Posts

May 16, 2013

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11:34 AM | The effectiveness of placebo treatment for pain is related to personality traits

Medical researchers have long known that placebo treatments can produce real effects, such as pain relief. Personality traits are also known to influence a person’s response to treatments for certain conditions. A recent studyhas found that personality traits appear to influence how strongly a person responds to a placebo treatment for pain. Personality traits associated with self-control and the regulation of anger in particular were associated with greater pain relief. This raises the […]

Peciña M, Azhar H, Love TM, Lu T, Fredrickson BL, Stohler CS & Zubieta JK (2013). Personality trait predictors of placebo analgesia and neurobiological correlates., Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 38 (4) 639-46. PMID: 23187726

Citation

April 24, 2013

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7:29 PM | Another comment on BMC Cancer, WDDTY and homeopathy

Well, I don’t know what bugs are at play in the BMC Cancer system. Almost three weeks since submitting the latest re-worked version of my comment (which I append below so it may be read by somebody), not only has it not appeared under the paper in question, but the continued lack of response (excepting one message informing me that – again – my query has been forwarded to the Editorial team) to my interim e-mails to the relevant provided... Read more

April 05, 2013

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3:08 PM | BMC Cancer, WDDTY and homeopathy: ‘new’ comment

It took (me) a month to get a comment posted on a paper on BMC Cancer’s site. My abbreviated version (which appeared five days after re-submitting it) has now sat there for three weeks alongside Kausik’s, both seemingly being roundly ignored. As is my query concerning the full text of my original blog post. What to do? Does it matter? Well, actually, as a QuackRag deems that the paper in question constitutes subject(ive) matter for (re-)citation, then yes, I think... Read more

March 26, 2013

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7:20 PM | Fake Medicine: Bad for Humans, Good for Rare Species

Counterfeit ingredients are increasingly being found in traditional Chinese medicines. ->

March 13, 2013

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12:23 AM | Further comment on ‘Comment on protracted moderation of a comment: BMC Cancer, WDDTY and homeopathy’

Feb 21st (twenty days ago): I posted here a critical review of a paper purporting to research the effects of homeopathy on cancer patients, prompted by its citation in QuackRag What Doctors Don’t Tell You. Concurrently, I attempted to post question/comment on the paper – with a link to my blog piece – via facility for the purpose at BMC Cancer. Feb 28th (thirteen days ago): I followed-up on the non-appearance of my comment at BMC Cancer. The paper, my... Read more

February 28, 2013

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7:50 PM | Comment on protracted moderation of a comment: BMC Cancer, ‘WDDTY’ and homeopathy

Concomitant with airing my recent take on QuackRag WDDTY's clumsy referencing, I proceeded (after previous attempt to contact the corresponding author via the e-mail address provided for the purpose proved fruitless) to post the following as a Reader comment on the cited paper at BMC Cancer: 'Without homeopathic remedies, is care 'homeopathic'? I came across this reference in an article entitled 'Homeopathy is more than placebo' in the latest issue of the magazine 'What Doctor's Don't Tell […]

February 22, 2013

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8:22 PM | Acupuncture for Allergies? Jury's Still Out

A new study suggests acupuncture helps allergies, but a closer look suggests otherwise. ->

February 21, 2013

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3:41 PM | ‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You’ cites paper that demonstrates there is no such thing as homeopathy

Back in that supermarket a few days ago, I again found myself driven to taking a thumb through the latest edition of QuackRag What Doctor’s Don’t Tell You, whose unscrupulously permissive advertising policy is being systematically exposed by The Nightingale Collaboration. Though I didn’t buy the rancid rubbish, I alighted on a small piece entitled ‘Homeopathy is more than placebo’, from which I noted the reference cited as voucher for that statement. From BMC Cancer, no less. I’ll […]

Rostock, M., Naumann, J., Guethlin, C., Guenther, L., Bartsch, H. & Walach, H. (2011). Classical homeopathy in the treatment of cancer patients - a prospective observational study of two independent cohorts, BMC Cancer, 11 (1) 19. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-19

Citation

January 29, 2013

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1:59 PM | Bring On the Virtual Doctors

Last night I talked to my friend, a medical resident at an elite urban hospital. She called me …

January 24, 2013

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12:06 PM | Haled comment

Traipsing to a(nother branch of that) supermarket just before Christmas, I passed an independent bookshop in the throes of its closing down sale, as is the way of this world. Re-approaching later from the opposite direction, laden with some unnecessary extra victuals, I decided to enter and see if an interesting bargain might be had. I managed to check any temptation to more spending until, taking another scan along on the 'Health' shelves, I put my bags down and took... Read more

January 18, 2013

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4:45 PM | A few (unoriginal) words on evidence-based versus complementary and alternative medicine

(A variation on some accommodating words proffered elsewhere, though unlikely to make the cut...) . Science is disingenuously misrepresented by those whose agenda rely on contra-scientific promotional tactics, such as devotees of ‘Complementary and Alternative Medicine.’ Refutation necessitates an appreciation of the psychology underlying people’s needs and preferences. CAM appeals to our intuitive nature. We seek patterns and readily attribute cause and effect: post hoc ergo propter hoc […]

December 14, 2012

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8:24 PM | Bumetanide for autism?

The paper by Lemonnier and colleagues* (open-access) reporting results from a randomised, placebo-controlled trial of the diuretic drug bumetanide in cases of autism has received quite a bit of publicity over the past few days. As with other big autism research news, the study was accompanied by quite a good write-up in Nature (see here) which very conveniently allows me to skip over the ins and outs of the study and pick out a few notable points in this brief post.As always with the 'no […]

Lemonnier, E., Degrez, C., Phelep, M., Tyzio, R., Josse, F., Grandgeorge, M., Hadjikhani, N. & Ben-Ari, Y. (2012). A randomised controlled trial of bumetanide in the treatment of autism in children, Translational Psychiatry, 2 (12) DOI: 10.1038/tp.2012.124

Citation

December 12, 2012

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12:04 PM | What is meant by the term 'placebo effect'?

This is from F in Science.. a collection of lol answers from science. I bought it this morning and it made me smile and I thought I would share it.

September 16, 2012

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11:05 PM | Science Weekly podcast: Jim Al-Khalili on the wonders of quantum biology

Alok Jha meets Professor Jim Al-Khalili, physicist and broadcaster of note, to discuss the strange and fast-advancing science of quantum biology. For example, quantum effects may allow European robins to navigate using magnetic fields and plants to photosynthesise.Guardian science correspondent Ian Sample talks to Karin Jensen of the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US about its research into the unconscious triggering of the placebo effect and its counterpart, the nocebo effect. The […]

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1:14 AM | The Neurobiology of Placebo

Here’s an informative and well done skeptical comic from those geniuses over at PhD comics: We can glean a number …Continue reading »

July 16, 2012

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5:58 PM | Are Warnings About the Side Effects of Drugs Making Us Sick?

Your doctor doesn’t like what’s going on with your blood pressure. You’ve been taking medication for it, but he wants to put you on a new drug, and you’re fine with that. Then he leans in close and says in …

April 01, 2012

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9:29 PM | Amber Teething Beads: A Follow-Up

Over the week or so I expect the page views for my amber teething necklace post to top 20,000 over the two blogs. Interest in the article has just kept increasing over the last year or so of it being up, as opposed to the majority of my posts which slip into internet obscurity within [...]

March 20, 2012

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3:15 PM | Breaking the Habits that Enslave Us: Q&A with Charles Duhigg

No summary available for this post.

February 20, 2012

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3:45 PM | ‘I Walked Away Really Confused,’ Says CBS’s Lesley Stahl on Antidepressants, Placebos

Are placebos — sugar pills — just as effective as antidepressant medications in the treatment of mild and moderate depression? That’s what a 60 Minutes piece last night tried to find out. In discussing her reaction to discovering that the placebo effect may be more powerful than we previously knew in antidepressant research, CBS’s 60 [...]

October 07, 2011

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4:03 PM | The Brain’s Medicine: Natural Marijuana-Like Chemicals Play Important Role in Placebo Effect

Placebos are inactive treatments that shouldn’t, in some sense, have a real effect. And yet they often do. But the chemical basis of the placebo effect, despite its enormous importance, is still largely a mystery. A study published this week in Nature Medicine shows that cannabinoid receptors are involved in the placebo response to pain, which hasn’t [...]

August 29, 2011

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3:45 PM | Nutritional Supplements to Treat ADHD, Bipolar, Depression: EMPowerplus

EMPowerplus is a nutritional supplement that consists of 14 vitamins, 16 minerals, 3 amino acids, and 3 antioxidants. According to its makers, TrueHope Nutritional Support, EMPowerplus “works by giving the brain the right balance of vitamins and trace minerals on a regular basis.” It backs up that statement with a link to 11 research studies [...]

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12:04 PM | Detox: flushing out poison or absorbing dangerous claptrap?

The alternative-medicine version of detox has real-world side-effects that outweigh its imaginary benefitsColonic irrigation has been the subject of many newspaper articles in recent weeks. So one might think the debate about this subject has come and gone. But, as so often when it comes to alternative medicine, much of what was written did not make a lot of sense. Time, perhaps, to look at this treatment and any new evidence in some detail.Colonic irrigation is, of course, a "detox" therapy. [...]

August 21, 2011

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12:47 PM | The Other Side of The Placebo Effect

This is the second in a pair of articles on the placebo effect. Nocebo is sometimes referred to as “placebo’s evil twin,” or the “negative placebo effect.” It’s also sometimes described as “the other side of placebo.” The nocebo effect can be defined as a negative effect that occurs after receiving treatment (therapy, medication), even when [...]

August 15, 2011

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10:31 AM | The Amazing Power of the Placebo Effect

Placebo effects have been shown in many different areas in science. Sometimes placebo effects have been shown to mimic or even exceed effects produced by active treatments (such as therapies or medications). The definition of placebo is an inert, inactive, fake, sham, dummy, non-therapeutic, pseudo, or spurious substance or procedure presented as a treatment for [...]

July 28, 2011

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3:50 AM | Is the Placebo Effect a Reason to Lie?

I think that it is because of my own experiences as a study participant back in medical school that I get such a kick out of volunteer studies today. Years ago, my classmates and I were paid to undergo bronchial lavage (a procedure where a tube is passed into the lung and the alveoli rinsed [...]

July 11, 2011

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6:43 PM | The Antidepressant Controversy: What Does it Mean For You?

Perhaps you’ve read about the ongoing controversy over the effectiveness of antidepressant medications. Luminary psychologists such as Dr. Robert DeRubeis and Dr. Irving Kirsch have made persuasive arguments supporting the idea that most, if not all, of the effectiveness of antidepressant medication appears to be due to the so-called placebo effect. In other words, their [...]

February 23, 2011

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9:52 AM | The Placebo Effect

Everything you wanted to know about the placebos. Thanks Life in the Fast Lane No related posts. No related posts.

January 27, 2011

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3:02 AM | Sci-fi interlude: The Twelve Colonies of Kobol (plus a little Goldacre)

Inspired by fellow Sciblogger Michael Edmond’s recent post on science fiction, I present something very much in that rein. Universe. Star system. Something… I’ve been a lifelong lover of all things science fiction. My early reading included much Asimov and C. Clarke, and the offerings of recent science fiction writers are a veritable cornupia of joy [...] [Click on the hyperlinked headline for more of the goodness]

January 10, 2011

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7:06 PM | Blog Pick of the Month – December 2010

No summary available for this post.

December 22, 2010

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10:00 PM | Meet the Ethical Placebo: A Story that Heals

No summary available for this post.

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