Brisbane council to waste tax payers money on feng shui
We all accept that governments are capable of doing some pretty stupid things.
A fine example is recent plans by the Australian Government to censor the internet. Insane and likely impossible. And in New South Wales, stupidity occurs on a daily basis. Some of you may recall the recent foot-in-mouth by the Premier Nathan Rees, when he suggested we may wish to further investigate the existence of the mythical Penrith Panther.
Well, this one might just top the lot. An article which appeared in the Courier Mail this week reported that The Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman has called for a feng shui make over of the Chinatown Mall in Fortitude Valley. According to the report dated December 17 th, the Mayor said the aesthetics of the mall are apparently “draining its wealth, prosperity and luck.”
Further, he explained that according to feng shui principles, the design of the Chinatown Mall meant valuable visitor dollars were being washed away with the site’s qi, or energy, every day into nearby Wickham Street. Hoping to rectify the situation, Cr Newman yesterday unveiled plans for an $8 million feng-shui approved revamp of the mall which will include three terraced zones split into Chinese dynasty themes.
The revamp has been prompted by safety issues surrounding the pagodas and other decorations in the mall. A legitimate reason for upgrading sure, but is it really necessary to include feng shui nonsense in this upgrade? Although there is no mention in this article of the cost of consulting a feng shui professional, I assume the council either has, or plans to do so. And exactly what will these so-called professionals actually do? Charge the council thousands to “make-shit-up” mostly likely.
Perhaps this is an example of the council pandering to the Chinese community. But need I remind Cr Newman that it’s engineering which enables buildings to stand up, not some namby-pamby ancient wisdom, feng shui bullshit.
If I were a Brisbane resident, I would certainly be asking questions as to why my council is wasting my precious taxes on this brand of nonsense.
‘Nuff said.
When ignorance is not bliss and alternative medicine just won’t quit.
This is the accompanying blog from Dr Rachie Reports, aired in the Skeptic Zone (ep. 9), December 19, 2008.
Today’s segment concerns the use of alternative medicine where conventional medicine was desperately needed. What makes this case even more distressing, is it involves the mistreatment and terrible suffering of a defenceless child by her brain damaged father.
This story dates back to September 2006, but only came to court in Australia this week. It details the fate of an 11 year old girl, who was admitted to hospital 2 weeks after contracting a serious heart infection, which manifested as a body temperature of 42?C, hallucinations, weakness and difficulty walking. The girl, who was described by the examining doctor as “sick as the sickest person I’ve ever seen in 35 years” underwent an emergency heart bypass and valve replacement, spent some time in a coma due to bleeding on the brain and remained in hospital for an entire year. She now has brain damage, uses a wheelchair (according to doctors she will likely never walk unaided again) and has reduced vision.
So how do we explain the rapid descent into illness of a young, previously healthy 11 year old girl? According to the court proceedings, the girl’s father reportedly had a “distrust of conventional medicine” and instead of seeking assistance from real doctors, he had been feeding the child a glyconutrient dietary supplement (manufactured and developed by Mannatech Inc.) in an effort to cure his daughter. According to a report tendered by a psychologist, the father’s belief in Mannatech Inc. supplements bordered on “obsessive” and cited that he had an “exaggerated view of his own knowledge and ability” about health treatments. Further, the court was told when his daughter presented in hospital her mouth was peeling, black and clogged from the administration of extremely high doses of the Mannatech Inc. supplement. Even more tragically, the father himself suffered from impaired judgement since he had received a brain injury several years earlier.
But what about this gluconutrient supplement and who are Mannatech?
Mannatech Inc. make a range of “wellness” products, including skin care, growth essentials, performance nutrition and weight loss products, but their signature product, a glyocoprotein dietary supplement is Ambrotose® complex. According to their website, it has been called the “missing link” in human nutrition “..allowing your cells to send and translate messages to each other enabling them to communicate clearly and operate efficiently” and “..help support your body’s immune system”. All marketing jargon designed to make it sound like the next miracle cure. But let’s look at the science of this stuff. What is actually in it?
Let’s focus on 2 of the components in Ambrotose® complex capsules, starting with Aloe barbadensis inner leaf gel powder which constitutes 78% of the tablet.
Aloe vera gel (AVG) from the leaves of Aloe barbadensis has been used over the centuries in folk medicine as a therapeutic agent. In 2006, Esua et al.(1), isolated the many components of AVG to determine which parts were responsible for these therapeutic effects. They reported the processing and conservation of AVG is critical to the stability of the active ingredients, since poor storage results in the breakdown of the potent compounds to malic acid, glucose and simple oligosaccharides; and “…therefore no reasonable biological activity can be anticipated from such a gel or products derived from it.” Another component, larch bark arabinogalactan isn’t digested at all by humans, rather the bacteria in your gut like to break it down, producing noxious gas in the process which translates to smelly flatulence for you. Fun!
“There are authentic, scientific studies that have looked at people drinking these kinds of materials, and it doesn’t really do anything except increase flatulence”, Glycobiologist, Dr Hudson Freeze.
Unlike pharmaceutical medicines, strict regulations are not in place to determine the exact composition of alternative medicine products in Australia. So, unless we were to take a tablet and do the analysis ourselves there is no way of knowing exactly how much, or how conserved the active ingredients remain in these pills.
But then we have come to expect this from alternative medicine products. What makes this case different lies in the history of Mannatech itself.
Earlier this year, they settled a USD11.25 million class-action suit which stated that the company allowed false claims about its supplements, and failed to control its sales agents. As part of the settlement, Mannatech admitted no wrongdoing. In 2007, the Texas attorney general charged them with unlawful, misleading sales practices, including making exaggerated claims about the therapeutic benefits of their dietary supplements and nutritional products as a method to increase sales. Documents filed in Travis County district court reveal Mannatech’s scheme to exploit families including those challenged by cancer, Down’s syndrome, cystic fibrosis and other serious illnesses. You can find them cited on various scamwatch websites and they even have a scathing Wikipedia page which details an investigation by the American ABC investigative journalism programme 20/20 reorting how Mannatech allegedly teaches sales recruits how to target Mannatech products to patients with specific illnesses in a manner that purportedly does not violate U.S. federal law*.
“Energy like you’ve never had before and wellness you can count on!” from the Mannatech website
Even more telling is their attempt to hijack Nobel Prize winning science in an effort to lend legitimacy to their supplements and in the process, getting it wrong! In 1999, the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr Gunter Blobel for his work with glycoproteins concerning “…the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell”. Someone at Mannatech Inc. got a little mixed up and changed the prize to the Nobel Peace Prize, the year to 1994 and the topic to “received for his discovery glycoproteins have with the body’s ability to fix itself”.
Thankfully the scientists involved did not take this lying down and issued Mannatech with a cease and desist notice. And on September 13, 2007, two respected glycobiologists authored a scathing critique of Mannatech which was published online for Glycobiology, and then subsequently withdrawn due to complaints from the company (it has since been published in Glycobiology, vol. 18 no. 9 pp. 652–657, 2008). This is when the preverbial began to hit the fan. On November 2, 2007 another critical analysis of Mannatech’s tactics was published in the highly respected peer reviewed journal Science, detailing the company’s attempts to infiltrate the scientific community including the story of a retired professor and Mannatech consultant who modified the 2006 edition of a respected science text book Harper’s Illustrated Biochemistry, to suggest the benefits of “glyconutrient supplements”.
Click here to download the pdf of the Glycobiology editorial which started all the fuss
Click here to download the Science article as a pdf
This is not to detract from the tragedy of this sad event. In court on Tuesday, the girl’s father pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 3 years jail but will be released on parole after 6 months, whilst the mother was sentenced to 12 months jail for child cruelty but was immediately released on bail. A most terrible thing to happen to a young family.
But the obvious question(s) remains; how can a company continue to sell dubious (at least according to sources I have seen) supplements on the internet? The victims in this case are a brain damaged, wheel chair bound 11 year old and a (no doubt) heart broken, brain injured father. Meanwhile, Dr Robert A. Sinnott, Chief Scientific Officer/Senior VP of Mannatech Inc. quietly collects his USD311,539 annual wage (with 23,400 bonus).
“It’s none of our business as glycobiologists if nutraceutical companies want to sell bark extract. When they begin to tie it to our discipline, that is the problem,” says Ronald Schnaar of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, editor-in-chief of Glycobiology.
I’ll leave the final word with Mannatech themselves.
References: (1) Macniell F. Esua and Johann-Wilhelm Rauwald. Novel bioactive maloyl glucans from Aloe vera gel: isolation, structure elucidation and in vitro bioassays. Carbohydrate Research, 341; (2006):355–364.
*Mannatech was established by Sam Caster, coinciding with United States Congress’ passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which made profitable, marketing of a wider spectrum of dietary supplements a possibility. He resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors in August 2007.
Footnote: For some fun (and just a little bit scary) correspondence from Mannatech believers TYPING IN THE CLASSIC ANGRY UPPER CASE, a statement from Manatech’s lawyers admitting that their products do nothing; “..that you immediately remove from your website any statement or reference which (i) states, suggests or implies that Mannatech nutritional products prevent, treat or cure disease” and our own Peter “Ratbag” Bowditch being called a “homo” for daring to criticise their products, visit Ratbags.
Acknowledgements: thank you to Michael Howard for the tip off, and to Dr Martin for scientific advice and discussion.
Science under siege – the (deliberate?) hijacking of real science by alternative medicine.
For the audio companion to this blog head here: www.skepticzone.tv
The beautiful view of Sydney from Taronga Park Zoo
Recently I was invited to speak at a forum organised by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales on the topic of “Science under Siege”. It turned out to be a fascinating day, with a dozen or so talks covering all manner of topics from the old nut of difficulty getting funding to poor reporting of science by the mass media, the extreme behaviour of some animal activists, and the lack of public understanding of science/the scientific method leading to a public perception of scientists as elitist, stuffy, stuck-up boffins. Held at the beautiful Taronga Zoo here in Sydney, it was great to present at this wonderful institution in such a lovely setting with sweeping views over Sydney Harbour and squirrel monkeys leaping around outside the conference centre windows. So let’s get straight into it..
Case study: HAIR ANALYSIS
Hair analysis is offered at “wellbeing” clinics and by mail order, and is commonly carried out by naturopaths. This procedure is based on the notion that “most health problems can be caused or aggravated by eating the wrong foods” and proponents claim the test can determine which foods you should avoid as a method for assisting in the treatment of your particular illness. A large collection of diseases (NB: red flag hoisted, see below) can be alleviated by modifying your diet as a result of hair analysis including;
“…eczema, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, headaches, sinuses, rashes, indigestion, pre-menstrual tension, chronic fatigue syndrome, candida (thrush), ADHD/ADD, flatulence and constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, mucous, arthritis, acne, tonsilitis, AIDS, cancer, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, etc”.
“The affordable way to find out what is making you sick”
For just AUD195 (affordable??), a sample of your hair is placed in a beaker which is then slotted into a machine, and with the assistance of a ND (Not a Doctor, or Naturopath Doctor), lights flash, dials flicker and out pops a randomly generated list of foods you are allergic too. This machine is so sensitive it can even detect allergies within food groups (e.g., you can’t eat peanuts, but walnuts are okay), and also identify allergies to specific brands of compounds (eg., washing powders). Consequently you are advised to follow their diet for a designated period of time, sometimes they recommend you take their supplements as well, and generally you are required to return for a follow up visit months later to determine whether you are “cured”.
So, just what is behind such advanced and sensitive technology? Glad you asked people, it’s quantum. At least, this is what I was told by the lady taking the cash. So, here’s the first example of the hijacking of scientific terminology by quacks, applying the concept of quantum technology to a procedure that is obviously just flashing lights and flickering dials. I wish I had been able to take a photo of this super special quantum machine, since apparently it has been developed over 20 years by a ND. To me it looked pretty old school and antiquated; not something I would expect for a “quantum machine” but then what would I know, I’m just a scientist..
So now we reach the, “make-shit-up” section of the case study;
Do they actually test your hair? Let’s find out…
In 2003, a sceptical colleague, who was sceptical of this process, decided to put it to the test (see left panel). He collected two samples of hair from the same person, sent them away as instructed and then compared the results. Okay, I know the suspense is killing you, the results speak for themselves…
Williams, C. The Skeptic, 2003; 23(2): 35.
Properly conducted scientific tests of identical samples should NOT yield results that are statistically different from each other, otherwise there is something wrong with your protocol. This is why when we conduct tests, we run multiple replicates on the same sample AND we also replicate the original sample. This allows for some biological variability, but importantly controls for the reliability of the experimental protocol.
As you can clearly see, the results were vastly different, despite the samples being from the same person. This does not instill me with much faith with respect to the stringency of their scientific method. Which is why I affectionately call their “quantum” machine a “randomly-generating-allergy-machine”.
But in fact, hair analysis is a legitimate scientific technique and is currently being used by a colleague as a method for measuring levels of a toxic amino acid which causes a motor neurone disease similar to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease).
In a fascinating example of good scientific detective work, Dr Paul A Cox and co-workers observed a 50 – 100 times greater incidence of this disease amongst the indigenous people of Guam, the Chamorros. BMAA (Beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine) occurs naturally in the seeds of the cycad tree, but not in high enough concentrations to have neurotoxic effects. However, similar to the way mercury and other heavy metals “build-up” in the flesh of fish, BMAA concentrates via a process known as bio-magnification. Fruit bats also feed on cycad seeds and coconut bat soup is a delicacy amongst the Chamorro people. And accessibility to fruit bats was made easier after WWII when the Chamorro’s gained access to shotguns, thereby increasing their consumption, so much so that they put one species into extinction and another on the endangered species list. As a method for identifying patients at risk of contracting this PD/ALS-like disease, Dr Cox breaks the bonds between the amino acids of keratin, the major protein component of hair, and uses high end mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to measure levels of BMAA.
A cute fruit bat, not so cute anymore..
“No needles or blood test, safe and accurate”
Subsequently, BMAA has been found across the developed world too. A paper published in 2008 in Environmental Microbiology (Metcalf et al., 10(3); pg 702) created quite a stir when these researchers reported toxic levels in some drinking water reservoirs across Britain. The source of this contamination is cyanobacteria, also known as common blue/green algae blooms which appear sporadically in water reservoirs exposed to light and heat (cyanobacteria need sunlight).
The example presented here of the hijacking of science by alt. med., namely hair analysis, includes many of the classic red flags to alert you to a scam. The Australian Government has established a website to warn people about quacks and scams and some of the things they flag follow (BTW, these and others all apply to hair analysis);
• The treatment claims to be effective against a very wide range of ailments.
• There is no scientific evidence to back up the claim that the miracle cure actually works.
• Miracle cures usually include anonymous testimonials, for example ‘Luke, from Melbourne…’.
Check out their website for further information. It makes me wonder how the likes of these quacks get away with this nonsense. As someone remarked during my live podcast about this topic, why are these people not locked up? This is a legitimate question. The Australian government and it’s regulatory body the TGA have a lot to answer for if they are not protecting the public from quacks and scams like hair analysis.
Until next time, this has been Dr Rachie Reports
Dr Rachael A Dunlop has a PhD from the University of Sydney, Department of Medicine, in Cell Biology. She currently works full-time in medical research. Contact me at rachael(at)skepticzone.tv. Richard Saunders also contributed to this presentation.
Footnote: Hair analysis as I have described here is not the same as DNA analysis from hair the like of which you may see on television, ala CSI etc. This describes the extraction of DNA from hair as a method for identifying a criminal etc which requires the amplification of a very small amount of DNA via PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to gain a DNA match. Thanks Ma for bringing this to my attention, I will endeavour to address this in the coming episodes of Dr Rachie Reports.
Further reading: (1) Banack SA, Cox PA. Biomagnification of cycad neurotoxins in flying foxes: implications for ALS-PDC in Guam. Neurology (2003): Aug 12;61(3):387-9. (2) Cox PA, Sacks OW. Cycad neurotoxins, consumption of flying foxes, and ALS-PDC disease in Guam. Neurology (2002): Mar 26;58(6):956-9.
The Skeptic Zone hits number 1 on iTunes Australia, outranking Oprah and SGU!?
Hello fellow Pooh-ers.
We have some very exciting news to convey, our podcast the Skeptic Zone has hit the big time on iTunes Australia. After a shout-out on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe (#175) this week, our numbers started creeping up, and up and up. And this morning we were thrilled to discover we are Number 1 under the category of “Religion and Spirituality” outranking the likes of Oprah Winfrey! Even better, we are sitting pretty at No. 16 for Top Audio Podcasts (see below)
Top audio podcasts, iTunes Australia
1. Hamish and Andy
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4. Dr Karl on Triple J
5. Ricky Gervais Podcast
6. Dr Karl’s great moments in science
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11. Hamish and Andy minicasts
12. Dr Karl and the Naked Scientist, BBC
14. All in the mind, ABC Radio National
15. Nova Merrick and Rosso and Kate Ritchie
16. The Skeptic Zone
17. The Science Show, ABC Radio National
18. Stephen Fry’s Podgrams
19. Triple J Sunday Night Safran
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21. Hack Triple J radio
And under the category of Top Podcasts, which includes audio and video, we rank # 34. If you head to podcasts on iTunes Australia, you will find us smack, bang at the top of the page, featured as a “new release”.
And on the American store, in the category of Religion and Spirituality, we have leapt from #61 this morning to #34! It doesn’t stop there, on the UK store, we are sitting pretty at number 39 under top audio podcasts in Religion and Spirituality and #48 overall (which includes audio and video).
So if you haven’t heard us yet, or subscribed, head to our website where you’ll find the link to iTunes, the RSS feed or the live stream. Please take the time to DIGG us (there’s a link on the website) and write us a review on iTunes. We are thrilled that the podcast is taking off in such a huge way. A big thank you to all our current fans and subscribers.
Tell your friends!
The Jokes Are Just Too Obvious
Here is Ezio De Angelis’ next gig:
COOGEE BAY HOTEL
Tuesday 18th November 2008 7:30pm
Tickets $30 per person
Tickets available at www.moshtix.com.au (from Oct 13)
Or at the door
Mind, Body, Wallet returns to Sydney
It’s time once again for Mind Body Spirit, affectionately known as the “Mind Body Wallet” festival. Take a deep breath, check your temper and let’s delve into what they have planned for us this time ’round.
Mind Body Spirit happens every 6 months in Sydney and the description on the website is as follows; “…Australia’s largest event for personal growth, natural therapies, alternative healing, self development, spiritual awareness and much more. See, try and buy hundreds of products and services for your total wellbeing: physical, mental and spiritual”.
This is a woo festival on a huge scale! With over 190 exhibitors, spiritual cinema, free seminars, free performance stage, free positive thinking a meditation centre, and of course it wouldn’t be the same without the psychics and clairvoyants. Accordingly, there is a psychic reading room with over 60 of the best clairvoyants, who will sting you $40 for a 25 min reading or $80 for 50 mins. This room is always packed and you are advised to book ahead. Back in May, this room was constantly buzzing. This year there are several seminars from the psychics featured on “The One” but before I delve into that, I want to bring to your attention, some of the more weird and wonderful exhibitors.
Weird
Ouch!
Noseworks are suppliers of a product known as Neti Pot (also known as Nasal Cleansing Pot or Jala Neti). This thing looks like a tea pot with an inverted spout. According to an instructional video on the website, you fill it with warm salty water and then flush your sinuses by pouring it up your nose!
And another website proclaims this process to be a “….simple solution to asthma, sinusitis, snoring, hay fever, blocked noses, sneezing, sinus headaches”. And even better, “It has a cooling and soothing effect on the brain and is therefore beneficial for headaches, migraine and general mental tension”. What? How does it get into your brain???
And there’s more… “Regular cleansing helps the eyes, ears and mind become clearer” and “It helps clear the mind giving you a sense of lightness and clarity which aids better concentration”
Go ahead and shove this thing up your nose if you wish. I know one thing, you will most certainly look silly, but as for the rest of the claims? Dubious to say the least. And the part about clearing your mind and cooling your brain? There is no basis in science for this. But wait, why listen to me? Apparently this thing has featured on Oprah, but then so has Tom Cruise and Jenny Macarthy…..
More weirdness
Nana Mays Magic Hands and Tea Cup Readings with Betty? Doesn’t this sound like a lovely old lady, straight out of the 1950s who makes you a “nice cuppa tea” and reads your leaves? I thought this stuff went out of fashion years ago. Hasn’t Betty heard of the “Coffee Oracle” by Stacey Demarco? We’ve gone espresso now my dear…As for Nana Mays Magic hands? No idea but I’ll be certain to check this one out.
[youtube=http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BwMI9wOLrZ4]
Wrong
All across the festival there are stalls and seminars espousing the benefits of drinking “alkaline water”. One is entitled “How water can cure incurable diseases” (grrr, misleading in the extreme), but when I did some further digging it’s just alkaline water again. And another; “Food intolerances, digestive enzymes and alkalisation”, which apparently will report on two new digestive enzymes that will greatly boost your digestive power? Digestive power? Sounds like a washing powder to me.
Proponents of this stuff claim;
Looks just like water to me
“The negative ions in alkaline water are a rich source of electrons that can be donated to …free radicals in the body, neutralising them and stopping them from damaging healthy tissues”.
Nonsense, when you drink alkaline water, its alkalinity is quickly removed by the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach. And the body regulates it’s pH by buffering with bicarbonate ions and breathing off CO2. This is pure pseudoscience nonsense
Supernatural
Of course it wouldn’t be MB$ without the usual collection of psychics and this year there is a contingent from “The One – the search for Australia’s most gifted psychic” giving seminars such as, “Connecting with Spirit”, “Messages from Beyond” and “You too can be The One – how to develop your own psychic gifts”. These sounds decidedly normal stacked up against “Sonic re-birthing through sound therapy”, “The Atlantian pathway to Isis” and “Psychic spoon bending and Egyptian Alchemy”.
And folks, this is just the beginning of four days of the strange, the supernatural and the silly. Combined with the usual suspects, being the iridologists, chiropractors, Chinese medicine, reflexologists, aura capturers, angels, orb spotters, ear candles, etc. we are certainly in for an interesting experience.
I have an accompanying blog about MB$ on scepticsbook.com. Thanks to everyone who has been emailing me, I appreciate your feedback, comments and suggestions.
Holy frack! It’s Mind Body Wall$t festival time again
Yes folks roll up, roll up, for the festival that will blow your mind and empty your wallet. It’s time once again for Mind Body Spirit, affectionately known as the “Mind Body Wallet” festival. Take a deep breath, check your temper and let’s delve into what they have planned for us this time ’round.
The main stage, with a hippy banging a drum
Seems only yesterday when I had my first experience with this festival of “woo”. Some of you might recall my run in with a Live Blood Analysis salesperson, detailed on the SkepticZone podcast (episode 2) and the accompanying blog.
And this year looks to be a similar affair. A brief perusal of the programme revealed delights representing a wide spectre of woo, including Tea Cup Readings with Betty (sounds like something straight out of the 1950s), Nana Mays Magic Hands (ditto), the Church of Scientology, and Noseworks Neti Pots (I’m serious – check out the hilarious how-to video on the website).
The amazing computerised horoscope machine - looked like something from a 60s side show alley
Of note are several seminars from our favourite psychics from The One (more on that later) but one that immediately caught my attention was “Psychic Spoon Bending and Egyptian Alchemy” by Elisabeth Jensen. Who is Elisabeth Jensen you ask? Some of you may remember her from this gem of a video, in which she bends spoons with her psychic powers and the muscles in her hands! Seriously folks, her preceeding spiel is a lot of jibberish about meditating and imagining the spoon getting white hot, that there is a candle flame underneath it etc., then she simply physically bends it! I urge you to take a look at the video, you won’t believe your eyes! So I imagine this is what she had planned for MB$ next week. Andy Milman, spoon-bending extraordinaire and myself plan to attend, just to see it for ourselves. (Note: Elisabeth requests that you please bring your own spoons).
Next on the schedule is the (Rev Dr) She D’Montford. She is giving a seminar about discovering your own psychic powers so that you too can be “The One”. According to the programme, She will also reveal the secrets of what really happened behind the scenes on “The One”. Hmmm. Sounds intrguing.
Next on the schedule is Ezio De Angelis! His seminar is entitled “Connecting with Spirit”. I anticipate a whole lot of, “Can I come to you my sweets?…is there a problem with the plumbing my love?…” in rapid fire. This guy’s cold reading is a bit like John Edward, fast and furious, thereby increasing the chances of a hit.
Head in on Friday at 4.30 pm to see Mitchell Coombes, “Psychic to the Stars” in “Messages from Beyond”. Yet more cold reading. But cheaper than going to his stadium shows, a bargain at $16 for the festival compared with $35 for his RSL tour.
Some of the other gems making up the free seminars include “Weight loss, causes of weight gain, how to lose (but spelt “loose” in the programme) weight and keep it off” with Natasha Flynn. No information is provided as to Natasha’s qualifications apart from “works alongside Dr Sandra Cabot” who wrote the best selling book, “The Liver Cleansing Diet”. It appears Dr Cabot (or McRae) is a legitimate doctor which makes her promotion of “woo” even more unacceptable. and according to her website she studied medicine at Adelaide Uni, my alma mater (how embarrasing). I’ve got an idea for how to lose weight and keep it off, eat less and move more. Simple. Sheesh.
And yet more nonsense “Food Intolerances, Digestive Enzymes And Alkalisation” presented by Philippe Thebault. This guy has discovered two new enzymes that increase your ability to digest food. BS.
So there we are people, 4 days of nonsense, expensive supplements, magic Goji berries from the Amazon, nose candles (possibly I made this up) plus all the usual suspects like reiki, chiropractic, iridology, magnets, chinese medicine, cleansing etc etc. Fortunately, there is no sign of the Live Blood Analysis people. Shame, these guys really get my goat, they had me shaking in the corner last year (ask Andy Milman if you don’t believe me).
If you be brave and live in Sydney, come join us on Sunday November 9 at 1 pm for a trip to the other side.
"Woo-Woo" in Australian Pharmacies – an ongoing problem
Wander into your local Australian pharmacy any day of the week and stacked alongside the legitimate, science-based medicines, you will find all manner of snake oils and magic potions. From the relatively innocuous vitamin and mineral supplements (although evidence for their efficacy remains controversial), to the more bizarre like iridology, homeopathy and my personal favourite, ear candles. Need professional advice about which woo is best for you? Well, in Australia, many pharmacies have a consultant naturopath or ND (Not a Doctor?), whom you can usually consult free of charge.
Unfortunately, there is way too much “woo” to cover in this short segment, so I’ve chosen to present my top three in some detail from most ridiculous to purely preposterous. You can see a list of some of my other bug bears at the end of this blog.
Sit tight, try not to get too angry and let’s begin.
Ear candles
A personal favourite of mine. The practice of ear candling involves placing a long candle in your ear, lighting the far end and supposedly a vacuum is created, drawing wax from your ears. Some practitioners will also tell you they draw out bad energy. As our good friend Loretta Marron, (the “Jelly Bean lady”) says, be careful when walking past a session of this nonsense, you might be struck by unexpected “negative energy”. In my opinion, (and Simon Singh agrees), the only thing these are good for are dripping wax in your ears and setting fire to your curtains. Unfortunately in Australia, this product is listed with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), giving them undue legitimacy. Good grief.
Iridology
Iridology originated with the Hungarian physician, Ignatz von Peczely, back in the 1860s. He was treating a broken leg when he noticed a dark streak in the patient’s eye. Years before, von Peczely had accidentally broken the leg of an owl and he remembered that it too had a dark streak in exactly the same place on the iris (pardon?). He then spent years mapping marks in patients’ irises, which he associated with various illnesses and this resulted in a variation on the iridologists map of the eye still used by practitioners today.
Upon enquiring, I was told by a very helpful assistant that I could see "Mercedes" free of charge anytime.
Just like Feng Shui consultations, large variability exists between iridologists when it comes to diagnosis. These people are afraid of wheat it seems, and will usually advise some kind of special diet. A report from a GP posing undercover as a tired teacher, Professor Max Kamien, demonstrates the fancifulness of this practice.
Homeopathy
Don’t get me started on these water and sugar pills. Homeopathy was invented by Samuel Hahnemann back in the 18th century. Based on the concept of “like treats like”, a concentrated solution of the toxin is “sucussed” (i.e., shaken vigorously), to instill the memory of the original substance in the solution. This “mother tincture” is then diluted extensively, to beyond the point where there is any possibility that molecules from the original solution are present in the final product. Richard Dawkins describes this in his wonderful documentary “Enemies of Reason”, as like a drop of the active ingredient in all the oceans. Hence, you are buying very expensive water.
Expensive water, may contain traces of sugar
The most heinous thing about homeopathy is the marketing of homeopathic vaccines and medicine for children and babies. Cures for cholic are bad enough, but in a most disgusting example of deceit in 2006, an Australian manufacturer of natural and homeopathic medicine, was forced to withdraw a vaccine for Meningococcal disease, a rapid onset and often fatal bacterial infection causing meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord) and/or septicaemia (blood poisoning). Keep in mind that according to the NSW Government Department of Health website, those most at risk of contracting meningococcal are; “infants, small children, adolescents and young adults”.
This media coverage and subsequent withdrawal of this product, was partly due to whistle blowing by the Australian Skeptics who in 2005 produced a press release after being informed at the Parents, Babies and Children’s Expo in Sydney that you could vaccinate your children with homeopathic preparations.
So why be so concerned about this?
If in the case of homeopathy this stuff does nothing, shouldn’t we just leave it alone? Absolutely not. In fact homeopathy can do harm, since it does NOTHING at all. So whilst you may think your baby is vaccinated from the fatal meningococcoal C strain, they are in fact at risk of DYING. Putting this woo alongside pharmaceutical, science-based medicine IMMEDIATELY lends it legitimacy. We can’t expect the lay person to distinguish between what works and what doesn’t work, when all these medicines are presented under the guise of a respected, university educated pharmacist.
“The community holds pharmacists in especially high regard and places its trust in pharmacists’ professional judgment, and relies on pharmacists’ professional advice. Because a recommendation by any pharmacist for any medicine gives that medicine special credibility, it is essential that the recommendation is soundly and scientifically based”. From Pharmacy Board Bulletin VIII
There is no evidence that these things do anything useful
In Australia, pharmacists undergo very similar training to science graduates, so why do these well qualified, science literate, respected members of the community tolerate quackery in their dispensaries? Well in Australia at least part of the problem is large manufacturers of natural medicines also own chains of pharmacies. For example, in sunny Queensland, Nature’s Own, makers of Bio-organics, Golden Glow, Natural Nutrition, Cenovis and Vitelle are brand names owned by Symbion Health, which in turn owns the trading names Chemmart, Terry White Chemists, and the brand name Pharmacy Choice. So, it is in their interests to promote all their products and what better way to do it than through the respected, white coated pharmacist. It purely and simply, a money making exercise.
In a recent conversation with the respected neurologist, president of the New England Skeptical Society and distinguished podcaster, Dr Steven Novella, he expressed his surprise that more scientists and doctors didn’t get angry about this stuff. Well, this little black duck does, and perhaps that’s where we can start the tide turning. The biggest problem in Australia lies with the legislation, where woo can get a government listing, providing immediate credibility. This is why we need people like Loretta Marron, also known as “the terror of the TGA” to continue to campaign on our behalves.
“Pharmacists who recommend alternative medicines to consumers must be appropriately and properly trained. Additionally, recommendations may be made only according to the principles of evidence-based medicine. So as to assist pharmacists in the evaluation of published papers, it recommends completion of a course of critical appraisal of scientific literature. As part of proper training”. From Pharmacy Board Bulletin VIII
And sadly it seems the “woo” is not limited to natural medicines. I was in a pharmacy on the Northern Beaches of Sydney some time ago, and was shocked to see Sylvia Brown books for sale alongside the twee porcelain gifts. I kid you not. And there ain’t nothing scientific about that…
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Other woo you can find in Australian Pharmacies that gets my goat:
Magnetic Aids
Homeopathy diagnosis machine
All manner of weight loss “medicines”
Detox kits
Bach Flower medicine
Footnote: Australian Pharmacies were awarded the Bent Spoon Award in 2006 by the Australian Skeptics
The hero of fighting woo in pharmacies in Australia is Loretta Marron, otherwise known as “The Jelly Bean Lady”.
Further reading: Trick or Treatment, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst.
Dishing the dirt, an insight into “The One” from an audience member’s perspective
Wanna know what really happened? Read on.
We spent a LOT of our own precious time in the audience watching the making of this dreadful show, purely in support of Richard. It was at times tedious, but overall a very good education in how psychics do their stuff. Over the five weeks of recording there was always a representative or two from the sceptical community, so collectively we didn’t miss an episode. This gave us precious insight into the editing process too. Typically, 6 – 8 hours of footage would be recorded a week and eventually whittled down to the 43 minutes you would see every Tuesday evening.
Hence, there was plenty of time to make mistakes, and LOTS of excuses for getting it wrong. Particularly with respect to the off site tests, when we did the sums, the results were ~92% fail! In fact, it was only in episode one, the lost boy in the bush where the psychics had any success. One may have just got the lucky, the other ran around for 15 minutes until the entire area was covered. Sheesh we can do that too! It would be interesting to repeat this test with seven lay people and see how we do.
I digress…Suffice to say, much of the footage ended up on the cutting room floor a lot of which was when the psychics didn’t get hits. Unfortunately this also applied to Richard’s comments so I guess we can’t cry foul there. In the early days of broadcast, I heard some criticism from sceptics accusing him of not being hard nosed enough, not mentioning the buzz term “cold reading “ etc. Well I’m here to tell you that he did do these things. He did get frustrated and call them out when necessary. Unfortunately this just doesn’t rate. The producer’s designed a show for entertainment and ratings. The populus is not interested in a bunch of psychics being wrong and looking silly. And it worked, the last episode (the just-awful-bad-taste Peter Falconio ep.) was the highest rating show in the country, attracting 1.5 million viewers.
And despite the fact that Richard’s approach was as the “humanist sceptic” i.e., nice not nasty, people still thought he was mean. Recently, whilst doing a Mystery Investigators show at the Australian Museum for Science in the City, one of the girls in the audience told Richard, prior to the show commencing and BEFORE she recognised him, that that guy from The One was a “meanie”. Later as the show progressed and he put up a photo of himself from the set, the poor kid cringed and put her head in her hands! Don’t worry all was forgiven when he signed her an autograph, bent a spoon or two and had his photo taken with her.
Just last week Richard and I went to Adelaide, South Australia to attend the National Sceptics Convention Australia where we stayed with my folks. My Mum’s hairdresser was a big fan of the show and was heard to say following the Falconio debacle, that the police simply must head up north, she was convinced they would find his remains (grrrr). When Mum subsequently mentioned that Richard was currently staying at her place, the hairdresser’s response was, “Doesn’t he spook you?”. Well, yes he does, but not for that reason…
Richard "The Spook" Saunders. Also known as a "meanie"
In any case, we witnessed an awful lot of guessing and classic cold reading techniques being thrown about, some more blatant than others. And the excuses were always the same. This is a collection from my memory, (so don’t quote me on this) but you get the idea and I note, these were used multiple times.
I was nervous performing on television
I interpreted the psychic messages wrong
On Ned Kelly’s bones, they were where I said they were, even though they were not
I’m not used to performing in this environment (hmmm, well a fair few of you do stage shows so that doesn’t cut the mustard with me)
I wasn’t listening to my spirit guides
My spirit guides were punishing me for being too confident (well then, fire them!)
I was reading the person next to you
You may not know about it now, but go home and ask your family, you will find a connection somewhere.
When I said it was definitely not silver, I meant that silver is considered to be Gold in some parts of the world (wha?!!)
This is not what I normally do
I did not go with my first choice, which was right
On the airport luggage challenge, the people were standing too close to one another
I never claimed to be always accurate
This always works for me at home
I had no time to practice
The times for the tests were too short
‘Nuff said
Live Blood Analysis – hocus pocus?
Welcome to the first installment of Dr Rachie reports. This is the blog-based section of my bi-weekly medical based segment where I report on medical issues, alternative medicine or healthcare products that have caught my interest.
Live blood analysis (LBA) or live blood imaging is also known as dark-field video analysis, haemaview and nutritional blood analysis
The concept is simple, your finger is pricked, a drop of your blood placed on a slide and then viewed on a microscope and projected into a computer monitor. Practitioners claim to be able to make judgements from the shape of your blood cells and the contents of your blood about the state of your health. They claim to be able to see all manner of things from bacterial, fungal and viral infections, increased “acidity” in the blood, organ-system dysfunctions, gut permeability & digestive health, evidence of hormonal imbalances to atherosclerotic plaque! Which is all part of a scheme to sell you their “magic potion” commonly in the form of over-priced vitamin powders or supplements.
Even Wikipedia got it right this time with their description of LBA as; “…an unestablished diagnostic test (1) promoted by some alternative medicine practitioners, who assert that it can diagnose a range of diseases. There is no scientific evidence that live blood analysis can detect any disease state, and it has been described by an expert on complementary and alternative medicine as a fraudulent means of convincing a patient that they are ill and require treatment with dietary supplements” (2). And this was Edzard Ernst, the world’s first professor of complementary medicine, who holds the Laing Chair of Complementary Medicine at the Peninsula Medical School, a partnership with the the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth. Professor Ernst has published over 1000 peer reviewed papers and written over 40 books, his most recent, Trick or Treatment with UK based science writer, Simon Singh. He knows his stuff.
“…There is no scientific evidence that live blood analysis can detect any disease state…”
So how does it work, (or not work)? LBA practitioners refer to microscopy images of diseased blood made available by various labs, and diagnose your ailment by comparison. You can see some diagnostic pictures here.
They all claim to treat a wide variety, virtual mish-mash of diseases. Some of the more interesting things I came across include “free radical damage to the blood cell”, undigested proteins and fats (this is not an illness) evidence of smoking (damn, I had no idea I was smoking until you did my LBA), alcohol, stress (this research stresses me out) and atherosclerotic plaque; hang on a tic, atherosclerotic plaque? Why did no one bother to tell me this? I work in heart disease research and we’ve spent decades looking for blood borne biological markers that could indicate the presence of plaques. AND NOW THIS? Clearly I have wasted my time.
Now here’s the trick with alternative medicine peddlers. They will pepper their spiel with “scientific-sounding” words to make their claims appear more credible (more on this below) . Brian Dunning talks about this as a “red flag” in his fantastic presentation “Here Be Dragons – an introduction to critical thinking. Here is a classic example, drawn from a random LBA website.
“For our live blood cell analysis Dr. “Jo Bloggs” (name changed to protect the shonky) uses a sophisticated microscope called an RTM (Richardson Technology Microscope). This microscope is the same one being used in places like the The Scripps Center and The Pasteur Institute and is the only one available in the world to be used for live blood cell analysis”.
Now this is probably true. Richardson Technologies are legitimate microscope manufacturers and dark field microscopy is a valid scientific tool. That doesn’t mean they are being used for real science in this case, I have a miscroscope in my house to; it sits on my bookshelf and looks “sciencey”. Perhaps I need to put a a sign on my letterbox – microscope upstairs, scientific stuff wooo, only $100 buck to see it.
And here’s another classic red flag. Search any of these sights, (and LBA is not the only culprit) and you will be sure to find dozens if not more, of testimonials from satisfied customers. This is very common practice by woo practitioners, yet, testimonials DO NOT constitute evidence. The most obvious thing that comes to my mind is how do you know they are real? Couldn’t they have easily been written by the person her/himself? Or their neighbour, or randomly generated from testimonialsforquacks.com(3)?
Australia is not immune. Richard and I went under cover to the Mind Body Wallet (sic) Festival in Sydney Australia earlier this year, and spoke with an LBA proponent. Now I should point out here that I am a cell biologist, working in heart disease research with a PhD from the University of Sydney, so I’m pretty familiar with physiology and scientific terminology. (Search for R. A. Dunlop on Pubmed for assurance that my PhD is not from a diploma factory). Richard on the other hand is a science junkie and a member of the cheer squad, but essentially a layman with respect to the jargon and of course they use this to their advantage.
As her explanation progressed I noticed a pattern of peppering with misplaced scientific jargon almost as if she had put a whole lot of scientific words in a hat and pulled them out at random. At the point when she threw in “SOD” I had to stop her and ask for more information. SOD, or SuperOxide Dismutase is an enzyme I am very familiar with, (in fact I even wrote a section on it in my thesis), so you’re not getting past me dropping SOD into a conversation sister. SOD is an enzymatic anti-oxidant which detoxifies free radicals, specifically ones known as superoxide in the body to a less toxic product. Well actually to hydrogen peroxide the stuff you use to bleach your hair, so not completely harmless, but certainly lass damaging than the radical species. I remember her explanation well, she said, “Superdismutase o…..oh I can’t remember, it’s been a long day!”. Hmmm. Now why the hell she was dropping SOD into the sales pitch for her supplement of choice, known as Green Barley Powder escapes me, apart from it’s scientific sounding name.
“Superdismutase o…..oh I can’t remember, it’s been a long day!”.
She also tried to convince us that the shape of your blood cells on the slide could indicate if you had the correct ratio of magnesium to calcium in your body and that the cloudy feeling you sometimes get in the mornings is a result of an imbalance in this ratio, but of course the GBP fixes all that. I had previously attributed the cloudy feeling in my head to the copious amounts of champagne I had consumed the previous night, but I’m willing to run with that.
If you are still unsure as to the efficacy of LBA, check the fine print and sometimes the-not-so-fine-print on the websites of practitioners. Here’s one I came across during my research:
“Dr. Blogs does not diagnose, prescribe or cure. He simply observes the living tissue in your body, makes recommendations about lifestyle and gives the body what it needs to heal itself”.
And the following statement appeared in bold type on the homepage no less; “Nothing on this site should be construed as medical advice. Seek the services of your physician for medical advice”.
In addition, there are ongoing regulatory issues surrounding LBA with unaccredited labs in the States conducting the procedure. In 1996, the Pennsylvania Department of Laboratories informed three Pennsylvania chiropractors that “Nutritional Blood Analysis” could not be used for diagnostic purposes unless they maintain a laboratory that has both state and federal certification for complex testing (4).
Essentially LBA is a front for selling you some expensive cocktail of herbs or vitamins. Prices vary for a consultation, the most expensive I came across was USD $375 for the initial visit and $175 for a follow up. In Australia, the test costs about $150. But then the potions are much more, $105 per kilo for the GBP they tried to sell Richard and I. And of course you are not cured with one course, this is a repeat business venture plus you will need to return for a follow-up visit to demonstrate that you are “cured”.
I have also recently discovered the existence of Dry Cell Analysis and Hair Mineral Analysis too, but right now I need a stiff drink and a good lie down.
References
(1) CLIA regulation of unestablished laboratory tests.
(2) Ernst E (July 12, 2005). A new era of scientific discovery? Intrigued by the spectacular claims made for Live Blood Analysis? Don’t be. It doesn’t work. The Guardian
(3) Not a real website
(4) Wlazelek A. Chiropractors cease blood cell show and tell. State restricts the use of magnified images to sell vitamins, supplements. The Morning Call, April 12, 1996, page B6.
