/oss/taxonomy/term/569/all en /oss/article/pseudoscience-history/looking-iridology <p>Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, a young Hungarian boy, Ignatz Pecely was attacked by an owl. A fight ensued and as Ignatz managed not only to fend off the attacker but to break its leg. Probably feeling somewhat remorseful, he took the bird home so that it could be restored to health. When he looked into the eye of his captive he noted something that apparently surprised him. He saw a dark stripe in the colored part of the bird's eye that surrounds the pupil, and somehow from this surmised that it was a consequence of the broken leg.</p> Thu, 30 Dec 2021 19:34:19 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8968 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/even-best-scientific-studies-can-lie-case-craniosacral-therapy <p>There are days when I wish I could say, “Look for a meta-analysis that answers your question and trust it blindly.” Do vitamin supplements work? Look for a meta-analysis! Are sausages bad for your health? Meta-analysis! Will an aspirin a day keep the doctor away? Meta-analysis!</p> Thu, 23 Jan 2020 19:09:24 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8087 at /oss /oss/article/health-videos-quackery/cracked-science-31-functional-medicine <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-3edw-upv3zu" width="640" height="390" title="Functional Medicine (CS31)" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3EDW_upV3ZU?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-3edw-upv3zu&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Functional Medicine (CS31)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Functional Medicine (CS31)</iframe> </div> </p> Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:42:43 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7733 at /oss /oss/article/health-quackery/oil-oregano-alternative-yet-not-homeopathy <p>Before a television appearance this week to promote my new book, “A Feast of Science,” the producer asked if we could address “homeopathic drugs, like oil of oregano” that I discuss in the book. Therein lies a problem, namely the widespread misunderstanding of what homeopathy is all about. A far too common belief is that homeopathy encompasses all sorts of remedies that are not mainstream, ranging from acupuncture to herbal remedies. This is totally incorrect.</p> Thu, 17 May 2018 19:01:43 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7094 at /oss /oss/article/drugs-food-health-toxicity/joe-schwarcz-cancer-conspiracy-unveiled <p>“As a crab is furnished with claws on both sides of its body, so, in this disease, the veins which extend from the tumour represent with it a figure much like a crab.”</p> <p>So wrote Roman physician Galen two thousand years ago, speculating on why, some 600 years earlier, Hippocrates had used the Greek word “carcinos” for crab to describe abnormal growths on the body. Our word “cancer” is the Latin translation of “carcinos.”</p> Mon, 05 Aug 2013 01:20:42 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1994 at /oss /oss/article/quackery/homeopathy-controversy-ensues <p><em>Homeopathy is a controversial “alternative” practice. In 2012, Dr. Joe expressed his views in a series of columns in The Montreal Gazette - Homeopathy: Delusion through Dilution - which triggered a lengthy response from Ginette Beaulieu, President of the Syndicat professionnel des homeopathes du Quebec to which he, in turn, responded:</em></p> Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:46:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1708 at /oss