/oss/taxonomy/term/5916/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/quack-clinics-mexico-bet-big-experimental-immunotherapy <p>Despair is a powerful motivator. While some people travel to Mexico for pleasure and relaxation, others are prompted by despair. If you have been diagnosed with stage IV cancer and your doctors have run out of solutions, but you hear that a state-of-the-art clinic in Mexico can help where conventional treatments have failed you, why wouldn’t you pay for the trip? After all, what do you have to lose?</p> Fri, 14 Apr 2023 16:09:16 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9478 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/enigma-evidence-based-medicine <p align="left">I know what you’re thinking. If not evidence-based, what else could medicine be? Well, it could be based on conjecture, hearsay, wishful thinking, anecdote or just plain flim-flam. Indeed, throughout most of our history, medicine was not evidence-based. Bloodletting, purging and various herbal treatments were practiced without any attempt to systematically determine whether they worked. Heart attack victims were put on extended bed rest, and patients after cataract surgery had to endure days of lying still with sandbags over their heads, just because this seemed logical.</p> Wed, 13 Jul 2022 11:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9172 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/what-really-meant-evidence-based-medicine <p>That’s an interesting question. What else could medicine be based on if not on evidence? Well, it could be based on conjecture, hearsay, wishful thinking, anecdote or just plain flim-flam. Indeed, throughout most of our history, medicine was not evidence-based! Bloodletting, purging and various herbal treatments were practiced without any attempt to systematically determine whether they worked.</p> Fri, 31 Dec 2021 17:18:01 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8969 at /oss