I have now seen one (but only one) story that addresses some of the issues I have been raising about the Glen Beck story (though I have not watched any television news coverage of this, so I can't say if it has been addressed there).
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/glenn-becks-diagnosis-and-treatment-are-quackery-say-medical-experts/ The story cites a column by Yale University neurologist Dr. Steven Novella published three years ago in which he said that “Chiropractic neurology” is a controversial branch of medicine that should be dismissed outright as “pure pseudoscience”. “Chiropractic neurology does not appear to be based on any body of research, or any accumulated scientific knowledge; I am not aware of any research that establishes their core claims...Chiropractic neurology appears to me to be the very definition of pseudoscience — it has all the trappings of a legitimate profession, with a complex set of beliefs and practices, but there is no underlying scientific basis for any of it." The piece goes on to cite experts (that is, actual physicians) who note that Beck's reported symptoms do not match up with those of Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome, and suggest that they do match more closely with Panic Disorder (I would be more tentative about this last, and also caution against diagnosing someone without actually examining them, but I do see their point). In a conversation with Raw Story, Novella said, “If you’re going to use your personal medical history as a public figure in order to make a point, then I think you’re obligated to make your medical record public...I care about this because I’m a physician,” Novella explained, “and he’s promoting a dubious diagnosis and a dubious practitioner and we have absolutely no way of knowing if anything he’s saying about his own medical history is accurate.” The article raises the suggestion that Beck may have been motivated to make his announcement in order to explain his erratic behavior over the years so as to smooth over the sale of his cable network to a major cable provider. Of course one would like to see evidence to support such a suggestion, but I can say it fits the known facts a hell of a lot better than Beck's medical claims do. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
