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93 reviews for:
Do You Believe in Magic?: Vitamins, Supplements, and All Things Natural: A Look Behind the Curtain
Paul A. Offit
4.07 AVERAGE
93 reviews for:
Do You Believe in Magic?: Vitamins, Supplements, and All Things Natural: A Look Behind the Curtain
Paul A. Offit
4.07 AVERAGE
I don't believe in magic. I am a huge fan of Western medicine and all its practices, including big guns drugs as needed, shooting myself and my kids up with vaccines to prevent horrible death and wearing sunscreen all the time. That said, I have been known to visit a chiropractor and use sambuca lozenges when the colds get bad enough I can't stand it and my doctor will just prescribe a hot toddy. Yay, placebo effect!
Offit's book starts well by looking at the minor aches and pains of a normally aging body and all the ways you can spend your money on trying to quell the aches and pains and stop the aging without ever actually getting anything in return. There are all manner of supplement out there to help "support" your joints and none of them have ever been proven to work. There are all many of vitamin and mineral regimens being sold trying to stop death in its tracks and none of them work either. In fact, eating profoundly large doses of Vitamin C can actually give you cancer instead of preventing it!
Offit goes through the history of "alternative" medicine, which is really just "stuff that isn't actually effective as medicine." He also outlines biographies and histories of Major Quacks, like Mehmet Oz and Joseph Mercola. He outlines quite a bit of scientific information, which at times makes the book just pages and pages of lists. And he uses what I think of his trademark style of writing: find a story of a medical abuse of a child to illustrate the point. Those are hard to listen to, but must, to contextualize just what kinds of horrible things desperate and desperately misinformed parents will do.
I learned a lot from it, but found parts of it dry and repetitive.
Offit's book starts well by looking at the minor aches and pains of a normally aging body and all the ways you can spend your money on trying to quell the aches and pains and stop the aging without ever actually getting anything in return. There are all manner of supplement out there to help "support" your joints and none of them have ever been proven to work. There are all many of vitamin and mineral regimens being sold trying to stop death in its tracks and none of them work either. In fact, eating profoundly large doses of Vitamin C can actually give you cancer instead of preventing it!
Offit goes through the history of "alternative" medicine, which is really just "stuff that isn't actually effective as medicine." He also outlines biographies and histories of Major Quacks, like Mehmet Oz and Joseph Mercola. He outlines quite a bit of scientific information, which at times makes the book just pages and pages of lists. And he uses what I think of his trademark style of writing: find a story of a medical abuse of a child to illustrate the point. Those are hard to listen to, but must, to contextualize just what kinds of horrible things desperate and desperately misinformed parents will do.
I learned a lot from it, but found parts of it dry and repetitive.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
couldn't put it down. so many interesting stories and people I couldn't help but to look up and read more about.
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
I listened to the audiobook read by Corey Snow, who does a good job enlivening Offit's dry prose. (He also reads very slowly so I increased the speed by 35%.) A major undercurrent in this book is the role of the media in spreading disinformation and legitimating quackery. The credulity evinced by major media outlets with regard to "treatments" for e.g. autism is astounding and frankly embarrassing on behalf of the profession. Oprah's role in amplifying and legitimising snake oil was also quite shocking and although Offit never blames her as such, I feel that her continual platforming of anti-science guests like Jenny McCarthy contributed towards skepticism and conspiracy theories around science-based medicine -- ultimately leading to the Covid-19 vaccine conspiracies and protests.
The book is also an indirect argument in favour of reform of American campaign finance and lobbying, given its descriptions of what is essentially legal corruption in politics. It is really a shame that so many politicians both Republican and Democrat put the interests of corporations ahead of citizens. Capitalism and democracy as they are practiced in the United States both look very grim through the lens of this book.
The book is also an indirect argument in favour of reform of American campaign finance and lobbying, given its descriptions of what is essentially legal corruption in politics. It is really a shame that so many politicians both Republican and Democrat put the interests of corporations ahead of citizens. Capitalism and democracy as they are practiced in the United States both look very grim through the lens of this book.
informative
fast-paced
This is a fairly brief survey of alt-med/pseudoscientific quackery. It covers a bunch of the Greatest Hits of Woo: Suzanne Somers, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Oz, cancer quackery (Burzynski, laetrile), the lack of regulation of the supplement industry, autism, and the placebo effect.
The only real flaw of the book is that it could easily have been twice as long, if not longer. In only 250 pages, Dr. Offit only gets to touch on a lot of the issues surrounding alternative medicine. If you've been a regular reader of blogs such as Respectful Insolence, a great deal of the material will be familiar to you. (I read the bibliography and went "know him, woo, woo, read that, read that, woo, woo, woo...." - Let no one accuse Dr. Offit of not having read the material he criticizes.)
I have two specific criticisms of the book: First, he attributes Steve Jobs' death to his decision to delay traditional cancer treatment. Other physicians have taken issue with this interpretation. Second, his chapter on harnessing the placebo effect is a bit of a mishmash and doesn't take the time to explore how this can be done ethically and the implications of encouraging quackery, particularly homeopathy.
If you're just dipping your toes into learning about alternative medicine and quackery, this is a good intro. Also read Trick or Treatment (Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh) which goes into greater depth on several topics, with a more rigorous focus.
The only real flaw of the book is that it could easily have been twice as long, if not longer. In only 250 pages, Dr. Offit only gets to touch on a lot of the issues surrounding alternative medicine. If you've been a regular reader of blogs such as Respectful Insolence, a great deal of the material will be familiar to you. (I read the bibliography and went "know him, woo, woo, read that, read that, woo, woo, woo...." - Let no one accuse Dr. Offit of not having read the material he criticizes.)
I have two specific criticisms of the book: First, he attributes Steve Jobs' death to his decision to delay traditional cancer treatment. Other physicians have taken issue with this interpretation. Second, his chapter on harnessing the placebo effect is a bit of a mishmash and doesn't take the time to explore how this can be done ethically and the implications of encouraging quackery, particularly homeopathy.
If you're just dipping your toes into learning about alternative medicine and quackery, this is a good intro. Also read Trick or Treatment (Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh) which goes into greater depth on several topics, with a more rigorous focus.
A totally engrossing and disturbing and ultimately compelling account of the murky world of alternative medicine. The perfect antidote to the mass cultural hysteria about mainstream medicine and the supposed salvation of alternative interventions. Would love to see a more constructive account of how to be responsible consumers of healthcare and health media. Doesn't raise the important questions of how mainstream medicine has lost the trust of the public and how to resist the deep economic engine that lies beneath the entire narrative of healthcare in America. Read it now and demand a sequel!
I came to this book expecting to find a one-sided brutal smack-down of alternative medicine, a text I would be able to hand to loved ones when their faith in quackery crosses over into dangerous territory. What I actually got out of this book surprised me: it's the best defense of alternative medicine that I've ever read.
Don't get me wrong, Offit certainly spends a large chunk of the book neatly eviscerating a who's-who list of the biggest stars of alternative medicine, and cataloging the real harm that they have done. He doesn't really present a strong case in favor of evidence-based medicine, but he does present a string of examples, from Linus Pauling's advocacy of megavitamins to Suzanne Somers's treatments for menopause to the anti-vaccination crowd to the most tragic of all, fake cures for cancer. It's one thing to read about Steve Jobs and other adults being taken in by these quacks, but reading case after case of children (who don't have a say in their medical care) being killed by these people will make you livid.
What surprised me was that Offit finishes the book with a very convincing section making the argument that alternative medicine does deserve a place in our overall medical system. Yes, it's due entirely to the placebo effect, but he makes the clear argument that just because an alternative treatment is no more effective than a placebo does not mean that it isn't an effective placebo. And if that doesn't convince you, then you don't understand the full power of the placebo response, which Offit briefly touches on the physiological realities of. He also very clearly outlines where the limits of alternative medicine lie, though, and he finishes with a wonderful anecdote that demonstrates just how alternative medicine and *cough* actual medicine can work together.
So I started this book hoping to find something that fans of alternative medicine could learn from, and I found that, but I also found something that foes of alternative medicine can learn from as well. Highly, highly recommended.
Don't get me wrong, Offit certainly spends a large chunk of the book neatly eviscerating a who's-who list of the biggest stars of alternative medicine, and cataloging the real harm that they have done. He doesn't really present a strong case in favor of evidence-based medicine, but he does present a string of examples, from Linus Pauling's advocacy of megavitamins to Suzanne Somers's treatments for menopause to the anti-vaccination crowd to the most tragic of all, fake cures for cancer. It's one thing to read about Steve Jobs and other adults being taken in by these quacks, but reading case after case of children (who don't have a say in their medical care) being killed by these people will make you livid.
What surprised me was that Offit finishes the book with a very convincing section making the argument that alternative medicine does deserve a place in our overall medical system. Yes, it's due entirely to the placebo effect, but he makes the clear argument that just because an alternative treatment is no more effective than a placebo does not mean that it isn't an effective placebo. And if that doesn't convince you, then you don't understand the full power of the placebo response, which Offit briefly touches on the physiological realities of. He also very clearly outlines where the limits of alternative medicine lie, though, and he finishes with a wonderful anecdote that demonstrates just how alternative medicine and *cough* actual medicine can work together.
So I started this book hoping to find something that fans of alternative medicine could learn from, and I found that, but I also found something that foes of alternative medicine can learn from as well. Highly, highly recommended.
This book covers a lot of great topics, including homeopathy, acupuncture, vitamins, and vaccines. A lot of really great, well-researched material on what medicines/treatments are soundly based on science (e.g. vaccines) vs. what is in no way supported by evidence and what goes into determining that a particular therapy is effectively a placebo. Also a thoughtful discussion about WHY people continue to pursue "alternative" medicines that clearly don't work. It's a very readable overview, I actually would have preferred more scientific detail but I get that this book is geared toward a general audience.
It is hard to overstate how much the modern "natural products" movement is akin to snake oil salesmen of centuries past: a totally unregulated industry making huge amounts of money pushing placebos on an oblivious public. It is time that someone called them out and I am pleased to see Offit do so in this book.
It is hard to overstate how much the modern "natural products" movement is akin to snake oil salesmen of centuries past: a totally unregulated industry making huge amounts of money pushing placebos on an oblivious public. It is time that someone called them out and I am pleased to see Offit do so in this book.
This book carries an important message at a time when the publics understanding of science is reeling, and pseudoscience begets pseudoscience on the inter webs. Well written and referenced, Paul Offit captures the crazy, deceit, and dowenright insanity "alternative" medicine has presented over recent centuries.