| Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial | |
|---|---|
Cover of first edition |
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| Author(s) | Simon Singh, Edzard Ernst |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Alternative medicine |
| Publisher | Bantam Press |
| Publication date | 2008 |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 0593061292 |
| OCLC Number | 190777228 |
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial (North American title: Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine)[1] is a 2008 book about alternative medicine by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. Singh is a physicist and the writer of several popular science books. Ernst is a professor of complementary medicine.[2][3][4]
Contents |
The book evaluates the scientific evidence for acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and chiropractic,[2] and briefly covers 36 other treatments. It finds that the scientific evidence for these alternative treatments is generally lacking. Homeopathy is concluded to be completely ineffective: "It's nothing but a placebo, despite what homeopaths say".[5]
Although the book presents evidence that acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal remedies have limited efficacy for certain ailments, the authors conclude that the dangers of these treatments outweigh any potential benefits. Such potential risks outlined by the authors are contamination or unexpected interactions between components in the case of herbal medicine, risk of infection in the case of acupuncture and the potential for chiropractic manipulation of the neck to cause delayed stroke.
The book is very critical of Prince Charles' advocacy of alternative medicine and the actions of his now-defunct Foundation for Integrated Health. The book is dedicated, in an ironic fashion, to the Prince.
The book received generally good reviews. The New England Journal of Medicine reviewed the book and said this about the authors: "Simon Singh is a physicist and science journalist, and his coauthor, Edzard Ernst, is a physician and professor of complementary medicine. Ernst is one of the best qualified people to summarize the evidence on this topic."[6] The Daily Telegraph found the book to be "a clearly written, scrupulously scientific examination of the health claims of key areas of alternative medicine: acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic therapy and herbal medicine. The results are stark. In no case, apart from in some limited ways in herbal medicine, do any of these 'therapies’ work. On the contrary, they can be life-threatening."[7] The journal Nature tempered a generally positive review of the book with a concern that the authors' sense of certainty "mirrors that of the proponents of alternative therapies, leaving each position as entrenched as ever."[2]
The book drew criticism from consumers and practitioners of alternative therapies.[8] The British Journal of General Practice published a review by Jeremy Swayne (former Dean of the Faculty of Homeopathy[9]) that was critical of the book and its argument.[10]
A review by Harriet A. Hall in Quackwatch stated that some negative reviews of the book demonstrated "an appalling poverty of thought"; articulating that since the reasoning behind the author's conclusions is solid, critics instead deny the methods of science, misrepresent the books' contents and use ad hominem attacks against the authors.[11]
Singh was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for comments he wrote in a column[12] in The Guardian about the book.[13] The BCA eventually dropped the case after a ruling on the meaning of Singh's article went against them.