While searching for D.G. William's Alternative newsletter, I found an amazing site today. It's called "QuackWatch," part of the "Skeptic Ring." I'm still trying to figure out whether it's a valuable resource or a pile of big brother doo-doo.
Search resources on the site give excerpts such as these: MULTIVITAMINS "In general, supplements are useful for individuals who are unable or unwilling to consume an adequate diet. Physicians commonly recommend vitamins for very young children until they are eating solid foods that contain enough vitamins. After a child reaches the age of two, however, it is seldom necessary to continue supplements "just to be sure." In 1980 the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that supplements might be appropriate as follows: Fluoride supplements should be given to children not drinking fluoridated water..." (I thought someone here said earlier that fluoride was a mild neuro-toxine. My dentist says water works just as well as toothpaste). COLLOIDAL SILVER "Colloidal silver is a suspension of submicroscopic metallic silver particles in a colloidal base. Long-term use of silver preparations can lead to argyria, a condition in which silver salts deposit in the skin, eyes, and internal organs, and the skin turns ashen-gray. Many cases of argyria occurred during the pre-antibiotic era when silver was a common ingredient in nosedrops. When the cause became apparent, doctors stopped recommending their use, and reputable manufacturers stopped producing them. The official drug guidebooks (United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary) have not listed colloidal silver products since 1975." (I thought silver only lead to argyria when the PPM was very high. Since I haven't tried it yet I'm a little nervous now.) OTHER PRACTICES "Dictionary of Metaphysical Healthcare, Unnaturalistic Methods: U-Z, © 1997 Jack Raso, M.S., R.D. (Listed under Quackeries without much explaining why): URINE THERAPY, YOGA, ACUPUNCTURE, HOMEOPATHY..." Try it and look your favorites up: http://www.quackwatch.com/index.html Following is the (conservatively worded) letter I sent sponsor Dr. Stephen Barrett upon first finding the site. I hardly expect a response: "Question: How can so much noble but negative effort go into the disrepudiation of alternative health practices without a corresponding positive effort towards the exposure of formerly scientifically-unknown but potent healing approaches, particularly since Science is only Western Civilization's solution to problems which have been answered through time and place quite effectively by other culture's solution-systems? Further: While much of other culture's health solutions can be dismissed out of hand as only working within their own cultural mores, surely we can agree that there is much of value that is not currently understood by Science? (some possibly never to be) We can also agree, I hope, that the majority of Westerners only turn to alternative methods for answers when their own conventional, scientific medicine proves ineffective for their complaints. And yet I see the frequent posturing on this site that "there's no need to risk unknown quack therapies when we need only turn to safe, effective medical remedies." I think the medical community would concede that A) all drugs have significant side-effects and usually tend to be symptom-oriented B) many solutions still do not exist for various health complaints. If one sought testimonials from people who have tried most of the systems you label as quackery and from those who've gone the Western medicine route, one would find the results highly comparable. I myself have tried a number of solutions from each pool and have found systems such as yoga and acupuncture to be quantifiably helpful while offering negligable side-effects. To write such systems off because they cannot be strictly explained scientifically approaches rank foolishness, just as it would be dubious to totally negate the progress and success of Western Medicine. Conclusion: With all the fantastic effort put into this in-many-ways excellent site, it's a great pity that it teeters on the edge of uselessness through having unbalanced objectives. Were the site to make the basic concessions that Science is not all-encompassing and that the bottom line is the most valuable objective it would achieve a level of synergy all-to-seldom seen in the various health realms. Something tells me that your group is absolutely prohibited from making these otherwise reasonable concessions, though. From: Nicolas Bendezu (hailing from a family of two medical doctors, one acupuncturist and one yoga instructor." ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
