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Category Archives: General
New Review of Complemetary and Alternative Therapies for Arthritis
I’ve written extensively about alternative arthritis therapies, largely because that is one of the most common conditions for which complementary and alternative treatments are used. While a few are promising (such as fish oils), there is little good evidence to … Continue reading
Posted in General
37 Comments
Another Study Shows CAM Use Harms Cancer Patients
A recent study of cancer patients provides yet another addition to my list of examples of how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can do harm. Yun YH, Lee MK, Park SM, Kim YA, Lee WJ, Lee KS, Choi JS, Jung … Continue reading
Posted in General
4 Comments
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
Storyteller’s Creed–How do you feel about this?
There’s a pretty good argument to be made that a lot of the differences between people’s opinions on controversial issues have more to do with differences in temperament and its influence on world view than with the facts or arguments … Continue reading
Posted in General
9 Comments
Zoopharmacognosy–Do Animals Self-Medicate?
Before becoming a veterinarian, I did a master’s degree in animal behavior, working primarily with chimpanzees. These are fascinating creatures, with many of the cognitive abilities of a young human child (and with a similar emotional temperament as well, which … Continue reading
Posted in General, Herbs and Supplements
11 Comments
The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Foundation: Science or Salesmanship?
One of the biggest problems with alternative veterinary medicine is the promotion of specific therapies or practices without reasonable scientific evidence that these are safe or effective. Sometimes, the evidence is actually clear that a specific approach is not effective, … Continue reading
Posted in General
9 Comments
Is Big Pharma Trying to Make CAM More Science-Based or Just Get a Piece of the Action?
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
The Danger of Choosing Alternative Therapies over Conventional Care
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 Three Most Dangerous Words in Medicine
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?
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
