Tag: Big Pharma
Knee osteoarthritis treatments: meta analysis, mega study
I don’t have access to the study and can’t really make out what they are trying to say, except that they accept and admit the strong placebo effect of intraarticular injections. Acetaminophen doesn’t work, which makes sense since it has no antiinflammatory properties. They follow for 3 months. This does NOT seem like strong evidence…
Read MoreBeware the Extremes
First, Do No Harm Great article about medicine’s tendency to take recommendations to the extreme. Included should be the recommendations about blood pressure. Too low, especially in the elderly can be dangerous too!
Read MoreAcupuncture for Depression: Scientific American
Scientific American takes on the topic of Acupuncture in discussing a research study about acupuncture for depression. In this particular article, they used electroacupuncture for 6 weeks and the effect was more rapid than with Prozac. If you click through to the discussion, they, of course, interview Edzard Ernst. I’m not sure where his…
Read MoreCalm the Nervous System, Calm Inflammation
The biotech community has discovered vagal stimulation and is hot on its trail, as covered in this piece about SetPoint Medical. Of course, we in the Acupuncture Community have long known this. It’s all a question of who, what, when, where, why and how… My research is focused on vagal enhancement and clinical results. I tend…
Read MoreHormone Replacement Therapy Decreases Heart Rate Variability
Heart Rate Variability is a measure of the body’s stress levels, and my area of research. In this simple study, they compared women on Hormone Replacement Therapy and those who were not. Heart Rate Variability was better in when women were not taking Hormone Replacement Therapy. Go natural whenever possible!! Clin Auton Res. 2014 Feb…
Read MoreAntibiotics: The Sobering Truth
The link below is to a detailed article about the hazards and long term implications of antibiotics and the importance of your gut flora. AcupunctureToday.com-Your-Gut-Why-You-Should-Be-Very-Afraid-1389910102 http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32839
Read MorePower of Placebo: 50% for medications
The issue of the placebo effect is incredibly important to the acupuncture community. It should be of greater importance to the Medical Community, both for drugs and surgeries. When you take a pill, you and your doctor hope it will work — and that helps it work. That’s not a new idea. But now researchers…
Read MoreUnreliable Research Can Be Deadly
So depressing. Another story about a drug that would cause the problem that it was trying to solve, in this case heart attacks. The company who developed it hid the hazards. November 19, 2013 Doctors Say Heart Drug Raised Risk of an Attack By ANDREW POLLACK Cardiologists have accused a small drug company of withholding…
Read MoreSanity on Statins: Part 4? or is it 5?
Lots of news about the latest recommendations for patients with high cholesterol vis a vis drug regimens. At first I thought it was good news, but now, reading the editorial by Rita Redberg, I realize that these recommendations could actually WIDEN the use of statins. I will leave it to Redberg and Abramson to…
Read MoreJ and J to pay large fine: follow the money
Nothing too new, at least some of these companies are having to pay up. It’s something, at least. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/business/johnson-johnson-to-settle-risperdal-improper-marketing-case.html
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