Download or read book Trick or Treatment written by Dr. Simon Singh and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-10-06 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welcome to the world of alternative medicine. Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. But how do you know which treatments really heal and which are potentially harmful? Now at last you can find out, thanks to the formidable partnership of Professor Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh. Edzard Ernst is the world's first professor of complementary medicine, based at Exeter University, where he has spent over a decade analysing meticulously the evidence for and against alternative therapies.He is supported in his findings by Simon Singh, the well-known and highly respected science writer of several international bestsellers. Together they have written the definitive book on the subject. It is honest, impartial but hard-hitting, and provides a thorough examination and judgement of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic and herbal medicine.In Trick or Treatment? the ultimate verdict on alternative medicine is delivered for the first time with clarity, scientific rigour and absolute authority.
Download or read book Trick Or Treatment written by Simon Singh and published by Corgi Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an examination and judgement of more than thirty of the most treatments in alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic and herbal medicine.
Download or read book Suckers written by Rose Shapiro and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Alternative' medicine is now used by one in three of us. In the UK we spend an estimated £4.5 billion a year on it and its practitioners are now insinuating themselves into the mainstream. There are methods based on ancient or far-eastern medicine, as well as ones invented in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many are promoted as natural treatments. What they have in common is that there is no hard evidence that any of them work. Treatments like homeopathy, acupuncture and chiropractic are widely available and considered reputable by many. Ever more bizarre therapies, from naturopathy to nutraceuticals, ear candling to ergogenics, are increasingly favoured. Endorsed by celebrities and embraced by the middle classes, alternative medicine's appeal is based on the spurious rediscovery of ancient wisdom and the supposedly benign quality of nature. Surrounded by an aura of unquestioning respect and promoted through uncritical airtime and column inches, alternative medicine has become a lifestyle choice. Its global market is predicted to be worth $5 trillion by 2050. Suckers reveals how alternative medicine can jeopardise the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. In short, it is an industry that preys on human vulnerability and makes fools of us all. Suckers is a calling to account of a social and intellectual fraud; a bracing, funny and popular take on a global delusion.
Download or read book SCAM written by Edzard Ernst and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2018-06-22 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) is popular and therefore important, no matter whether we love or loathe it. Consequently, an impressive number of books about SCAM are already available. Most of them, however, are woefully uncritical, overtly promotional and dangerously misleading. Not so this one! This book was written by someone who received SCAM as a patient, practised SCAM as a doctor, and researched SCAM as a scientist. It provides an insider's perspective by covering aspects of SCAM which most other books avoid, and by questioning the many tacitly accepted assumptions and wild extrapolations that underpin SCAM. The text is factual, occasionally dosed with a touch of humour or satire. The aim is not only to inform but also to entertain. It is written principally for members of the general public who have an interest in healthcare and are tired of the promotional counter-knowledge produced by SCAM enthusiasts. It is an exercise in critical thinking that might prevent you from wasting your money on (or endangering your health with) bogus treatments.
Download or read book The God Con written by Lee Moller and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on 2017-06-24 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The crucifix is in! You can fool most of the people most of the time. In The God Con, Lee Moller, a life-long atheist and skeptic, looks at organized religion through the lens of the con. Organized religion has been selling an invisible product, that it never has to deliver, for thousands of years. It has given us bigotry, rampant pedophilia, terrorism, and bloodshed beyond imagining. And its acolytes have, in turn, given organized religion power over their bank accounts, their reproduction, and their very “souls”.
Download or read book Trick or Treat a survival guide to health care written by K. R. Sethuraman and published by Shyam Visweswaran. This book was released on 2015-02-11 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider's account of health care delivery system today. This book is meant to help the reader be aware of various tricks played on gullible persons seeking health care; to help women be aware of gender related risks in hospitals and know how to avoid harassment; to help activist learn to discuss the pros and cons of multifaceted health care issues; to help health professionals see the current health crisis from the client's viewpoint and learn to avoid litigation; to help administrators understand the complex nature of health care related problems and realize how synergy and co-operation among the key players of health care is necessary to improve the current dismal scene.
Download or read book Homeopathy The Undiluted Facts written by Edzard Ernst and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the genesis, principles and practice of homeopathy, and discusses the reasons for its enduring popularity. Two hundred years ago, medicine had little to offer except blood letting and the administration of violent purgatives – practices which shortened the course of illness by hastening the death of the patient. Largely in reaction to what he correctly saw as the brutality and ineffectiveness of the medicine of his day, the eighteenth century German physician Samuel Hahnemann developed a system of therapeutics that he termed homeopathy. Ironically, while modern medicine has changed beyond recognition, homeopathy, with its roots in alchemy and metaphysics, continues to be practiced precisely as it was in Hahnemann’s day. Readers of this book will enjoy the story of homeopathy and its almost magical attraction, whilst learning much from the authors' rational and scientific discussion of the biological, chemical and psychological questions that this treatment raises.
Download or read book Snake Oil Science written by R. Barker Bausell PhD and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-31 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people worldwide swear by such therapies as acupuncture, herbal cures, and homeopathic remedies. Indeed, complementary and alternative medicine is embraced by a broad spectrum of society, from ordinary people, to scientists and physicians, to celebrities such as Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey. In the tradition of Michael Shermers Why People Believe Weird Things and Robert Parks's Voodoo Science, Barker Bausell provides an engaging look at the scientific evidence for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and at the logical, psychological, and physiological pitfalls that lead otherwise intelligent people--including researchers, physicians, and therapists--to endorse these cures. The books ultimate goal is to reveal not whether these therapies work--as Bausell explains, most do work, although weakly and temporarily--but whether they work for the reasons their proponents believe. Indeed, as Bausell reveals, it is the placebo effect that accounts for most of the positive results. He explores this remarkable phenomenon--the biological and chemical evidence for the placebo effect, how it works in the body, and why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect will inevitably produce false results. By contrast, as Bausell shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals and systematic reviews, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for CAM therapies over and above those attributable to random chance. Here is not only an entertaining critique of the strangely zealous world of CAM belief and practice, but it also a first-rate introduction to how to correctly interpret scientific research of any sort. Readers will come away with a solid understanding of good vs. bad research practice and a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest miracle cure, be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.
Download or read book A Trick of Light written by Stan Lee and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 2019 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in Lee's Alliances Universe, co-created by Lee, Lieberman, and Silbert, and along with Edgar Award-nominated co-writer Rosenfield, this novel is packed with the pulse-pounding, breakneck adventure, and the sheer exuberant invention that have defined his career as the creative mastermind behind Marvel's spectacular universe.
Download or read book The Code Book The Secrets Behind Codebreaking written by Simon Singh and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2002-05-14 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As gripping as a good thriller." --The Washington Post Unpack the science of secrecy and discover the methods behind cryptography--the encoding and decoding of information--in this clear and easy-to-understand young adult adaptation of the national bestseller that's perfect for this age of WikiLeaks, the Sony hack, and other events that reveal the extent to which our technology is never quite as secure as we want to believe. Coders and codebreakers alike will be fascinated by history's most mesmerizing stories of intrigue and cunning--from Julius Caesar and his Caeser cipher to the Allies' use of the Enigma machine to decode German messages during World War II. Accessible, compelling, and timely, The Code Book is sure to make readers see the past--and the future--in a whole new way. "Singh's power of explaining complex ideas is as dazzling as ever." --The Guardian
Download or read book A Trick of the Light written by Louise Penny and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2011-08-30 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Notable Crime Book and Favorite Cozy for 2011 A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery/Thriller books for 2011 With A Trick of the Light, Louise Penny takes us back to the deceptively peaceful village of Three Pines in this brilliant novel in her award-winning, New York Times bestselling series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. "Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. "Sweet relationships are dead." But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light. "Penny has been compared to Agatha Christie [but] it sells her short. Her characters are too rich, her grasp of nuance and human psychology too firm...." --Booklist (starred review)
Download or read book The Magic Feather Effect written by Melanie Warner and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2020-01-14 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of Pandora’s Lunchbox and former New York Times reporter delivers an “entertaining and highly useful book that gives you the tools to understand how alternative medicine works, so you can confidently make up your own mind” (The Washington Post). We all know someone who has had a seemingly miraculous cure from an alternative form of medicine: a friend whose chronic back pain vanished after sessions with an acupuncturist or chiropractor; a relative with digestive issues who recovered with herbal remedies; a colleague whose autoimmune disorder went into sudden inexplicable remission thanks to an energy healer or healing retreat. The tales are far too common to be complete fabrications, yet too anecdotal and outside the medical mainstream to be taken seriously scientifically. How do we explain them and the growing popularity of alternative medicine more generally? In The Magic Feather Effect, author and journalist Melanie Warner takes us on a vivid, important journey through the world of alternative medicine. Visiting prestigious research clinics and ordinary people’s homes, she investigates the scientific underpinning for the purportedly magical results of these practices and reveals not only the medical power of beliefs and placebo effects, but also the range, limits, and uses of the surprising system of self-healing that resides inside us. Equal parts helpful, illuminating, and compelling, The Magic Feather Effect is a “well-written survey of alternative medicine…fair-minded, thorough, and focused on verifiable scientific research” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Warner’s enlightening, engaging deep dive into the world of alternative medicine and the surprising science that explains why it may work is an essential read.
Download or read book The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets written by Simon Singh and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, a must-have for number lovers and Simpsons fans
Download or read book Do You Believe in Magic written by Paul A. Offit, M.D. and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Medical 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.”
Download or read book Crooked written by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of Carved in Sand—a veteran investigative journalist who endured persistent back pain for decades—delivers the definitive book on the subject: an essential examination of all facets of the back pain industry, exploring what works, what doesn't, what may cause harm, and how to get on the road to recovery. In her effort to manage her chronic back pain, investigative reporter Cathryn Jakobson Ramin spent years and a small fortune on a panoply of treatments. But her discomfort only intensified, leaving her feeling frustrated and perplexed. As she searched for better solutions, she exposed a much bigger problem. Costing roughly $100 billion a year, spine medicine—often ineffective and sometimes harmful —exemplified the worst aspects of the U.S. health care system. The result of six years of intensive investigation, Crooked offers a startling look at the poorly identified risks of spine medicine, and provides practical advice and solutions. Ramin interviewed scores of spine surgeons, pain management doctors, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, specialized bodywork practitioners. She met with many patients whose pain and desperation led them to make life-altering decisions, and with others who triumphed over their limitations. The result is a brilliant and comprehensive book that is not only important but essential to millions of back pain sufferers, and all types of health care professionals. Ramin shatters assumptions about surgery, chiropractic methods, physical therapy, spinal injections and painkillers, and addresses evidence-based rehabilitation options—showing, in detail, how to avoid therapeutic dead ends, while saving money, time, and considerable anguish. With Crooked, she reveals what it takes to outwit the back pain industry and get on the road to recovery.
Download or read book The Book of Hallowe en written by Ruth Edna Kelley and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-01-15 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn the secrets of the most frightening, fun-filled day of the year! The only day when the forces of darkness are openly celebrated, Halloween comes down to us from the strange, shrouded mists of antiquity, originating in the pagan world and the primitive ceremonies that honor Samhain, the dark, mysterious Lord of the Dead, at a time when the veil between our world and theirs is at its thinnest. The strange and weird customs and beliefs of our ancestors live again, every October 31st, in the only day of the year when it is considered okay to dress in frightening costumes, to go door to door begging, and to feast on fear. A true classic in the literature of pagan lore, you will find this book frightening, fascinating and fun!
