Name: Do You Believe in Magic?
ISBN: 9780062222961

Paul A. Offit

Uses real-life stories to present a scathing expose of the alternative medicine industry that debunks the treatments that don't work and takes on the media celebrities who promote alternative medicine.

The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine

Do You Believe in Magic?

Paul A. Offit, M.D.

In Do You Believe in Magic?, 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.”

Gavin

Heinous illusions leech £200bn off the world’s vulnerables, annually. The problems of CAM have been covered with more originality and verve by Goldacre / Singh & Ernst, but Offit covers its history, as well as some newer meta-analyses (2005: n=136,000 finds increased mortality from dosing vitamin E. 2008: Cochrane (n=230,000) concludes multivits correlate weakly with increase in cancer and heart disease risk, further confirmed in 2011). 

But you can’t hear these ideas too often: there’s no such thing as conventional or alternative medicine (only stuff that works and stuff that doesn’t); everything is chemicals; origin is irrelevant to chemistry; too much of a good thing is lethal; the natural is not always or generally good. 

Offit is too quick to jump from the conclusive weak-magnitude evidence against multivitamins (particularly overdosing vitamins A, C, and E) to his attack on all supplementation. For instance: some two-thirds of the world is deficient in vitamin D; few people get enough magnesium through their food; and it’s uncontroversial that vegans should supplement B12. But we’re not really in conflict, because he’d change his mind if he looked at the evidence, and we each accept that (publically-funded) science will out the truth. 

Prose 2/5, ideas 4/5. 

(I read this under an edition called Killing Us Softly.)

Teresa Schultz

Paul Offit takes on the world of alternative medicine in this book, questioning the laws that deregulated governmental oversight of the industry, the people who sell it and the drugs themselves. He delves into the long history of alterative medicine and why it's popular. Overall, the book shows a concerning look at alternative medicine, but contrary to what others say, does not dismiss them out of hand.

In the interest of being open and transparent (as Offit thinks the world of alternative medicine should be), I'll admit I am the choir Offit is preaching to. I have a big mistrust of alternative medicine, think listening to celebrities like Suzanne Somers and Jennie McCarthy is ridiculous and fight against those who say it doesn't hurt other people if they don't get their kids vaccinated (because oh, it does. It really does). However, I recognize my own bias and tried to put this book to a good test, not just eagerly nod my head because Offit is affirming my own beliefs. And I feel like he did a pretty good job of being fair and providing strong, scientific evidence for his arguments.

Although it's true that most of the book takes a negative look on alternative medicines, he gives credit where it's due. He recognizes that some supplements (although not many) are helpful and beneficial, like folic acid and Vitamin D (although only certain people really need them). He also gives a lot of credit to the idea of placebos, and again, although some people see this as patronizing, perhaps, it didn't come off that way to me. He gives evidence that the placebo effect can be really helpful, especially when it can REALLY treat patients who would otherwise have to take medicine that would have harmful side effects. That's certainly something that no on should dismiss.

What he's really after is to stop the exploitation that is involved in the industry. He provides hundreds (if not more) of studies that show the many ways in which alternative medicine can harm, whether it's from the actual medicine provided, doctored medicine that isn't what it's advertised or from "healers" who push alternative medicine, which might not harm in itself but also doesn't help, to the point that people don't seek out treatments that would actually help. The industry has NO regulation, and if you think you can trust people who are making a profit from you buying these meds, then I've got a bridge to sell you. 

He also places his ire on those pushing the medicine, not those seeking it. 

The only quibble I have is that I wish he had used a better citation system for all the evidence he provides. He doesn't cite within the book, just provides a section in the back so that you have to hunt for his evidence. In a book that wants transparency, I would have liked to have seen him make it easier on the readers to verify his information. But don't assume that he doesn't provide the evidence - he does, I checked some of the sources. It just takes a little bit more work to do.

Helen Bright

Morgan Holland

Jacob Mishook

KADY BURNS

Tanya Sutton

A half century ago, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, Chinese herbs, Christian exorcisms, dietary supplements, chiropractic manipulations, and ayurvedic remedies were considered on the fringe of medicine. Now these practices—known variably as alternative, complementary, holistic, or integrative medicine—have become mainstream, used by half of all Americans today to treat a variety of conditions, from excess weight to cancer. But alternative medicine is an unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks, and many popular alternative therapies are ineffective, expensive, or even deadly. In Do You Believe in Magic? Dr. Offit debunks the treatments that don't work and tells us why, and takes on the media celebrities who promote alternative medicine. Using dramatic real-life stories, he separates the sense from the nonsense, explaining why any therapy—alternative or traditional—should be scrutinized. As Dr. Offit explains, some popular therapies are remarkably helpful due to the placebo response, but "there's no such thing as alternative medicine. There's only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't."

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

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