The LA Times has an article about autism that is worth discussing here. Studies show that up to three-quarters of families with autistic children try alternative therapies to treat the condition. A recent investigation by the Chicago Tribune found that many of these treatments have not been proven successful and, more alarmingly, could actually harm the child.

The therapies often go beyond harmless New Age folly, the investigation found. Many are unproven and risky, based on flawed, preliminary or misconstrued scientific research.

Lab tests used to justify therapies are often misleading and misinterpreted. And though some parents fervently believe their children have benefited, the investigation found a trail of disappointing results from the few clinical trials conducted to evaluate the treatments objectively.

It is easy to understand the eagerness with which parents of afflicted children desire a cure. With one in one hundred U.S. children diagnosed on the autism spectrum by the age of 8, there are a lot of people searching for answers. As we’ve discussed on this site, the heartbreaking reality is that there are no answers at this point. No one knows what causes autism or what can best treat (or possibly reverse) the condition. This means there is rampant speculation and anecdotal evidence being spread amongst parents and others in the medical field, which can lead to a child participating in unproven and possibly dangerous treatments.

The article gives a few examples of the risky treatments being performed:

The investigation found children undergoing day-long infusions of a blood product that carries the risk of kidney failure and anaphylactic shock. Researchers in the field emphatically warn that the therapy should not be used to treat autism.

Children are repeatedly encased in pressurized oxygen chambers normally used after scuba diving accidents. This unproven therapy is meant to reduce inflammation that experts say is little understood and may even be beneficial.

Children undergo rounds of chelation therapy to leach heavy metals from the body, though most toxicologists say the test commonly used to measure the metals is meaningless and the treatment potentially harmful.

It is worrisome that there are vulnerable children being subjected to these sorts of alternative procedures without scientific evidence of their benefit. At best, some of these methods would do nothing; at worst, there could be serious health consequences. There is an example cited in the article of a 5-year old autistic child who died in 2005 while undergoing a chelation treatment in a doctor’s office.

Obviously, more scientific research is needed, quickly, to help stop the misinformation. Parents need treatment options that are backed by solid evidence and hold up in clinical trials. Only then can we be sure we’re not doing more harm than good.

Pretty cute, huh?

I’ve been hearing a lot about Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces, and here’s a little photo of one from this site, which is just one place you can buy them.  The idea is that the succinic acid in the amber is released by the warmth of the baby’s skin and is a natural analgesic.

I couldn’t find any studies about this at all and I think I’ll stick to Infant Tylenol.  The obvious drawbacks of a baby wearing a necklace seem to have been noticed on this particular site, which states in a disclaimer:

Although we have never had any any incidents that have resulted in harm to infants, there is always a chance they will break the necklace apart and perhaps swallow one of the beads.

Um, duh.

If anyone does have any reliable information about how this necklace might actually work, I’m curious to read it. But since many of the sites selling these things also claim that the necklace will align my baby’s energy, I just have to be extremely skeptical about this one.

Skeptic Dad over at Science-Based Parenting blog has a very thorough take-down of acupuncture, including this gem:

acupuncture doesn’t work as claimed, because people who seek an acupuncturist may need actual medicine, and treating with placebo is unethical because deception must occur for the response to be most effective. As for the endorphins, those aren’t anything special. You can get the same response by pinching your skin, running a mile, or having sex.

Get all your questions about acupuncture answered in one handy article.

Last week, two parents in Australia were found guilty of manslaughter after homeopathic treatments of their daughter’s chronic eczema failed. The nine-month old girl died after the parents continued to reject conventional treatments prescribed for the condition. The description of how far they let their daughter decline is heart-wrenching:

By the time she died, she was the weight of an average three-month-old, her body was covered with angry blotches and her once black hair had turned completely white. [...] Any improvements in her condition after homeopathic treatment were short-lived, and the rest of the time she was irritable and in pain, crying whenever she was moved and taking refuge only on her mother’s breast.

Surely, these parents loved their daughter and wanted her to live. But they blatantly disregarded the advice of all the professionals consulted–even those in their homeland of India, where homeopathic medicine is an accepted equivalent to mainstream medicine. So, it’s important they be held accountable for the torture their daughter had to endure in her short life.

It’s such a shame, and hopefully this case will shed more light on the danger of homeopathy. It can kill.

This has been all over the skeptic blogosphere, but I just had to get in on the fun. Newsweek published this article with lots of negative things to say about woo, Oprah, Jenny McCarthy, Suzanne Somers, and The Secret.  The article is refreshingly critical of Oprah and her pushing of woo “experts” on her show.  Since we’ve been discussing vaccines so much, here’s a nice, juicy quote about Jenny McCarthy’s guest appearance on Oprah: » Continue reading “Newsweek Criticizes Oprah and Woo”

A couple interesting vaccination discussions have come up lately on one of my online mom support bulletin boards. One was about the MMR vaccine, and how it is apparently difficult to get it split up these days. Some women were going as far as ordering their vaccines from somewhere so they could take the separate shots to their doctors. It’s disheartening to read this kind of paranoid buzz. But the more surprising post was a query about homeopathic vaccinations. » Continue reading “Homeopathic Vaccinations?”

Part One: Acupuncture & Wheatgrass

It happened again recently that I ran into an acquaintance who was doing acupuncture to help fertility. This happens all the time in LA, really, where many people believe in acupuncture, and where many, many women (at least in my circle) have put off having children until their late 30s or early 40s. I admit that I tried acupuncture myself, at a time when I was diagnosed with serious fertility problems. I spent a couple hundred dollars on sessions with needles and some pills with herbs. I never did take the pills, because I started some actual, medical fertility treatments and didn’t want to combine the medicine I was taking with an unknown element. And then, I decided the acupuncture was silly, so I stopped going.

My travails with infertility pretty much sealed the deal on my becoming a skeptic (or you could say a critical thinker, rational mom, or what have you), because I was embittered by my encounter with alternative medicine and supplements. » Continue reading “How Infertility Made Me a Skeptic”

I’m not pregnant yet and my husband and I have been trying for a while, which is pretty fun, but we recently went to a doctor to help things along a bit. (That’s a subject for another post.) When I mentioned to a friend of mine that that we are going to need a little help from the doctor, my friend looked concerned and said, “I prefer Eastern medicine to Western Medicine in general. Western medicine waits until you’re sick to do anything, but Eastern medicine is about overall health and preventive care.” He then went on to say that Western doctors want you sick because that’s how they make their money.

» Continue reading “Post #2 Electric Boogaloo or Why I Trust My Doctor”