Book Review - SCAM: So-called Alternative Medicine

Keywords: Homeopathy, alternative medicine Title:SCAM: So-called Alternative Medicine Author: Edzard Ernst Publisher: Imprint Academic ISBN: 978-1845409708

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‘SCAM – So-called Alternative Medicine’, is the follow-up book to ‘A Scientist In Wonderland’, Edzard Ernst’s very readable memoir. That book, reviewed here previously, Ernst told the story of how he came to be the first Professor of Complementary Medicine in the world. It was a post that was greeted enthusiastically by those who were true believers in homeopathy, healing crystals and other forms of ‘alternative medicine’. These true believers assumed that anyone taking on that role would be like minded. Unfortunately, Ernst decided that he was a scientist first and foremost and that his job meant applying the scientific method to the extraordinary claims made by practitioners. The fall out reached a peak with a very public falling out with Prince Charles and trouble for Ernst from his own university. It’s an interesting story well-told in the first book.

In this book Ernst is continuing the work that got him into so much trouble. Here he outlines how these various alternatives seem to work – their common features, imperviousness to evidence, the magical thinking and conspiracy theories that believers use to counter the lack of evidence. For example, many alternatives claim that much of contemporary medicine also doesn’t stack up and hasn’t been tested vigorously in clinical trial. While there’s a smidgen of truth there, Ernst points to the evidence that in conventional practice 80% - 90% is evidence-based (and includes the reference so you can look at the original paper itself).

While the book lacks the narrative from the first – after all that was a memoir – it does run over some of the elements of his own experience in battling with Prince Charles. It’s a book that is informed by long experience talking to people who really do believe in homeopathy and so on. Some of the people who peddle this stuff really do believe it and have the best of intentions. But there are some very cynical, mercenary people who are driven entirely by selfish reasons to exploit vulnerable people when they are sick. But perhaps, as Ernst suggests here, there’s a third group – people who convince themselves and make a nice living at the same time.

Overall this is certainly an interesting read – with plenty of useful information with which to counter fraudsters and fakes. There’s even a section on how to set yourself up as a charlatan – yep, you too can claim to cure cancer, fight dementia and tackle bad breath.

Book Review - A Scientist in Wonderland

Keywords: Homeopathy, memoir, medicine Title:A Scientist in Wonderland Author: Edzard Ernst Publisher: Imprint Academic ISBN: 978-1845407773

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Edzard Ernst initially came to prominence in the UK as Professor of Complementary Medicine, holding the first such chair anywhere in the world. That was in 1993, and Ernst, who already had a pedigree both as a clinician and a researcher, expected that his quest to rigorously apply the scientific method to the various fields of ‘complementary and alternative’ medicine would be welcomed by practitioners and adherents who would want to prove the efficacy of their different ‘modalities’. Now fast forward to 2015 and Ernst is in the public eye once more in the UK with the publication of ‘A Scientist in Wonderland’, his memoir that tells the story not just of his research findings, but also lays bare the meddling of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne and arch-proponent of homeopathy, detoxification theories and a raft of other ‘alternative therapies’.

The book describes Ernst’s circuitous route to that Professorship – from his unconventional upbringing in post-War Germany, his love of jazz and his hesitant move into medicine. This is an environment in which homeopathy and naturopathy are accepted to a greater extent than in the UK. Indeed his first posting is in Germany’s only homeopathic hospital, where patients seemed to respond well to the endlessly diluted concoctions which are homeopathic medicines. As he points out in graphic detail, there can be not a single molecule of active ingredient left in these medicines, but yet patients recovered. Evidence of effect? Or evidence of the natural evolution of many illnesses and the positive power of the placebo effect?

In time Ernst moves to more conventional medical institutions. In addition to growing clinical experience he also begins a research career, finding the role of scientist enormously rewarding and intellectually satisfying. His observes, wryly that:

An uncritical scientist is a contradiction in terms: if you meet one, chances are that you have encountered a charlatan. By contrast, a critical clinician is a true rarity, in my experience. If you meet one, chances are that you have found a good and responsible doctor. 

There are certainly plenty of patients who will echo that, and indeed it is a complaint that many cancer patients will recognise. Indeed, many of us hope that the Medical Innovation Bill (aka the Saatchi Bill, which Ernst does not support), will encourage more of this critical and scientific thinking in our doctors.

GcMAF Factory Raided

News from the UK's medical regulator, the MHRA, following a raid on the Cambridgeshire lab which was manufacturing GcMAF. This is a blood product that is sold over the internet as a cure for cancer, autism and a host of other conditions. While there is one bona fide early trial on GcMAF on-going in Israel, the product is being sold from a variety of websites as an actual cure. There is no evidence that it is a cure - and the Anticancer Fund of Belgium has been working hard examining the evidence that exists. To date a number of the papers that the people selling GcMAF have been using as 'evidence' have been retracted (withdrawn from the journals in which they were published). There is a good summary of the evidence at the Anticancer Fund website.

In this latest news from the MHRA, concern was raised about the safety of the product:

The blood plasma starting material being used to make this drug stated “Not to be administered to humans or used in any drug products”. It was concluded that the production site does not meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and there are concerns over the sterility of the medicine being produced and the equipment being used. There are concerns that the product may be contaminated.

The conclusion from the MHRA is stark:

These products may pose a significant risk to people’s health. Not only were the manufacturing conditions unacceptable but the originating material was not suitable for human use. GcMAF products labelled as ‘First Immune’ are not licensed medicines and have not been tested for quality, safety or effectiveness. People should not start treatment with these specific products. It is important that patients currently taking these products seek their doctor’s advice as soon as possible. People should continue taking prescribed medicines and follow the advice of their doctor.

Update: The BBC have reported that the government of Guernsey, where many of the companies selling GcMAF are based, has banned the importation of GcMAF. 

Live Blood Analysis - A Scam

Dr Henry Mannings, who went through hell with the General Medical Council last year after facing groundless accusations from a vindictive consultant oncologist who objected to what the Star Throwers charity was telling his patients, recently sent me a price list from a well-known private clinic that specialises in treating cancer patients. What was shocking to us was not just the prices charged but that this clinic offered patients a service called 'live blood analysis'. Like Dr Mannings I am astounded that any reputable doctor would be offering this to patients, but it is offered and it's not cheap. So, for those who might be interested, just what is 'live blood analysis' (LBA) and is there any evidence that it is useful?

LBA, (which is sometimes called Hemaview, live cell analysis or nutritional blood analysis) is a procedure that involves taking a sample of blood, putting it on a slide and taking a look at it using a microscope. From this it is claimed that a skilled LBA practitioner can detect cancer, immune disorders, yeast and bacterial infections and a spread of other conditions. Patients will be told that the cells are not moving about in the correct way, or that they look abnormal or are showing signs of fermentation or infection and so on. Patients will be told that conventional blood tests cannot capture many of these issues because they do not look at live cells in motion. A lot of scientific sounding terminology will be used along the way, and of course the microscope is a scientific instrument so all of this must be based on fact, right? Wrong.

There is no scientific evidence for LBA. It is junk science - something dressed up to look like science but not based on any evidence or credible scientific theory.

The Burzynski Con

There is a lot wrong with current oncology practice and the research that underpins it. The pace of change is slow. Promised breakthroughs fail to deliver what they initially promised. The clinical trials process is slow and getting slower. Patient needs remain unmet and patients are dying while regulations multiply and conspire against change. But with that in mind, that doesn't mean that science is wrong, that clinical trials are wrong or that there are 'cures' out there which the drug companies are suppressing. As I have written before, there is no such thing as a miracle cure.

Unfortunately there are some people who take what are valid criticisms of the clinical trials process or the lack of progress in oncology and then imagine that there are conspiracies at work to deliberately stop progress happening. And of course there are some people out there who will use that to their advantage. Probably the most notorious example of this is a man called Stanislaw Burzynski.

Burzynki came up with the idea that there were chemicals in the body, which he called antineoplastons, which could be effective against cancer. His idea was that people with cancer were deficient in these antineoplastons, and that by taking them externally they could mount an effective defence against cancer. It's a simple idea, but rather than go through the normal process of testing, Burzynski set up a clinic and began treating patients very early on. He has been doing this for decades, and still there is no proof that his treatment works. In the years that he has been operating his Burzynski Clinic in Texas, he has treated many thousands of patients, at great financial cost to them. It's not a cheap treatment. And, despite what he says, it's not non-toxic either, patients have died from the side effects of his treatment. And still there is no evidence that this stuff works.