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What to do about a friend involved in quackery (Theta Healing)?

kaat — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:58:00 -0800

What to do about a friend involved in quackery (Theta Healing)? A dear friend, seeking therapy for emotional issues, is now getting 'Theta Healing'. I'm 99% sure it is total quackery. My friend would value my opinion if I gave it, but also might react badly and I can see the relationship being badly damaged.

I would like to simply leave it alone completely; my friend is smart, and of course may find some therapeutic value in the healing (I'd call it a placebo effect - perhaps worth unknowingly paying for?). But, I've read how some consider the practice not only bogus but dangerous. Surely I must raise it with my friend?

Theta healing claims to cure absolutely anything, and instantly. Anyone can become a certified practitioner by taking a 3-day course!

In a sense, it has a home page; that of it's creator, here:
http://www.thetahealing.com/

Heavy criticism here:
http://www.thetahealingtechnique.com/bulletin-board.html

And James Randi speaks out on it, and on and on. What to do?

How to "out" a self-plagiarist?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:00:46 -0800

What is the best way to "out" a self-plagiarising quack? I found two scientific journal articles with different titles and slightly different author lists (but the first author is the same on both), both published within the last three months, that have nearly identical (word-for-word) text & figures. I've e-mailed the editors of the journals, but is there any way to get more publicity for this? The paper(s) in question are pseudo-science at best, with major misunderstandings of genetics, embryology and statistics. This is one thing, but the main conclusion of the paper is that the research & work that my lab does is irresponsible and harmful.
Our lab has written a response to a shorter, "letter to the editor" version of these papers before the self-plagiarised papers came out, so I feel that we've somewhat addressed the poor science. But this guy is very prolific (and now I know how) and publishes several reviews and meta-analyses.
Is there any way I can be sure that the editors of these two publications don't hush up the duplicate articles? I want to make sure that other editors are aware of the tactics this guy is using. One of the articles is in a journal that doesn't appear in PubMed, so it might not easily be noticed.
Throwaway e-mail: quackbuster99@gmail.com
(I'll send the articles if you're interested)

Quack quack quack.

JonnyRotten — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 05:58:47 -0800

Have any of you had any experience with biorhythm readings, or any other such quackery where you were hooked up to a "computer" and completely diagnosed? My wife's family is big into alternative medicine. About two years ago they jumped onto the Nikken bandwagon, and now someone in the family has obtained a "biorhythm computer" (thats supposedly illegal in the US) that can tell you everything about yourself, from depression, "allergic to dairy", stress, and cancer. Being a man of science, this bothers me, because every argument I put to it, my wife waves off as "So if you don't believe in it, it can't possible work", or "So if it doesn't come from a Dr. in a office, it can't possibly work".
I will admit, some of the stuff that they have told her, or her family is kind of weird. She knew that my wife had a iron deficiency, but they also told her alot of generic stuff like she has a "stress problem" and hasn't been sleeping properly. Shes a stay at home mom, of course she has stress. They also told her that she could not get cancer, because cancer is a acid and her system is very basey. That last claim is what really upset me.

Should I just let her keep believing this quackery?

What are your experiences with naturopaths?

sdis — Tue, 22 May 2007 08:42:00 -0800

Naturopathy: What are your experiences with naturopaths? I just saw a naturopath for chronic GI problems that an unholy multitude of doctors and tests have not been able to figure out. He seemed very knowledgeable and experienced, but he kind of spooked me out with the large amount of supplements he's recommending. What are your experiences with naturopaths, both good and bad?

What do you do with a quacky Chiro?

Biblio — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 06:53:48 -0800

I think my friend's "doctor" is a dangerous quack. Do I tell her? How? A very close friend of mine (as in, like a sister) has chronic health problems related to obesity. She also has an intense mistrust of doctors, scientists and authority figures. Last year, two seperate doctors asked her to consider bariatric surgery, which led her to dump them and start seeing a chiropractor. I tried to be supportive at the time, despite misgivings, but after hearing about this guy for a year now, I am afraid she is just endangering her health further.

After she said a few things about her treatment that made no medical sense, another friend and I looked up the chiro. He pretty much fits the definition of a quack, with made-up, meaningless awards and degrees, promises of being able to treat autism and ADD with his skills, his own line of nutritional products and diagnostic tools like live cell analysis and electro-magnetic imaging. I also found out that he is performing accupunture without a license, drawing blood without being certified as a lab and using equipment the FDA has banned. He has had his chiropractic license suspended in the past for negligence.

Meanwhile, my friend is not getting any healthier, and she's not treating the diabetes, which is causing liver damage. For some reason, her husband, who is normally a pretty skeptical guy, is sold on the chiropractor as well. She's only 35, with 2 young kids, and it kills me to see her putting her eggs in this whacko's basket. Do I tell her what I know? Do I just report him to the appropriate authorities? What would you do?

Does chelation therapy == snakeoil?

bshort — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:13:40 -0800

Is chelation, as a therapy for atherosclerosis, only recommended by quacks? I've poked around on the internet for information but it looks like the general consensus is that it's completely ineffective at best and dangerous at worst.

Has anyone here had chelation therapy or known anyone that has had it?

Does anyone who has any sort of medical background know anything about chelation therapy for atherosclerosis? It looks like the NIH is doing a five year study on it now. Does anyone have the inside scoop on how the study is going?