Author Archives: skeptvet

Magic Mushrooms–Can a mushroom-derived compound slow the progression of cancer in dogs?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by skeptvet

There is a recent study out which looks at the potential for a chemical derived from mushrooms to slow the progression of one type of cancer in dogs. It has both strengths and weaknesses, and it is a nice example … Continue reading →

Posted in Herbs and Supplements | 9 Comments

Is Big Pharma Trying to Make CAM More Science-Based or Just Get a Piece of the Action?

Posted on September 9, 2012 by skeptvet

There have been a number of mentions in the media lately of an initiative by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the biggest of Big Pharma companies, setting up a division in China to study Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Here’s one report … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Herbs and Supplements for Pets: What Is a Vet to do?

Posted on September 6, 2012 by skeptvet

I’ve written extensively about herbal remedies and dietary supplements both because these seem among the most likely to be useful of CAM therapies and also because they are widely used despite the lack of good evidence that they are safe … Continue reading →

Posted in Herbs and Supplements | 4 Comments

The Harm Complementary and Alternative Medicine Can Do

Posted on August 26, 2012 by skeptvet

What’s the Harm I have written often about ways in which complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be harmful. This is not because I believe CAM is necessarily always unsafe, or that I think conventional medicine doesn’t have significant risks … Continue reading →

Posted in Topic-Based Summaries | 13 Comments

Veterinary Acupuncture

Posted on August 26, 2012 by skeptvet

What is it? Because of the wide variety of theories, approaches, and specific practices acupuncturists use, it is difficult to find agreement as to what exactly acupuncture is. At its core, acupuncture is the practice of inserting needles into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Acupuncture | 11 Comments

The Danger of Choosing Alternative Therapies over Conventional Care

Posted on August 26, 2012 by skeptvet

One of the most common responses to criticisms of alternative medicine is that, whether it is effective or not, at least it can’t do any harm. There is ample evidence, unfortunately, that this is not true. Any therapy with a … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Miscellaneous CAVM | 2 Comments

The Pseudoscience of Veterinary Chiropractic

Posted on August 19, 2012 by skeptvet

The defining characteristic of pseudoscience is an idea which sounds scientific, which claims to be scientific, but which isn’t actually based on legitimate scientific research or is theoretically inconsistent which established scientific knowledge. There can be some subjectivity in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chiropractic | 2 Comments

Ozone Therapy for Pets

Posted on August 12, 2012 by skeptvet

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

The Three Most Dangerous Words in Medicine

Posted on August 7, 2012 by skeptvet

This slide presentation, and narrated video version, look briefly at the danger of relying on individual clinical experience rather than formal scientific research in making medical decisions. Slide Presentation Clinical Trials or Clinical Experience?

Posted in General | 2 Comments

Can Complementary and Alternative Medicine be Evidence-Based?

Posted on August 6, 2012 by skeptvet

This slide presentation, and the narrated video version, are part of a talk given at the annual convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The subject was whether or not one can apply the approach of evidence-based medicine to complementary and … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 2 Comments