The status of biofeedback is the same as it ever was. Its value in therapy over and above placebo has remained questionable, just like acupuncture. As far as scientific research is concerned, there is more of it being done today on quack modalities such as Chinese medicine, herbal therapy and prayer. This is evident from the number of papers published last year in the medical literature. For the latter modalities this number is 8251, 1834 and 1664, respectively. By comparison the number for biofeedback is only 534. Even for acupuncture, it is 1351. All of these studies though have amounted to virtually nothing, in terms of real usefulness, as opposed to feel-good placebo effects, with respect to any of these unscientific and/or questionable remedies.
In a more general sense, the widely held belief that some New Age hocus-pocus remedies or some "alternative" nostrums are now accepted by modern medicine after initial rejection, is not true at all. There is no such example. The only thing that is true are some examples of medicinal plants that were found to contain pharmacologically active compounds, such as foxglove, willow, datura, periwinkle,Pacific yew, Indian hemp, etc. These were assumed to be of value by modern medicine all along. They became more useful, powerful and safe, in terms of precise dosage, only after the active compounds were extracted from them by modern pharmaceutical laboratories. Modern science also discovered in molecular detail the underlying mechanism of action of most of these drugs. Cheers, Santosh > On Wednesday, February 5, 2014 8:41 AM, Margaret Mascarenhas > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Dr Ferdinando, > > I'm not sure why I'm a party to this mail, other than the fact that I > have > previously expressed my dissatisfaction with the selective moderating > habits of nearly every Goa-centric net list I have ever been added to by my > friend Fred. I have come to the decision that I do not want to be involved > in communities that do not enhance my experience of 'Goan-ness', and > removed myself from them. And my humble suggestion is that you do the same > for your own sanity. Some years ago, bio-feedback was thought to be a kind > of new-age hocus-pocus; it is used routinely in scientific studies > now.Similarly many scientists are actively studying the effects of > acupuncture. People will believe what they want to believe. Find a more > supportive environment in which to express your views, is my advice to you. > But please do not copy me on Goanet threads, because I have no wish to be > involved in them. This note is for you and the moderators, not for public > consumption. > > With best wishes, > Margaret Mascarenhas > > > http://about.me/margaret_mascarenhas > > > @mmasc <https://twitter.com/> >
