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Is Chelation an ‘integrative’ SCAM?
An increasing number of medically trained ‘integrative‘ doctors are targeting older patients with offers of chelation for improved blood circulation and for other illnesses. Does this intervention reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease? Chelation is the administration of chelating agents, including vitamin C, vitamin B complex, heparin, sodium, minerals, trace elements, man-made amino acids, such…
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Magnets – good for your home and car but what about you?
In our homes, there are hundreds of uses for magnets: from securing photos onto the fridge, keeping your cupboard doors shut, to the switches in your front door bell. Because claims have been made that magnets have healing properties, they have found their way into our beds. Can they, in fact, relieve pain? From early…
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Will “Complementary Medicines (CMs)” save us billions?
A pharmacy journal headline recently proclaimed “$1.8b benefit from [Complementary Medicine] CM”.Based on Potential Health Outcomes & Cost Savings in Australia, a report funded by the Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI), only one of the six treatments investigated was actually “complementary”, in that they are a useful adjunct to doctor-prescribed therapies. Are claims that CM’s…
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Is it ‘Wellness’ or ‘ Wellne$$’?
I was introduced to the concepts of ‘well-being’, and ‘wellness’ after my cancer was diagnosed 10 years ago. Have these terms, intended to guide patients back to good health, been high-jacked by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) industry to exploit us? A definition of ‘well-being’ is “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy“.…
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Fighting Quackery
I’m not popular with many cancer patients, particularly those who love their alternative practitioners. Many of us seem to want to believe in voodoo and witchcraft. We will happily throw away hard-earned cash, swallow buckets of pills and submit ourselves to weird and fanciful ceremonies – just because our naturopath, homeopath, chiropractor, intuitive healer or…
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Is AHPRA Failing To Protect Us?
Submitting a complaint against false and misleading claims for therapeutic goods is easy, but the same cannot be said for therapeutic services. While there is still no effective way to challenge unregistered practitioners, the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) was established in 2010, to work in partnership with our National Boards with a “primary…
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Just Who’s Targeting our Toddlers?
Ear infection (acute otitis media), causing pain and deafness, is one of commonest childhood infections. One parent, whose child had an earache, brought this up at her local Mums & Bubs support group and was flooded with advice. One mother had started attending a children’s chiropractor during her pregnancy because he claimed that he could…