Author Archive
Vodcast: What exactly is Homeopathy?
This Sunday at 10am I’ll be giving a lecture called Defending Homeopathy in the 21st Century for the Homeopathic Medical Association. There is no doubt that homeopathy needs defending in the UK at the moment as the attacks on it, while lacking innovation, have been relentless and vicious with little space granted to us in [...] Read more »
Reverse Psychology in Advertising Campaign
One of the central tenets of Provocative Therapy is that people don’t like being told what to do. This is probably due to the fact that we often perceive advice (even when well meant) to be patronising and condescending. Thus Provocative Therapists utilise a variety of specially designed tools that use clinical reverse psychology to [...] Read more »
Vodcast: Homeopathy Defended
This Vodcast is unedited because I consider edited vodcasts to be slightly less than authentic. See “Why that parliamentary report was disingenuous” for related content. Read more »
Why that parliamentary report was disingenuous
I have gone on record as saying two things about the Science and Technology Committee’s report on Homeopathy: It is one of the least impressive documents to emerge from the House of Commons for some time. It is in at least one part deeply disingenuous. Yes, yes I know you want evidence. Well my first [...] Read more »
Science Committee ignores Health Minister’s advice
I guess it was predictable. Despite the strong words of Health Minister, Mike O’Brien in favour of liberty and democracy, the crew of MPs on the Science and Technology Committee announced this morning that “the NHS should cease funding homeopathy. It also concludes that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should not allow [...] Read more »
Big Day for NHS Homeopathy, Liberty and Democracy
Today is a red letter for NHS homeopathy, democracy and liberty in the UK. At 10.00 am this morning the MPs of the Science and Technology Committee will issue their report on their view of the provision of homeopathy on the NHS. Much was said at the hearings of the committee in December but the [...] Read more »
The ‘English Disease’ is no joke
Giving diseases a national identity, an inanely xenophobic practice at best, is now regarded as politically incorrect. Referring to rubella as ‘German measles’ might still be considered merely naïve, but any mention of ‘mongolism’ (once a widely used synonym for Down’s Syndrome) is likely to be met with severe censure. The term ‘French letters’ has [...] Read more »
Pill Poppers, Pharmacology and Medical Marketing
In it’s TV programme Pill Poppers, Horizon has just given BBC2 viewers an unforgettable lesson in pharmacology of unprecedented educational value. The curative power, paradoxical effects (even ‘homeopathic’ eg. in the case of Ritalin), addictive qualities and side effects of modern pharmaceuticals were brilliantly conveyed to the lay viewer. But wait a minute! Not everybody [...] Read more »
Surprise! Surprise! Stress can cause heart attacks!
In a discovery of cosmic significance, it has just been proved scientifically that men are more likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes after enduring great stress. Didn’t we already know this? Apparently not. Let me explain… Organisations such as the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have until now claimed that ‘there is no evidence to [...] Read more »
The Best Kept Secret in Medicine?
The word ‘stress’ is so commonly heard these days that it’s difficult to believe that it has only been used in the context of the human condition for about 80 years. It was introduced by endocrinologist, Hans Selye, who did a huge amount of work that demonstrated the role of stress hormones (mainly adrenalin and [...] Read more »
