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Author Archives: skeptvet
Doctor Indicted for Selling Bogus “Cure” to Cancer Patients
I’ve discussed previously why it is both understandable that desperately ill people turn to unproven or bogus therapies and why it is immoral to take advantage of this desperation and sell them such therapies. It is comforting, then, to find … Continue reading
Cognitive Dissonance and Evidence-Based Medicine
Cognitive dissonance is the emotional reaction to becoming aware that one holds two contradictory ideas or feelings simultaneously. It is a term from a rich area of cognitive psychology looking at how people derive and maintain beliefs. One of the … Continue reading
Posted in General
7 Comments
Veterinary Stem Cell “Research” — Is This the Best We Can Do?
As I discussed in a previous post, the call for a reliance on sound evidence in veterinary medicine resonates less strongly that we might hope because of the paucity of such evidence. Financial resources are the main limiting factor in … Continue reading
Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine
27 Comments
PEMF Device for Pets
Bioelectronics corporation has announced its intent to market a new device for treatment of osteoarthritis in pets. The device, the HealFast®Therapy PetPatch™, is a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) device that attaches over a swollen or painful joint ad is intended … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous CAVM
17 Comments
CAM and Religiosity
I have often referred to CAM as “faith-based medicine” due to its reliance on belief over evidence for validation, and I have commented on my perception that such a belief-based approach resembles religion, for which I have been soundly chastised … Continue reading
Posted in General
9 Comments
From CFI – Paying for Non-Evidence Based Health Care
The Office of Public Policy of the Center for Inquiry, a think tank an lobby devoted to science and reason in public policy, has issued a report warning of attempts by notorious CAM booster Tom Harkin and others to insert … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Regulation, and Politics
6 Comments
From Respectful Insolence – New Study on CAM and Vaccines
Orac at Respectful Insolence has posted a summary of a recent paper examining the relationship between usage of CAM (specifically defined as being treated by chiropractors, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and massage therapists) treatments and vaccine rates. The study looked at children … Continue reading
Posted in General, Vaccines
4 Comments
Nutraceuticals and Cognitive Dysfunction
There is widespread agreement among veterinary behaviorists, and veterinarians in general, that one consequence of the improved longevity of our patients has been an increase in clinical behavior problems associated with brain aging. Changes in sleep/wake cycles, activity level, housetraining … Continue reading
Posted in Herbs and Supplements
35 Comments
The Gonzalez Trial – The Cost of Studying The Unlikely
First, I just wanted to point out that I have added another example to the list of harm done by use of CAM. In this case, it’s a tragic story about a young women suffering needlessly yet unwilling to give … Continue reading
Posted in General, Miscellaneous CAVM
2 Comments
What’s the Harm?
CAM proponents aggressively market their approaches with the assurance, often absolute and without qualification, that their methods never cause harm. And perhaps the most common response to critiques of CAM from people who consider themselves mildly skeptical of it but … Continue reading
Posted in General, Miscellaneous CAVM
3 Comments