General Discussion

pnwmom

(110,255 posts)

34. I used to work with investigators who were carrying out clinical trials,

Tue Apr 22, 2014, 02:21 PM

Apr 2014

so I might be more familiar with them than you.

I also know that most of the people here who throw around the use of the term "woo," to mean anything other than conventional western medicine, have no idea that acupuncture -- one of their favorite targets -- is a medical device that was long ago approved by the FDA on the basis of clinical trials.

From the National Cancer Institute: (Maybe you've heard of it.)

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/acupuncture/patient/page2

Research on acupuncture began in the United States in 1976. Twenty years later, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the acupuncture needle as a medical device. Many illnesses are treated with acupuncture. In cancer treatment, its main use is to control symptoms, including the following:

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

41 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

re: What is or isn't "Woo", how about Pradaxa? Science or woo? Should it have ever been OKd at all? [View all] Electric Monk Apr 2014 OP

A drug being dangerous doesn't make it "woo" cthulu2016 Apr 2014 #1

It sure as heck wasn't "good science", yet it was approved for use. nt Electric Monk Apr 2014 #2

Clinical efficacy and safety trials not infrequently fail to detect the extent of adverse effects. hlthe2b Apr 2014 #4

Woo "attempts to place itself as scientifically, or at least reasonably, supported." Electric Monk Apr 2014 #6

Not a single person on this thread supports your broad brush use of that term. Time to rethink... hlthe2b Apr 2014 #10

The OP was an open question, for discussion, not an absolute conclusion. nt Electric Monk Apr 2014 #11

You are using a term that does not fit nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #19

Wrong. n/t pnwmom Apr 2014 #29

LOLOL hlthe2b Apr 2014 #31

They've released a drug whose effects cannot be measured pnwmom Apr 2014 #32

Honestly, pnwmom hlthe2b Apr 2014 #33

I used to work with investigators who were carrying out clinical trials, pnwmom Apr 2014 #34

I agree with you with respect to acupuncture, which has been shown to induce release of endorphins. hlthe2b Apr 2014 #36

I don't think the OP was saying that the conduct of clinical trials is woo. pnwmom Apr 2014 #37

What you will likewise find is a dearth of research on alternatives to many orthopedic surgeries.. hlthe2b Apr 2014 #38

To clarify, woo isn't the procedure or item itself NuclearDem Apr 2014 #41

This is another attempt to have members of DU accept Woo as science.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #9

+100 Vashta Nerada Apr 2014 #17

And sometimes the drug companies suppress the reports of the adverse affects. SheilaT Apr 2014 #28

Yet another issue, but not reflective of clinical trials failing to detect adverse effects = "woo" hlthe2b Apr 2014 #30

There is a diabetes med nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #8

Nadine... Even the best of scientific method (clinical trials) can fail to detect serious adverse hlthe2b Apr 2014 #12

In that case there was clear fraud nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #18

It may well have been. I'm sorry you experienced that. hlthe2b Apr 2014 #20

Look up Avandia nadinbrzezinski Apr 2014 #21

Indeed. You are correct with respect to Avandia. hlthe2b Apr 2014 #24

If all bad science was woo... cthulu2016 Apr 2014 #26

The word 'woo' is seriously overused on this website. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Apr 2014 #3

and no it doesn't VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #7

That's because it is jargon, slang made up by a specific community Bluenorthwest Apr 2014 #23

That imprecision is a deliberate attempt to discredit the word mathematic Apr 2014 #27

Still not woo.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #5

This is Woo TlalocW Apr 2014 #13

I have actually seen THAT Woo at a 7-11 paying for gas once! VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #14

No, pharmaceuticals aren't pseudoscience. NuclearDem Apr 2014 #15

Chiropracty gets dismissed as woo here, and I don't claim it works by magic. nt Electric Monk Apr 2014 #16

Because of vertebral sublaxation and whether it actually exists or not. NuclearDem Apr 2014 #22

Is there some particular reason you seem eager to broaden... Silent3 Apr 2014 #25

This message was self-deleted by its author riverwalker Apr 2014 #35

I get what you are trying to say. laundry_queen Apr 2014 #39

Not woo. The clinical trials were done as required and it is effective in preventing stroke. Avalux Apr 2014 #40