The herbal remedy St. John’s Wort effectively treats symptoms of major depression, an analysis of previous studies found on Wednesday. St. John’s Wort extracts tested in the different trials were better than placebos and as effective as standard antidepressants with fewer side effects, the researchers reported in the Cochrane review, a journal that analyses medical and scientific studies.

My Take:

ABC News is reporting about a man, Paul Karason of Oregon, whose skin is now a bright shade of blue – the result of a rare medical syndrome known as argyria, or silver poisoning. He began using silver as a form of alternative medicine, not realizing what might happen to his skin. It started a decade ago, when he saw an ad in a new-age magazine promising health and rejuvenation through colloidal silver.

My Take?

The AP is reporting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is cracking down on teas, supplements, creams, and other products that falsely claim to cure, treat, or prevent cancer, even though they are not agency-approved drugs. All are available for sale on the Internet. 

The agency has sent 25 warning letters to companies and individuals marketing these products, FDA officials said Tuesday. Twenty-three of the letters went to domestic companies and two to foreign individuals.

In the book that I co-wrote with my good friend, Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine: The options, the claims, the evidence, how to choose wisely, we wrote an evidence-based article on marijuana. Here’s our fourth excerpt of that information:

In earlier excerpts, we discussed “What It Is,” “The Claims People Make about Marijuana,” “Study Findings,” and “Cautions.” In this, our final excerpt will review “Our Recommendations.”

In the book that I co-wrote with my good friend, Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine: The options, the claims, the evidence, how to choose wisely, we wrote an evidence-based article on marijuana. Here’s our fourth excerpt of that information.

In earlier excerpts, we discussed “What It Is,” “The Claims People Make about Marijuana,” and “Study Findings.” In this excerpt, we’ll discuss, “Cautions.” Next week, our final excerpt will review “Our Recommendations.”

Cautions

Advocates of medical marijuana point out that no one has ever reported a lethal overdose from marijuana. Estimates based on animals have put the amount needed to kill someone at about 20,000 times the amount normally used medically. This compares with some drugs whose lethal dose is only a few times the amount commonly prescribed.

While this may be the case, it would be analogous to claiming that since few people die from an alcohol overdose, no serious problems arise with the use of alcohol below its toxic levels.

In the book that I co-wrote with my good friend, Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine: The options, the claims, the evidence, how to choose wisely, we wrote an evidence-based article on marijuana. Here’s our fourth excerpt of that information:

In earlier excerpts, we discussed “What It Is,” “The Claims People Make about Marijuana,” and “Study Findings.” In this excerpt, we’ll discuss, “Cautions.” Next week, our final excerpt will review “Our Recommendations.”

In the book that I co-wrote with my good friend, Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine: The options, the claims, the evidence, how to choose wisely, we wrote an evidence-based article on marijuana. Here’s our second excerpt of that information:

In the first excerpt, we discussed “What It Is.” Today, we’ll discuss “The Claims People Make about Marijuana.” In future installments, we’ll discuss, “Study Findings,” “Cautions,” and finally, “Our Recommendations.”

Here’s Part 5, the last of a series from an excerpt from my and Donal O’Mathuna’s book, Alternative Medicine: The options, claims, evidence, how to choose wisely. You find the book here.

21. Does the product you’re considering require advance payment? Look out! You may never receive what you bought or get your money back.

Four recent medical news stories bring home the truth about the many dangers of smoking marijuana.

The first is a White House report that links smoking marijuana to addiction, mental illness, and depression. The report says that depression, teens, and marijuana are a dangerous mix that can lead to dependency, mental illness, or suicidal thoughts.

In the book that I co-wrote with my good friend, Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D., Alternative Medicine: The options, the claims, the evidence, how to choose wisely, we wrote an evidence-based article on marijuana. Here’s an excerpt of that information:

In this first excerpt, we’ll discuss “What It Is.” In later installments, we’ll address “Claims about Marijuana,” “Study Findings,” “Cautions,” and finally, “Our Recommendations.”

Here’s Part 4 from an excerpt from my and Donal O’Mathuna’s book, Alternative Medicine: The options, claims, evidence, how to choose wisely. You find the book here.

16. Is a therapy encouraged simply because it’s been used for centuries by people in some remote place? This might simply mean that those people had nothing else to use. If the best texts on the subject are decades or centuries old, you’ll probably find that many of the old ideas were discredited long ago. Medicine evolves—just think about all we have discovered about nutrition in the last few decades. Continued use adds to our knowledge, uncovers side effects, fine-tunes dosage, and brings change.

Here’s Part 3 of an excerpt from my and Donal O’Mathuna’s book, Alternative Medicine: The options, claims, evidence, how to choose wisely. You’ll find out more about the book here.

Next week, I’ll post another five warning signs.

11. Does the proponent of the therapy claim to be criticized unfairly? Some proponents of CAM portray themselves as martyrs, persecuted by the government, the medical establishment, or some other organization with a stake in keeping you unaware of their breakthrough.