Trust centurys old medicine, says the Washington Post

[roger]

Today in the travel section the Washington Post has a wide-eyed article written by somebody who visited a local "wellness spa." While that irks me, if somebody wants to pay to get some dubious massage, and crow about how relaxed they feel, I can't complain too much (yes, I can complain some). However, I do have major issues with how the article is packaged. First, both on the front web page and on the header for the article the Post writes

Wellness spa treatments are a hot travel trend. But do they work? Therein lies the rub.

When I saw this I clicked it excitedly, thinking the Post was doing an expose. No, it was a nearly gushing review. The author did not claim any of the treatments worked, but basically shrugged her shoulders at the woo explanations of the practicioners. After all, she accepts what doctors say by "faith" too, she reasons

I though for a moment that the article would be redeemed by a side bar entitled: Wellness Spas: Separating the Quality From the Quackery

But it is actually worse than the article. Their source: Marc Micozzi, author of "Fundamentals of Complementary and Integrative Medicine". They praise the book by saying it is used in "many" medical schools. Which ones, exactly. Yale? Stanford?

What is his advice? First is his recommendation for rest and relaxation. Second, trust "those that have been practiced in one or more cultures for centuries. Acupuncture and herbal medicines, to cite two examples, fall easily into that category." (quote is the reporter's words, not a direct quote of Micozzi).

Hmm, I kind of want medicine based on up to date research, not something that hasn't changed, or produced results, in hundreds of years. You know, evidence.

He goes on to cover his butt to say you shouldn't trust treatments for major diseases like cancer.

So, in all, it's relatively "safe" advice, in that if you have nothing majorly wrong with you, and you lie on your butt for a weekend with a herbal mask, you aren't going to be harmed, except in the wallet. But is in no way an article that differentiates solid medicine from quackery.

Finally, the article points out that touching people requires certification and licensing. True enough, but to me that is an attempt to confer a sense of legitamacy to the operations. A "they are licensed, it must be good medicine" line of thinking.

 

[Goshawk]

I thought the creepiest part was when she stood up after her lengthy massage, felt a little dizzy (as is normal after lying down for a long time, getting thoroughly relaxed, and then standing up suddenly) and the therapist tells her solemnly, "...Certain tissues in my body had felt twisted; the energy flow was impeded. Once everything is balanced, your body has to adjust, she says."

Uh huh. A simple "If you are dizzy or light headed after the massage, do not get off the table too fast" explanation wouldn't do: it has to be woo jargon.

 

[JJM]

But it is actually worse than the article. Their source: Marc Micozzi, author of "Fundamentals of Complementary and Integrative Medicine". They praise the book by saying it is used in "many" medical schools. Which ones, exactly. Yale? Stanford?

“CAM infiltrates the mandatory medical school curriculum”
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/11/not_so_stealthily_sneaking_cam_into_the_1.php

You might be surprised. The link goes to an article that describes how sCAM has infiltrated prestigious medical schools. For example, during the anatomy class at Georgetown, an acupuncturist is brought in to lecture about that as if it were real.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

I've no problem with someone just going to one of these places to relax. I mean let someone vacation the way they like to. But yeah, it's a bit much to have the people at these resorts go on about how this gets chakra fields aligned and modifies the phase variance or whatever.

 

[roger]

What ticks me off is the article leads make it sound like these are going to be hard hitting investigative reporting, when they are nothing of the sort. The main article does nothing more than more or less throw up it hands and say "it's beyond me", and the article for sniffing out quackery merely steers the reader to quackery with a smaller chance of killing you. Very unimpressive.