About book Do You Believe In Magic?: The Sense And Nonsense Of Alternative Medicine (2013)
Via Audio. I do wonder if I would feel differently if I had read this instead of listened to it. But overall, I think now. 1. Don't title it Sense and Nonsense if you are just making a case against it. Trust your readers and be honest with them. 2. If you are against it, especially so vehemently, give your credentials and back ground up front so I know where you are coming from instead of making me research you for the Aha! I get it now moment. You've made your living from your side. Be honest about that. 3. You totally left out diet, which is a huge part of this. I have a hard time forgiving that. Saying that Steve Jobs killed himself before his time by drinking too much carrot juice, and not submitting to the knife more quickly - when the man lived almost a decade with pancreatic cancer, is just so wrong in so many ways. Be honest. 4. Do more acknowledging the harm of the pharm and the knife and the desire for the humane. There is a real reason plus a mil that people seek the alternative. Be honest. 5. It's not all placebo. Or, if it is then modern medicine is just as guilty if not more so. Be honest. And darn it, please be more humane. This is a fantastic book I would like everyone hooked on alternative "medicine" to read. It is a comprehensive review of why in the author's words, "There's no such thing as alternative medicine. There's only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't." He talks about why at best the remedies don't help, at worst they do harm, if only because they encourage people to forego helpful interventions. Many "but they are natural" claims don't disclose harmful side effects. The problem of these nonsense treatments, even if they just don't do anything is that they promote scientific illiteracy, with associates detrimental effects on society. Celebrities that hawk these things manipulate people into forking over dollars to them, getting people riled up against "big pharma" without disclosing that alternative "medicine" is a $34 billion a year industry. The industry is unregulated so potions and supplements may not have the ingredients their labels say they do. The potions might actually contain dangerous elements such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Whereas "big pharma" needs to demonstrate safety and efficacy, these things do not. That's because their lobbyists work so hard to keep them unregulated. The National Health Foundation spends a lot of money trying to keep these products from having to demonstrate safety and efficacy. This organization is founded and run by people convicted of fraud because they have sold products that don't do what they say they do. The industry manipulates people whereas the FDA protects people, but out of their own self interest the "alternative medicine" industry provides misinformation to manipulate people. They are not legally obligated to demonstrate effectiveness because of their political action. But people don't get this!! They also misinform the public by making them think that there is a false dichotomy between natural and pharmaceutical chemicals. Chemicals are chemicals however they are derived, whether they are produced in a lab or extracted from a plant. It makes no difference in structure or effect but the alternative "medicine" industry manipulates people I to thinking their product must be good because it is "natural". They make false claims and they make sure it remains legal for them to do so. The author remains calm and demonstrates compassion for a public for whom medicine has not made a difference. But alternative quacks sell hope, not cure.
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