'scamus-bookus' a guide to diagnosing miracle cures

[toadaleh]

Hi,

This was inspired by the post about the 'miracle cure' for MS.  These kind of schemes really make me mad.  It's difficult to know if she's nuts, or if she's just a straight up crook.  You'll find books like these perporting to be able to cure just about every debilitating condition.  They tend to be full of voodoo-science about how conventional medical treatments are poison and all way of making pharmacutical companies money (while they, of course, are doing this for free, $98 for her book? I'd want her to come over and rub my feet whilst I read it for that!).

We should devise a McDonald list of characteristics of these kind of 'miracle cures'.  Number one on the list must be how taking massive doses of over prices vitamins (most of which at best you'll pee out, or or worst will make you more ill) will turn your life around.
Another common characteristic of 'scamus-bookus' is how keen they seem to be on colonic irrigation.  Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sick of having things stuck into orifices during this whole process, the idea of paying good money to have someone stick a hose pipe up...ok, you get the drift, my mother ( a former nurse and therefore clearly in the pay of the pharmacutical companies) always said that this was a one-way valve ONLY.

And no, it isn't just MS, when my much missed Dad was dying of cancer, we got inundated with these things.  Apparently, colonic irrigation, magnets, vitamins and wheatgrass are waaay better than all those clinically trialed chemicals..

*sigh* just thought I'd get that off my chest  

[Lulu54]

Personally I get all my dx's by reading my tea leaves LOL

The frightening part of this is despite the discussion about what makes good science, there are still many people who want to  disregard the process and take everything on face value.

Don't ever doubt that if a person truly had a cure for MS, it would have been sold to the highest bidder and we all would be made whole again.

As I said before,

anyone want to buy a bridge?
Lulu

[biowham]

Hey there, toadelah---

There actually is such a list that helps recognize such things. If you google "pseudoscience" and "criteria," you'll turn up a fine list of the warning signs of junk science. The greatest hits version is

1. Making money is a top priority.
2. Only anecdotal support, no data derived from applying the scientific method
3. Appeals to emotion and the emotionally vulnerable
4. Claims of conspiracy theories, knowing more than the experts
5. Use of "sciency" sounding terms that are actually meaningless.

There are plenty more, but that's a good start.

Bio