Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Bausell, R. Barker

ISBN 10: 0195383427 / ISBN 13: 9780195383423

Editore: Oxford University Press, 2009

Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Codice articolo G0195383427I4N10

Riassunto:

Hailed in the New York Times as "entertaining and immensely educational," Snake Oil Science is not only a brilliant critique of alternative medicine, but also a first-rate introduction to interpreting scientific research of any sort. The book's ultimate goal is to illustrate how the placebo effect conspires to make medical therapies appear to be effective--not just to consumers, but to therapists and poorly trained scientists as well. Bausell explores this remarkable phenomenon and explains why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect (and other placebo-like effects) will inevitably produce false results. Moreover, as the author shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for alternative therapies beyond those attributable to random chance. Readers will come away from this book with a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest "miracle cure," be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.

Informazioni sull?autore: R. Barker Bausell, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore, was Research Director of a National Institutes of Health-funded Complementary and Alternative Medicine Specialized Research Center.

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: Snake Oil Science: The Truth about ...
Casa editrice: Oxford University Press
Data di pubblicazione: 2009
Legatura: Paperback
Condizione: Very Good
Condizione sovraccoperta: No Jacket