Файл: Medical_Myths_Lies_and_Half-Truths_guidebook.pdf

108

Glossary

no scienti

¿

 c evidence for a special life energy or any claims based on its 

manipulation (Lectures 15 and 17).

vitamins

: Nutritional substances essential to health in tiny amounts that an 

organism cannot manufacture in suf

¿

 cient quantities, and therefore must be 

obtained from the diet. There are de

¿

 ciency syndromes associated with each 

vitamin, which can be treated by supplementation. Overdoses of speci

¿

 c 

vitamins are also possible. A balanced diet can be suf

¿

 cient for most people 

to provide enough vitamins without the need for supplements. Women who 
are pregnant or may become pregnant should be taking a prenatal vitamin, 
especially folic acid. Other speci

¿

 c medical conditions may also bene

¿

 t from 

speci

¿

 c vitamin supplements (Lecture 3).

water

: Water is the most fundamental component of life, and also a target of 

much misinformation. All life requires water to live, and the average person 
could only survive a few days without access to water. However, 8 ounces of 
water 8 times per day is not a rule based on any evidence. For most people 
in most situations thirst is an adequate guide to hydration (Lecture 2). 

See 

also

dehydration

. 

109

Bibliography

Allen, Arthur. 

Vaccine

. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. Everything you ever 

wanted to know about the history of vaccines. 

Australian Skeptics. “Debunking the Detox Myth.” http://skepticzone.
wordpress.com/2009/01/15/debunking-the-detox-myth. This article contains 
information on detox scams. 

Barbour, Alan G. 

Lyme Disease: The Cause, the Cure, the Controversy

. 

Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. The author does a 
good job of presenting the controversy surrounding chronic Lyme disease 
and putting it into cultural and scienti

¿

 c perspective. 

Barrett, Stephen. “Homeopathy: Is It Medicine?” Chapter 13 in 

The Health 

Robbers.

 Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993. An excellent, brief overview 

of homeopathy and why it is pseudoscience. 

———. “Questionable Cancer Therapies.” This is an excellent and well-
referenced discussion of the most popular dubious treatments for cancer. 
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cancer.html.

Bauby, Jean-Dominique. 

The Diving Bell and the Butter

À

 y: A Memoir of Life 

in Death

. New York: Knopf, 1997. This book tells the personal story of Jean-

Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke that left him locked-in. He wrote 
the book by blinking his eyes to indicate each letter to an assistant. This is a 
compelling story that gives insight into this tragic condition. 

Bausell, R. Barker. 

Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and 

Alternative Medicine

. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Bausell 

does an excellent job of reviewing medical research methodology as a way 
of determining which treatments are safe and effective. He also reviews the 
research for many controversial and fringe health claims.

110

Bibliography

Benedetti, Fabrizio. 

Placebo Effects: Understanding the Mechanisms in 

Health and Disease.

 New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. This book 

reviews the history of our understanding of placebos and how it was shaped 
by research.

Bouchez, Colette. “Separating Pregnancy Myths and Facts.” WebMD. This 
is a fun review of common pregnancy myths. http://www.webmd.com/baby/
guide/separating-pregnancy-myths-and-facts.

Brenneman, Richard J. 

Deadly Blessings: Faith Healing on Trial

. Buffalo: 

Prometheus Books, 1990. The author gives an excellent exposé of frauds 
passing themselves off as faith healers, exploiting the sick and desperate.

Brown, Kevin. 

Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic 

Revolution

. Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton, 2004. The story of Fleming is one 

of the most fascinating in the history of medicine, and Brown tells it well. 
The past, present, and future of antibiotics are also discussed. 

Centers for Disease Control. http://www.cdc.gov. The CDC site does not 
cover all medical topics, but it is a comprehensive resource on everything 
to do with infectious diseases and public health, including vaccines. It is 
also an excellent source for statistics. The site can be a bit clunky, but once 
you get used to the interface, it becomes easier to 

¿

 nd the exact information 

you need. 

Crislip, Mark. “Probiotics.” http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=344. 
This is a primer on probiotics from an evidence-based critical perspective by 
an infectious disease specialist. The author’s style is also a pleasure to read. 

Denisov, Evgeny T., and Igor B. Afanas’ev. 

Oxidation and Antioxidants in 

Organic Chemistry and Biology

. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2005. This 

reference is a bit technical but contains detailed information on antioxidants 
for those who want to delve deeply into the science.

Eades, Mary Dan. 

The Doctor’s Complete Guide to Vitamins and Minerals

. 

New York: Dell, 2000. This reference of individual vitamins and minerals 
contains exhaustive information. 

111

Eccles, Ronald, and Olaf Weber, eds. 

Common Cold. 

http://www.springerlink.

com/content/g5tt72/?p=33f33dadb341480d8a14979d37492c2b&pi=0. This 
is a collection of essays on the history and science of the common cold and 
other respiratory infections. Many of the essays are dry and technical, but 
others are very readable for the layperson. 

Eckman, Peter. 

In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor: Tracing the History 

of Traditional Acupuncture.

 Rev. ed. San Francisco: Long River Press, 2007. 

This is a good source for the cultural history of acupuncture but is not a 
critical scienti

¿

 c resource. 

Epstein, Helen. 

The Invisible Cure: Why We Are Losing the Fight against 

AIDS in Africa

. New York: Picador, 2008. This book tells the tale of how 

myths and superstition about HIV and AIDS are impairing public health 
measures to 

¿

 ght one of the most serious epidemics of modern times.

Ernst, Edzard, ed. 

Homeopathy: A Critical Appraisal. 

Oxford:

Butterworth-

Heinemann, 1998. This is designed to be a reference for professionals, 
but it is very accessible. While it is not as critical of the theoretical basis 
of homeopathy as I would like, it does provide an excellent review of the 
published evidence. 

Ernst, Edzard, and Simon Singh. 

Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts 

about Alternative Medicine

. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. Ernst and Sigh 

review the scienti

¿

 c method in the opening chapters and then apply that 

method to a variety of medical practices. They give excellent examples of 
good science, and not-so-good science, in medicine. 

Fallacy Files. “Appeal to Nature.” http://www.fallacy

¿

 les.org/adnature.html. 

This is a brief description of the naturalistic fallacy and gives examples. 

Flamm, Bruce. “Magnet Therapy: A Billion Dollar Boondoggle.” 

Skeptical 

Inquirer

 30 (2006). http://www.csicop.org/si/show/magnet_therapy_a_

billion-dollar_boondoggle. This is a quick overview of the modern marketing 
of dubious magnetic devices. 

112

Bibliography

Floch, Martin, and Adam Kim. 

Probiotics: A Clinical Guide

. Thorofare, 

NJ: SLACK, 2010. This is a clinical reference to the history, principles, 
and research involving probiotics. Overall a good reference, but a bit more 
positive than I think is deserved by the current research. 

Gardner, Martin. 

Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

. Mineola, NY: 

Dover, 1957. Gardner is a giant in science education—and one of the original 
intellectuals of modern skepticism. 

Fads and Fallacies

 is a classic in the 

genre of the promotion of science and logic, and despite the fact that it was 
written half a century ago, the topics and underlying principles are timeless 
and relevant. 

Ha llowell, Edward, and John Ratey. 

Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and 

Coping with Attention De

¿

 cit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood

. 

New York: Touchstone, 1995. This is an excellent reference on ADHD for 
the layperson. 

Harms, Roger and Mayo Clinic

. Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.

New York: HarperResource, 2004. This is a review intended for the average 
reader. It is a good primer but lacks depth in areas. 

Henderson, D. A. 

Smallpox: The Death of a Disease

. Amherst, NY: 

Prometheus Books, 2009. As the title suggests, this book has a narrow 
focus—on the eradication of smallpox—but it is a fascinating tale about 
perhaps the single best success of modern medicine. 

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. “Evidence Check 
2: Homeopathy.” http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/
cmselect/cmsctech/45/45.pdf. This is the comprehensive report of the House 
of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee. You will likely not 
want to read it from beginning to end, as it is a sprawling treatise, but the 
conclusions of each section nail the scienti

¿

 c status of homeopathy from the 

basic science and clinical points of view. It is also thoroughly referenced. 

ICON Group International. 

Ph  armacognosy: Webster’s Timeline History, 

1832–2007

. San Diego, CA: ICON Group International, 2009. This is a