[What To Think 3 page spread classic about Kelley therapy (and more) and McQueen death from What To Think News. Below 'Extracted from Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All, by health journalist Rose Shapiro'. The real suckers are the ones who fall for this propaganda. Gives you some idea about the modern day 'health journalist' (Ben Goldacre springs to mind). See Appendix III -- Cancer Cure Suppressed for Dr Kelley's side of the story. Alternative Medicine is just non-Allopathic medicine. The usual shark medicine story and usual herbal attack. Reminds me of We Are Alone for how ignorant they have managed to keep people. Here is the whole article, very basic Allopathic propaganda you see again and again. Don't miss the book review!]
Last updated at 15:13pm on 22nd January 2008 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=509670&in_page_id=1774&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5
We witnessing an epidemic of alternative medicine. There are thousands of therapies available - ranging from the Alexander technique and homeopathy to energy medicine, Hopi ear candles and urine therapy.
Most have little in common bar one rather important thing says health journalist ROSE SHAPIRO; every one of these uses diagnostic methods that have no proven, factual basis or involves unsubstantiated or disproven claims of effect and benefit.
Some are even dangerous, she says in a new book. Here she explains how complementary and alternative medicine not only puts our health at risk, it leaches money and resources from the NHS, is largely unregulated and unaccountable, can shorten the lives of people with serious illnesses and makes fools of us all.
Alternative practitioners always use plenty of techno-speak. One example of this is in the field of magnet therapy, estimated to have an annual global value of more than $1billion.
Magnets are sold as wrist or knee bands, insoles, bracelets and mattress pads. Often promoted as cures for pain, supporters say they can treat everything from HIV to cancer.
The idea is that magnets have some kind of "positive power" on the body, particularly the blood. After all, we learned about the Earth's magnetic field in physics lessons.
And we all know that blood contains iron. So it sounds feasible when we read, in an advert for, say, Green Foam Magnetic Insoles (£12.95 a pair) that "the clinical benefits of magnetic therapy being researched include pain reduction; healing of bone, tissue, muscle and nerves; chronic disease prevention and reversal, and more".
Note the words "being researched" as a way to support unsubstantiated claims.
Similarly, Magnopulse, the manufacturer of LadyCare, a magnetic device which "treats" menstrual disorders, claims "medical researchers believe it helps more oxygen-rich blood reach the muscles of the uterus, helping it work more effectively".
But those "medical researchers" are wrong. The iron in blood is repelled, not attracted by magnets. If magnets had any real effect on our blood, then no human would survive the enormous magnetic fields generated during an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan.
The delicate veins in your body would explode when faced with the heavy- duty scanner magnets, which have been known to suck in hospital equipment.
In their eagerness to embrace technology, complementary and alternative medicine practitioners also use electric machines.
One of the most ubiquitous - called variously the Vegatest, Avatar, Interro, BioMeridian, Omega Acubase and the Meridian Stress Assessment System - is the electrodermal screening machine, or EAV.
It is used by a range of alternative therapists to detect "energy imbalances" and other nebulous disorders.
The patient is wired up to a galvanometer, which measures the electrical resistance of the skin, and a low-voltage circuit is created.
A pen-sized probe is pressed on the skin at various points and any variations to the current are registered on a gauge from zero to 100.
Readings over 55 are said to suggest inflammation of the organ associated with the acupuncture point being tested, while readings below 45 are supposedly a sign of organ stagnation.
But examination of the Vegatest kit, commissioned by Quackwatch (a non-profit organisation that combats health-related frauds and myths) suggested that the EAV score is determined by the practitioner himself.
The figure registered simply depends on how hard the probe is pressed on the patient's skin.
Dr Stephen Barrett, of Quackwatch, believes these EAV devices should be confiscated.
[Dr Barrett, the infamous AMA shill. See Quackwatch Medical tests]
"Practitioners who use them should be delicensed because they are either delusional, dishonest or both," he says.
[Ie like Barrett himself.]
The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the withdrawal of adverts for Vegatests that make misleading claims such a "complete test for hidden problems".
[The ASA is just one of the arms of the Fascist elite ]
[See: "Advertisements for my book Living In A Fascist Country have
been officially banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority. I have
no idea why.
As far as I know they haven't seen a copy of the book.
But they probably don't like the title. VC August 28th 2006."
Living In A
Fascist Country - Banned]
As well as claiming to treat conditions from back pain to cancer, alternative medicine diagnoses a whole range of ailments largely unrecognised by orthodox medicine.
These fad conditions can be split broadly into two. The first are those unknown to mainstream medicine, for example, candidiasis hypersensitivity, leaky gut syndrome or generalised enzyme deficiency.
The second are genuine medical conditions that are "diagnosed" by alternative practitioners despite the patient exhibiting no signs or symptoms.
Indeed the absence of symptoms may even be presented as proof of a problem. The advantage to the alternative medicine practitioner is obvious: a fabricated illness is much easier to diagnose and treat than a real one.
In due course you can tell the patient that they are cured and thereby add to your reputation, or better still say they need further treatment or perpetual "wellness care" and add to your bank balance.
Either way, the result is a healthy flow of repeat custom. There has been widespread criticism of pharmaceutical industry-funded disease-awareness campaigns, often designed to sell drugs.
But, when it comes to diseasemongering, alternative and complementary medicine, with its facility for inventing, detecting and treating illnesses and conditions that orthodox medicine and even the pharmaceutical industry cannot identify, beats the mainstream hands down.
It's enough to make you sick.
Up to 80 per cent of cancer patients are thought to use complementary and alternative medicine.
I wonder why!! they must be worried about loss of business. See: The Cancer Conspiracy
Though most use it alongside orthodox treatment, a minority reject mainstream approaches or go on to use them only when the disease progresses.
However, one study found that death rates were higher among those who used alternative medicine alongside orthodox treatments.
But cancer sufferers often try anything that might improve their chances.
When film star Steve McQueen was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer, he refused chemotherapy and to turned to dentist William Kelley.
McQueen was treated with 50 daily vitamins and minerals, massages, prayer sessions, psychotherapy, coffee enemas and injections of a cell preparation made from sheep and cattle foetuses.
He died in 1980 from a heart attack following surgery to remove more tumours.
See Appendix III -- Cancer Cure Suppressed for Dr Kelley's side of the story
Given the general assumption in complementary and alternative medicine that anything "natural" is good, many alternative cancer treatments come from the natural world.
Shark cartilage is a popular anticancer "remedy". Since the recommended dose can be as many as 12 capsules three times a day, it's an expensive option when 100 tablets sell for £16.99.
The shark cartilage business is reported to be worth more than £2.5 billion a year. The man behind it was Dr William Lane, who reasoned sharks don't get cancer because they have a high proportion of cartilage.
As cartilage doesn't contain blood vessels, Lane decided it could prevent the formation of a blood supply to solid cancer tumours. But in fact, sharks do get cancer.
Other complementary and alternative treatments include aloe vera, bee venom therapy, feng shui, kombucha tea, red clover, Siberian ginseng and vitamin K.
But there is no scientific evidence that any can cure or influence the disease.
In fact, there are fears that some supplements may interfere with the action of orthodox treatments, making them either less efficient or dangerously toxic.
Alternative medicine strands patients and their families in a state of denial and prevents them from adjusting to the realities of the situation. It is the one last, quiet crime against those suffering from this disease.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a quack as someone who is an "impostor in medicine".
Spotting quackery is easy once you know the signs. A quack will:
• Treat only chronic conditions such as fatigue, backache and food intolerance. Practitioners avoid competing with mainstream doctors, so you won't find Chinese herbs or reflexology being used to treat a broken leg or heart attack.
• Use disclaimers. It protects them from legal action when their methods fail.
• Tell you that you may get worse before you get better. Mainstream medicine rarely causes the primary symptoms to worsen.
• Claim there is a cure for your condition, but your doctor won't tell you because it will undermine their authority.
• Say that the roots of the treatment lie in "ancient wisdom". But this doesn't mean it works.
• Have a "success rate" of around 80 per cent. It's not too high a figure to be thoroughly unbelievable, yet high enough for the needy to find irresistible. But you won't find details of who the people are in that 80 per cent - they don't even have to exist.
• Be keen to stress your individuality. He will tell you that even if a remedy is useless for others, it might still work for you.
Around £126 million a year is spent on herbal medicine in Britain. Often it is prescribed for mild or temporary conditions, but some herbs are promoted as cures for serious illnesses such as HIV/Aids or cancer.
See: Dr Richard Shulze to bust this bullshit.
Herbal remedies are "natural", but that doesn't make them safe. Indeed, herbal medicine carries more risks than any other form of complementary and alternative therapy because of its potentially toxic nature.
Note that 120,000 American's die every year from Allopathic drug reactions. See: Death by Medicine Herbal medicine is completely safe under proper supervision by a herbalist. How many people die every year from herbs?
For example, comfrey, used to knit bones together, has been linked to cases of irreversible liver damage (with deaths reported). Penny royal oil, used to treat everything from headaches to menstrual cramp, has been linked with kidney, liver and nerve damage.
Lobelia, used to treat asthma, has been linked with breathing difficulties, rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure.
There is also a well-established risk of herbs being adulterated with drugs and other substances - especially those from the Far East.
In 1998, the California Department of Health found that of 260 Asian patent medicines investigated, 83 contained undeclared drugs or poisonous metals such as lead or arsenic.
Government regulations offer no protection for consumers buying such remedies, which are widely available on the internet.
In one U.S. study, researchers surveyed 150 websites dealing with three popular medicinal herbs: ginseng, ginkgo and St John's Wort (used respectively for immunity, memory and depression).
Thirty-eight sites contained statements that could lead to physical harm if acted upon, including false suggestions that a particular herb could protect against disease.
And 145 of the websites omitted vital information such as the risks associated with St John's Wort when used with some prescription drugs, such as the oral contraceptive.
In fact, it has been claimed that substances in St John's Wort and echinacea may interfere with as many as one in four drugs.
An Italian study found that ginkgo can cause high blood pressure when combined with certain diuretics and even coma when taken with the antidepressant tradozone, while ginseng can reduce the effectiveness of the blood-thinning drug warfarin.
Recent research has shown that contrary to claims, ginkgo doesn't improve memory and that neither glucosamine nor chondroitin help arthritis.
Herbal medicine is the perfect example of the medical sceptics' favourite cry - if it worked and were safe, it wouldn't need to be classed as alternative.
• Extracted from Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All, by Rose Shapiro, published by Harvill Secker on February 7 at £12.99. To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 606 4206.