Tony Brown @ February 27, 2008 # No Comment Yet
As reported on Tracy’s Shiatsu blog and on the Stone Lantern Shiatsu Blog the BBC has removed complementary therapies from its excellent Health section. This is apparently in response to lobbying by the scientific community - the “QuackBusters”.
OK there is not a lot of scientific validation that backs the benefits of therapies such as […]
Tony Brown @ July 23, 2007 # One Comment
It was surprising to come across this comparison of complementary treatments for lower back pain in the Daily Mail that rates shiatsu so low. From the article one cannot say how the ratings were calculated especially as the evidence for shiatsu reads:
One study at Drake University in America involved 66 people with lower back […]
Tony Brown @ July 12, 2007 # No Comment Yet
The latest buzz over the new Apple iPhone is reported on the BBC site in terms of a Stuff lust. It asks what is it about new pieces of technology that drive people to queue for days, get into debt to own it, or simply visit stores to pay homage?
Shiatsu is a physical therapy […]
Tony Brown @ June 15, 2007 # No Comment Yet
This is an interesting article on the BBC about diagnosis by computer in conventional medicine. It highlights the conflicts that exist between diagnosis by factual analysis alone and acting on a gut instinct. Themes that I have mentioned before in my review of the the book Blink.
Shiatsu is all about that instinct to […]
Tony Brown @ May 29, 2007 # No Comment Yet
It may be true that we value alternative therapies individually but there is a growing debate about how these therapies should be provided. In the UK scientists have called for the NHS to stop paying for homoeopathic treatments calling it an unproven therapy based on magical thinking.
Yesterday I wrote about Shiatsu in terms of […]
Tony Brown @ May 28, 2007 # One Comment
What is the connection between hotel shampoo and Shiatsu?
I formed this question whilst reading an article on value engineering on the BBC website. Value engineering is the business practise of determining what a customer is willing to pay for a service. In short a company will only provide a service if the cost […]
Tony Brown @ May 17, 2007 # One Comment
I read with interest this definition of alternative medicine on the Alternative medicine zone blog and have been toying for a while on writing my own piece on the subject. However, my original ideas were changed this weekend when we had a discussion of cancer treatments in physiology class.
We read this week that by […]
Tony Brown @ April 23, 2007 # 3 Comments
This story about sperm made from bone marrow reminds us that in Chinese medicine there always has been a link between the bones and reproduction.
The Kidneys are organs of Water, the most Yin of the Five Elements. To that affect they rule over the deepest and most dense parts of the body; this […]
Tony Brown @ April 18, 2007 # No Comment Yet
Given my concerns yesterday about drug dependency for an increasingly large number of people I find that reports of a new family of drugs that may boost your brain power is a worrying trend. The drugs were originally designed for people with sleep disorders but when tested on healthy volunteers were found to enhance […]
Tony Brown @ April 11, 2007 # 2 Comments
The BBC has put up an interesting article on medical myths in conventional medicine. It talks about research conducted into many common medical practices that have no evidence to support their use. For example:
Using disinfectant skin gel before operations is no better than soap and water.
A screening test for prostate cancer that is […]