This post is dedicated to the memory of Ling ‘Carrie’ Wang.

I have never met Carrie, but her death has been reported in a few papers. Details of how and why she died are hard to come by. The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure, and there’s some information in this article in the Daily Mail, and this article in the Newcastle Chronicle.

Here’s what we know, and what’s missing:

• the newspapers don’t say exactly when she died; maybe that’s not important
• the immediate cause of death seems to be liver failure
• it is not known why she suffered liver failure, but there is speculation that she might had a reaction to Chinese Herbal Medicine.

There’s not much else. Maybe the coroner had more information, but it hasn’t made it into the newspapers. If I lived in Newcastle I would take a look at the records of the coroner’s court, but I’m a long way away in London.

Let’s go with the coroner’s best guess; the cause of her death may have been a Chinese herbal remedy called Jin Bu Huan (JBH) which is derived from Stephania or Polyglala plants. It doesn’t sound as though the coroner has a sample of the medicine. Back in the 1990’s JBH was associated with a number of cases of liver failure and death in the USA, and I suppose the symptoms were like Carrie’s case. However those cases seem to have involved either long term self-administration, overdose, or contamination. JBH has been off the radar since the millennium, and I have tried without success to find a source of over-the-counter JBH through online shops such as Acumedic and Greenherbs.

I’m not impressed with the coroner’s conclusions.

Maybe it was something else. We don’t know whether Carrie was unusually sensitive to a common medicine, or whether she took tablets from a contaminated batch. Chinese herbal medicine has quite a big market in the UK - there are stores in every high street - and generally it’s harmless, although you get reports of contaminated products every now and then. Maybe it wasn’t Chinese medicine at all - just because Carrie was Chinese doesn’t necessarily mean that she commonly took Chinese herbs.

What I hate about this case is that everything is so vague. Carrie did not die of natural causes, she was poisoned; someone killed her. What was the poison? Who gave it to her? Whoever it is, he or she has not been traced and no-one is looking for them - it’s the perfect murder.

I feel that Carrie has been let down by the system. Perhaps if she had family in the UK, they would have asked more questions; of the hospital, of the pathologist (is there really no test for this poison?), of the police (did they investigate?), of her friends (did she regularly take herbals? Had she visited a herbal shop recently?). Perhaps the system could have worked a bit harder, perhaps there would be one or two more answers, and less questions.

I really don’t think that English system has done its best for her.

Ling ‘Carrie’ Wang, RIP.

I have discovered some disturbing things about homeopaths in the last few weeks. It’s partly from the comments in “Blogging the Organon”, but I’ve done some research of homeopathic websites & forums to try to void my conclusions. Sadly, no joy.

• No homeopath has ever misdiagnosed a patient. Homeopathic prescribing is done by matching the symptoms of the patient with the indications of the remedy – it may not be possible to achieve a perfect match in a single consultation. This is often the patient’s fault – he or she misreports the symptoms, or leaves out an important one.
• No homeopath has ever caused unwanted side effects, or hurt or damaged a patient. The theory of homeopathy says that once a perfect match is achieved, there will be benefit to the patient. A mismatch is of no consequence at all; the patient will neither benefit nor suffer as a result.
• No homeopath has ever prescribed the wrong remedy. See above; it’s all just part of the process.
• Some diseases are more serious than others. This is because there is a hierarchy of disease – physical, emotional, then spiritual. Spiritual or “deep” diseases are the most serious. Their is a chance that your homeopath may choose to ignore your illness if he doesn’t think it is serious.
• Diseases are caused by a weakness of the vital force. Bacteria, viruses, carcinogens etc are irrelevant. Even stepping on a rusty nail is caused by a weakness of the vital force. So there’s no point in hygiene, or health & safety precautions, since whatever you do, you are predisposed.

Following on from this -

First of all, there’s always plenty of time. A homeopath is content to see a patient many times, and to prescribe a succession of different remedies until he hits the magic button (or until the patient gets better spontaneously or gives up with homeopathy, but we don’t talk about these possibilities).

Secondly, conventional disease labels don’t exist. After all, to a homeopath, a case of meningitis or measles is just a meld of individual symptoms, which will be resolved once he gets the remedy right. No problem.

It worries me greatly that homeopaths seem to live in a world where they are not responsible for the consequences of their actions. The only reason that this can continue is, of course, because homeopathic remedies don’t actually have any effect. If they did, then homeopaths would be up sh*t creek.

I can’t even find a single documented case of a homeopath being disciplined by his own profession.

Compare this with conventional medicine. A doctor can misdiagnose and misprescribe. A big enough error will result in damage to a patient, so they have to be careful. Although it is rare for doctors to be disciplined, it does happen. It doesn’t mean that doctors are bad – but it means that they live in the real world, that they are responsible for their actions, and that they are held to account.

I’ve been following progress on “Blogging the Organon” , which at the time or writing has got to Paragraph 36 of the Organon – the principal work of the founder of homeopathy. Viewed as a historical document, it’s quite interesting.

First of all, you’ve got to put it in context. The Organon was published in 1810, when very little of modern medical science existed. William Harvey had demonstrated the circulation of blood in 1628. Edward Jenner (1796) had discovered the potential of vaccination with (mild) cowpox to prevent the (worse) disease of smallpox. However there was no understanding of its underlying mechanism – this was moved forward significantly by Louis Pasteur (1885), well after Hahnemann’s death. The germ theory of disease evolved in the 1850’s; Darwin published on evolution in 1859, and Mendel on inheritance in 1865.

It would be fair to say that in 1810, medical science was still in its infancy.

Hanhemann was well acquainted with the medical science of his day, and in the initial chapters he trashes much of it – probably with good justification. However he acknowledges the importance of surgery, of vaccination, and of basic procedures such as the removal of foreign bodies, parasites, and toxic agents - it’s a pity he didn’t know about bacteria.

He goes on to create what is – basically – a theory of “everything else”, which was the foundation of homeopathy. It postulates, among other things, that an invisible entity called a “miasm” causes disease, and that there is a divinely ordained symmetry between the symptoms of a disease and the indications of the substance which can cure it. He very carefully crafts his theory so that it doesn’t conflict with established medical practice.

And here the clock stops, as far as present day homeopaths are concerned – homeopathy does not seem to have moved on, or to have learned from developments in evidence based medicine in the subsequent two centuries. Homeopaths still seem to believe that modern doctors prescribe in much the same random way as their antecedents did in 1810; they don’t accept that bacteria can cause disease, and they have a completely bizarre and somewhat fatalistic approach to serious disease.

Would Samuel Hanhemann approve of this? He was an intelligent man, independent thinking and a pragmatist. He’s probably turning in his grave.

Another page which has disppeared from the Quackometer website, reincarnated by Google Cache and reproduced here for the benefit of posterity.

Mugsandmoney just loves Joseph Chikelue Obi and his attempts at self-promotion. After all, without people like him, what purpose would there be to life?

The Quackometer Said:

I had to share this with you. Following on from my recent Quack Word ‘Doctor’ blog, I came across the Royal College of Alternative Medicine (RCAM) , a Dublin based - well, I’m not sure quite what it is…

What caught my eye was just the shameless aggrandisement of the site. It is quite hilarious, if not a little repetitive at times. Calling yourself ‘Doctor’ is somewhat pompous when all you have done is paid for some international postage. However, the man behind RCAM has absolutely no shame and titles himself as the:

Distinguished Provost of RCAM (Royal College of Alternative Medicine) Professor Joseph Chikelue Obi FRCAM(Dublin) FRIPH(UK) FACAM(USA) MICR(UK)

Wow! Probably, just Joe to his mates. Naturally, when you Google the qualification FRCAM(Dublin), there is only person who appears to revel in this achievement. I’ll leave the rest as an excercise for the reader.

The distinguished provost looks like he is just another pseudoscientific nutritionist, his spin being “Nutritional Immunomodulation”. This is obviously a lot more clever than Patrick Holfords mere ‘Optimum Nutrition’, but having only one ‘omnipill’ is probably a poorer commercial decision that Patrick’s vast range of supplements.

Obviously, Professor Obi has had a few problems with what probably amount to bewildering comments about his site as the legal threats and press releases concerning his ‘ethical’ responses to criticisms cover more space than anything else. ‘Ethical’ is a favourite word on the site.

The most recent press release states,

7th September 2006 : The Distinguished RCAM Provost , Professor Joseph Chikelue Obi FRCAM(Dublin) FRIPH(UK) FACAM(USA) MICR(UK) has formally accepted appointment as Chief Professorial Examiner for the Doctor of Science (DSc) programme in Evidence Based , Alternative Medicine (EBAM) of a highly respected International University in one of the British Commonwealth Protectorates.This new qualification is primarily aimed at Medical Graduates , Physicians, Surgeons, Pharmacists, Dentists , Osteopaths , Chiropractors , Opticians , Wellness Consultants , Herbalists , Acupuncturists , Naturopaths , Healers, Podiatrists , Chiropodists , Scientists , Healers ,Therapists, Homeopaths , Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Nurses wishing to ethically upgrade their current Qualifications in Alternative Medicine over an exceedingly intensive 12 - 36 month period of study.

British Commonwealth Protectorates? Could that be Dublin?

I really have no idea what this organisation is all about. But it looks like it could be getting quite big soon…

RCAM currently has International Vacancies for One Million (1,000,000) ‘Foundation Fellows’ (’Movers and Shakers’) ; who will independently play a highly pivotal role in diligently mentoring (and regulating) it’s future Global Membership.So if you really think that you seriously have what it takes to become a ‘Leader’ in Alternative Medicine , then (perhaps) RCAM may definitely be exactly what the Doctor ordered for you.

One million. That’s a lot of quacks! And they are just to mentor (and regulate) the wider quack membership! This man has ambition.

The Big J really hates real doctors. This is his most recent press release…

RCAM would like to warmly commend the various Chieftans of the National Health Service of the United Kingdom for ethically and appropriately ignoring utterly misguided calls (from a rather amusing Group of thirteen Clinical Yestermen) to compel Hard-Working (and Tax-Paying) British Citizens to additionally pay for Life Enhancing Alternative Medicine Interventions out of their very own pockets - rather than get such treatments free via the NHS. RCAM would like to also categorically state that such exceedingly flawed ‘G-13′ demands that the National Health Service of the United Kingdom expediently abandon Alternative Medicine altogether (in total favour of Conventional Medicine) be diplomatically treated with the very utmost contempt which such unguarded verbal flippance duly deserves ; as none of these 13 ‘Eminent UK Scientists’ behind such calls has professionally attained Globally Acceptable Fellowship Qualifications in Alternative Medicine and as such cannot be deemed competent enough to make such sweeping ‘Shilly-Shally’ statements about the noble independent specialty of Alternative Medicine.

RCAM therefore publicly advises the General Public to lawfully go about their normal Wellness-Seeking Behaviour as usual - without any unwarranted prejudice or fear resulting from such highly self-serving, morally unethical , abjectly crude , totally unprofessional, utterly unstatesmanly, morbidly barbaric, wantonly uncivilized, profanely undemocratic and unspeakably sacrilegious perpetual affronts on the therapeutically formidable institution of Alternative Medicine.

Now, I do not have ‘Globally Acceptable Fellowship Qualifications’ in Santa Clause Studies to know he does not exist. But hey. I must be a morbidly barbaric and profanely undemocratic, unethical duck.

So, struggling around the acres of pomposity I find one place where Prof Joe might be making some money. You can call him to seek his wisdom, after pre-booking an hour’s slot (and handing over your credit card) for a mere 300 Euros. Alternatively, you can pay by the minute on the contact line for a trifling $10 per minute.

Its going to cost you $20 just for Joe to say Hello and to read out his numerous titles, qualifications and names. Not bad ‘ethical’ work.

Joseph Chikelue Obi seems to be a very strange person, and a bully to boot. He seems to have taken a dislike to one of the Web’s nicest characters, the little black duck; and he has made big bad wolf noises to shut down his website.

Mugsandmoney doesn’t like this, so we reproduce below one of the pages he has taken exception to. Frankly, I’d be flattered if anyone worked their way through 5,000 web pages to find out more about me, and I’m puzzled that Joseph Chikelue Obi doesn’t like all the publicity.

The Quackometer Said:

So, what has the little black duck found out about the “most Controversial Retired Physician and ‘A-List’ Medical Celebrity, Dr Joseph Chikelue Obi“?

Here we go…

1. The Irish Independent reports that his college does not exist at the Dublin address given on the web site. There’s a surprise! It’s just a front.

2. The Independent goes on. “In January 2003, he was suspended by for serious professional misconduct at South Tyneside District Hospital. Among the allegations made were that he failed to attend to patients, wrote strange notes about colleagues and at one point gave a dating agency phone number to a psychiatric patient.”

3. He was being investigated by the police for taking thousands of pounds of a 58 year old woman to in order to cure a long standing illness.

4. The GMC strike Dr Obi off their register for “serious professional misconduct”. So much for him being retired.

5. On another tack, Dr Obi has been involved in a little cyber-squatting. This looks as if it took place while he was a doctor - always after a few quid!

6. Since then, now self-titled Prof Obi, a few new avenues have been opened, including trying to entice Kate Moss away to one of his ’safe-houses’ in Ireland. Hat’s off!

He is quoted as saying:

“Under the European Convention on Human Rights, Miss Moss still has fundamental rights, just like anyone else out there, and as far as I am concerned, she is not guilty of anything until an Ethical Jury says so.”

(I mentioned before that ‘ethical’ was one of his favourite words.)

7. Prof Obi has been developing a Penis Enlarger (watch out Kate) that his own Royal College has now endorsed.

8. At least one person (out of the targeted million) has paid Prof Obi the fees for his college to accredit them. Dr Michael Keet (8 Canards) of the Central London College of Reflexology handed over ‘hundreds’. Do we feel sorry for out-quacked quacks? I guess we ought to.

9. For those of you wanting to see behind the grand titles and see the real human being, Joseph lists his interests as Comedy in London, Whole Food Nutrition and Christian Music. On this ‘Meetup’ site, he describes himself as “Just a very ordinary guy . . .”. That’s nice.

10. His name appears very often on the blog Abolish The General Medical Council (GMC), often reporting something he has got up to. The blog describes itself as:

An ethical blog for those who publicly feel that the General Medical Council (GMC) should be Statutorily Abolished in favour of a Medical Licensing Commission (MLC) to solely register and revalidate Doctors who practise Conventional Medicine in the UK. The Blog also recommends that the GMC/MLC hands all disciplinary functions over to an Independent Clinical Tribunal (ICT) in keeping with the EU Convention on Human Rights ; to avoid (both) Institutional Bias and Multiple Jeopardy.

Oooh. There is that word ‘ethical’ again. And ‘European Human Rights’. No name is given for the blog author but the avatar is a portrait of the queen. Another apparent obsession of Prof Obi - royalty. Could the author be none other than the Professor himself, a little agrieved for his ticking off? I hope you all click through to the blog. Maybe we will show up in his stats and whoever the writer is can get in contact and confirm one way or another.

I rather hope is is, as the final thing I turned up would just be fantastic…

11. Is the Distinguished Provost of the Royal College of Alternative Medicine, Professor Obi now selling ethical ring-tones? I do hope so.

“The Nutrition and Health Institute are conducting a FREE TRIAL of a new natural supplement that we believe in conjunction with changes to diet and lifestyle could reduce both getting up at night and the likelihood of getting Prostate Cancer. “

(Edited from a thread in the Badscience Forum; acknowledgements to the others, principally ControlFreak and Rayatseagal for their contributions. The thread started on November 18, 2007 and finished on December 6.)

Start here -  

ControlFreak

Don’t normally read the Times (wife bought it for King Tut DVD!) but noticed an advert (p5 for a “Free Trial” for a “new natural supplement” to reduce symptoms and likelihood of getting prostate cancer. The Nutrition and Health Institute are running the trial, anybody heard of them or know their background is?

I found a US web site that quoted books by Roger Mason but there was no direct link to the advert.

Rayatseagal

Any specific contact details, like where to send off for it? A Google on “Nutrition and Health Institute” prostate leads to a likely candidate: http://nutritioninst.com - i.e. there is no “Institute”; it’s just some company with a website selling supplements – “manufactured in the United States to our specifications by Young Again Nutrients corporation”

… the Young Again Nutrients Corporation who were stamped on by the FDA for illegally labelling supplements as protecting against SARS and other viral diseases. I see this bunch is advertising an Anti Bird-Flu and other Pandemics package too.

“Incorporated in the Marshall Islands and is wholly owned by The Nutrition and Health Foundation in Panama - European office: 38 Troy Court, Grand Vaux, St Saviour, Jersey, JE2 7NG, 0153 4872 990”

That is, in a block of housing trust flats in St Helier. And its web address is obfuscated at whois behind its web designer in Belarus.

Yeah, I always trust companies that make such strenuous efforts to hide their identities and operate from offshore locations outside UK trade, advertising and health jurisdiction. They appear to be based in the UK, though, quite possibly in Golders Green: there are number of links at the nutritioninst.com site to addresses at yoag.com (not a public site, and whois also obfuscated) which has been advertising for telesales people lately. These will be the “nutritional consultants” you speak to if you call them.

Addendum If you try to access yoag.com, you get a page called “YANC Login”. Could those be yoag = YOung AGain, and YANC = Young Again Nutrients Corporation?). We know someone there’s called Leo. Googling all this … workings omitted … we find:

a) “Leo Scheiner http://www.nutritioninst.com”

b) “Leo Scheiner, from nutraceuticals company Young Again Nutrients Corporation”

c) “Leo Scheiner, Nutrition and Health Institute”

QED.

I wonder if it’s the same Leo Scheiner who ran a number of Internet ventures way back? (Global Markets Ltd and 1on1, as well as spamming various Usenet health newsgroups with stuff about the Montignac diet).

MugsandMoney

Controlfreak - it can’t be a “trial” in the accepted sense of the word - in order to measure risk factors associated with something like prostate cancer, you would need thousands of subjects followed up consistently over a period of many years (like The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study)

Therefore, the only likely reason they can be taking out expensive adverts in the national press is because they are hoping that, at some time in the future, they can exploit the people who respond to the advert by selling them something. If you are sufficiently interested, please respond & let us know what happens next!

ControlFreak

FREE TRIAL
Every hour one man dies of
PROSTATE CANCER

The Nutrition and Health Institute are conducting a FREE TRIAL of a new natural supplement that we believe in conjunction with changes to diet and lifestyle could reduce both getting up at night and the likelihood of getting Prostate Cancer.
If you are getting up at night to go to the bathroom or sometimes finding it slow to start, finish or experience urgency, frequency or pain when going to the bathroom, the most likely cause is an enlarged prostate. It has been estimated that one in three men with an enlarged prostate will get Prostate Cancer.
If you are getting up at night you may therefore benefit from this FREE trial.
To apply to join this national trial simply leave your name, and telephone number on FREEPHONE 0800 822 3865.
Please note that to proceed with your application, you will need a credit card to pay £4.95 as a contribution to postage and packaging.

There is a freephone contact number for details but absolutely no other contact method. This advert immediately set my alarm bells ringing, seems to have done the same with some others!

Rayatseagal

What day was it in? I think there are plenty of grounds there to shop it to the ASA for breaches of the CAP Code.

Misleading description of scenario: a firm selling supplements masquerading as some kind of health Institute.

TRUTHFULNESS
7.1 No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise.
Blatant appeal to fear of cancer:

FEAR AND DISTRESS
9.1 No marketing communication should cause fear or distress without good reason.
Failure to specify precisely what this free offer entails.

FREE OFFERS AND FREE TRIALS
32.1 A free offer may be conditional on the purchase of other items. Consumers’ liability for costs should be made clear in all material featuring the offer.
Failure to give identity and contact details:

SIGNIFICANT CONDITIONS FOR PROMOTIONS
34.1 Promotions should specify clearly before any purchase (or before or at the time of entry/application, if no purchase is required): … h) Promoter’s name and address the promoter’s full name and business address, unless this is obvious from the context. Promotions by newspapers and magazines in their publications need not state the name and address if those can easily be found elsewhere in the publication
Specifics relating to health and medical claims:

HEALTH & BEAUTY PRODUCTS AND THERAPIES …5
0.1 Medical and scientific claims made about beauty and health-related products should be backed by evidence, where appropriate consisting of trials conducted on people. …
50.6 Marketers offering individual treatments, particularly those that are physically invasive, may be asked by the media and the ASA to provide full details together with information about those who will supervise and administer them. Where appropriate, practitioners should have relevant and recognised qualifications …
50.11 Medicines must have a marketing authorisation from the MCA before they are marketed and any claims made for products must conform with the authorisation …
50.14 Marketers must not use fear or anxiety to promote medicines or recovery from illness and should not suggest that using or avoiding a product can affect normal good health …
50.20 Marketers should hold scientific evidence for any claim that their vitamin or mineral product or other food supplement is beneficial to health

MugsandMoney

Yeah - somehow they extend it all the way from “getting up at night” to coughing up £4.95 in order to benefit from a free trial. That’s quite a stretch!

I called them on the contact number. There’s a recorded questionnaire which asks some personal details, whether you have any medical conditions or are taking any supplements, and concludes with:

“Certain nutritional supplements can be very effective in reducing prostate size and preventing prostate cancer. Would you be prepared to pay about £25 per month for these supplements?”

More when they call me back.

MugsandMoney

The ad is also in contravention of The Times’ Terms & Conditions of Advertising as follows:

All advertising copy submitted to the Publisher is legal, decent, honest and truthful and complies with the British Code of Advertising Practice and all other relevant codes under the general supervision of the Advertising Standards Authority.
For most advertisements and inserts where the reader pays any sum before receiving the goods, the advertiser is expected to be a member of the National Newspapers Mail Order Protection Scheme

MugsandMoney

At long last, the phone has rung & I have a (very few) details, from a guy who didn’t know how to pronounce “prostate”.

For £17.95 per month (price reduced from £25) you get some tabs containing a variety of goodies - and a free copy of the book by Roger Mason.

The magic pills have been proved to be effective by the “University of Harvard”, although no citation is available. It is a “trial” in the sense that if you pay them once a month, you are presumed not to have contracted cancer.

Details of company names, trading addresses not given. The sponsors are “Nutrition and Health Institute” - with website http://nutritioninst.com, a phone number in Jersey and an office in the Marshall Islands and/or Panama.

Quite clearly a scam which exploits vulnerable people and hides its backers by using untraceable offshore companies.

End -  

WARNING – the health advice which follows is misleading, inaccurate, and dangerous. Meningitis is a serious illness which can cause death. If you suspect that you or anyone you know is suffering from meningitis, then you are advised to seek emergency medical attention immediately. Mumps is also potentially serious and you should consult a doctor.

Copyright Acknowledgement: The following article is reproduced from the Brighton Hove & Sussex Argus. It is reproduced without permission, in the public interest.

Published 26 November 2007
The homeopath
MIRANDA HOLT looks at common illnesses

1 Last month we looked at the homeopathic approach to measles, chickenpox and German measles, with particular reference to the different skin rashes they produce. Continuing that theme, it is timely to see how remedies can help address mumps and meningitis.

2 Meningitis is an inflammation which, quite rightly, causes the greatest fear and there has been much helpful publicity about the symptoms of meningitis. While I will suggest some remedies, I would like to stress that if you suspect meningitis, urgent medical advice should be sought without delay.

MENINGITIS

3 BELLADONNA is one of the most frequently used remedies and should be used first if there is a sudden high temperature, sensitivity to noise and light, dilated pupils and a red face with bloodshot eyes. There is often a throbbing headache and some delirium.

4 200c potency is best in these situations but if not immediately available, a 30c may be given and repeated after 15 minutes. There should be some improvement within minutes of taking this remedy

5 BRYONIA follows well, especially if there has been a rash or some type of eruption before the illness. Great thirst is an indication for this remedy, with stiffness of joints, headache and nausea. A 30c potency is good, unless there is delirium when a 200c would be best.

6 APIS is another remedy which follows Belladonna well, particularly with young babies. There is a very distinctive high, shrill cry which often presents after one of the more common types of illness.

7 Unlike Bryonia, there is often no thirst but a need to constantly pass water although there is very little to pass. The skin is often red like nettle rash, and there may be puffiness or swelling. This is another remedy that can have a swift effect, taken as above.

MUMPS

8 Two years ago there were many calls concerning the homeopathic treatment of mumps and the following remedies were used very effectively.

9 MERC SOL (VIV) 30c is the first remedy to give, three times daily, if there is smelly breath. Use for two days, by which time the breath should be clear, and other remedies may be needed.

10 PULSILLATA 30c for when the ear is painful or the testes become inflamed. The mood is usually tearful or clingy.

11 RHUS TOX 30c is helpful if the swelling is on the left side, and Belladonna is the remedy if the swelling is on the right.

12 Adult males who have not previously had the disease and are in contact with mumps could take Parotidinum 200c weekly for three or four weeks as a preventative against the risk of infertility.

You can write to Miranda at Body and Soul, The Argus, Argus House, Crowhurst Road, Hollingbury, Brighton BN1 8AR or email health@theargus.co.uk

COMMENTS by Mugsandmoney

I am not medically qualified, but there’s so much wrong with this article that it took some time for me to get over the initial shock. It’s pretty obvious that Ms Holt has never encountered a serious acute illness, and has no idea of the danger that meningitis in particular represents if it is not treated immediately.

Paragraph 1 starts innocuously, and provided that Ms Holt, in her previous article, gave a warning that the diseases which she has named can have severe symptoms (measles can be fatal or lead to brain damage, German measles is extremely serious during the first three months of pregnancy), then it may be possible to discuss their minor symptoms.

In Paragraph 2. she rattles out a stock clause about seeking medical advice. It doesn’t sound as though her heart is in it though; and she doesn’t make it clear why she thinks it may be appropriate to suggest some remedies if medical advice is also vital.

We begin to come of the rails in Paragraph 3. She says “BELLADONNA ………. should be used first”. This is in direct conflict with the advice in Paragraph 2, and this and the subsequent paragraphs give the impression that Paragraph 2 is only included because someone told her to add it, not because she believes it is vital.

Let’s be absolutely clear; there is only one treatment for a suspected case of meningitis – you dial 999 (or 911) – and get the patient to the nearest emergency hospital as fast as possible. There is no other treatment, there is no other option. To suggest, or even consider, anything else is dangerous in the extreme.

If your suspected meningitis case has the symptoms she describes – high temperature, headache, delirium – then he or she is very seriously ill indeed, and should be in an intensive care unit. In these circumstances, you can not, repeat not, trip lightly down to the local homeopathic pharmacy on the off chance that they might have Belladonna 200c in stock.

And as for “there should be some improvement within 15 minutes” in Paragraph 4 – sorry, Ms Holt, are we really able to pause for a cup of tea and a chat when there is a delirious patient in the house?

Paragraph 5 continues in the same inane way. Oh, the patient still has delirium after taking Belladonna 200c, so I’ll try Bryonia 30c instead? What should I try next, if he still doesn’t improve? Maybe I should call a doctor? No, Ms Holt has completely forgotten about doctors now, – let’s try Bryonia 200c, that might work. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns – I really, really hope that Ms Holt is never around when someone gets a real illness.

Just when you think it can’t get worse, Ms Holt starts prattling about babies with meningitis in Paragraph 6. Once again, the only safe place for a baby with meningitis-like symptoms is in hospital, and the only reliable treatment is conventional. What does she mean when she says “There is a very distinctive high, shrill cry which often presents after one of the more common types of illness”? Is she, or is she not, talking about meningitis?

By the time we get to Paragraph 7, Ms Holt also has used the words “often” four times, giving the false impression that she has seen many cases of acute meningitis and regards it as all part of a normal day.

I will make two assertions -

1. No case of acute meningitis has ever been successfully treated by homeopathy

2. Miranda Holt has never seen an acute case of meningitis

Any reader of this blog is welcome to prove me wrong on either count.

Onward, then, to mumps. This time, she completely fails to mention that mumps can also be a very serious disease, and should be monitored carefully. Complications – according to NHS Direct – can include orchitis, encephalitis, and meningitis (above).

However in most cases, mumps is self-limiting and the symptoms disappear after a week or two; so subject to the proviso above, the rest of the article is superfluous.

References:

Any medical material in this document was sourced from either or both of Wikipedia or NHS Direct:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis

www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

Next Week:

Rabies & CJD

There’s a claim today (October 12, 2007) that a branch of the British government has classified Electrical Hypersensitivity (EHS) as a disabling disease. It’s not true.

The claim appears in an email from Powerwatch. They have been quite careful to phrase their statement as follows –

“According to the VAT office’s definition of a disability, the symptoms most commonly reported by sufferers of EHS have a significant effect on people’s lives and therefore they classify EHS as a disability.”

The last bit is not correct - the VAT office (HMRC) do not have any list like this. They will give a tax concession to anyone with disabling symptoms, but the diagnosis is not relevant to this – diagnosis is an inexact science, and if the tax concession were linked to particular diseases there would be endless arguments about why some diseases are on the list, but others aren’t.

There was a similar claim that the Swedish government had officially recognised Electrosensitivity a couple of years ago, but the position is very similar – the Swedish government recognises disabling symptoms, but it does not recognise Electrosensitivity as a disease. There’s a link to this story at the bottom of this blog (if I spoke Swedish I might be able to cover this better).

Background – What is Electrosensitivity?

Well, there’s no such thing. Not in the same sense as, say, multiple sclerosis or malaria.

There are people who experience a variety of unpleasant symptoms, and believe that the symptoms are caused by fields from everyday electrical equipment such as mobile phone masts, power cables and microwaves – from this has come the term Electrosensitivity, and Electrical Hypersensitivity. However, attempts to substantiate this by experiment don’t back it up (reference below).

The Electrosensitivity Industry

There is an industry which purports to manufacture protective products for electrosensitives. Since there is no firm evidence that their problems are caused by electromagnetic radiation, it is unavoidable to say that there can be no evidence that these products actually benefit the person who buys them. But no doubt the person who sells them is doing all right out of the transaction.

Here’s a picture of a sample product, with (just for fun) a similar looking product from a travel accessories website.

References:

Blog entry which demolishes the claims about the Swedish Government -

http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000654.php

Quote from Ben Goldacre’s Badscience Blog -

“People who believe their symptoms are related to exposure to electromagnetic fields are almost certainly mistaken - I would now say misled - about the cause, but they are very right about their symptoms.

Symptoms are real, they are subjective, some people experience them very severely, and this is real distress that deserves our compassion. Alternatively, you could cynically exploit them - and mislead them, and frighten them - to sell your quack products, your newspaper, your TV show, and your freelance articles.”

http://www.badscience.net/?p=425

Research –

electrosensitivity.pdf – (linked to badscience)

HMRC - Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

Search for VAT Disability FAQ - the URL is too long to incorporate as a link

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk