for animals in the first year of this blog, 2009. I feel strongly that there is a need to adapt the concepts of hospice and palliative care developed in human medicine … Continue reading
Posted in General
5 Comments
Ignorance is not a Virtue
The focus of this blog is the relationship between science and medicine, with an emphasis on skepticism, not politics. However, larger cultural problems in our attitudes towards science and reason are relevant in that they impact how people perceive science … Continue reading
Posted in General
3 Comments
Acupuncture Fails to Qualify as a Specialty Area in Veterinary Medicine due to Lack of Adequate Scientific Evidence
I have written extensively about acupuncture and the scientific evidence concerning it, even going so far as to complete a certification course in acupuncture myself. This extensive examination has convinced me that while there are a few effects of electrical … Continue reading
Posted in Acupuncture
8 Comments
John Oliver Nails It! How the Media Misreports Science.
With his usual humor and also very clear, accurate explanations, John Oliver talks about how scientific research is misrepresented in the media, and how this not only misleads the public about important health issues but undermines confidence in science. … Continue reading
Posted in Humor
4 Comments
Dogs are Still not Wolves: Human Feeding Practices Have Shaped the Dog Genome
I have written many times about the argument, often made to support raw meat feeding or other alternative dietary practices, that dogs are basically carnivores and that because they were derived from wolf ancestors their optimal diet should be as … Continue reading
Posted in Nutrition
9 Comments
Teaching Integrative Medicine in Veterinary Schools: Part of an Evidence-Based Curriculum or Trojan Horse for Alternative Medicine?
I recently came across an interesting paper that cited some of my previous writing about the relationship between evidence-based medicine and alternative medicine. M.A. Memon, J. Shmalberg, H.S. Adair III, S. Allweiler, J.N. et al. Integrative veterinary medical education and … Continue reading
Posted in General
4 Comments
