Combating the Religion of Alternative Wellness

The New York Times recently published an article discussing the differences between the concepts of medicine and wellness, and it is full of wonderful points to consider.  In an effort to not simply re-hash the article in my own words, I will focus on one point in particular, that of the relationship between medicine and religion.  As the author, Dr. Gunter notes, "Medicine and religion have long been deeply intertwined, and it’s only relatively recently that they have separated. The wellness-industrial complex seeks to resurrect that connection."

In the context of this article, the 'wellness-industrial complex' seems to be limited only to the vitamin and supplement industry, with it's many products claiming to 'cleanse' and 'purify' our supposed self-destructive habits of everyday life.  However, I would contend that much of the arguments made in the article could logically be applied to the alternative medicine community at large.  Indeed, many alternative therapies require suspending our understandings of realty and accepting religious or otherwise mystical beliefs.  From the 'memory' of water that homeopathy purports, to the 'meridians' expounded by traditional Chinese healers, there is no shortage of unscientific nonsense within alternative medicine.

The Times article also discusses how conspiratorial thinking shapes support for the wellness-industrial complex, which I believe could also be extended to the whole range of alternative medicine.  This should be no surprise as both religious thinking and conspiracy theories have a common bond of providing a sense of order and control, in an otherwise chaotic world.  As Dr. Gunter writes:

"Belief in medical conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the pharmaceutical industry is suppressing 'natural' cures, increases the likelihood that a person will take dietary supplements. So to keep selling supplements and earthing mats and coffee enema kits and the other revenue generating merchandise, you can’t just spark fear. You must constantly stoke its flames.

There can be no modern wellness industry without medical conspiracy theories."

Indeed, 99% of the entire alternative medicine market relies on fear or distrust of patients who are often times already in a very vulnerable state.  In fact, this kind of misinformation and conspiratorial theorizing are at the heart of the anti-GMO, anti-vaccination, and pro-organic movements as well.  My argument is that the cult-like following of these alternatives is precisely what makes it so hard to convince their practitioners and followers that there is simply no science (or at most, very little science) to back up their claims.  

Additionally, it is also this cult-like adherence that causes so many consumers of alternative treatments to get overly emotional and even offended when they are told that they have been duped.  In my opinion, this is the major propagator of all anti-science movements.  It is a vicious cycle of leaders and followers, where once a follower has 'bought in', they then become leaders in their own right, constantly expounded the evils of big pharma, medical associations, corporations and anyone else who encourages conventional treatments.  Unfortunately, this means that in order to combat such pious thinking, those in favor of encouraging evidence-based wellness are going to have to ruffle quite a few feathers in doing so.

Dr. Oz Goes to Washington

For those who remember, a few months back there was a short-lived call from her fans for Oprah to run for President in 2020.  It did not take long for her to downplay any rumors that she might run for office, and since that time there has been little else to mention of it.  But for those who were disappointed in her decision, it seems as though you will still be able to get a little taste of what an Oprah presidency would be like.  That's because according to a number of media outlets, President Trump has appointed a long-time Oprah favorite, Dr. Oz, to sit on the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Appointing a well-known quack and peddler of pseudoscience is no surprise from a president who has his own ways with half-truths, lies, and dishonest misdirection.  Nevertheless, such a nomination should be a red flag to anyone in the health or science fields who weren't already dissatisfied with the current administration.  Though the position Oz will hold will be mostly symbolic, to an anthropologist like myself, there is a great deal of appreciation for the importance of such political symbols.

By putting Dr. Oz on an even greater pedestal, the Trump administration is giving credence not only to Oz as an individual, but to the entire movement of anti-science quacks and fear-mongers that he endorses.  From homeopathy to anti-GMO to anti-vaxxers, Dr. Oz has made himself an enabler - if not an outright supporter - of ineffective and sometimes even dangerous ideas.  It is already bad enough that our government gives low-key recognition of homeopathic treatments via the  'Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States', but with the appointment of someone so vocally pro-pseudoscience as Dr. Oz there is a message sent that the government will not just let bad medicine exist passively, but actively endorse it.

Once again, the appointment and the position itself are clearly symbolic forms of political posturing by Trump.  Still, it stands as a useful reminder that dogmatic purveyors of misinformation and pseudoscience are going nowhere, and should be kept in constant check.  Lest we return to the days of snake-oil, leeches and bloodletting.

New Pro-organic and Anti-GMO Conspiracy Theories

I know I'm late to the party on this, and it's been over a month since I have posted, but better late than never, right?  I received an article from a friend a few weeks ago talking about how Mike Adams over at Natural News (no link = no traffic) is claiming that the recent E. coli outbreak at Chipotle is a part of a conspiracy led by biotechnology companies such as Monsanto.  While Mike Adams should hardly be a concern to any rational person, the real concern is how quickly and easily such unfounded theories spread.  In agreement with Adams, some of the following remarks were highlighted in the article:

"I said this last week! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"From the first I heard about Chipotle's e.coli problem I smelled a rat!"

"I said that to my husband, I knew that Big Ag was behind it! You don't get e-coli in organic foods. Chipotle said they couldn't find anything in the food. Very suspicious!"

That last one truly is a pro-organic hail Mary.  "You don't get e-coli in organic foods."  Really?  Do people actually believe this?

Let's make this clear:  You can absolutely get E. coli from organic foods.  You can also get it from genetically modified foods, and even non-GMO conventional foods.  E. coli is a form of bacteria that can affect all of these types of foods, simply because there is no discernable difference between them.  As Hank Campbell writes over at Science 2.0:

Anti-science progressives have waged a decade-long war on genetically-modified food but, to-date, not so much as a single stomach ache has been caused by any modified vegetables, with 400 million people having eaten GMOs, while persistent outbreaks in E. coli correspond to increases in organic food claims that it is nutritionally superior or better in any way at all than ordinary farm-raised food, despite numerous studies showing the opposite.   The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has refused to recognize "organic" food as distinguishable in any way from any other food, except in growing process, because it simply isn't.

For the record, I do not consider myself pro-GMO per se.  I am, however, pro-science, and it does not take a scientist to see that the anti-GMO crowd relies on conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific claims to push their agenda.  For this reason, I prefer to label myself as anti-anti-GMO.