MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'herbalism'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:50:50 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159033&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D4541%26utm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dfreedom-of-information-reveals-some-unusual-testimonials-for-the-university-of-westminster-when-will-professor-geoffrey-petts-do-something-about-it Jump to follow-up Universities, like most businesses, cite glowing testimonials from grateful students, I doubt whether universities are any more honest than anyone else in their choice of what to publish. When I asked to see any letters that had been sent to the university, I was sent only one and extracts from it appear in the last post on Westminster. More dangerous nonsense from the University of Westminster: when will Professor Geoffrey Petts do something about it? But I knew (don’t ask how) that there had been more than that, and a slightly widened FOIA request produced some interesting results (though I’m aware of other letters that were not supplied -not good). As always, the information came with the caveat "Copyright in our response to your request belongs to ... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159033 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:50:30 +0100 5159033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775406&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2Fmaterial-world-part2-220307.mp3 One of my first posts about nonsense taught in universities was about the University of Westminster (April 2008): Westminster University BSc: “amethysts emit high yin energy”. since then, there have been several more revelations. Jump to follow-up Professor Petts The vice-cnancellor of Westminster, Professor Geoffrey Petts, with whom the buck stops, did have an internal review but its report was all hot air and no action resulted (see A letter to the Times, and Progress at Westminster). That earned Professor Petts an appearence in Private Eye Crystal balls. Professor Petts in Private Eye (and it earned me an invitation to a Private Eye lunch, along with Francis Wheen, Charlie Booker, Ken Livingstone . . ). It also earned Petts an appearence in the Guardian (The opposite of... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775406 Tue, 03 May 2011 08:10:00 +0100 4775406 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159037&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D4269%26utm_source%3Drss%26utm_medium%3Drss%26utm_campaign%3Dwhy-does-the-mhra-refuse-to-label-herbal-products-honestly-kent-woods-and-richard-woodfield-tell-me Jump to follow-up The absurdness of allowing statutory regulation of herbal medicines, both Western and Chinese has already been pointed out here, in Government lends credibility to quacks and charlatans, and by Andrew Lewis in  “How to Spot Bad Regulation of Alternative Medicine“ The harm done by the government’s endorsement of herbal products could be ameliorated if they were labelled honestly. The labelling is a matter for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), and for a while I have been writing to the head of the MRH, Kent Woods, and to Richard Woodfield (head of MHRA herbal medicine policy), in an attempt to work out their reasons for not telling the consumer the simple truth. A similar (but even worse) problem arises in the label... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159037 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:37:42 +0100 5159037 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489687&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D4117 Jump to follow-up The long-awaited government decision concerning statutory regulation of herbalists, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture came out today. Get the Department of Health (DH) report [pdf] It is not good news. They have opted for statutory regulation by the Health Professions Council (HPC). This is much what was recommended by the disgraceful Pittilo report, about which I wrote a commentary in the Times, and here, A very bad report: gamma minus for the vice-chancellor, and here. The DH report is merely an analysis of responses to the consultation, but the MHRA says "The Health Professions Council (HPC) has now been asked to establish a statutory register for practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines. The proposal is, following cre... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489687 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:04:09 +0100 4489687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4450302&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D4066 The Science Museum is a wonderful place. As a child it seemed magical. So all the more disappointing to find that it houses an exhibition that promotes quackery. The exhibition is uncritical and sometimes downright dangerous.  It does not teach you anything about science, it teaches anti-science and uncritical thinking. It was not originally like this. Most of the objects in the exhibition were originally part of Henry Wellcome’s Wellcome Museum of Medical History, based at 183 Euston Road. It was moved on permanent loan to the Science Museum in 1977 where it was known as The Wellcome Museum of the History of Medicine. > Recently the Wellcome-Trust sponsored exhibition was the subject of a blog post at Purely a figment of your imagination, written by Alex D... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4450302 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:06:50 +0100 4450302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671886&cid=t_149981_127_f&fid=38263&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdeepesthealth%2FBMCc%2F%7E3%2F8WVahpWo_Tc%2F   Last week we began by exploring the concept of timing in acupuncture. This week we’ll move on to herbs. Timing in Herbology Timing is equally important in herbology, as knowing where in the system the disease currently is will dictate what formula you prescribe and what modifications have to be made (I discuss this in an upcoming free PDF entitled “Beginners Guide to Acute Respiratory Disease”). For this, the Six Conformation model used by Zhang Zhongjing (called the Six Channel Model in TCM) is without question the most powerful tool we have at our disposal, telling us where the disharmony is, what its nature is, and what principles are required to fix it.  This applies in acute as well as chronic cases. For example – If the problem is diagnosed as a Cold inva... Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671886 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:33:04 +0100 3671886 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3460167&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D2923 There is something very offensive about the idea that a ‘bachelor of science’ degree can be awarded by a university, as a prize for memorising gobbledygook. Once the contents of the ‘degrees’ has been exposed to public ridicule, many universities have stopped doing it. All (or nearly all) of these pseudo-degrees have closed at the University of Salford, the University of Central Lancashire, Robert Gordon University, the University of Buckingham, and even at the University of Westminster (the worst offender), one course has closed (with rumours of more to follow). I’ve already written about the course in Traditional Chinese Medicine at the University of Salford (Chinese medicine -acupuncture gobbledygook revealed) and at the University of Westminster: see... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3460167 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:51:20 +0100 3460167 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3342783&cid=t_149981_127_f&fid=38263&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdeepesthealth%2FBMCc%2F%7E3%2FYXUjzsD60MQ%2F I’ve been working with students explicitly for about a year now, teaching at NCNM. I think I will be continuing to do this, as the activity suits me and it also forces me to keep studying. I find that I want to teach about learning a lot, even though I do like teaching about herbs and other explicitly Chinese medicine related concepts. I think this is because while there are a lot of ways to get information about herbs and Chinese herbal traditions, there aren’t a lot of people talking about learning. My students seem hungry for guidance, reassurance and anecdotes related to my path in learning Chinese medicine. When I look at the most popular posts on this blog, they are posts that point to that layer of experience. Thinking on this, I realize that there’s just not a lot... Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3342783 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:29:19 +0100 3342783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3178780&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2Flondon-news-220307_NEW.wmv This article was meant to celebrate their collective efforts and to celebrate the fact that those efforts are beginning to percolate upwards to influence the powers that be. It seems invidious to pick on one example, but if you want an example of beautiful and trenchant writing on one of the topics dealt with here, you’d be better off reading Andrew Lewis’s piece "Meddling Princes, Medical Regulation and Licenses to Kill” than anything in a print journal. I was a bit disappointed by removal of the comment about the Prince of Wales.  In fact I’m not particularly republican compared with many of my friends.  The royal family is clearly good for the tourist industry and that’s important.  Since Mrs Thatcher (and her successors) destroyed larg... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3178780 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:01:58 +0100 3178780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365006&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D1372 Jump to follow-up It seems that bits of good news don’t come singly. First honours degrees in acupuncture vanish, Now a big chain of shops selling Chinese herbs and acupuncture has gone into administration. It seems that, at last, people are getting fed up with being conned out of their hard-earned money Herbmedic Barking A local [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365006 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:37:52 +0100 2365006 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2308084&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D1329 In March 2007 I wrote a piece in Nature on Science degrees without the science.  At that time there were five “BSc” degrees in homeopathy. A couple of weeks ago I checked the UCAS site for start in 2009, and found there was only one full “BSc (hons)” left and that was at Westminster University. Today [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2308084 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:35 +0100 2308084 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2414826&cid=t_149981_97_f&fid=36415&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D1284 The Health Professions Council (HPC) is yet another regulatory quango. The HPC’s strapline is “Working with health professionals to protect the public” At present the HPC regulates; Arts therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, paramedics, physiotherapists, prosthetists/orthotists, radiographers and speech & language therapists. These are thirteen very respectable jobs. With the possible exception of art therapists, nobody would doubt for a moment that they are scientific jobs, based on evidence. Dietitians, for example, are the real experts on nutrition (in contrast to “nutritional therapists” and the like, who are part of... DC's Improbable Science blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2414826 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:18:12 +0100 2414826 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2135025&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D920 Jump to follow-up It’s only a matter of weeks since a lot of young scientists produced a rather fine pamphlet pointing out that the “detox” industry is simply fraud.  They concluded “There is little or no proof that these products work, except to part people from their cash.” With impeccable timing, Duchy Originals has just launched a “detox” [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2135025 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:15:19 +0100 2135025 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1902367&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D260 Thames Valley University is one of those shameful institutions that offer Bachelor of Science degrees in homeopathy. They don’t stop there though. They’ll teach you several other forms of make-believe medicine. Among these is “nutritional medicine”. This is taught at the Plaskett Nutritional Medicine College which is now part of Thames Valley University. Everyone is for [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1902367 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:43:58 +0100 1902367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1783155&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D254 There have been some really excellent books about quackery this year.  This isn’t one of them. Nice dedication uh? It is about a lot more than quackery  It is about the scientific method in general. and in particular about how often it is misunderstood by journalists.  Abuse of evidence by the pharmaceutical industry is treated just as [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1783155 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:15:43 +0100 1783155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1561528&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D239 During the last year, there has been a very welcome flurry of good and informative books about alternative medicine. They are all written in a style that requires little scientific background, even the one that is intended for medical students. CAM, Cumming | Trick or Treatment | Snake Oil Science | Testing treatments [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1561528 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:47:08 +0100 1561528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1494744&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D233 We have often had cause to criticise Boots Alliance, the biggest retail pharmacist in the UK, because of its deeply unethical approach to junk medicine. Click here to read the shameful litany. The problem of Boots was raised recently also by Edzard Ernst at the Hay [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1494744 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:35:46 +0100 1494744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1446635&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D231 The extent to which irrationality has become established in US Medicine is truly alarming I wrote about Quakademics in the USA and Canada on my last trip to the USA, and on my May trip I visited Yale, where I decided to try a full [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1446635 Fri, 16 May 2008 15:15:37 +0100 1446635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1394104&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D227 Times Higher Education has published a league table showing that the University of Westminster is head of the league table for the number of courses in quackery. With fine timing, I just acquired the slides for their lecture on "vibrational medicine". See a selection of them. It seems that Amethyst; the 'Transmutator' . . .emits high Yin energy so transmuting lower energies and clearing and aligning energy disturbances . . .". This is part of a vocational "Bachelor of Science" degree. It is beyond parody. You couldn't make it up. (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1394104 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:16:15 +0100 1394104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1387089&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D228 This blog, along with many others, has had plenty to say about the Prince of Wales’ unconstitutional meddling in public affairs. The lovely description, Quacktitioner Royal, was coined by NHS Blog doctor. The Times published a letter from Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh on April 16th. In their forthcoming book, Trick or Treatment? Alternative [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1387089 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:47:42 +0100 1387089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329315&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D224 In a wonderful demonstration of common sense, the BBC has removed all the alternative medicine pages from BBC Health web site. I expect that it was helped in making that decision by the many complaints it had received about statements on these pages that were simply not true, The existence of these pages [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329315 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:36:12 +0100 1329315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1300847&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D223 Boots the Chemists have proved themselves dishonest before, over their promotion of homeopathy and of B Vitamins “for vitality” In a press release dated 12 March 2008, they have hit a new low in ethical standards Boots help boost the nation’s energy levels in just one week “Health and beauty expert Boots has launched an exclusive energising vitamin [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1300847 Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:01:20 +0100 1300847 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1288700&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D221 We are all interested in the relationship between our health and what we eat. What a pity that so little is known about it. The problem, of course, is that it almost impossible to do randomised experiments, and quite impossible in most cases to make the experiments blind. Without randomisation there is no [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1288700 Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:38:24 +0100 1288700 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1252695&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D220 This afternoon I went to the Coliseum to see a revival of Jonathan Miller’s 1986 production of the Mikado. It was beautifully staged. The well-known patter song of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner of Japan, begged for a version that deals with anti-science (original here). The serious post will come later. [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1252695 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:16:44 +0100 1252695 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1238293&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D219 This is the third post based on a recent trip to North America (here are the first and second) One aspect of the endarkenment, the Wal-Mart model of a university, is very much the same in the US as in the UK. At one US university, an excellent scientist offered the theory that an alien spacecraft [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1238293 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:36:35 +0100 1238293 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1197585&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D216 This is the first of a several posts that have arisen from a visit to North America. One thing that the trip led to was an interest in how HR departments influence science -if you have a story about that, please email me. Following the media publicity that surrounded the lecture in Toronto, I [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1197585 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:12:43 +0100 1197585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1142877&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D215 As I have often said, you don’t need to be a scientist to see that most alternative medicine is bunk, though it is bunk that is supported and propagated by an enormously wealthy industry.. There were two good examples this week, John Sutherland, who was until recently professor of English literature at UCL, understands it very [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1142877 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:24:23 +0100 1142877 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1063759&cid=t_149981_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D207 Jump straight to follow up Today is World AIDS Day, and the Society of Homeopaths is holding a meeting to “discuss the evidence” concerning the idea that you can treat AIDS with sugar pills. Needless to say, there is no evidence to discuss, but that doesn’t put them off for a moment. Not content [...] (Source: DC's goodscience) DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1063759 Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:45:58 +0100 1063759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=926442&cid=t_149981_97_f&fid=36415&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D169 A paper published in the Postgraduate Medical Journal, October 2007, has been reported widely. In the same issue there was a commentary by Edzard Ernst. They show the astonishingly poor evidence than herbal treatments work, despite the fact that they have been around for thousands of years. They looked at 1330 [...] (Source: DC's Improbable Science) DC's Improbable Science blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=926442 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:41:25 +0100 926442