Irving Kirsch of Hull University, UK, studied all data submitted to the US FDA for the licensing of the antidepressants fluoxetine, venlafaxine, nefazodone and paroxetine. He states, “Compared with placebo, antidepressants do not produce clinically significant improvements in patients who initially have moderate or even very severe depression.” It seems that Antidepressants did substantially outperform …
So often diet and lack of exercise are faulted for the obesity epidemic in American. However, there is at least one other culprit that we can blame – psychotropic medications. Psychiatric medications can cause substantial weight gain. These include antidepressants (such as amitriptyline, doxepin, and imipramine), mood stabilizers (including lithium and valproate) and antipsychotics …
A compound that naturally occurs in grapefruit and certain other citrus fruits may be helpful in fighting chronic hepatitis C infection by blocking an important pathway in the virus’ life cycle. New studies show that the common flavonoid naringenin inhibits the secretion of hepatitis C virus from infected cells, a process required to maintain chronic …
Most physicians are not comfortable treating a disease or managing symptoms such as hot flashes without clear data to support a given intervention. Yet more and more articles are appearing in major journals supporting what previously was considered “alternative” therapies. Physicians for some reason are more comfortable trying an “alternative” use of a prescription drug- …
Stephen Barrett for at least 20 years has touted himself as a medical expert on "quackery" in healthcare and has assisted in dozens of court cases as an expert. He has been the subject of many magazine interviews, including Time, , and has been featured on television interviews on ABC’s 20/20, NBC’s Today Show, and …
When a patient sees a dramatic change in their health they, like a new convert to a religion, want to share what made them better with family and friends. Unfortunately, not everyone will be open to embracing new ideas. When this same patient comes back frustrated that their sick friend does not want to try …
Most physicians who have dedicated their life to learning and practicing complimentary medicine do so because they have witnessed the effectiveness of it in their lives. I recently read an interesting biography of Woodson Merrell, MD in Alternative Therapies. He played a key role in setting up an integrative medical clinic at Beth Israel Medical …
Migraines typically last from 4 to 72 hours and tend to be throbbing, severe in intensity, associated with nausea/vomiting, and aggravated by light and sound. Often the cause of the migraines can be complex in that both emotional and physical stresses can be at the root cause. Numerous studies conducted in China have show the …
Unfortunately, allopathic medicine has little if anything to offer in the treatment of macular degeneration(MD). However, there are things that we can do to prevent this disease. There have been a number of epidemiological studies that have shown a protective effect in consuming foods rich in carotenoids, particularly dark green leafy vegetables, and fruit. One …
Periodically, patients will either tell me that they were treated based on darkfield analysis of live blood or will ask my opinion of this technique. In 1925 the German zoologist Gunther Enderlein, PhD published a concept of microbial life cycles. Dr. Enderlein used a specialized oblique illumination technique that enables specimens that are not imaged …