Australasian Science: Australia's authority on science since 1938
The Bitter Pill
Is Complementary Medicine a Valid Alternative?
By Marcello Costa
How can we compare the evidence base behind conventional and complementary medicine?
Marcello Costa is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor and Professor of Neurophysiology at Flinders University.
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When “Healing Hands” Start Grasping
By John Dwyer
Esoteric breast massage claims “to heal many issues such as painful periods, polycystic ovaries, endometriosis, bloating/water retention, and pre-menstrual and menopausal symptoms”.
John Dwyer is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at UNSW and Foundation President of Friends of Science in Medicine (www.scienceinmedicine.org.au).
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What’s the Evidence?
By Sue Ieraci
The terms “evidence-based” and “peer-reviewed” have become touchstones for reliability, but why should the views of peers count so much and what does “evidence-based” medicine really mean?
Sue Ieraci is an emergency physician who has worked in NSW public hospitals for 30 years. While maintaining a continuous clinical career, she has held roles in management and medical regulation, and been involved in health systems research.
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Science Advocacy and Social Media
By Campbell Phillips
The ever-changing media landscape is continuing to affect the role of science communication. How can scientists and medical practitioners be expected to respond to social media?
In the world of Web 2.0, where information is shared, diluted, convoluted and conflated just as easily as it is published, how can the layperson expect to divine fact from fantasy?
The past year has seen radical changes in the media landscape, and particularly in science communication, where credibility and accuracy of reportage have been called into question in several instances. These events threaten the exposure of scientific knowledge in the wider community, as people turn to the internet in ever greater numbers for information.
Cap, Gown and Wand
By Michael Vagg
Are there any good arguments for teaching complementary medicines in tertiary institutions?
Dr Michael Vagg is a Consultant Physician in Pain and Rehabilitation Medicine and a Clinical Senior Lecturer at Deakin University. His Twitter handle is @mickvagg.
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When ARTG and CAM Spell SFA
By Rachael Dunlop
Recent moves to improve the regulation of alternative medicines looked promising until the Therapeutic Goods Administration caved under pressure from the industry.
Rachael Dunlop is a medical researcher focusing on the causes of motor neurone disease. She is a Vice President of Australian Skeptics Inc, blogs at The Skeptics Book of Pooh Pooh, and tweets @DrRachie.
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Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog
By John Dwyer
Modern pharmacology is among the most rigorous of sciences. After all, the health of millions depends on pharmacologists getting it right, but what has happened to those who dispense those products – the men and woman of modern pharmacy?
John Dwyer, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of NSW, is an Immunologist and medical educator with a long history of involvement in efforts to protect the public from health care fraud. He is a co-founder of Friends of Science in Medicine.
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A Dose of Science
By Rob Morrison
Alternative health practices pirate the terminology and titles of real science to gain credibility, but it is what their practitioners do, not what they say, that gives the game away.
Rob Morrison is a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University. A scientist by training, he is one of the founders, and current Vice-President, of Friends of Science in Medicine.
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