?Alternative Medicine???"

[chrisw]

I just came across the following little article
"Andy Lewis of Oxford, UK wanted to see if it was possible to identify alternative medicine websites simply by analysing their language, and so began his study of “quackometrics”.

The result is his website www.quackometer.net where his “Quackometer” will analyse a website you’re curious about and rank it on a scale of 0 to 10 “Canards”, which Lewis maintains is the “internationally accepted SI unit for quackery.”

Practitioners of alternative medicine, Lewis says, tend to pepper their pitches with the same pseudoscientific language, terms like: “energy”, “vibrations”, “holistic”, and “quantum”. "
I am sure you will all be pleased to know that COPDCanada.ca resulted in this message "This site has a has a currently measurable quackery content of 0 Canards (The Canard is the internationally recognised SI unit for Quackery.)
A recent check on the British Medical Journal got a score of 2 (out of a maximum of 10) quacks but only because of an article in there about homeopathy!
Chris

[morningstar]

Thank you Chris,
I have put this in my favorite. There are so many time I wonder how much truth there is in a lot of the things I read on some of these pages. And the info in most cases is so closed to being true that it make it very hard for someone like me to tell the difference.
Thanks again,

Happy Trails

[LindaNY]

Nice site that will come in handy. Thanks Chris.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Thanks Chris.....nice to know COPD Canada ( www.copdcanada.ca ) came in at a 0

[the bear]

Hi Chris; Now I am confused. I searched stem cell pioneers and they are 0 but the doctor that they got treated by, and they extol, is a Dr. Burton Feinerman and he scored 6. Any comment Chris?? bear

[LindaNY]

Bear, IMHO.... I'm convinced that those people and the doctor are nothing but scam artists.

[the bear]

They bear watching. Bear is watching. Hugz, bear.

[Joyce7]

I wouldn't mind running a few of my doctors through the quackometer. I am almost certain that one or two of them are "quackers" for sure ...Joyce

[chrisw]

The way I read it "StemCellPioneers" is a bulletion board largely for believers who has spent large sums of money on the doctor and would like to believe that their money is not wasted. However my guess is that the doctor probably deserves "7 quacks" as he is the one trying to sell something.

Don't forget that the "Quackometer" is based on a new program/idea and each result is not researched, just the wording on the webpage being checked.

www.quackwatch.org/ is an older site based on a lot of research about the particular quack!

Chris

[larrynz]

Certainly a site to keep.
The stemcell site was the first that came to my mind, Bear saved us the trouble.

[the bear]

Hi Blossom; It might be a good idea to post information on COPD sight as it informs and increases knowledge. Sometimes what you don't know is much more dangerous tha what you do. b

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

I'm not sure what you're asking me Bear....to add stem cell info or the Quackometer?

As it currently stands I do not have info on COPD Canada's website re: stem cells mainly because it's still in the research area and not a lot of stats. There's too much on going research etc for me to be constantly adding/changing/uploading and the like. At best I can point folks in the right direction....

As for the "quackometer";
I don't think I'm "quackers" ;D about adding it.

People use the site to learn about the disease, living/coping with etc....we don't want to add more confusion...remember many of the folks that go there are newly diagnosed....e'thing starts with one step at a time.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Second thoughts (I've read the good Dr's credentials etc of Chris's recommended Quack site )

I stand corrected....I think I'll add it to the links page Bear... good idea.