14 posts · 4318 views
Exploring issues and controversies in the relationship between science and medicine
Peter Lipson
3 posts
SBMBlogger
5 posts
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- June 30, 2009
- 03:00 PM
- 21 views
I get mail–chiroquacktic edition
by Peter Lipson in Science-Based Medicine
A long while back, at the original wordpress incarnation of my usual blog, I wrote a piece on the reasons that chiropractic is unscientific nonsense. Because it was popular, I resurrected it. Well, a chiropractor has come to bravely defend his field and left me a comment.
A study in the May 2007 issue [...]... Read more »
SARNAT, R., WINTERSTEIN, J., & CAMBRON, J. (2007) Clinical Utilization and Cost Outcomes From an Integrative Medicine Independent Physician Association: An Additional 3-Year Update. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 30(4), 263-269. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2007.03.004
SARNAT, R., & WINTERSTEIN, J. (2004) Clinical and Cost Outcomes of an Integrative Medicine IPA. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 27(5), 336-347. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2004.04.007
- June 9, 2009
- 03:27 PM
- 77 views
What is disease? Diabetes, diagnosis, and real science
by Peter Lipson in Science-Based Medicine
One of the concepts we often discuss around here is “what is disease?” As we’ve seen in the discussion of Lyme disease and so-called Morgellons syndrome, this is not always an easy question to answer. Knowing what states are disease states does not always yield a black-or-white answer. The first step is [...]... Read more »
The International Expert Committee. (2009) International Expert Committee Report on the Role of the A1C Assay in the Diagnosis of Diabetes. Diabetes Care. DOI: 10.2337/dc09-9033
- June 8, 2009
- 01:01 AM
- 110 views
Applying evolutionary principles to cancer treatment
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
EDITOR’S NOTE: Unfortunately, this weekend, I was forced to get my slides together for the upcoming SBM Conference. What this means is that, alas, I didn’t have any time to prepare one of the new, long posts that you’ve come to love (or hate). Fortunately, there are a lot of other things I’ve written out [...]... Read more »
Gatenby, R., Silva, A., Gillies, R., & Frieden, B. (2009) Adaptive Therapy. Cancer Research, 69(11), 4894-4903. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3658
- April 20, 2009
- 04:00 AM
- 189 views
Mathematically modeling why quackery persists
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
It’s often puzzled me (and, I daresay, many other skeptics and boosters of science- and evidence-based medicine) why various forms of quackery and woo that have either about as close to zero prior probability as you can get and/or have failed to show evidence greater than placebo in clinical trials manage to retain so much [...]... Read more »
Tanaka, M., Kendal, J., & Laland, K. (2009) From Traditional Medicine to Witchcraft: Why Medical Treatments Are Not Always Efficacious. PLoS ONE, 4(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005192
- March 27, 2009
- 03:03 PM
- 245 views
The kindest cut?
by Peter Lipson in Science-Based Medicine
The best way to prevent sexually transmitted infections is the proper use of condoms. That being said, it’s not the only way to prevent STI’s. Abstinence is one way, but it involves an amputation of sorts—the removal of a critical human behavior. Another amputation (of sorts) that prevents STIs is circumcision. [...]... Read more »
Aaron A.R. Tobian, M.D., Ph.D., David Serwadda, M.Med., M.P.H., Thomas C. Quinn, M.D., M.Sc., Godfrey Kigozi, M.B., Ch.B., M.P.H., Patti E. Gravitt, Ph.D., Oliver Laeyendecker, M.S., M.B.A., Blake Charvat, M.Sc., Victor Ssempijja, B.Stat., Melissa Riedese. (2009) Male Circumcision for the Prevention of HSV-2 and HPV Infections and Syphilis. The New England Journal of Medicine, 360(13), 1298-1309. DOI: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/13/1298
FINK, K., CARSON, C., & DEVELLIS, R. (2002) Adult Circumcision Outcomes Study: Effect on Erectile Function, Penile Sensitivity, Sexual Activity and Satisfaction. The Journal of Urology, 167(5), 2113-2116. DOI: 10.1016/S0022-5347(05)65098-7
- March 23, 2009
- 04:00 AM
- 217 views
Alternative medicine use and breast cancer
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
Of all the posts I and my cobloggers have written for SBM over the last 15 months, most provoke relatively few comments. However, a few stand out for having provoked hundreds of comments. The very first post that provoked hundreds of comments was Harriet’s excellent discussion of the International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics. In fact, [...]... Read more »
H. J. G. Bloom,, W. W. Richardson, & E. J. Harries. (1962) Natural History of Untreated Breast Cancer (1805-1933). British Medical Journal, 213-221. DOI: PMC1925646
Chang, E., Glissmeyer, M., Tonnes, S., Hudson, T., & Johnson, N. (2006) Outcomes of breast cancer in patients who use alternative therapies as primary treatment. The American Journal of Surgery, 192(4), 471-473. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2006.05.013
T Risberg, A Vickers, R.M Bremnes, E.A Wist, S Kaasa, & B.R Cassileth. (2003) Does use of alternative medicine predict survival from cancer?. European Journal of Cancer, 39(3), 372-377. DOI: http://www.ejcancer.info/article/S0959-8049(02)00701-3/abstract
Verkooijen, H., Fioretta, G., Rapiti, E., Bonnefoi, H., Vlastos, G., Kurtz, J., Schaefer, P., Sappino, A., Schubert, H., & Bouchardy, C. (2005) Patients' Refusal of Surgery Strongly Impairs Breast Cancer Survival. Annals of Surgery, 242(2), 276-280. DOI: 10.1097/01.sla.0000171305.31703.84
- December 1, 2008
- 03:00 AM
- 402 views
Do 22% of mammographically detected breast cancers spontaneously regress?
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
It figures.
Last Wednesday, right before the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as I was far more interested in preparing to have family over the next day than in what was going on in the medical news or the blogs, the results of a most fascinating study hit the news. In Medscape, the title of the news [...]... Read more »
Per-Henrik Zahl, MD, PhD, Jan Mæhlen, MD, PhD, & H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH. (2008) The Natural History of Invasive Breast Cancers Detected by Screening Mammography. Archives of Internal Medicine, 168(21), 2311-2316. DOI: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/168/21/2311
- November 17, 2008
- 03:03 AM
- 387 views
On the dangers of using valid placebo controls in clinical trials of acupuncture
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
I don’t recall if I’ve ever mentioned this before on this blog, but there was a time when I was less skeptical of acupuncture than I am now. It’s true. Don’t get me wrong, though. I never for a minute considered that the whole rigamarole about “unblocking” or “redirecting” the flow of that mystical life [...]... Read more »
E. W. S. So, E. H. Y. Ng, Y. Y. Wong, E. Y. L. Lau, W. S. B. Yeung, & P. C. Ho. (2008) A randomized double blind comparison of real and placebo acupuncture in IVF treatment. Human Reproduction. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/den380
- October 27, 2008
- 04:00 AM
- 388 views
Placebos in the news again
by David Gorski in Science-Based Medicine
Towards the end of last week, I was contemplating what I would be writing about for Monday. No topic had quite floated my boat, but I hated to dip into the archive of topics I’ve written about before to update a post. After all, I like to be topical whenever possible. Then what to my [...]... Read more »
J. C Tilburt, E. J Emanuel, T. J Kaptchuk, F. A Curlin, & F. G Miller. (2008) Prescribing "placebo treatments": results of national survey of US internists and rheumatologists. BMJ, 337(oct23 2). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a1938
- October 14, 2008
- 04:00 AM
- 456 views
Massage for AIDS
by SBMBlogger in Science-Based Medicine
I recently learned of a study entitled “Dominican Children with HIV not Receiving Antiretrovirals: Massage Therapy Influences their Behavior and Development.” It disturbed me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. They’re massaging these kids but letting them die of AIDS? I went back and read the complete article, and it left me [...]... Read more »
M. Hernandez-Reif, G. Shor-Posner, J. Baez, S. Soto, R. Mendoza, R. Castillo, N. Quintero, E. Perez, & G. Zhang. (2006) Dominican Children with HIV not Receiving Antiretrovirals: Massage Therapy Influences their Behavior and Development. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5(3), 345-354. DOI: 10.1093/ecam/nem032
- October 13, 2008
- 01:01 AM
- 480 views
Fun with homeopaths and meta-analyses of homeopathy trials
by SBMBlogger in Science-Based Medicine
Homeopathy amuses me.
Well, actually it both amuses me and appalls me. The amusement comes from just how utterly ridiculous the concepts between homeopathy are. Think about it. It is nothing but pure magical thinking. Indeed, at the very core of homeopathy is a concept that can only be considered to be magic. In homeopathy, the [...]... Read more »
A SHANG, K HUWILERMUNTENER, L NARTEY, P JUNI, S DORIG, J STERNE, D PEWSNER, & M EGGER. (2005) Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy. The Lancet, 366(9487), 726-732. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67177-2
R LUDTKE, & A RUTTEN. (2008) The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analyzed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06.015
- September 23, 2008
- 08:00 AM
- 544 views
FDA approval of drugs and transparency in clinical trial results
by SBMBlogger in Science-Based Medicine
Note: The reason that I am posting today rather than my usual Monday slot is because the article I discuss here was embargoed until last night. Consequently, I asked Harriet if she would trade days with me this week, and she was kind enough to do so.
One thing that science relies on almost absolutely is [...]... Read more »
Kirby Lee, Peter Bacchetti, Ida Sim, & Mike Clarke. (2008) Publication of Clinical Trials Supporting Successful New Drug Applications: A Literature Analysis. PLoS Medicine, 5(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050191
PLoS Editors. (2008) Next Stop, Don't Block the Doors: Opening Up Access to Clinical Trials Results. PLoS Medicine, 5(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050160
- August 25, 2008
- 09:00 AM
- 389 views
Threats to science-based medicine: When clinical trials for new drugs are designed by the marketing division
by SBMBlogger in Science-Based Medicine
When the marketing division designs clinical trials, scientific medicine loses.... Read more »
Kevin Hill, Joseph S. Ross, David S. Egilman, & Harlan M. Krumholz. (2008) The ADVANTAGE Seeding Trial: A Review of Internal Documents. Annals of Internal Medicine, 149(4), 251-258. http://annals.org/cgi/content/full/149/4/251
Harold Sox, & Drummond Rennie. (2008) Seeding Trials: Just Say \"No\". Annals of Internal Medicine, 149(4), 279-280. http://annals.org/cgi/content/full/149/4/279
- August 18, 2008
- 09:00 AM
- 413 views
High dose vitamin C and cancer: Has Linus Pauling been vindicated?
by SBMBlogger in Science-Based Medicine
THE ZOMBIE RISES AGAIN
Vitamin C as a treatment for cancer is back in the news again.
I’m not surprised. This is one therapy favored by advocates of “alternative” medicine that keeps popping up periodically (seemingly every couple of years or so). This latest bit of news has turned up almost right on time after the last [...]... Read more »
Q Chen, M Espey, A Sun, C Pooput, K Kirk, M Krishna, D Khosh, J Drisko, & M Levine. (2008) From the Cover: Pharmacologic doses of ascorbate act as a prooxidant and decrease growth of aggressive tumor xenografts in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(32), 11105-11109. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0804226105
L Hoffer, M Levine, S Assouline, D Melnychuk, S J Padayatty, K Rosadiuk, C Rousseau, L Robitaille, & W H Miller. (2008) Phase I clinical trial of i.v. ascorbic acid in advanced malignancy. Annals of Oncology. DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdn377
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