Have some deer velvet for your…arthritis?
Natural remedies ‘seldom effective’.
In the latest New Zealand Medical Journal Digest, doctors Shaun Holt and Sarah Jeffries and health psychologist Andrew Gilbey have slammed some of New Zealanders’ favourite natural health products as ineffective.
Holt told The Press that of the “hundreds” of therapies and products, about 95 per cent were either not biologically plausible or not supported by research evidence.
Popular but ineffective products and therapies included deer velvet, rescue remedy, arnica, propolis, magnets, shark cartilage, the lemon detox diet, and megadoses of vitamin C to treat cancer.
Some products, such as colloidal silver, which is marketed as being beneficial for the immune system and in fighting diseases such as cancer, HIV and pneumonia, could be dangerous, he said.
Tip: Jeff Palmer, Christchurch, New Zealand
People have “faith” in these therapies but that has no bearing on whether they are genuinely effective. It strikes me as sad that people will so quickly reach for an untested, unregulated, off the shelf “natural” remedy just by hearing FOAF (friend of a friend) stories. Someone is going to get hurt. People are already totally fooled.
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