The Alt Med Primer
 

Offering accurate, science-based and popular articles and abstracts on acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, "energy" therapy, herbal and traditional Chinese medicine and other forms of human and veterinary alternative medicine. (a.k.a. the Alt Med Primer). Articles of veterinary reference are noted with source/author in bold.
 
 

Alternative and Complementary Medicine in General:
 

Speakout: State ignores naturopaths' 'quackery'. By Drs. Kimball C. Attwood and Carl Bartecchi, Special to the Rocky Mountain News, September 19, 2005.

Major Causes of Death among Men and Women in China. New England Journal of Medicine - September 15, 2005 - Volume 353:1124-1134, No 11. Jiang He, M.D., Ph.D., Dongfeng Gu, M.D., Xigui Wu, M.D., Kristi Reynolds, Ph.D., M.P.H., Xiufang Duan, M.D., Chonghua Yao, M.D., Jialiang Wang, M.D., Chung-Shiuan Chen, M.S., Jing Chen, M.D., Rachel P. Wildman, Ph.D., M.P.H., Michael J. Klag, M.D., M.P.H., and Paul K. Whelton, M.D.

'Ephedra-free' Dietary Supplements Pose Potential Health Risks, University of California - San Francisco; Christine Haller, MD, Neal Benowitz, MD, Peyton Jacob III, PhD. 2005-09-09.

Fraudulent Animal Drugs, FDA GOV

Report on the risk from pentobarbital in dog food-February 28, 2002, Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine

Veterinary Medicine and the Philosophy of Science, John Gay, DVM PhD DACVPM ACE

The British Veterinary Voodoo Society, Vetlab Services

BMJ 2000;320:240-243 Concerns about immunisation. Helen Bedford, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Child Health, London; David Elliman, Department of Child Health, St George's Hospital, London

BMJ 2001;322:1439-1440 Glucosamine for osteoarthritis: magic, hype, or confusion? Jiri Chard, Paul Dieppe, MRC Health Services Research Collaboration, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol

An Herbal Rumble: A Government Study that Calls for more Funding for "Alternative Medicine" has some Doctors Seeing Red. Adam Rogers, Newsweek Web, April 8, 2002.

Sins of Commission: Insurance Coverage is Every Acupuncturist, hypnotist, and Chiropractor's Dream. Christina Larson, Washington Monthly, April 2002

Science Fiction: After Spending Half a Billion Taxpayer Dollars, Alternative Medicine Gurus Still Can't Prove Their Methods Work- How Convenient. Chris Mooney, Washington Monthly, April 2002.

Alternative Medicine Report: Is it for Learning or Burning? Ridgely Ochs, Newsday, April 2, 2002. (Unfortunately, this article is no longer available without charge. It is, however, available on-line for a fee of $5.00- which also allows one to retrieve four other archived Newsday articles at no additional cost.)

What kind of evidence is it that Evidence-Based Medicine advocates want health care providers and consumers to pay attention to? R. Brian Haynes BMC Health Services Research 2002, 2:3

As heart patients flock to alternative medicine, hazards may lurk. University of Michigan Health Services press release, March 19, 2002

Revolutionary New Insoles Combine Five Forms of Pseudoscience, The Onion, 2002

Scorin' with Orrin: How the gentleman from Utah made it easier for kids to buy steroids, speed, and Spanish fly. Stephanie Mencimer The Washington Monthly, Sept. 2001

Systematic reviews in health care: Investigating and dealing with publication and other biases in meta-analysis, Sterne JAC, Egger M, Smith GD, BMJ 2001;323:101-105 (14 July)

It's All Good: The Appeal of Deepak Chopra. David Beers, Salon.com, May 10, 2001.

NIH Funds Research into "Distant Healing" for 150 HIV Patients, CSICOP, February 20, 2001.

A Consumer Advocate's Dilemma: Should CAM Therapies Be Researched? Paul Lee, December, 2000

Education and debate: The role of complementary and alternative medicine. E Ernst, director, Department of Complementary Medicine, School of Postgraduate Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, UK. BMJ 2000;321:1133-1135 (4 November)

The Evidence for Evidence-Based Medicine ("Is Only 15% of Scientific Biomedicine 'Evidence Based'"?), Robert Imrie, David Ramey, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, June, 2000, vol. 8, no. 2, pp 123-126

Are Reviewers Biased against Unconventional Therapies? Edzard Ernst, The Scientist, 14[21]:6 Oct. 20, 2000. (Responseby Saul Green, 14[23]:6, Nov. 27, 2000.) (Requires free on-line registration.)

Deaths Due to Medical Errors Are Exaggerated in Institute of Medicine Report. Clement J. McDonald, MD; Michael Weiner, MD, MPH; Siu L. Hui, PhD.JAMA, July 5, 2000, Vol. 284 No. 1. (Unfortunately, this article is no longer available on-line to JAMA non-subscribers, but copies may be ordered, for a fee, from the JAMA document delivery service.)

Use of Complementary Medicines by Patients With HIV: Full Sail Into Uncharted Waters Stephen C. Piscitelli, PharmD Medscape, 6(3), 2000. (May require free registration.)

Empirical assessment of effect of publication bias on meta-analyses, A J Sutton, S J Duval, R L Tweedie, K R Abrams, D R Jones, BMJ 2000;320:1574-1577 (10 June)

A Dictionary of Alternative-Medicine Methods Jack Raso, Canoe

The Skeptic's Dictionary - Alternative Health Practices Robert Todd Carroll

Medical "Pathies," Tim Gorski, Health Care Reality Check

Alternative? What alternative? John Foley, Skeptic, Vol. 17, No. 1

Testimonial Evidence, Robert Carroll Todd, Skeptic's Dictionary

Fatal Hypermagnesemia in a Child Treated With Megavitamin/Megamineral Therapy, John K. McGuire, MD, Mona Shah Kulkarni, MD, Harris P. Baden, MD, Pediatrics, Vol. 105 No. 2 February 2000, p. 18

Alternative Medicine: The Multi-Billion Dollar Fraud. Tony Matthews

Fair Conduct and Fair Reporting of Clinical Trials, Drummond Rennie, MD, JAMA, Vol. 282 No. 18, November 10, 1999. (Unfortunately, this article is no longer available on-line to JAMA non-subscribers, but copies may be ordered, for a fee, from the JAMA document delivery service.)

Systematic Research is Needed in Alternative Medicine. Michael Ke, Max H. Pittler, MD, Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, FRCP(Edin) Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 159, no.17, Sept. 27, 1999. (Unfortunately, this article is no longer available on-line to Archives non-subscribers, but copies may be ordered, for a fee, from the Archives document delivery service.)

Is Integrative Medicine the Future? Relman-Weil debate focuses on scientific evidence issues Edited by: Steve Bunk, The Scientist, vol. 13, no. 19, May 10 1999. (Requires free on-line registration.)

Alternative Medicine from an Ethnobiological Perspective, Rachel Dodes, Priorities, vol. 11, no. 3, Summer, 1999

Can Alternative Treatments Induce Immune Surveillance Over Cancer in Humans? - A Review S Green, 1999

A Trip to Stonesville: Andrew Weil, the boom in alternative medicine, and the retreat from science Arnold S. Relman, The New Republic, December 14, 1998

Alternative Medicine: It's time to get smart. Walter A. Brown, The Scientist, 12[24]:13, Dec. 7, 1998. (response by Charles G. Smith, and response by Bernard F. Erlanger, 13[2]:12, Jan. 18, 1999) (Requires free on-line registration.)

The Braid of the Alternative Medicine Movement, Wallace Sampson, SRAM, Fall/Winter, 1998

Alternative Healthcare: Past, Present and Prospects, William T. Jarvis, Priorities, vol.10, no. 4, Fall, 1998

Alternative Medicine -- The Risks of Untested and Unregulated Remedies. Editorial from The New England Journal of Medicine -- September 17, 1998 -- Vol. 339, No. 12. (Requires Acrobat Reader to access. To download a free copy of Acrobat Reader, click here.)

Alternative Medicine Has a Lot of Soul: Observations of a Lexicographer,Jack Raso, Skeptical Briefs, December 1997

Alternative Medicine and the Laws of Physics, Robert Park, Skeptical Inquirer, September 1997

Why Bogus Therapies Seem to Work, Barry Beyerstein, Skeptical Inquirer, September 1997

Why a New Alternative Medicine Journal? Wallace Sampson, MD, Editor, SRAM, Fall 1997

Is there a Cure for Alternative Medicine? Jack Raso, M.S., R.D., Priorities, vol. 9, no. 2, 1997

Effect of colour of drugs: systematic review of perceived effect of drugs and of their effectiveness. Anton J M de Craen, Pieter J Roos, A Leonard de Vries, Jos Kleijnen. BMJ 1996;313:1624-1626 (21 December)

Scientists Call For Clearer Information, Warnings on Potentially Dangerous "Natural" Products, ACSH Press Release, August 29, 1996

Mystical Medical Alternativism, Jack Raso, Skeptical Inquirer, September 1995
 

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM):
 

Veterinary Acupuncture (Requires Flash Player, download flash player Here, or see HTML version), powerpoint presentation, Robert Imrie, DVM, Spring, 2006

On the National Institute of Drug Abuse Consensus Conference on Acupuncture Wallace Sampson, SRAM, Spring, 1998

Chinese medicines for slimming still cause health problems. Karl Metcalfe, Cathryn Corns, Michael Fahie-Wilson, Paul Mackenzie BMJ 2002;324:679 (16 March, 2002)

Systematic reviews of complementary therapies - an annotated bibliography. Part 1: Acupuncture. Klaus Linde, Andrew Vickers, Maria Hondras, Gerben ter Riet, Johannes Thormählen, Brian Berman, Dieter Melchart. BMC Complement Altern Med 2001; 1: 3 [July 16]

Randomised trial of acupuncture compared with conventional massage and "sham" laser acupuncture for treatment of chronic neck pain. Dominik Irnich, Nicolas Behrens, Holger Molzen, Achim König, Jochen Gleditsch, Martin Krauss, Malte Natalis, Edward Senn, Antje Beyer, Peter Schöps. BMJ 2001;322:1574 (30 June) (Electronic responses to article.)

Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment Patterns Among Acupuncturists Evaluating the Same Patient.Donna Kalauokalani, Karen J. Sherman, Daniel C. Cherkin. South Med J 94(5):486-492, May 2001. (Requires free registration for healthcare professionals.)

Methodological Issues in Trials of Acupuncture (letter), Erika Frank, MD, MPH, JAMA, vol. 285, no. 8, February 28, 2001

Electroacupuncture for Control of Myeloablative Chemotherapy-Induced Emesis: A Randomized Controlled Trial (abstract), Joannie Shen, MD, MPH; Neil Wenger, MD, MPH; John Glaspey, MD, MPH, et al, JAMA, vol. 284, no. 21, December 6, 2000

Acupuncture of the Neck Linked to Intracranial Hemorrhage, Reuters Health, June 23, 2000. (Reprinted on chiroviewpresents.)

Efficacy of Acupuncture as a Treatment for Tinnitus, Jongbae Park, Adrian R. White, Edzard Ernst, Archives of Otolaryngology, Vol. 126 No. 4, April 2000. (Unfortunately, this article is no longer available on-line to Archives non-subscribers, but copies may be ordered, for a fee, from the Archives document delivery service.)

Acupuncture, The Facts, Stephen Basser, MD

NCAHF Position Paper on Acupuncture

Horsefeathers: acupuncture from a veterinary perspective, Dave Ramey, Jack Raso,Priorities, vol. 11., no. 2, Spring, 1999

Review of randomised controlled trials of traditional Chinese medicine BMJ 1999;319:160-161 ( 17 July ) Jin-Ling Tang, associate professor in community medicine, Si-Yan Zhan, associate professor in epidemiology, Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine

Chinese medicine in the Western World- excerpt from Dr. Paul Unschuld's "Chinese Medicine" (1998)

Acupuncture, Fools, and Horses. Letter to the editor of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 14 No. 6 December 1997, by Edzard Ernst, Head of Department, Department of Complementary Medicine, Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter

Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China, pt. 1, Barry Beyerstein, Skeptical Inquirer, July, 1996

Traditional Medicine and Pseudoscience in China, pt. 2, Barry Beyerstein, Skeptical Inquirer, September, 1996

China, Chi, and Chicanery, Peter Huston, Skeptical Inquirer, September, 1995

Acupuncture: Nonsense with Needles, by Arthur Taub, M.D., Ph.D., excerpt from "The Health Robbers," Stephen Barrett, MD, William Jarvis, PhD, 1993, Prometheus Books

Acupuncture, Naturopathy and other Health-Care Wanna-Bes, from "A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Medicine," Kurt Butler, 1992, Prometheus Books

Kicking Against the Pricks, Stephen Basser, Australian Skeptics Website

Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine," Stephen Barrett, Quackwatch

From Acu-Powder to Zhenjiu: A Topology of "Chinese Med," Jack Raso, Health Care Reality Check

Scott Fausel's letter to Compendium in response to their glowing and highly misleading 1997 article "Acupuncture Therapy in Small Animal Practice." (Compendium not only refused to publish all or part of Dr. Fausel's letter, they ignored it entirely.)
 

Chiropractic:
 

Texas Worker's Compensation Medical Costs Highest of Eight States; Chiropractic Services a Prime Factor, Says New WCRI Study. Business Wire, Tuesday, April 09, 2002

Stroke victims five times more likely to have visited chiropractor Wayne Macphail, Canoe, May 9, 2001

"Veterinary Chiropractic" David W. Ramey, D.V.M., Chirobase

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Says Chiropractors May Not Use the Term "Physical Therapy",American Physical Therapy Association, May 1999

Spinal Manipulation and Chiropractic: Views of a Reformist Chiropractor, Craig F Nelson, D.C., Priorities, vol. 11, no.2, Spring, 1999

Do Pinched Nerves Reduce the Flow of Nerve Energy? Stephen Barrett, Chirobase

Don't Let Chiropractors Fool You, Stephen Barrett, Chirobase

A Warning for Pre-Chiropractic Students, Bill Lattanze, D.C., Chirobase

Take It from a DC: A Lot of Chiropractic Is a Sham. If you suspect that diagnostic shortcomings and therapeutic abuses still plague the profession, you're right. Mark Sanders, D.C., Chirobase, (originally appeared in Medical Economics)

Malpractice Is an Inevitable Result of Chiropractic Philosophy and Training (1979),Peter J. Modde, D.C., Chirobase

National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (a national organization comprised of chiropractors who realize that the "spinal subluxations," upon which ~ 97% of their colleagues base their practices, are imaginary)

Concerns about Chiropractic at York University

In Defense of Science Over Pseudoscience in University Education Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine

NCAHF Position Paper on Chiropractic

Chiropractic: A Skeptical View William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., Chirobase

A Scientific Test of Chiropractic's Subluxation Theory The first experimental study of the basis of the theory demonstrates that it is erroneous. Edmund S. Crelin, Ph.D.

Chiropractic Fraud, Chirowatch

Chiropractic: The Victim's Perspective Quackwatch
 

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