Tag: placebo

October 6, 2015

Pointing the Bone at RMIT Osteopathy

RMIT osteopathy post graphic V2 1000Wby Mal Vickers

Readers of this blog will already know I’m somewhat skeptical of the claims made by the proponents of osteopathy. If you’re at all unsure about where osteopathy sits in relation to current science, I’d recommend reading my previous post on the topic.

RMIT University offers a degree course in osteopathy. I went along to RMIT’s Open Day to take a look at how osteopathy is promoted to prospective students looking for an interesting career in the health sector.

Osteopathy is a kind of quaint, old-fashioned, pre-scientific health care system. Practitioners generally offer forms of joint manipulation and massage in addition to the usual advice offered by many health practitioners – lifestyle, exercise and food. It can be quite hard to distinguish the treatments offered by osteopaths from those of chiropractors. The main difference between osteopathy and chiropractic is historical. The founder of osteopathy was Andrew Taylor Still (1928 – 1917). He appears to have worked by intuition alone and his pronouncements sounded plausible at the time. View More Pointing the Bone at RMIT Osteopathy

6 Comments
February 4, 2012

“But it worked for me” – really?

By Mal Vickers

I’m writing this post because I’m just a tad annoyed. The issue is the over use of the phrase “but it worked for me” (BIW4M). Is anyone else getting tired of that one, too?

Inevitably, I find the phrase crops up in discussion I’ve had with those in favour of a particular alternative medicine such as homeopathy, crystal healing, acupuncture, iridology or chiropractic.  BIW4M is used as the clinching argument.

It’s not driving me nuts, it’s just annoying.  (I’m using ‘BIW4M’ because typing it in full over and over is just going to get me more annoyed.)

If the idea is for skeptics and believers in alternative medicine to come to some kind of understanding, does the phrase help? If I try to argue against BIW4M, it’s seen as a personal attack on the integrity of the person that says it. At least in a blog post I can discuss BIW4M without being  seen to be making such personal accusations, although you’re free to add your slings and arrows in comments below this post.

The Control (as opposed to KAOS)

One of the most powerful and basic ideas in science is that of the use of a control. For example, if I wish to test if water is needed to keep a potted tomato plant alive in a hot house, I could do the following; keep two potted plants in the hot house, one of which I water and one I don’t. The one not watered is the control. I think the likely outcome View More “But it worked for me” – really?

7 Comments