Beck's Pivot Point

[hgc]

I prefer the Odelay Beck.

 

[Mitchell314]

He's claimed to have "hyperextended adrenals". How you could possibly hyperextend an adrenal gland is beyond my powers of explanation.

You ever had someone pull and stretch your adrenal gland? Hurts like a mo'.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Try to get her hooked on House reruns instead.

Actually see really likes House.

 

[Nova Land]

From 2011:

Steven Novella recently wrote about so-called “chiropractic neurology” and its most outspoken proponent, Ted Carrick. In 2005 I published an article in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (Vol 9, No 1, p. 11-15) entitled “Blind-Spot Mapping, Cortical Function, and Chiropractic Manipulation.” It was an analysis of a study Carrick had published.

Carrick read a shorter, popularized version of my critique in Skeptical Inquirer and responded with a diatribe that was inaccurate, distorted what I had said, and accused me of fraud, deception, and mis-representation. He failed to offer a credible rebuttal of my specific criticisms; and, in my opinion, showed that he failed to understand some of my points. He referred to me as “Ms. Hall” and suggested that I was psychotic. He characterized my e-mail correspondence with him as “bizarre, rude, and offensive.” It was none of those, and I have copies of the e-mails to prove it. Carrick says he “forwarded it to the legal council for the American Chiropractic Association for review.” Now that strikes me as bizarre.

I am re-publishing the entire text of my article here as an instructive example of what passes for science in the chiropractic neurology community...

Hall's article is long, but well worth reading.

And here's a link to the Steven Novella article which Hall refers to, and an excerpt:

Some straight chiropractors even “specialize” – one specialty, chiropractic neurology, has been getting some press because hockey star Sidney Crosby has been going to a chiropractic neurologist, Ted Carrick, to treat his concussion. The main idea behind chiropractic neurology is the same as for straight chiropractic in general, just applied to neurological disorders.

Carrick claims that he can treat a variety of brain disorders with targeted manipulation and elaborate exercises and routines. In a PBS interview he said:

Well, we’re finding every day that more and more things that we didn’t think were associated with chiropractic treatment can be affected very nicely. There are testimonials from people who have had their eyesight and hearing back, and people waking up from comas.​

Waking a patient from a coma is perhaps the ultimate rehabilitative claim in neurology. You will notice, of course, that Carrick refers to only “testimonials”. The reason for that is because there are no published articles establishing such bold claims. Chiropractic neurology does not appear to be based on any body of research, or any accumulated scientific knowledge...

Chiropractic neurology appears to me to be the very definition of pseudoscience – it has all the trappings of a legitimate profession, with a complex set of beliefs and practices, but there is no underlying scientific basis for any of it.

"No underlying scientific basis for any of it." Not very surprising, then, that Beck believes in the effectiveness of Carrick's treatments.

 

[a_unique_person]

I was watching the news this morning and Dr. Oz' health tip of the day was "drink tart cherry juice," in a segment sponsored by ... brand X maker of tart cherry juice. It's almost enough to make one cynical.

Three times winner of the Pigasus Award.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

I was watching the news this morning and Dr. Oz' health tip of the day was "drink tart cherry juice," in a segment sponsored by ... brand X maker of tart cherry juice. It's almost enough to make one cynical.

There was a terrific piece on Oz in "The New Yorker" not too long ago. In depth and even-tempered though ultimately not flattering.

Ah, here we go:

The Operator - Is the most trusted doctor in America doing more harm than good?

ETA: A follow up to the above at science blogs.com, somewhat more harsh in its tone, here.

 

[carlitos]

Thanks for the links.

 

[Ladewig]

Really, no wheelchairs at the airport? Carrying him was less conspicuous?

Glen Beck not only has enough money to hired small chartered planes, he has enough money to own and operate a private jet plane.

The rich are different from you and me - F.Scott Fitzgerald

 

[Spindrift]

Glen Beck not only has enough money to hired small chartered planes, he has enough money to own and operate a private jet plane.

The rich are different from you and me - F.Scott Fitzgerald

The plane still has to land at an airport somewhere and he still needs to get from the airport to a hotel. Even if the hotel is at the airport, the plane can't pull up to the hotel lobby. They claim they carried him.

 

[carlitos]

I have a lazy in-law who uses the wheelchairs at airports. Every time she gets up out of the chair to get into our car, I shout "It's a miracle! Praise Jesus!" She still takes the wheelchair, though.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I have a lazy in-law who uses the wheelchairs at airports. Every time she gets up out of the chair to get into our car, I shout "It's a miracle! Praise Jesus!" She still takes the wheelchair, though.

My father is the opposite. We can barely shuffle along, which is fine at home or going out to eat, but becomes really frustrating when you are trying make a tight connection. We have to force him into a wheelchair. But, they are available. Why Beck couldn't find one is beyond me.

Also, someone mentioned WA being full of crazy upthread: isn't Beck now in Texas?

 

[Ladewig]

The plane still has to land at an airport somewhere and he still needs to get from the airport to a hotel. Even if the hotel is at the airport, the plane can't pull up to the hotel lobby. They claim they carried him.

I am assuming (with no tangible evidence) that they landed at a small airport not served by commercial airlines. They then had to carry him from the plane (across the tarmac) to the hired car which had pulled up near the plane and then carry him from the hired car into the lobby. Also, it could just be unbridled hyperbole. Either way, 'tain't no big thing.

...................

My father is the opposite. We can barely shuffle along, which is fine at home or going out to eat, but becomes really frustrating when you are trying make a tight connection. We have to force him into a wheelchair. But, they are available. Why Beck couldn't find one is beyond me.

Beck's net worth is in the 9-figure range. No one ¹with that kind of money is going to put up with all the hassles of flying commercial airlines. Airports serving private, leased, and rented planes might not have a wheelchair at all or if they do then the time to send someone from the plane to the operations center to get a wheelchair and then come back might be too inconvenient.


...............
(1) there might be the very, very odd exception, but those exceptions are so rare as to not require mentioning.

 

[Beerina]

It seems like he might be getting real treatment as well as woo. This is bad because he will attribute success to the woo, like Suzanne Somers did.

Assuming he isn't lying about the pain in feet and hands, I hope he finds a real treatment. I have terrible foot pain that my diabetes doc says he's never seen feet like mine in his 2000+ patients.

I have a tough time sleeping through the night -- I mean usually waking up every hour or so. This would interrupt the 90 minute sleep cycle. I also go years between remembered dreams. Isn't there some healing or hormone generation or something that only happens during sleep?

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that aspect, but pending real research. It should be easy enough to test by brute force: get regular night sleeps for many uninterrupeted hours and see if things get better.

 

[carlitos]

I am assuming (with no tangible evidence) that they landed at a small airport not served by commercial airlines. They then had to carry him from the plane (across the tarmac) to the hired car which had pulled up near the plane and then carry him from the hired car into the lobby. Also, it could just be unbridled hyperbole. Either way, 'tain't no big thing.

...................


Beck's net worth is in the 9-figure range. No one ¹with that kind of money is going to put up with all the hassles of flying commercial airlines. Airports serving private, leased, and rented planes might not have a wheelchair at all or if they do then the time to send someone from the plane to the operations center to get a wheelchair and then come back might be too inconvenient.

In my humble experience, a lot of non-commercial airports are right there at commercial airports. LaGuardia, Austin, O'Hare, to name a few.

...............
(1) there might be the very, very odd exception, but those exceptions are so rare as to not require mentioning.

I fly commercial and am often upgraded to first class. There are a lot of 9 figure dudes there.

Also, I'm pretty sure that general aviation airports have to provide wheelchairs. Like you said, lots of rich dudes, which means lots of older people.