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Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine 1st Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 536 ratings

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The truth about the potions, lotions, pills and needles, pummelling and energizing that lie beyond the realms of conventional medicine.

Whether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or are simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity. In this groundbreaking analysis, over thirty of the most popular treatments―acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic, and herbal medicines―are examined for their benefits and potential dangers. Questions answered include: What works and what doesn't? What are the secrets, and what are the lies? Who can you trust, and who is ripping you off? Can science decide what is best, or do the old wives' tales really tap into ancient, superior wisdom?In their scrutiny of alternative and complementary cures, authors Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst also strive to reassert the primacy of the scientific method as a means for determining public health practice and policy.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Noted science writer Singh and British professor of complementary medicine Ernst offer a reasoned examination of the research on acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, herbal medicine and other alternative treatments. Singh (Fermat's Last Theorem) and Ernst work hard to be objective, but their conclusion is that these therapies are largely worthless. As they examine the research on various alternative therapies, the authors explore the principles of evidence-based medicine on which their conclusions are based, including clinical trials and the placebo effect; they also explore related ethical issues. The authors report that many patients will improve with any alternative remedy—but no more than those given a placebo. Exceptions exist; some herbal remedies (e.g., St. John's wort, echinacea) can be helpful though not always advisable, and chiropractors can relieve low back pain under certain circumstances. This is a stimulating and informative account that will be indispensable to anyone considering an alternative treatment, though it may not dissuade true believers. 16 illus. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Edzard Ernst, based at the University of Exeter, is the world’s first professor of complementary medicine. He is the author of numerous books for professionals, including The Oxford Handbook of Complementary Medicine.

Simon Singh, science journalist, tv producer, and best-selling author, lives in London. His books include Trick or Treatment, Fermat’s Enigma, The Code Book, and Big Bang.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (August 17, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393066614
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393066616
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 536 ratings

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Simon Singh
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Simon Singh is a science journalist and TV producer. Having completed his PhD at Cambridge he worked from 1991 to 1997 at the BBC producing Tomorrow's World and co-directing the BAFTA award-winning documentary Fermat's Last Theorem for the Horizon series. He is the author of Fermat's Last Theorem, which was a no 1 bestseller in Britain and translated into 22 languages. In 1999, he wrote The Code Book which was also an international bestseller and the basis for the Channel 4 series The Science of Secrecy.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
536 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's research thorough and scientifically based. They describe it as an informative and valuable read that complements Ben Goldacre's Bad Science. However, opinions differ on the bias, with some finding it non-ideological and fair, while others mention inaccurate statements and bogus remedies.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

66 customers mention "Research quality"55 positive11 negative

Customers appreciate the book's research quality. They find it thorough and well-researched, with educational information about clinical studies. The book provides a scientific review of various treatments and is consistent. Readers appreciate the powerful conclusions and balanced teaching between science and evaluation. Overall, they describe the book as informative and thought-provoking.

"...to capture the placebo effect, how to conduct rigorous and accurate clinical trials, how to eliminate various biases, and how to use meta-analysis...." Read more

"...Good balance between citing scientific, statistic and anecdotical evidence to give the facts and illustrating them too. -..." Read more

"...In all this was an entertaining, informative and thought-provoking book, and you come away with a wonderfully simple tool for making a complicated..." Read more

"...snarky and condescending, these authors find a good balance between basic teaching about science, evaluation of some of the most common alternative..." Read more

63 customers mention "Readability"56 positive7 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and informative. They say it's a valuable resource for learning about alternative medicine, and a must-read for understanding charlatans in the field. The book is thorough and entertaining, complementing Ben Goldacre's Bad Science. Readers appreciate the authors' fair and open-minded approach, keeping them interested and entertained.

"...In all this was an entertaining, informative and thought-provoking book, and you come away with a wonderfully simple tool for making a complicated..." Read more

"...of the most common alternative modalities, strong critique, and respect for reader who may partake of the alternative treatments they review...." Read more

"...read them both in kindle format and strictly speaking, both are worth reading because they have different styles and stresses...." Read more

"This is an excellent book which gives the results of hard science on alternative medicine...." Read more

6 customers mention "Bias"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's bias. Some find it rigorous and non-ideological, with a fair and reasonable approach. Others find inaccurate statements, bogus remedies, and patent nonsense.

"...assessed the authors make a strong case for this approach being non-ideological, fair, and reasonable...." Read more

"...modalities of Alternative Medicine can be summarized in a few words: bogus, snake-oil remedies, placebo, unproven, disproven, useless, faddish,..." Read more

"I found the science and the book almost iron clad in its rigor and lack of bias...." Read more

"...This statement is patent nonsense and exhibits a nonexistent, idealized view of the scientific community that ignorant of history and ignores..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2008
    This is a hot topic. There are a lot of current books addressing this subject including Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Healing, Hype, or Harm?: A Critical Analysis of Complementary or Alternative Medicine (Societas) and Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All.

    I decided I would read only one of those books and select the one that would appear the most balanced. Just by their titles that expressed an over the top anti-alternative medicine bias, I immediately disqualified some of the mentioned books. I ended up selecting "Trick or Treatment" because the authors themselves seemed pretty balanced in their approach by letting clinical trials do the talking. If anything, their background suggested a pro-stand on the whole thing. Indeed, Edzard Ernst, MD is the world's first professor of complementary medicine.

    I started this book by reading the Appendix where the authors write summaries and share the clinical evidence (or lack of) on 30 or so alternative therapies. Their findings corroborated my other readings on the subject. And, it confirmed that the authors did not have a hidden bias against such alternative therapies.

    Now imagine if medicine had not changed whatsoever over the past 200 years or so. Additionally, envision it was founded by a charismatic figure whose writings would be unquestionable to this day. Such a discipline would have no means of self-improvement and discovery. It would be frozen in time forever and would be more of a religion than a science. In actuality, this would mean the entire body of Western medicine would be limited to one single deadly universal "cure": bloodletting. That seems really absurd. Sadly enough, that is the fate of acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic therapy today

    The authors' excellent scientific investigation uncovers that the foundations of acupuncture, homeopathy, and chiropractic therapy have no scientific bearing and defy common sense.

    Acupuncture was invented over 2000 years ago and, has not changed since. Its core concepts of body meridians and chi are myths that have no physiological evidence. The famous Chinese surgeries done with the patient awake without anesthetics turned out to be frauds. The patients actually received massive dose of anesthetics and sedative in pill form.

    Homeopathy is even stranger. Its core principle is that the more you dilute an ingredient the more potent it becomes. With this rational you should suffer an overdose by the time the ingredient is entirely eliminated from a water solution. This does not make any sense. Yet, homeopathic remedies are so diluted that not a single molecule of the active ingredient remains in the remedy. Supposedly, water has a "memory" of the ingredient that was in it and so does sugar pills. I was personally disappointed in those findings as I truly thought Arnica was an excellent muscle pain reliever. But, knowing what I know now I'd be hard pressed to use something that has no active ingredient left in it.

    Chiropractic therapy also lacks any scientific bearing. The core concept of subluxation (misalignment of the vertebrae) and the related universal cure of spinal manipulation are just myths. To think that spinal manipulation can cure you of asthma, diabetes, or anything else is delusion. Also, neck manipulation, a very prevalent practice, is dangerous as it can impair one of the main aortas going to the brain and cause strokes sometimes days after the neck manipulation. Those findings did not surprise me. I had been to two chiropractors. One advanced that he could cure me of adult acne, yet his own skin was twice as bad as mine. The other one gave me a back and neck adjustment that I'll never forget and left me just about traumatized.

    The authors show that all three of those disciplines fail the tests of effectiveness and occasionally safety in any well structured clinical trials. What those disciplines exploit is the placebo effect and the body's own ability to recover when left to its own devises. Thus, practitioners assign full credit to their therapy and so do the patients who believe in those. But by doing so, the practitioners just perpetuate myths.

    When it comes to herbal medicine, the record is a lot more mixed (meaning much better). The authors uncover that many herbal remedies have successfully demonstrated health benefits in rigorous clinical trials. They provide excellent summary of those findings in table 1 on page 203. They also share the risks and side effects to watch for in table 2 on page 214.

    The underlying main topic of the entire book is the development of the scientific method as it pertains to testing drugs and cures. This entails how to capture the placebo effect, how to conduct rigorous and accurate clinical trials, how to eliminate various biases, and how to use meta-analysis. The authors dedicate two full chapters out of six on the subject. Additionally, all other chapters reiterate the subject to such a degree that I feel the book could have been better organized. In other words, the two chapters covering the scientific method should have been longer. And, the four other ones should have been more focused on the actual topic of the chapter.

    One should not derive that because most alternative therapies do not work that conventional ones do not have issues. To further explore how the actual practice of the scientific method is not always perfect, I recommend the fascinating Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat. For explorations about the concerning prevalence of erroneous diagnostics I recommend How Doctors Think. Also, to learn more about the flaws of current medicine practice I recommend The Last Well Person: How to Stay Well Despite the Health-Care System. And on the excessive practice of cancer screening I suggest Should I Be Tested for Cancer?: Maybe Not and Here's Why.
    20 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2015
    Most of the reviews on this book are 5 star, and many of the rest are 1 star which is pretty telling. This is a very divisive subject, especially if you are making money in the field!

    I really appreciate that Singh and Ernst do list the few areas where chiropracy has been shown to have a positive effect, and they also provide pages of tables with herbs and their positive, neutral, and negative effects. Yes, there are some herbs that actually work, and Singh and Ernst are perfectly happy to call those out.

    As far as I can tell, this book is balanced. Unfortunately, there is no scientific explanation (i.e. how does water retain attributes of a chemical, once all the molecules have been removed) or evidence (despite repeated studies) for homeopathy. So a balanced review finds that homeopathy is no better than a placebo.

    There is no scientific explanation (i.e. no measurable, magical energy fields) for acupuncture and repeated tests have shown no measurable difference in treatment results between fake and real needles. And so, a balanced review is finds acupuncture is no better than a placebo.

    There are a few, a very few, areas where chiropracy may work based on studies. But the risks are high (up to and including death) and the field is very touch-feely. Studies where patients visited multiple chiropractors resulted in different assessments every time! The practitioners are incredibly inconsistent in their prognosese. I'd recommend anyone thinking to try a chiropractor get several assessments, and compare.

    Yes, there is a huge amount of money in traditional medicine, and yes drug companies have a strong motivation to seek out studies that show their products in a positive light. That tells you exactly nothing about how well alternative medicine works. It just tells you to keep shining a very bright light on traditional medicine.

    Alternative medicine is raking in many tens of billions every year too, and the companies that hawk these products are just as strongly motivated to sell product. If you distrust money, then please apply your distrust equally to both groups.
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Cheerioh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellente démonstration, une grande claque, dommage qu'il ne soit pas traduit
    Reviewed in France on February 11, 2019
    Si vous lisez l'anglais, tant mieux car vous pourrez lire cet ouvrage majeur sur la médecine alternative. J'avais lu une recommandation pour ce livre dans un autre ouvrage et il était d'occasion alors j'ai sauté dessus.

    L'un des auteurs est un scientifique de haut niveau et l'autre est médecin et a pratiqué l'homépathie. Ils essayent de porter un regard scientifique et sérieux sur la médecine "alternative". La lecture est assez passionnante parce que les auteurs font également le point en parallèle sur la médecine conventionnelle. On découvre en gros mais avec une démonstration très convaincante que la médecine n'est vraiment devenue ce qu'on appelle la médecine qu'en appliquant une certaine rigueur scientifique à ses fonctionnements. Et à partir de là le charlatanisme est devenu la médecine et ce qui reste de charlatanisme est devenu la "médecine alternative".

    Eh oui car le constat est assez effrayant sur l'efficacité des options qu'on nous suggère par rapport à la médecine.

    Les auteurs n'étaient pas a priori contre la médecine alternative et l'un des auteurs l'enseigne même à l'université mais ils ont juste fait preuve de rigueur. Les arguments des uns et des autres sont repris et analysés, les dangers potentiels abordés.

    Bref, je recommande cette lecture à toute personne qui aurait encore un doute car la conclusion est assez radicale.
    One person found this helpful
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  • RJT
    5.0 out of 5 stars esperaba este libro
    Reviewed in Spain on June 11, 2014
    un libro imprescindible para poner en su sitio las distintas medicinas alternativas. Una cosa es el conocimiento cientifico y otra muy distinta la Fe, y su potente eficacia para curar, pero también para engañar y sacar dinero a incautos, privandoles de terapias a menudo necesarias
  • Laurence D. Duncan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
    Reviewed in Australia on August 27, 2016
    Ever wondered whether any of the wacko medicines/supplements/treatments that are offered these days have any worth at all? This is the book for you.
  • Phil Cheshire
    5.0 out of 5 stars Essential read but Kindle edition is lazily adapted (5 stars for content; 1 star for Kindle edition quality)
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2011
    This should be essential reading alongside Ben Goldacre's Bad Science. Both books serve a vitally important role. Where Goldacre's book is a little more chatty, it's author being the 'David Brent' of the popular science writers world (I'm cool, you'd love to have a drink with me, and yeah, I can drink loads, while leading two double-blind trials, writing newspaper columns, participating in amateur dramatics (yes, really!) and being the funniest guy you've ever met... I'm cool, I swear, particularly if it impresses the kids and ...), Ernst and Singh's book is a little more sober, the authors being less desperate to impress. The books compliment each other well. If you come away, as some readers have, unconvinced,claiming the authors to be part of some conspiracy, or accusing them of blind prejudice against CAM then you have simply failed to understand the basic points they're making, and those points are not difficult to understand. This book and Goldacre's explain with admirable clarity the placebo effect and the way a double blind trial works and why they're important. Not difficult notions to understand in any case, but, just in case, here they are explained clearly, so all can grasp them. All treatments should undergo rigorous testing, much of the stuff on your health food shops' shelves hasn't, and when it has it has been shown (with very very few exceptions)to have all the healing qualities of a sugar pill, which in the case of homeopathy isn't surprising since that's what they generally are.
    Now, to the KINDLE edition. 1 month into my Kindle ownership and I'm now getting pretty irritated by the shoddy quality of many of the Kindle editions. This one leaves block quotes (long quotes that are set out separate from the text in the print edition) in the same font, without quotation marks and with the same paragraph indentation as the main text; so often you find yourself half way through a quotation before realising that you are reading a quotation, and then you have to workout where it ends and the main text recommences. In addition, some special symbols just come out peculiar, as do some of the lists. Is it too difficult to make the Kindle editions the same quality as the print editions? This should not even be a question. This is really poor and shows disrespect for those who have bought Kindles. C'mon Amazon!
  • A. Amato
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
    Reviewed in Brazil on October 3, 2020
    Recomendo para todo mundo. Um pouco de luz nessa escuridão. Não seja enganado, não há medicina alternativa. A medicina ortodoxa engloba todos os tratamentos que realmente funcionam.