Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Random House UK (2009), Edition: 1, Paperback, 304 pages
Description
Alternative medicine is an increasingly mainstream industry with a predicted worth of five trillion dollars by the year 2050. Its treatments range from reputable methods like homeopathy and acupuncture to such bizarre therapies as nutraceuticals, ear candling, and ergogenics. Alternative approaches are endorsed by celebrities, embraced by the middle class, and have become a lifestyle choice for many based on their spurious claims of rediscovery of ancient wisdom and the supposedly benign quality of nature. As this hard-hitting survey reveals, despite their growing popularity and expanding market share, there is no hard evidence that any of these so-called natural treatments actually work. It reveals how alternative medicine jeopardizes the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy, and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. Bracing and funny, this is a calling to account of a social and intellectual fraud that has produced a global delusion.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Lenaphoenix
I live in a community where complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is so mainstream that many of my friends use acupuncturists or naturopaths for primary care, and hardly any of the parents I know have vaccinated their children. Given this environment, reading Rose Shapiro's in-depth
Indeed, early on in this book, Shapiro puts forth the theory that CAM has become something of a religion to its adherents, with the practitioner providing the many of the benefits of the sympathetic pastor from times past. In addition, Shapiro makes it clear that adherence to CAM practices requires a level of faith equal to that of religion, particularly when one considers that even the CAM-friendly NCCAM has yet to prove efficacy of a single CAM treatment, despite a research budget of close to a billion dollars.
Shapiro's book begins with a historical look at the ancient Greek idea of the "four humours," a concept that underlies not just ancient systems of Chinese and Ayervedic medicine, but also the current craze for "balancing" the body, hormones, energy fields, or whatever else strikes the modern CAM practitioner's fancy as needing to be balanced.
From there, she crisscrosses the globe with in-depth discussions of past and current CAM practices. It was particularly interesting to me to learn that the "5,000 year-old wisdom" of Traditional Chinese Medicine used to rely heavily on bloodletting, and the fine-needle acupuncture practiced today didn't appear until the 17th century. In addition, 95% of the TCM known in the West comes from beliefs and practices that were carefully selected by the Communist Party as a way to deal with the shortage of genuine medical doctors after the war while simultaneously promoting Party ideals. Shapiro also reveals that the much-ballyhooed cases of "acupuncture anesthesia" referenced by true believers usually fail to mention such patients almost always receive pharmaceutical sedatives in addition to their acupuncture.
Next, Shapiro takes a close look at the deeply flawed reasoning behind various forms of homeopathy, the historical arc behind the quack "electro-diagnostic" machines such as the Vegatest, and the numerous problems with potency and contamination in herbal supplements. Having taken a number of Chinese herbal formulas in the past, I was particularly shocked to discover that a 1998 study revealed that 32% of Asian patent medicines were either adulterated with undeclared pharmaceuticals or contained toxic heavy metals hundreds or thousands of times above accepted safety levels.
Shapiro does a good job of explaining why CAM can seem effective even if it isn't really doing anything beyond making the patient feel cared about, which is certainly an area in which conventional medicine often falls short. Though many would argue that the comfort and illusion of relief CAM provides to its many adherents far outweigh the risks of what are usually harmless practices, her chapter on CAM cancer treatments reveals the very real dangers that the magical thinking behind CAM can pose to those desperate for any glimmer of hope.
This was a particularly painful chapter for me to read as a friend recently opted to eschew chemo in favor of the Gerson diet, a treatment Shapiro examines which claims to "naturally reactivate the body's magnificent ability to heal itself." This program succeeded only in costing my friend precious treatment time—while he was busy juicing 14 times a day, his one small tumor grew into two large ones.
When he chose to go on the Gerson diet, my friend was unaware that people who promote these kinds of programs very often record only the positive case studies in their results. In addition, he was under the influence of the widespread CAM belief that conventional medicine is a corrupt industry that cares only about profit, and therefore regularly suppresses or refuses to research promising new alternatives. Like many conspiracy beliefs, there are enough real world examples of genuine corporate malfeasance give this theory credibility. But Shapiro picks away at this common belief by pointing out that the highly effective polio vaccine was adopted despite putting the iron lung industry out of business, the fact that herbs themselves are not patentable has not stopped many very effective drugs from being developed from them, and the reality that the well-funded NCCAM has failed to prove efficacy of any CAM treatment is definitely not for lack of trying. In addition, it becomes very obvious over the course of the book that CAM practitioners who earn very good livings promoting expensive, unproven treatments to desperate patients are far more guilty of being driven by greed than conventional medicine has ever been.
Because I spent much of my adult life as a die-hard subscriber to CAM beliefs like the one above, one of the most valuable parts of the book for me was the chapter entitled "How to Spot a Quack." Her clear listing of the fundamental belief set underlying most CAM practices, including "feeling worse is a sign of getting better" and that all illness can be attributed to one "universal diagnosis," helped root out the remaining irrationality I was holding onto from having spent so long in a community where many consider these kinds of ideas to be fundamental truths.
Though this book helped me finally put to rest that lingering tug I experienced whenever some friend told me how much better they felt after their latest colon cleanse or candida detox, it also left me feeling more than a little depressed about how badly I'd been deceived by the 20+ CAM practitioners I've seen over the years. I'm pretty certain that most of them were well-meaning people who genuinely believed in the efficacy of their treatments, but I can't help noticing that not a single one offered to give me my money back when they failed to cure the problems they repeatedly assured me would be gone within just a few months.
Though Shapiro covers some of the same ground as Barker Bausell in Snake Oil Science, Suckers is far more of a page-turner. There is more storytelling and less detailed science (though lots of footnoted references if you want to look it up yourself), and Shapiro seasons her engaging form of medical journalism with some very funny quotes and details that make the book particularly hard to put down.
This book is a UK publication, and the copy I ordered on Amazon came directly from England. If you are interested knowing the full story behind what the back cover refers to as the "dangerous global delusion" of CAM, however, this book is well worth seeking out.
Show More
examination of the history of CAM and the flawed philosophies behind it made me feel like a creationist who has finally understood evolution for the first time. Indeed, early on in this book, Shapiro puts forth the theory that CAM has become something of a religion to its adherents, with the practitioner providing the many of the benefits of the sympathetic pastor from times past. In addition, Shapiro makes it clear that adherence to CAM practices requires a level of faith equal to that of religion, particularly when one considers that even the CAM-friendly NCCAM has yet to prove efficacy of a single CAM treatment, despite a research budget of close to a billion dollars.
Shapiro's book begins with a historical look at the ancient Greek idea of the "four humours," a concept that underlies not just ancient systems of Chinese and Ayervedic medicine, but also the current craze for "balancing" the body, hormones, energy fields, or whatever else strikes the modern CAM practitioner's fancy as needing to be balanced.
From there, she crisscrosses the globe with in-depth discussions of past and current CAM practices. It was particularly interesting to me to learn that the "5,000 year-old wisdom" of Traditional Chinese Medicine used to rely heavily on bloodletting, and the fine-needle acupuncture practiced today didn't appear until the 17th century. In addition, 95% of the TCM known in the West comes from beliefs and practices that were carefully selected by the Communist Party as a way to deal with the shortage of genuine medical doctors after the war while simultaneously promoting Party ideals. Shapiro also reveals that the much-ballyhooed cases of "acupuncture anesthesia" referenced by true believers usually fail to mention such patients almost always receive pharmaceutical sedatives in addition to their acupuncture.
Next, Shapiro takes a close look at the deeply flawed reasoning behind various forms of homeopathy, the historical arc behind the quack "electro-diagnostic" machines such as the Vegatest, and the numerous problems with potency and contamination in herbal supplements. Having taken a number of Chinese herbal formulas in the past, I was particularly shocked to discover that a 1998 study revealed that 32% of Asian patent medicines were either adulterated with undeclared pharmaceuticals or contained toxic heavy metals hundreds or thousands of times above accepted safety levels.
Shapiro does a good job of explaining why CAM can seem effective even if it isn't really doing anything beyond making the patient feel cared about, which is certainly an area in which conventional medicine often falls short. Though many would argue that the comfort and illusion of relief CAM provides to its many adherents far outweigh the risks of what are usually harmless practices, her chapter on CAM cancer treatments reveals the very real dangers that the magical thinking behind CAM can pose to those desperate for any glimmer of hope.
This was a particularly painful chapter for me to read as a friend recently opted to eschew chemo in favor of the Gerson diet, a treatment Shapiro examines which claims to "naturally reactivate the body's magnificent ability to heal itself." This program succeeded only in costing my friend precious treatment time—while he was busy juicing 14 times a day, his one small tumor grew into two large ones.
When he chose to go on the Gerson diet, my friend was unaware that people who promote these kinds of programs very often record only the positive case studies in their results. In addition, he was under the influence of the widespread CAM belief that conventional medicine is a corrupt industry that cares only about profit, and therefore regularly suppresses or refuses to research promising new alternatives. Like many conspiracy beliefs, there are enough real world examples of genuine corporate malfeasance give this theory credibility. But Shapiro picks away at this common belief by pointing out that the highly effective polio vaccine was adopted despite putting the iron lung industry out of business, the fact that herbs themselves are not patentable has not stopped many very effective drugs from being developed from them, and the reality that the well-funded NCCAM has failed to prove efficacy of any CAM treatment is definitely not for lack of trying. In addition, it becomes very obvious over the course of the book that CAM practitioners who earn very good livings promoting expensive, unproven treatments to desperate patients are far more guilty of being driven by greed than conventional medicine has ever been.
Because I spent much of my adult life as a die-hard subscriber to CAM beliefs like the one above, one of the most valuable parts of the book for me was the chapter entitled "How to Spot a Quack." Her clear listing of the fundamental belief set underlying most CAM practices, including "feeling worse is a sign of getting better" and that all illness can be attributed to one "universal diagnosis," helped root out the remaining irrationality I was holding onto from having spent so long in a community where many consider these kinds of ideas to be fundamental truths.
Though this book helped me finally put to rest that lingering tug I experienced whenever some friend told me how much better they felt after their latest colon cleanse or candida detox, it also left me feeling more than a little depressed about how badly I'd been deceived by the 20+ CAM practitioners I've seen over the years. I'm pretty certain that most of them were well-meaning people who genuinely believed in the efficacy of their treatments, but I can't help noticing that not a single one offered to give me my money back when they failed to cure the problems they repeatedly assured me would be gone within just a few months.
Though Shapiro covers some of the same ground as Barker Bausell in Snake Oil Science, Suckers is far more of a page-turner. There is more storytelling and less detailed science (though lots of footnoted references if you want to look it up yourself), and Shapiro seasons her engaging form of medical journalism with some very funny quotes and details that make the book particularly hard to put down.
This book is a UK publication, and the copy I ordered on Amazon came directly from England. If you are interested knowing the full story behind what the back cover refers to as the "dangerous global delusion" of CAM, however, this book is well worth seeking out.
Show Less
LibraryThing member awomanonabike
Very reliable and well referenced critique of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. EVERYONE should read it. Will recommend it especially to GP registrars.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Rose Shapiro looks at Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (known as CAM throughout the book) and shines a light in some of the corners. I largely agree with her and also largely despair of people who reject science and regular medicine to delay treatment for serious issues.
Her chapter on how to
My only quibble with it is that she fails to see some of the reasons why people turn to alternative healers. She glances off it when she admits the short interval of time conventional Doctors have to deal with each patient versus the interval of time (often for the same money in Ireland) set aside by an alternative therapist to listen and possibly come to the root cause of an issue rather than the surface effects.
It was the combined nagging from a Physio, a Osteopath and myself that finally got a second opinion for my husband that lead to his medical diagnosis for something that his doctor had dismissed for FOUR YEARS and that the osteopath and physio kept him mobile during most of that.
What she also missed is the plain pleasure of having someone massage you or your feet, not having to do anything for a fixed period of time other than give yourself some time and some pleasure, something a lot of people don't allow themselves. Add a value to it (where you have to pay) and suddenly being "idle" has worth.
She also is quite dismissive of Holistic ideas, but it is the whole person who is often involved with the illness, not just a part of the person. Sometimes by concentrating on the back ache you can miss some other symptoms that could be something more serious.
All in all, interesting but I have a sneaking suspicion that she's largely speaking to the choir.
Her chapter on how to
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spot a quack is also quite interesting and informative.My only quibble with it is that she fails to see some of the reasons why people turn to alternative healers. She glances off it when she admits the short interval of time conventional Doctors have to deal with each patient versus the interval of time (often for the same money in Ireland) set aside by an alternative therapist to listen and possibly come to the root cause of an issue rather than the surface effects.
It was the combined nagging from a Physio, a Osteopath and myself that finally got a second opinion for my husband that lead to his medical diagnosis for something that his doctor had dismissed for FOUR YEARS and that the osteopath and physio kept him mobile during most of that.
What she also missed is the plain pleasure of having someone massage you or your feet, not having to do anything for a fixed period of time other than give yourself some time and some pleasure, something a lot of people don't allow themselves. Add a value to it (where you have to pay) and suddenly being "idle" has worth.
She also is quite dismissive of Holistic ideas, but it is the whole person who is often involved with the illness, not just a part of the person. Sometimes by concentrating on the back ache you can miss some other symptoms that could be something more serious.
All in all, interesting but I have a sneaking suspicion that she's largely speaking to the choir.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DRCLibrary
Absolutely brilliant - and funny - book. A must read especially if you or your loved ones are into alternative medicines or treatments. Some stuff may work...a little,such as basic herbal medicine but some treatments that look dramatic are astoundingly frauds. Read the book - you'll be amazed. I
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was! Show Less
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
304 p.; 5.12 inches
ISBN
0099522861 / 9780099522867
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