Snake oil science : the truth about complementary and alternative medicine

Bausell, R. Barker 1942- (Author).

Record details

ISBN: 9780195313680 (alk. paper)
ISBN: 0195313682 (alk. paper)
Physical Description: print
xix, 324 p. : ill ; 22 cm.
Publisher: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-315) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The rise of complementary and alternative therapies -- A brief history of placebos -- Natural impediments to making valid inferences -- Impediments that prevent physicians and therapists from making valid inferences -- Impediments that prevent poorly trained scientists from making valid inferences -- Why randomized placebo control groups are necessary in CAM research -- Judging the credibility and plausibility of scientific evidence -- Some personal research involving acupuncture -- How we know that the placebo effect exists -- A biochemical explanation for the placebo effect -- What high-quality trials reveal about CAM -- What high-quality systematic reviews reveal about CAM -- How CAM therapies are hypothesized to work -- Tying up a few loose ends.