Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yoga for Thyroid Disease

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was downward delete. Can't sleep, clown will eat me 22:25, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Yoga for Thyroid Disease

POV fork extolling the benefits of yoga for various thyroid disorders, completely disregarding the normal pathophysiological mechanisms that underly thyroid disease, poorly sourced, and lectures the reader on blood pressure. Not encyclopedic. Should be deleted, or maximally merged with the relevant thyroid disease articles. JFW | T@lk 22:27, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Delete. POV. Unencyclopaedic. Gnusmas 22:43, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

• Strongest possible delete Wikipedia cannot, should not, and must not give medical advice of any kind, especially advice referring to "a blockage of life force" and other pseudoscience mumbo-jumbo. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 22:58, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

• Weak delete - I had a go at the article; trying to imposing some structure, wikify and qualifying some of the claims originally stated as facts. Two issues here as far as citing goes - firstly is it so used by a significant number of people worldwide (whether or not it works), I agree a single self-interested source is poor choice to verify and fails to meet WP:Reliable sources criteria (unlike a national newspaper citing numbers for example). Secondly is the issue whether its claims can be verified (again by reliable sources). We have Bloodletting as a historical article on the development of modern medicine, yet it provides no citations to confirm it was of any benefit. So I tend to feel alternative medicine topics are acceptable if notable by usage (rather than speculative wishful thinking claims of a clinic or practitioner), and claims of action need be carefully edited to NPOV unless convincing evidence. This article for now fails to verify that yoga practioners do really try to manage overt thyroid disease, and on this basis I currently vote for delete (unless CAM practioners can rapidly improve on the article). David Ruben ^Talk 22:59, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

• It may indeed be used, and if so it is worth a mention - but the main point is not whether it works, or whether it is quackery or good medicine, but whether it merits an article in its own right. As a sentence in Medical uses of yoga (or just in Yoga, and as another in the section on diseases under Thyroid, maybe, but not on its own. We don't have an article on ACE inhibitors for reducing hypertension (or at least I hope we don't!). We have one on ACE inhibitors which refers among other things to their role in BP control; we have one on hypertension which mentions ACE inhibitors as one possible control measure. Get rid of it! Gnusmas 06:44, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

• I've removed the "advice" since it conflicts with the policy on disclaimers. All unsourced (!reputable secondary sources???) and POV claims should be removed, and it should be clearly stated that there is no medical evidence. But other than that, it should be kept.--Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 11:45, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete, even with cleanup to remove the POV there is no encyclopedic content here.--Nilfanion (talk) 20:59, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete without prejudice to re-creation. There is not a shred of credible evidence to suggest it works... unless we're in a physiological la la land. Yoga can reduce anxiety... but that's where I say it ends.[1] As for David Ruben's points-- (1) bloodletting, it does actually have a place in modern medicine, (2) there is an article called "Yoga and Thyroid Disease" out there. A search for "Yoga for thyroid disease" on Google yields 402 hits... "Yoga and thyroid disease" yields 1,690 hits-- that isn't much. At this time, I think mention in thyroid disease, if at all, would be more appropriate. Nephron  T|C 02:24, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Whether bloodletting has a place in modern medicine is beside the point. It was historically an important technique and it is worthy of an encyclopaedia article regardless of whether or not it is still used and regardless of whether or not it works. Yoga for Thyroid Disease should indeed be deleted - but because it's insignificant, not because it is rubbish. Gnusmas 12:47, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Precisely my point (although perhaps not as clear as I had intended) - issue is not if works or not (any such claims need be cited and in NPOV terms), but whether article should be deleted comes down to whether it is in significant use or not - here in UK, I agree insignificant. David Ruben ^Talk 01:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

I think "obscure but correct" versus "obscure and rubbish" makes a difference. As an example, Fecal bacteriotherapy is obscure. Google gives one 1,120 hits for "Fecal bacteriotherapy". Nevertheless, I think the article has its place. It is accepted as an alternative treatment and has been studied with some rigour. Nephron  T|C 05:20, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

• Delete --WS 11:20, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
• Delete per Nephron -- Samir धर्म 04:33, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.