CNN article on acupuncture

[firecoins]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/03/29/healthmag.acupuncture/index.html

my favorite quote:

"It's definitely effective in some cases," says Mehmet Oz, M.D., a heart surgeon and vice chairman of surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University, who recommends acupuncture to his patients. "What I love the most is that acupuncture makes us think very differently about how the body works." Oz and Blakeway both agree that acupuncture is worth a try if Western medicine seems to fail you.

It definitely works...sometimes.

 

[Cuddles]

Oz and Blakeway both agree that acupuncture is worth a try if Western medicine seems to fail you.

Ah, that old pile of straw again. There is no such thing as "Western" medicine. There is medicine that works and medicine that doesn't.

 

[ond_magiker]

"It emphasizes the interconnectedness of everything in the universe."

Hilarious. I instantly got a mental image of the girlfriend from Spinal Tap

I leave the clinic feeling energized, with the muscles in my back looser and my mind peaceful and centered, despite my microscopic puncture wounds. I return for two more sessions, and, although I don't feel completely pain-free, I've started recommending acupuncture to friends and family

Is it at all possible coming any closer to admitting it's a placebo effect?

 

[CurtC]

Mehmet Oz is pretty respected as a surgeon, but he definitely has some out-there beliefs about goofy medicine. Did anyone ever see the Nightline (I think) show where they visited the John Of God character in South America, who heals people with magician's tricks? One of the ladies they followed had long surgical scissors crammed way up her nose in an effort to heal her (of an ailment nowhere near the nose).

After the show built up Oz's reputation, they let him come on and say something about how the hypothalmus, or pituitary, or whatever, is located near the sinuses so maybe the scissors were stimulating it. Randi also got a few seconds to say something in which the context of a sentence was removed, to make Randi sound like a negative nabob.

Anyway, Oz's speculation ignores the fact that there's a thick bone separating the sinuses from the brain, so jabbing scissors in couldn't be expected to do anything really. Randi's column shortly thereafter pointed out other stuff Oz endorses, such as Thereaputic Touch which he has the nurses perform for his patients.

Oz is also a regular on Oprah, surprise surprise.