Bach Flower Remedies, 301
back pain
acupuncture treatment for, 79, 82, 85
chiropractic therapy for, 155-6, 179
conventional treatments for, 155-6, 179, 249
natural recovery from, 233
osteopathy for, 179-80, 321
Bahr, Dr Frank, 41-2
Bannerman, R. H.: report for WHO on acupuncture, 51
Barrett, Stephen: critical study of chiropractors, 171
Baum, Professor Michael, 243, 254, 277
bedwetting
acupuncture treatment for, 7 9
Beecher, Henry: work on placebo effect, 58
Benveniste, Jacques: research on ultra-dilute solutions, 118-25
Berlioz, Louis: on acupuncture, 45
bioresonance, 262-3, 294
Blane, Gilbert: work on scurvy, 19-20
blind and double-blind trials, 63-9
defined, 64-7
double-blind trial of acupuncture impossible, 81
importance of blinding, 122-3
bloodletting, historical practice of, 7-14, 15
challenged and discredited, 11-14, 17, 20-3, 94
role in George Washington's death, 9-12
role in modem treatments, 25
Boericke, William: Materia Medica (homeopathic pharmacopoeia), 101, 104, 105
British Medical Association, 52
cancer
alternative diet treatments, 243, 295
anthroposophic mistletoe remedy, 298
laetrile (amygdalin) herbal remedy, 216-17
media stories on alternative treatments, 260
PC-SPES herbal remedy, 210-11
risk from aristolochia, 207
risk from X-rays, 172
shark cartilage for, 263-4
Thymus therapy for, 302
celebrity endorsement of alternative
therapies, 250-2
celebrity gurus, 256-9
cellular therapy, 302
chelation therapy, 303
Ch'i, 43, 52-3, 83, 86, 311
China
acupuncture in, 42-4, 46-50; research, 71-3
contamination of Chinese medicines, 209, 210
traditional Chinese medicine, 46-7, 328
chiropractic therapy
accepted by mainstream, 147
as quasi-religion, 161
authors' advice and conclusions, 168-70, 179-80
conditions claimed effectively treated, 157-8, 159, 164-5, 166-7, 168, 178-9, 180, 271
dangers of, 171-82; denied by chiropractors, 176-7
diagnostic methods and gadgets:
applied kinesiology, 164, 169;
E-meter, 164, 169;
neurocalometer, 162
efficacy: systematic reviews of clinical trials, 154-5, 166-7
in America, 147, 158, 161-5, 167-8, 169
in Europe, 163, 168
marketing of, 162-3
mixers and straights, 166, 168
negative attitude to immunization, 185-6
opposition from medical establishment, 161, 163-5
origins and history, 147, 156-66
principles, 147-8, 158-61, 165-6
innate intelligence, 147-8, 159-61, 166
subluxations, 147-8, 159-61
procedure described, 153-4
profiteering and malpractice, 162, 169, 170-1, 173, 181-2
treatment of children, 180-2
use of X-rays, 153, 172-3, 182
cholera, 1854
epidemic, 107-9, 111-12
Chopra. Deepak, 256
clinical trials
blinded trials invented, 64; importance of, 64—6
distinctions in quality of a trial, 21-2, 66-7, 76, 227; Oxford quality scoring system, 134
early advocates of, 22—4
establishing existence of placebo effect, 58-9
first examples of controlled clinical trial, 16-24
impartiality of technique, 148-53
in conventional medicine, 87, 282-3
non-specific effects in, 65;
Hawthorne effect, 65
of alternative therapies, 36
acupuncture, 51, 67-9, 71-2, 78-82; criticisms from practitioners, 84—6
chiropractic therapy, 154-5, 166-7
herbal medicines, 199-205
homeopathy, 114-16, 127, 129-31, 133-9; criticisms from homeopaths, 137-9
placebo effect in, 63-9
see also meta-analysis, systematic reviews
Coan, Dr Richard: trial of acupuncture treatment for neck pain, 67-8
Cobb, Leonard, 59
Cobbett, William, 12-14
Cochrane, Archie, 74—6
Cochrane Collaboration, The, 73—4, 76-9, 272
reviews: of acupuncture, 77-9, 81
of homeopathy, 139, 242
of hypnotherapy, 313
of St John's wort for depression, 200
colonic irrigation, 304
Colquhoun, Professor David, 142, 241, 247, 255, 277
conditioning, and placebo effect, 60-2
contamination: of alternative medicines, 209-10, 300, 328; of food supplements, 312
craniosacral therapy (cranial osteopathy), 180, 305
crystal therapy, 306
cupping, 307
Davenas, Elisabeth: analyses in Benveniste research on homeopathy, 121-3
detox, 303, 304, 308
diagnostic methods in alternative therapies, 100-4, 162, 164, 169, 171, 294, 320, 323, 328
diets, alternative, 295
Gerson therapy, 243, 295
dilution in flower remedies, 301
in homeopathic remedies, 97-100, 110-11, 117-18
Doll, Sir Richard, 31-5, 36, 37
research on smoking and lung cancer, 32-5
Donner, Dr Fritz: account of lost Nazi research on homeopathy, 115
Dorcy, Charlene: schizophrenic given St John's wort, case study, 218-19
ear candles, 309
effectiveness of treatment
erroneous conclusions drawn by patients from correlation, 231-5
most important factor in evaluation, 18, 224
Ernst, Professor Edzard, 3, 250, 252, 257, 276
acupuncture research, 79-80
experience in homeopathy, 141
survey of attitudes to immunization with Katja Schmidt, 184-5
survey of British newspaper stories on health issues, 265
survey of risks of spinal manipulation, 177-8
systematic review (with Peter Canter) of systematic reviews of spinal manipulation trials, 154-5, 166-7
Evans, Dylan: suggested labelling system for alternative remedies, 284-5
evidence-based medicine contribution of the Cochrane Collaboration, 74-7
defined, 24
evolution of, 7-37
personal experience of patients at odds with, 231-5
role in changing establishment views, 25-6, 28-31, 34-5
used to evaluate alternative therapies, 36, 50-1, 237-9
acupuncture, 82-5
chiropractic therapy, 154—6
herbal medicines, 119-205, 216-17
homeopathy, 130-1, 133-9
value of, 7, 24-6, 31, 35, 147-53, 279-80
exercise therapies, alternative, 296
expectation theory, of placebo effect, 61-2
Feldenkrais method, 310
feng shui, 311
fish-oil capsules, 286-7, 312
Fitzgerald, William: founder of reflexology, 323
flower remedies, 301
Food and Drug Administration (US), 48, 164, 274, 283
food supplements, 312
gadgets, alternative, 220, 226-7, 262, 297; in chiropractic, 162, 164, 169
Gattefosse, Rene: inventor of aromatherapy, 299
George VI, King: belief in homeopathy, 116
Grant, Richard E.: refusal to endorse goat serum, 251-2