Pseudomedicine

Reference: Hellmuth J, Rabinovici GD, Miller BL. The Rise of Pseudomedicine for Dementia and Brain Health. JAMA. Published online January 25, 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.21560 This week’s paper of the week is brought to you by Professor Sir Muir Gray, 3V’s Founding Director. Bottom line, chosen from the paper Pseudomedicine refers to supplements and medical interventions that exist within the law and are often promoted as scientifically supported treatments, but lack credible efficacy data. Practitioners of pseudomedicine often appeal to health concerns, promote individual testimony as established fact, advocate for unproven therapies, and achieve financial gains Feynman coined the term “cargo cult science” to describe endeavors that follow “…the apparent precepts and forms of scientific investigation, but they’re missing something [...]