Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative MedicineMedical expert Paul A. Offit, M.D., offers a scathing exposé of the alternative medicine industry, revealing how even though some popular therapies are remarkably helpful due to the placebo response, many of them are ineffective, expensive, and even deadly. Dr. Offit reveals how alternative medicine—an unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks—can actually be harmful to our health. Using dramatic real-life stories, Offit separates the sense from the nonsense, showing why any therapy—alternative or traditional—should be scrutinized. He also shows how some nontraditional methods can do a great deal of good, in some cases exceeding therapies offered by conventional practitioners. An outspoken advocate for science-based health advocacy who is not afraid to take on media celebrities who promote alternative practices, Dr. Offit advises, “There’s no such thing as alternative medicine. There’s only medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t.” |
Contents
1967 | |
Mehmet Oz and His Superstars | |
Linus Paulings Ironic Legacy | |
Little Supplement Makers Versus Big Pharma | |
Neutering the | |
When the Stars Shine on Alternative Medicine | |
Jenny McCarthys Crusade | |
Steve Jobs Shark Cartilage Coffee Enemas | |
Charismatic Healers Are Hard to Resist | |
Why Some Alternative Therapies Really Do Work | |
When Alternative Medicine Becomes Quackery | |
Acknowledgments | |
Selected Bibliography | |
About the Author | |
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Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine Paul A. Offit, M.D. No preview available - 2013 |