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Mind Over Matter: Debunking Alternative Medicines
The New York Times ^ | July 1, 2013 | Abigail Zuger

Posted on 07/03/2013 12:49:19 PM PDT by EveningStar

When Dr. Paul A. Offit published “Autism’s False Prophets” in 2008, he elected to skip the usual round of book signings. His defense of childhood vaccinations so enraged some people who consider them a cause of autism that he was getting credible death threats.

Others might have chosen to flee the public arena after that, but not Dr. Offit, the chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, whose appetite for the good fight seems only to have grown. Over the last decade he has become a leading debunker of mass misconceptions surrounding infections and vaccines, and now he is taking on the entire field of alternative medicine, from acupuncture to vitamins.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alternativemedicine; health; medicine; paulaoffit; pauloffit; scientificmedicine
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Paul A. Offit

Reviews of Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine at Amazon

1 posted on 07/03/2013 12:49:19 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

So we’ve learned more in the last 200 years than was learned in the previous 5000?


2 posted on 07/03/2013 12:51:06 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

Well, yeah.


3 posted on 07/03/2013 12:52:05 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: EveningStar

I have tried many supplements that did not work. I have tried a few that do work. I take those daily.


4 posted on 07/03/2013 12:53:56 PM PDT by csmusaret (Will remove Obama-Biden bumperstickers for $10)
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To: EveningStar

I have seen some of these remedies work in infants, animals, and yougsters who did not know they were receiving them. It is not all self-suggestion.


5 posted on 07/03/2013 12:54:23 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: Sherman Logan

Nice.


6 posted on 07/03/2013 12:56:39 PM PDT by altsehastiin
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To: driftdiver
So we’ve learned more in the last 200 years than was learned in the previous 5000?

In many disciplines that is true. In fact, in many disciplines, we have learned more in the last 100 years than the previous 5000.

7 posted on 07/03/2013 12:57:18 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard; altsehastiin; Sherman Logan

In most cases they’ve learned how to mask symptoms but cure few diseases. They also prevent very few and do nothing to prevent disease.

Is all alternative medicine valid? no
Is all of it useless? No

I’ve met many a western medical doctor who could do nothing but prescribe pills.


8 posted on 07/03/2013 1:01:19 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: EveningStar

We’ve relied on Hyland’s teething tabs for years. Most of the time, as infants, my kids never even knew when they were getting them. They always calmed down within five minutes and rested so well. The bonus was they were a fraction of the price of even generic acetaminophen and ibuprofen. I type “were” because the FDA made Hyland’s start labeling them after 50 years of being on the market. Of course the company had no choice but to pass the price increase on to the customer.


9 posted on 07/03/2013 1:04:39 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: driftdiver
So we’ve learned more in the last 200 years than was learned in the previous 5000?

Absolutely! Just a few hundred years ago, the majority of doctors thought that the idea that infections are caused by germs was ludicrous.

10 posted on 07/03/2013 1:05:02 PM PDT by Sparticus (Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)
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To: csmusaret
"I have tried many supplements that did not work. I have tried a few that do work. I take those daily."

Agree and the short list changes from person to person so its validity is always is question.

11 posted on 07/03/2013 1:05:03 PM PDT by Truth29
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To: EveningStar

The best alternative medicine is a healthy diet of fresh foods, regular vigorous exercise, no smoking and limited alcohol. Eat right, move, and don’t work at killing yourself.


12 posted on 07/03/2013 1:05:38 PM PDT by Jack of all Trades (Hold your face to the light, even though for the moment you do not see.)
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To: goodwithagun

My wife bought those Hyland’s teething tabs for our first son. In our experience, they made no difference at all.


13 posted on 07/03/2013 1:07:21 PM PDT by Sparticus (Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)
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To: Sparticus

And in the last ten years caffeine has been bad for you then no problem, and now it has health benefits. Cholesterol was thought to be the cause of blocked arteries, but now inflammation is the culprit.


14 posted on 07/03/2013 1:08:59 PM PDT by csmusaret (Will remove Obama-Biden bumperstickers for $10)
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To: Sparticus

You are the first person ever to tell me that. Usually when I say “teething tabs” near parents they comment about what a God send they are. I recommend them to everybody, and I’ve always received back a positive reaction.


15 posted on 07/03/2013 1:09:40 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: driftdiver
Is all alternative medicine valid? no Is all of it useless? No

I would agree with that statement. Keep a skeptical eye towards both. Really driven home to me when it came to light during Rick Perry's Gardisil affair that many of these vaccines are on the required list not for scientific reasons, but because a pharma company knew which palms to grease to ensure their ROI.


16 posted on 07/03/2013 1:10:33 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: EveningStar

While I agree that there is insufficient research to support vaccines as the cause of autism, throwing the baby out with the bathwater on all alternative medicine is not the solution.

I’ve been asked to publish a book on my research relating to psychological defense mechanisms and the resulting medical symptoms. It’s finally time. It’s not that hard to understand mysticism and how Jesus did his healings. While I would never compare myself or others to the “Greatest Teacher “ ever, He was a teacher and came to teach us “How to do the things that He did and more in His name.”

Too many Christians say Jesus is their savior and treat Him like a lifeguard who can pluck them from drowning. In the interim they fear water (death) and never learn to swim.

While Jesus can pluck us out after death, He would much sooner that we learn from His teachings and grow to heal ourselves.

The greatest healing of the body results from healing the soul.


17 posted on 07/03/2013 1:11:17 PM PDT by tired&retired
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To: Sparticus

Doctors bury their mistakes, both now and 200 years ago.


18 posted on 07/03/2013 1:15:43 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: EveningStar

He considers vitamins to be a hoax too? Basically that is saying that nutrition is a hoax. Will his next project be to prove that fats, proteins, carbohydrates and water are a hoax?


19 posted on 07/03/2013 1:17:53 PM PDT by TigersEye ("No man left behind" is more than an Army Ranger credo it's the character of America.)
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To: csmusaret

Remember when eggs would kill you? The war on saturated fat is still ongoing, yet coconut oil is one of the healthiest for us.


20 posted on 07/03/2013 1:17:56 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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