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    Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine
    Unavailable
    Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine
    Unavailable
    Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine
    Ebook346 pages5 hours

    Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine

    By Paul A. Offit, M.D.

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Medical expert Paul A. Offit, M.D., offers a scathing exposé of the alternative medicine industry, revealing how even though some popular therapies are remarkably helpful due to the placebo response, many of them are ineffective, expensive, and even deadly.

    Dr. Offit reveals how alternative medicine—an unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks—can actually be harmful to our health.

    Using dramatic real-life stories, Offit separates the sense from the nonsense, showing why any therapy—alternative or traditional—should be scrutinized. He also shows how some nontraditional methods can do a great deal of good, in some cases exceeding therapies offered by conventional practitioners.

    An outspoken advocate for science-based health advocacy who is not afraid to take on media celebrities who promote alternative practices, Dr. Offit advises, “There’s no such thing as alternative medicine. There’s only medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 18, 2013
    ISBN9780062223005
    Unavailable
    Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine
    Author

    Paul A. Offit, M.D.

    Paul A. Offit, MD, is a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as the acclaimed author of Autism's False Prophets, Vaccinated, Pandora's Lab, and Deadly Choices.

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    Reviews for Do You Believe in Magic?

    4/5

    64 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A quick and interesting read. I must admit I was ignorant to a lot of the things that the author talks about (details of the origins of acupuncture and controlled studies showing that taking supplemental vitamins can actually be detrimental to most people's health, etc.) so this is definitely a book that opened my eyes a little bit. A tale of manipulation and misdirection, and alternative medicine.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Excellent read, in the straightforward no-nonsense style that has made books such as Bad Science and Bad Pharma so popular. Well written, well researched and full of eye-openers, without relying on heavy-handed scare tactics.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is the second book I've read by Paul Offit and it's as fantastic, clear, and conversational as the first one I read. In "Do You Believe in Magic?" Dr. Offit tackles the controversial alternative medicine topic with a firm grasp of the history between standard practice medicine and the alternative medicine industry. This is a critical look at what does, and what does not work in the field of alternative medicine, alone with the abuses the industry is rife with. It clearly shows how the supplement industry gets a complete pass from examination before supplements hit the store shelves, along with numerous cases of supplement contamination and abuse. There is also a chapter that looks at why the placebo effect may be the real reason so many people think alternative therapies work when they are show to be ineffective in studies. The book goes on to further show how many modern day snake oil salesmen have robbed people of potential life saving treatments for something that either made their illness worse, or did nothing while their disease got to the point it could no longer be treated.A well written expose that you should read if you care about your health and well being and want to be sure your not the next one taken advantage of by snake oil salesmen. In many cases it can be a matter of life and death.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Growing up in an 'alternative medicine' household, I found this book incredibly interesting. Just as big business is behind pharmaceutical companies, so they are behind the so called alternative medicine industries. Bearing in mind that the author is a co-developer of a vaccine, his investigations into alternative's is very interesting. My friend has an officially recognised vaccine damaged child so that is where we would have some debate.I was interested to find out the side effects of some commonly used herbs, for example Stevia causing reduced fertility and high doses of garlic, bleeding. I was also concerned at how unregulated the alternative industry is and at how dreadful some of the standards where many are manufactured is. I think choosing the best medicine for your family requires investigation so that we are not taken in by the proliferation of 'snake-oil' salesmen that are responsible for prolonging peoples pain and even causing their death. More reputable studies should be published online in a user friendly format so that the ordinary person had access to the latest research before making decisions about their health. This is a very valuable book giving an excellent insight and should be read widely. I like that it includes up to date research as I haven't read studies on these topic's for many years.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I have always had a great deal of curiosity for alternative therapies, so many people have claimed it has made a huge difference in their lives. After reading this book I think it might be a case of mind over matter. Offit tackles everything from the laetrile nightmare that cost so many people their lives, to Dr. Oz and his menage of alternative mystics and n to Suzanne Sommers and her multi millionempire based on the supposed assumption that not only did she recover from cancer by going her own way but that she has also found the fountain of youth. I am a skeptic, I will admit it, fr every one person that says something has helped them, there are usually many more that say it didn't. Vitamins are covered. Are they good for you? Many will probably be surprised at some of the contentions in this book. Am I any less confused, maybe some but as long as there are competing experts out there, some saying do this and others saying no, that is not good for you, do this, I will just keep using my common sense and make my way somewhat in the middle.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      This person has her nose and pocket book in with big pharma . . What part of a woman is the same as horse urine? Readers are not naive enough, after doing homework, to believe your lies