Walter Is Not Alone

Science at ‘the end of the beginning of the renaissance’ of psychedelic research

Rational Opinions Are Mean...They Must Be Stopped!

In the UK, Simon Singh wrote an article against chiropractors. For that, he is being sued. Below is his "blasphemous" article:

Beware the spinal trap

Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results – and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.

You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that “99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae”. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.

In fact, Palmer’s first chiropractic intervention supposedly cured a man who had been profoundly deaf for 17 years. His second treatment was equally strange, because he claimed that he treated a patient with heart trouble by correcting a displaced vertebra.

You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact some still possess quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything, including helping treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying – even though there is not a jot of evidence.

I can confidently label these assertions as utter nonsense because I have co-authored a book about alternative medicine with the world’s first professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst. He learned chiropractic techniques himself and used them as a doctor. This is when he began to see the need for some critical evaluation. Among other projects, he examined the evidence from 70 trials exploring the benefits of chiropractic therapy in conditions unrelated to the back. He found no evidence to suggest that chiropractors could treat any such conditions.

But what about chiropractic in the context of treating back problems? Manipulating the spine can cure some problems, but results are mixed. To be fair, conventional approaches, such as physiotherapy, also struggle to treat back problems with any consistency. Nevertheless, conventional therapy is still preferable because of the serious dangers associated with chiropractic.

In 2001, a systematic review of five studies revealed that roughly half of all chiropractic patients experience temporary adverse effects, such as pain, numbness, stiffness, dizziness and headaches. These are relatively minor effects, but the frequency is very high, and this has to be weighed against the limited benefit offered by chiropractors.

More worryingly, the hallmark technique of the chiropractor, known as high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust, carries much more significant risks. This involves pushing joints beyond their natural range of motion by applying a short, sharp force. Although this is a safe procedure for most patients, others can suffer dislocations and fractures.

Worse still, manipulation of the neck can damage the vertebral arteries, which supply blood to the brain. So-called vertebral dissection can ultimately cut off the blood supply, which in turn can lead to a stroke and even death. Because there is usually a delay between the vertebral dissection and the blockage of blood to the brain, the link between chiropractic and strokes went unnoticed for many years. Recently, however, it has been possible to identify cases where spinal manipulation has certainly been the cause of vertebral dissection.

Laurie Mathiason was a 20-year-old Canadian waitress who visited a chiropractor 21 times between 1997 and 1998 to relieve her low-back pain. On her penultimate visit she complained of stiffness in her neck. That evening she began dropping plates at the restaurant, so she returned to the chiropractor. As the chiropractor manipulated her neck, Mathiason began to cry, her eyes started to roll, she foamed at the mouth and her body began to convulse. She was rushed to hospital, slipped into a coma and died three days later. At the inquest, the coroner declared: “Laurie died of a ruptured vertebral artery, which occurred in association with a chiropractic manipulation of the neck.”

This case is not unique. In Canada alone there have been several other women who have died after receiving chiropractic therapy, and Edzard Ernst has identified about 700 cases of serious complications among the medical literature. This should be a major concern for health officials, particularly as under-reporting will mean that the actual number of cases is much higher.

If spinal manipulation were a drug with such serious adverse effects and so little demonstrable benefit, then it would almost certainly have been taken off the market.

Simon Singh is a science writer in London and the co-author, with Edzard Ernst, of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. This is an edited version of an article published in The Guardian for which Singh is being personally sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.

I've said it many times: the only difference between a chiropractor and a witch doctor is the spelling. And what kind of system allows the UK's uncountable tabloids to run any invented gossip without consequence but still allows a lawsuit based on this?

Outbreak! Here!

We gots the pig virus! And by "we," I mean right here where I live.

The Alabama Department of Public Health is supposed to fill us in with the details soon. But given this state's history, they'll probably tell us to pray and hold exorcisms for the afflicted.

Outbreak!

Swine flu is spreading. Bad.

"We are worried and because we are worried, we are working aggressively on a number of fronts," said Schuchat, the interim deputy director for the CDC's science and public health program.

"It is clear that this is widespread. And that is why we have let you know that we cannot contain the spread of this virus."

Wash your hands and avoid people at all costs. And if someone coughs around you, hold your breath and run in the other direction.

For the readers of this blog, that means business as usual...

Would That We Could Un-immunize People

Here's a great new site: Jenny McCarthy Body Count.

Jenny and hubby Jim Carrey have an autistic kid and are against immunizations. If you believe them, you should go to your preacher to do your taxes and your doctor to fix your car.

An Enlightened Capitalist Helps State-funded Science

A Boston business magnate is donating $100 million to HIV research, specifically to create a vaccine.

Meanwhile, anti-HIV gene therapy goes to trial. It's a potential treatment and vaccine.

Prayers continue to save no one. Gods, to date, are useless against this retrovirus.

So Here's The Deal: Your Son Has His Dead Sibling In His Head

Doctors thought that a Colorado newborn had a brain tumor. They were wrong. Real is usually horrible.

Look At All The Delicious Medicine!

Free The Hops (which has a most enlightening website) is holding the Magic City Brewfest tonight at Sloss Furnace. Here's an organization we can all get behind: one that demands that Alabama repeal its ridiculous beer laws.

I was in North Carolina when they repealed their equally absurd beer laws. As far as I know, the state has not burned to the ground, endured any pharaonic plagues, sunk into Sheol, or been struck by a celestial body. And the beer we got was really, really good.

Someone Wrote This For Me

I don't remember how I found this - perhaps that's a good thing

Vegetarian, anti-western medicine, xster spa founded by doctors named Thrash. In Alabama. Snicker-worthy & genuinely creepy at the same time (emphases are mine).


Uchee Pines Institute was established in 1970, by Calvin Thrash, M.D., specialist in Internal Medicine (now deceased), and his wife, Agatha Thrash, M.D., board specialist in pathology. It is a non-profit, health educational and treatment facility located in the country near Seale, Alabama, 15 miles from Columbus, Georgia. Uchee Pines is dedicated to helping those suffering from the lifestyle illnesses of today that are killing millions of people in the western world every year.

Uchee Pines is committed to assisting people through the use of simple, natural methods, using exercise, vegetarian nutrition, hydrotherapy, massage, the rational and judicious use of some herbs and supplements, and firm faith in the Divine Healer.

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What Others Have Said

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• "My soul has been truly blessed, I am really motivated by the healthful lifestyle and the friendliness of the staff and fellow guests. A desire has been stirred in me to "‘go and do likewise.’"