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Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All

Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All by Rose Shapiro Reserve your copy now It will be available in late February 2008 Suckers reveals how alternative medicine can jeopardize the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. In short, it is an industry that preys on human vulnerability and makes fools of us all. Review by Steven Poole in The Guardian

The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine

The Cure Within A History of Mind-Body Medicine by Anne Harrington Reviewed by Dr. Jerome Groopman In “The Cure Within,” her splendid history of mind-body medicine, Anne Harrington tries to explain why we draw connections between emotions and illness, and helps trace how today’s myriad alternative and complementary treatments came to be. A professor and chairman of the history of science department at Harvard, Harrington has produced a book that desperately needed to be written.

Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine by R. Barker Bausell Millions of people worldwide swear by such therapies as acupuncture, herbal cures, and homeopathic remedies. Indeed, complementary and alternative medicine is embraced by a broad spectrum of society, from ordinary people, to scientists and physicians, to celebrities such as Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey. In the tradition of Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things and Robert Parks's Voodoo Science, Barker Bausell provides an engaging look at the scientific evidence for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and at the logical, psychological, and physiological pitfalls that lead otherwise intelligent people--including researchers, physicians, and therapists--to endorse these cures. The book's ultimate goal is to reveal not whether these therapies work--as Bausell explains, most do work, although weakly and temporarily--but whether they work for the reasons their proponents believe. Indeed, as Bausell reveals, it is the placebo effect that accounts for most of the positive results. He explores this remarkable phenomenon--the biological and chemical evidence for the placebo effect, how it works in the body, and why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect will inevitably produce false results. By contrast, as Bausell shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals and systematic reviews, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for CAM therapies over and above those attributable to random chance. Here is not only an entertaining critique of the strangely zealous world of CAM belief and practice, but it also a first-rate introduction to how to correctly interpret scientific research of any sort. Readers will come away with a solid understanding of good vs. bad research practice and a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest miracle cure, be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain. NY Times Book review

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NEW RELEASE Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry Dan Hurley In his lively debut, health and medical journalist Hurley takes aim at the $21 billion supplement industry and its potentially injurious "natural" products. Hurley maintains that the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 is one of the worst laws on the books. Shielding vitamins and herbal concoctions from FDA testing, it requires only that no curative claims be made for such "dietary supplements." In the prologue, Hurley shows that curative claims are made, anyway, and the users of an herbal salve were able to sue when the stuff ate their flesh. Broadway Press

Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada www.meningitis.ca A mother's efforts in memory of her son who died in 1995 For more information, phone and fax 519-746-8306 or 1-800-643-1303 Contact: Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada The mailing address is Box 28015 R.P.O. Parkdale, Waterloo, N2L 6J8.

Canadian Television coverage for meningitis

• CBC-TV coverage - do a search for meningitis in Newsworld

What you and your families deserve to know

• What does the rash look like? - Mosby's pediatric encyclopedia - Chances are that your medical doctor has never seen one of these. Ask your MD to visit this sight often. If they find out that you know more than they do about what the meningococcemia rash looks like, they might pay more attention to you, even when the outbreak is over.

Who is really at risk? Bar and club workers, and those exposed to second hand smoke!

Clubs and bars and second hand smoke - are they the source of the epidemic?

Are there reasons to take action against them?

If you work in a bar or club you may handle thousands of glasses and bottles every night. Do you think that Workman's Compensation covers you if you acquire the meningococcus bacteria as part of your work experience?

A simple sneeze or cough when someone has a cold can spread droplets over a wide area. Did anyone see the movie Outbreak? If they also carry the meningococcus bacteria in their throat or nose, it can land on your food and drink. It doesn't dry up in just 3-4 minutes like the health department wants you to think.

• Meningitis Immunization and prophylaxis - reasons why you need to follow sound medical public health advice, and not listen to chiropractic practitioner Jeffrey Winchester.
• Community outbreaks and guidelines - Immunizations and antibiotics stop epidemics
• Clinical problems, interventions and complications - early diagnosis and proper treatment saves lives

Local media coverage and editorial feedback

• Kitchener-Waterloo The Record - archives
• The grieving father of a Kitchener teen who died of meningitis is still shocked by the speed of the illness. January 2, 1998
• Kitchener-Waterloo's The Record - Opinions and views on the meningitis outbreak - Brian Caldwell
• Letters to the editor - Dr. Polevoy's Views from behind the golden haze
• The Imprint - University of Waterloo student newspaper - January 16, 1998
• Go to the The Record for today's latest Local News

Other Ontario Cities - Media coverage

London Free Press articles

• OFFICIALS SAY LONDON NOT AT INCREASED RISK - January 3, 1998
• MENINGITIS FEAR SPURS LONG LINEUPS - January 3, 1998

Some interesting articles about outbreaks in other parts of the world

School-based clusters of meningococcal clusters Three quarters of the school clusters occurred in secondary schools, with over 70% of subsequent cases occurring within 2 weeks of the index case. Rapid initiation of treatment after 2 cases of meningococcal disease in a school would have potentially prevented 50% of subsequent cases in the clusters described.

• Georgia outbreak - links and review of cases. Between November, 1992 and January, 1993, an unusual cluster of meningococcus Group C disease occurred in a small area around Carroll County.
• Two students die in 1997 - Michigan State University

Penn State University outbreak Search PSU's Daily Collegian for stories on what occured on their main campus when meningococcemia invaded their school

• Breakout in sports camp - The Physician and Sportsmedicine 1996
• Meningococcus on international airlines - a real risk?
• Sports water bottles - Young players are victims in Peace River, Alberta
• Campus outbreak and how they handled it in the U.K. - Southampton, England

Major articles from medical organizations

• Search Pulsus.com for meningitis - AAP and Canadian Pediatric Society
• AAP Search for Meningococcus - just plug in the word meningococcus
• Meningococcal disease HPA - UK
• Meningococcal fact sheet Australia

Help is only a click away - for some nice pictures and hot-links

• Information you don't want to miss- Meningitis Foundation of America - What about a missed diagnosis?
• Are looking for the meningococcal meningitis rash? By the time you download this large picture, it may be too late. Don't wait for the rash. - National Meningitis Trust.
• CDC in Atlanta - What you need to know about meningitis. It's the Outbreak people
• Search Health Canada for meningococcal meningitis
• The Facts about Meningococcal Diseases - Government of New Brunswick, Canada
• Meningits Research Foundation - Waterloo, Ontario - in honour of Mike Longo who worked at the Twist (now the Revolution), and died in 1995 at the age of 19 years from meningococcal meningitis.
• Meningitis Research Foundation - U.K.

• Everything you ever wanted to know about meningococcal meningitis - Magellan
• How do doctors recognize meningococcal disease?: British Medical Journal
• Which contacts of patients with meningococcal disease carry the pathogenic strain of Neisseria meningitidis? A population based study - British Medical Journal
• National Meningitis Trust - U.K. -
• New vaccine news for meningoccal meningitis:
• Dutch test Group B vaccine
• Meningococcal Travel Warnings -
• WHO Epidemics around the world - Outbreaks and news - not just meningitis

Personal life and death stories of meningococcal disease victims and their families

• Love keeps couple going in wake of tragedy - Lubbock, Texas

Links to vaccine manufacturers

• International Vaccine Institute - try their links to Connaught Canada - they make the vaccine used here in Waterloo. Their site is so bad that there is no information, even on their Canadian based server, about the current vaccine being used. Why should Canadian consumers rely on half-baked, illogical, and dangerous propositions by those in the alternative health fields, who know little or nothing about the death and destruction that meningococcal meningitis can inflict on a community.
• You would think that Connaught, formerly owned by the University of Toronto, and our Provincial government would have taken the bull by the horns and created an information page for consumers and doctors alike. Shame on Connaught. They have emerged as just a small partner of Pasteur-Merrieux, part of an infinitely larger multi-national conglomerate. The funny thing is that the company Rhone Poulenc produces pesticides to help grow tobacco. They were featured in the new best selling novel by Richard Preston called the Cobra Event about biological warfare terrorists.
• Biochem Pharma Canada - Biochem announces that Canadian researchers discovered a potential vaccine that could prevent all types of Meningococcal Meningitis, including Type B
• North American Vaccine - excellent web site with information about many vaccines under development, including meningococcal vaccines, for Connaught and others. They have lots of information about meningococcal meningitis on their site.

Please let us know if you find this web site helpful or not. If you would like to help spread the word, just give our URL to your friends or doctor.

If you would like to send us information about any meningitis outbreak just Contact us at: Meningitis Hotline

Make sure that you have identified yourself. It would also be nice to know your age, whether you are a student, or parent. What is the size of your community, etc.

Questions for Waterloo area residents during epidemic: You might like to download this and see if anyone in your community is opposed to immunization and how it was handled by your media.

Please complete this and e-mail it back to us. All results are confidential. Just tell us your age, sex, school, or type of work.

If you can't use e-mail, just send it by snail mail below:

1. When and where did you get your meningitis shot?
2. Did anyone try to talk you out of getting the shot? Who were they?
3. Did anyone such as a chiropractor, health food store owner, religious leader, or alternative provider contact you and ask you to refrain from participating in the immunization program?
4. What were these people telling you, or giving you to back up their claims?
5. Did you see Dr. Jeffrey Winchester's signs on Bridgeport Rd.?
6. Do you remember what the signs said?
7. Did you personally see any pickets at a local school?
8. Did you read The Record's account of Dr. Winchester's activities?
9. Do you think that Dr. Winchester's tactics were helpful or hurtful to the community?
10. Did you discuss Dr. Winchester's tactics with anyone?
11. Did you call Dr. Winchester with your opinion? What was it?
12. How many of the articles in the Record did you read about the epidemic?
13. Did you see CKCO, Global, or CBC coverage of the epidemic?
14. What local radio stations do you listen to? Did they cover the story?
15. During the epidemic did you hear any broadcasts on CKGL AM-570 that were troubling?
16. Did you hear Susan Powder's show on CKGL when she said that all antibiotics were dangerous and could hurt people?
17. Were you afraid to get the shot? If so, why were you afraid?
18. Did your family restrict your activities because of the outbreak?��B>��LI>
19. Did you visit a doctor or clinic during the last month?
20. Did they have signs or information about the epidemic in their office?
21. Were you able to get through to the health department to ask questions?
22. Did the epidemic change your behavior, i.e. sharing drinks, smoking, kissing?
23. Did you go to any downtown clubs or bars during the outbreak?
24. Do you know which clubs may have been implicated in the outbreak?
25. Do you work at or know anyone who works at the clubs?
26. Do you know if anyone who works at those clubs were tested for meningitis?
27. Did you notice any signs inside or outside the clubs asking if you had received your shot?
28. Did you know any of the victims of the disease? How close were you?
29. What were you told by the health department if you were a close contact?
30. Did you postpone the shot until after Melissa died?
31. Will you now get your shot?
32. If not, why not?