UGH, "Dr." Oz again

[Wolfie]

Now he's doing a show and pushing homeopathy. Anybody else watching?

Seriously, they just suggested a homeopathic treatment for fevers and for the flu, among others...

And seriously, people who often follow these things complain that modern medicines are poison, but the homeopathic ones are often made out of REAL poison. (and I have an 1851 kit. It didn't work well then, why would it work well now?)

(there also was something about Detox that I missed.)

doctoroz.com/episode/10-detox-foods-will-help-you-lose-10-pounds

But in other news, he's finally being sued.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostersh ... 6764.story

[snackle]

While there's always the chance that it's poison because the FDA has no oversight, if it's truly homeopathy there is literally no original molecule in the treatment. Not that that excuses him for recommending a sugar pill to treat a real illness.

But if you want to read a lovely takedown of the oz quackery, here's a New Yorker article.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013 ... ct_specter

[twin2]

I've said several times and I'll say it again......

Nature has been evolving highly effective ways to kill us long before pharmaceutical companies came around.

[ProfessorAndMaryAnn]

Oh NO!!!! Heaven FORBID we consider alternative methods to contemporary medicine.

[GeoBQn]

I discovered a blog called Pinstrocity, where people post their stories and pictures of Pinterest projects gone awry. One woman told about how she used "Dr. Oz’s Teeth Whitening Home Remedy." (Seen here: doctoroz.com/videos/natural-teeth-whitening-solutions). You mix together baking soda and lemon juice into a paste, rub it on your teeth, then brush it off after a minute. The woman used that for some time, and as a result she now needs a root canal.

[Wolfie]

Oh NO!!!! Heaven FORBID we consider alternative methods to contemporary medicine.

If the alternative methods work, I have no issue with them. I'm an elderberry fan myself. But homeopathy is just quackery. It didn't work 150 years ago, other than as a placebo, and it still doesn't work. (not to mention that most of the stuff on the market has nothing in it and is just sugar pills, as mentioned above.)

And cleanses are also quackery, and have no proven results other than you may be starving yourself thin.

[DistantStar]

I don't buy into homeopathy for one second, but I will defend it this much: when it was invented, it was a hell of a lot better than what passed for mainstream "medicine" at the time, so I am not surprised in the least that it became popular. What I don't quite get is why it is still around (and I am not talking about herbal medicines and other things that get mislabeled as homeopathic).

But it sure beat bloodletting and purging. By lightyears.

[ProfessorAndMaryAnn]

So, you haven't tried homeopathy but you call it quackery. Cool! Makes sense!

[mockingbird]

So, you haven't tried homeopathy but you call it quackery. Cool! Makes sense!

Do you need to try it yourself to know it works or doesn't work? That's what science is for.

ETA: Since you felt the need to delete your other post. I can't speak for Wolfie but generally something that is considered "quackery" is a treatment that cannot be scientifically proven to have widespread efficacy. An effective treatment should relieve symptoms or treat the disease in the majority of cases. Of course there will be flukes. There is also a placebo effect. That does not mean the supposed treatment is something people should recommend or even that it was the cause of the cure. I'm not saying that some alternative methods do not work, because some do. Acupuncture is a good example of that. However, others have proven to not be effective. You also run into problems when there is less oversight on natural medicines and therefore, less guarantee that what you are buying really has the right ingredients or dose to help you. (Similarly, there will be people who are not helped by a more Western treatment. Nothing will work 100% of the time in 100% of the people but to be considered effective it should work the majority of the time in a significant number of people.)

[Mela99]

I don't get this guy. My fiance's grandma is OBSESSED with him, thinks his advice should be taken on everything. The ONLY time I EVER paid any attention to him was when Lisa Lillien (Hungry Girl) was on his show. Love that woman.

[ladyamylynn]

Do you need to try it yourself to know it works or doesn't work? That's what science is for.

So if I wonder about the Higgs boson, I have to personally build a particle collider in my living room? I can't just read peer-reviewed scientific papers on the subject?

[SoybeanQueen]

You don't have to be anti-alternative medicine to think homeopathy is a crock. I use acupressure and herbs to treat several things. I was at the doctor today, actually, and she recommended an herb to try before a prescription drug for one issue. But I won't spend money on homeopathic remedies because any effect is a placebo. If they worked, there would be some strong evidence of such.

[SoybeanQueen]

For those who don't want to go searching on their own - here's the page on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy, complete with citations. I used to think homeopathy was just another way of saying 'natural medicine," and I've run into others who thought so, too. It's not the same thing at all. Try drinking some water that sat next to a bottle of Prozac for a while and see how well that works.

From the wiki:

The low concentration of homeopathic remedies, which often lack even a single molecule of the diluted substance,[13] has been the basis of questions about the effects of the remedies since the 19th century. Modern advocates of homeopathy have suggested that "water has a memory" – that during mixing and succussion, the substance leaves an enduring effect on the water, perhaps a "vibration", and this produces an effect on the patient. This notion has no scientific support.[14][15] Pharmacological research has found instead that stronger effects of an active ingredient come from higher, not lower doses.

[tropaka]

They used to have a homeopathy sit in every year in our city where people would gulp the homeopathic remedies. No one was poisoned - in fact, nothing happened at all.

[Dysfundamental]

Dr. Oz really is a doctor, and has had a distinguished career as a heart surgeon.

Which to me makes his constant pushing of nonsense woo so ridiculous. But the scare quotes around "Dr." are misplaced; he is a board-certified physician currently in practice.

[tropaka]

Yes, he's a doctor, but he brings up a lot of alternative treatments in 5 min segments.

[Patsy]

Oh NO!!!! Heaven FORBID we consider alternative methods to contemporary medicine.

:roll:

He's a "doctor" who advocates methods to uneducated audiences and suggests they try an alternative that is a proven crock of shit, but sure, yeah, we're all just pearl-clutching big Pharma sheep.

edit: forgot he actually had a medical degree. regardless, his professional life is devoted to shilling the latest idiotic trends, not giving advice to individuals in a professional capacity. He's not acting as a "doctor"

[snackle]

When science shows that there is literally no active ingredient possible at the dilutions homeopathy requires, and there's not a single valid study that shows it's better than placebo, I'm pretty confident saying it's bunk without trying. In fact, if I tried it, I'd doubt my personal experience because, hello, you can't tell placebo when you're the one taking the "med."

Oz promotes reiki, too, which is equally bunk. He deserves the "doctor" scare quotes because he has turned his back on any scientific medical training he ever had.

Alternative medicine that has been shown to work is... medicine! No need for the label of alternative.

[lilwriter85]

I discovered a blog called Pinstrocity, where people post their stories and pictures of Pinterest projects gone awry. One woman told about how she used "Dr. Oz’s Teeth Whitening Home Remedy." (Seen here: doctoroz.com/videos/natural-teeth-whitening-solutions). You mix together baking soda and lemon juice into a paste, rub it on your teeth, then brush it off after a minute. The woman used that for some time, and as a result she now needs a root canal.

I heard about Dr. Oz promoting that teeth whitening remedy and I thought it was crazy for him to promote that on his show. A family friend of mine is a dentist and over the years he has been advising people not to use that crazy remedy because it damages tooth enamel.

[snarkbillie]

Oh NO!!!! Heaven FORBID we consider alternative methods to contemporary medicine.

Water is not a treatment for anything but dehydration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U

[evpqueen]

Dr. Oz is a boarded Dr.; that isn't in question.

What IS in question is the advice he gives now. His show used to have good information presented. Eat less, exercise more to lose weight. Heart attack symptoms in women. Reasons shy you need to see a Dr.

Stuff like that.

Then his show jumped the shark and he began shilling crap advice, not because he believes in the advice, rather the almighty dollar.

[freedomjesusfootball]

Yeah he can't just keep saying " eat more broccoli and get more exercise" for an hour five times a week. Which is really good advice, but it is boring. So he comes up with all this ridiculous shit like bringing the Duggars in, or discussing homeopathy. He just has too much time to fill at this point.

[sparkles]

I've heard of Dr. Oz but I've never heard him or seen his program or really read anything about him til now (nor have I ever seen an episode of Oprah or anything she's produced/shilled--probably in only person in America who hasn't :? ) but I did read the New Yorker article that was linked. His credentials are unbelievably impressive, this guy is NO slouch. But his constant pushing of the medical fad du jour and all kinds of unproved "cures" sounds like a classic case of overblown ego and a money grab. He's got people listening so he needs to give them something to listen TO. It's sad to see someone with such stellar credentials and a proven track record turning into a huckster but it's even sadder that so many sheeple are willing to take everything he says as gospel without questioning or doing any investigating on their own. I owe a lot to Western medicine but that doesn't mean I discount non-Western therapies and treatments. But before I make ANY medical decision, I research and ask questions so I can be informed. That so many people don't is extremely puzzling. Let Go, Let Oz. Jebus, the parallels to fundamentalism are astounding.

Re: the guy who's suing. Sorry, but I really had to roll my eyes at that one. You're suffering from diabetic neuropathy and you don't have the brains to know not to stick your feet in hot rice? Both my dad and my 22 YO daughter have neuropathy (non-diabetic) and neither one of them would EVER do anything that had the slightest chance of causing a problem. This guy sounds like he's trying to offload the blame for his own stupidity.

Re: cleanses. I'm the world's biggest skeptic when it comes to stuff like that but in one of my weekly emails from the iBook store there was a link to book about cleansing. This one wasn't strictly liquids but incorporated a lot of clean and raw eating as well as green smoothies and juices and superfoods. I decided to try it, mainly because I've struggled with my weight all of my adult life and follow Weight Watchers but I've never tried eliminating certain foods so I was curious to see what would happen if I did. But believe me, I gave the whole idea the hairy eyeball and was certain I'd feel exactly the same. I was wrong. Seriously wrong. There was a huge difference in my energy level (no more mid-afternoon comas), reflux was gone, sleep was better, and the general feeling of heaviness and overall aches and twinges pretty much disappeared. Once I reintroduced certain food (and I didn't do it properly so I could find out which foods affected me, my bad), all of that came back. I'm now trying to incorporate that type of eating into my daily routine (I drink at least one green smoothie a day), as well as do a cleanse every once in a while. There may not be any hard scientific evidence that it works, but done correctly it certainly did no harm and the difference in the way I felt was remarkable.

[snarkbillie]

Once I reintroduced certain food (and I didn't do it properly so I could find out which foods affected me, my bad), all of that came back. I'm now trying to incorporate that type of eating into my daily routine (I drink at least one green smoothie a day), as well as do a cleanse every once in a while. There may not be any hard scientific evidence that it works, but done correctly it certainly did no harm and the difference in the way I felt was remarkable.

Have you considered keeping a food diary or doing an elimination diet? It is quite possible that you have some foods that bother you more than others.

[rward]

Have you considered keeping a food diary or doing an elimination diet? It is quite possible that you have some foods that bother you more than others.

I recently gave up dairy and experienced the exact same thing. Turns out, I have a bonafied dairy protein allergy. Pro tip: almond breeze vanilla.

I HATE dr oz and all that homeopathic, reiki "natural" crap. It doesn't work, but if you're disabled, you'll hear about every damn day. "Don't you want to get better?" Is my favorite.