Quackery is the practice of promoting medicine which lacks evidence of effectiveness. The word derives from quacksalver, an archaic word originally of Dutch origin (spelled kwakzalver in contemporary Dutch), meaning "boaster who applies a salve." It is often difficult to distinguish between those who knowingly promote unproven medical therapies and those who are mistaken as to their effectiveness. In libel cases in US courts against people who accused others of being guilty of quackery, the co ...

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Quackery - History Quackery - Quackery today Quackery - Reasons quackery persists

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Quackery, Quackery - History, Quackery - Quackery today, Quackery - Reasons quackery persists

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Considered by many an archaic term, quackery is most often used to denote the peddling of the "cure-alls" described above. To use the term today is to level a serious objection to a medical practice which is not generally accepted by the medical community at large. This can mean that the practice under question is unproven according to scientific principles, though it does not necessarily mean that the technique does not produce the intended effects (see placebo effect for an example of how this might work). Quackery, in this context, is int ...

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Quackery, Quackery - History, Quackery - Headline text, Quackery - Quackery today, Quackery - Reasons quackery persists

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Quackery, the peddling of unproven, and sometimes dangerous, medicines, cures or treatments, has existed throughout human history. In ancient times, theatrics were sometimes mixed with actual medicine to provide entertainment as much as healing. Quack medicines often had little in the way of active ingredients, or had ingredients which made a person feel good, such as what came to be known as recreational drugs. Morphine and related chemicals were especially common, being legal and unregulated in most places at the time. Arsenic a ...

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Quackery, Quackery - History, Quackery - Quackery today, Quackery - Reasons quackery persists

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Widely marketed quack medicines (as opposed to locally produced and locally used remedies), often referred to as Patent medicines, first came to prominence in Britain and the British colonies, including North America, in the 17th and 18th centuries. Nostrums such as Duffy's Elixir and Turlington's Balsam, which first came into use in this period, were among the first products to make use of branding (for example, by the use of highly distinctive containers) and mass marketing, in order to create and maintain markets (Styles 2000). A similar ...

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Quackery, Quackery - History, Quackery - Headline text, Quackery - Quackery today, Quackery - Reasons quackery persists

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Magnet therapy, or magnetic therapy, is a form of alternative medicine based on the claim that certain medical disorders can be effectively treated by exposure to magnetic fields. Some believe that magnetic fields emanating from permanent magnets placed close to the body can cause bones to heal faster, relieve pain, and perform other forms of healing to the body. It is most commonly recommended by practitioners as a cure for joint disorders and back problems. Critics charge that no verifiable evidence has been put forth that magnet therapy has any real benefits, and thus relegate it to the realm of ps ...

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Colloidal silver is a colloid of silver particles in water. It has some antimicrobial properties, and is claimed by some to be a beneficial nutritional supplement. The ingestion of colloidal silver in large quantities or over a long period of time may cause the discoloring condition argyria, in which the skin turns blue-gray. Colloidal silver - Properties. Colloidal silver can be used to keep drinkable water potable over a long period; however, it is not suited for disinfection. It is also used internally a ...

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Colloidal silver - Properties Colloidal silver - Controversy Colloidal silver - Preparation

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The Bates Method is a method created at the beginning of 20 th century by Dr. William Horatio Bates, M.D. (1865-1931) . The aim of the Bates Method is to improve vision and restore the natural habits of seeing, which according to Bates have been lost through strain, tension and the resulting misuse of the eyes. Despite the more than 80 years that the Bates Method has been available, it is still a controversial system. Nevertheless, m ...

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Bates Method - Techniques Bates Method - Eye exercises Bates Method - The Bates Method
Bates Method - Theory of accommodation/focusing Bates Method - Theory regarding the pathogenesis of refractive errors Bates Method - Efficacy Bates Method - Safety
Bates Method - Criticisms of the Bates Method
Bates Method - Theory of accommodation/focusing Bates Method - Theory regarding the pathogenesis of refractive errors Bates Method - Efficacy Bates Method - Safety

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"Crank" (or kook, crackpot, or quack) is a pejorative term for a person who writes or speaks in an authoritative fashion about a particular subject, often of a scientific or pseudo-scientific nature, but is perceived as holding false or even ludicrous beliefs. Crank is also used as a noun to describe the opinions of such people (see American Heritage Dictionary 2000 - noun definition 3). Usage of the label is often subjective, with proponents of competing theories labeling each other cranks, but the term pr ...

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Crank person - Crank tactics Crank person - Cranks on the Internet Crank person - Related terminology Crank person - Topics typically associated with the crank label
Crank person - Physics computer science and mathematics Crank person - Medicine Crank person - Politics economics and law Crank person - Paranormal and spiritual

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Autointoxication is an ancient theory based on the belief that intestinal waste products can poison the body and are a major contributor to many, if not all, diseases. In the 19th century, it was the ruling doctrine of medicine and led "colonic quackery" in various guises. By the turn of the century, it had received some apparent backing from science. When it became clear that the scientific rationale was wrong and colonic irrigation was not merely useless but potentially dangerous, it was exposed as quackery and subsequently went int

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Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. In ancient times, such medicine was called nostrum remedium, "our remedy" in Latin, hence the name "nostrum"; it is a medicine whose efficacy is questionable and whose ingredients are usually kept secret. The name patent medicine has become particularly associated with the sale of drug compounds in the nineteenth century under cover of colourful ...

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Patent medicine - Patent medicines and advertising Patent medicine - Ingredients and their uses
Patent medicine - What was in them? Patent medicine - What did they claim to be good for? Patent medicine - What did they actually contain?
Patent medicine - The end of the patent medicine era Patent medicine - Surviving consumer products from the patent medicine era
Patent medicine - Products no longer sold under medicinal claims

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Ben Goldacre is an London-based British journalist and doctor. He writes a column, Bad Science, on the Saturday science page of The Guardian newspaper. Devoted to satirical criticism of scientific inaccuracy, health scares, pseudoscience and quackery, it focuses especially on examples from the mass media, consumer product marketing and complementary and alternative medicine in Britain. He has been a particular critic of the claims of TV nutritionist Gillian McKeith, anti-immunisation campaigners, Brain Gym, bogus ...

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Ben Goldacre - External link

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A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money or advantage by false pretenses. If the ascription is false, then "charlatan" is pejorative; if it is true, then the description "charlatan" is no libel. The word comes from French charlatan, a version of "Charley," a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The greatest of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin who set up a stage in the Place Dauphin, Paris from 1618 ...

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Dishonesty is a term which in common usage may be defined as the act of being dishonest; to act without honesty; a lack of probity, to cheat, lying or being deliberately deceptive; lacking in integrity; to be knavish, perfidious, corrupt or treacherous; charlatanism or quackery. Dishonesty is the fundamental component of a majority of offences relating to the acquisition, conversion and disposal of property (tangible or intangible) defined in the criminal law. Dishonesty - English law. Dishonesty< ...

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Dishonesty - English law
Dishonesty - Theft Act 1968

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Crap, depending on one's perspective, is either a slang or vulgar term, referring to ////BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBSSSSof the world where English is the main language, where it is used in speaking of things which are of poor quality, yum boobs is good or are day, in the case of a statement, inaccurate or of little factual substance, like lies, hype, and quackery. Also can be partnered with "bull" to enhance the power of the word. It is also commonly used to express wonder or surprise where other words are too strong, ...

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Crap - Etymology Crap - Derivative words Crap - Other meanings

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Pseudoscience is any body of knowledge, methodology, or practice that is erroneously regarded as scientific [1]. Pseudoscience - Introduction. The standards for determining of any body of knowledge, methodology, or practice as nonscience vary, but often include lack of empirical evidence, unfalsifiability, or failure to comply with scientific method or apply a heuristic such as Occam's Razor. A n ...

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Pseudoscience - Introduction Pseudoscience - Classifying pseudoscience Pseudoscience - Pseudoscience contrasted with protoscience Pseudoscience - The problem of demarcation Pseudoscience - Fields often associated with pseudoscience Pseudoscience - Pseudomathematics Pseudoscience - Criticisms of the concept of pseudoscience
Pseudoscience - People Pseudoscience - Lists

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In 1795, an American doctor from Connecticut named Elisha Perkins developed the Perkins Patent Tractors — a pair of rods, one made of iron and one made of brass, that purportedly drew out disease and pain by passing them over one's body. The Connecticut Medical Society loudly condemned the tractors as "delusive quackery". Despite the device's failure to meet the conventional medical standards of the time, the tractors proved popular, and even George Washington bought a set. Perkins died of yellow fever in 1799 and his son, Benjamin Perkins, amassed a fortune with the tractors, as well as wi ...

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Electrical quackery, Electrical quackery - Perkins Patent Tractors, Electrical quackery - Electric belts and corsets, Electrical quackery - Electronic Reactions of Abrams, Electrical quackery - Other Theories of Electrical Medicine

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Main article: Albert Abrams In the years from World War I to 1924, Albert Abrams promoted "ERA", which stood for Electronic Reactions of Abrams. His theory was that electrons were the basic element of all life, and that he could diagnose, and later cure, diseases by analysis of blood. His work was debunked in 1923 and 1924, and after his death his machines were found to consist of nothin ...

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Electrical quackery, Electrical quackery - Perkins Patent Tractors, Electrical quackery - Electric belts and corsets, Electrical quackery - Electronic Reactions of Abrams, Electrical quackery - Other Theories of Electrical Medicine

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New developments in science are often adapted into questionable therapies. Magnets were, and still are, used as elements in cure-all devices. The plausibility of electrical cures was enhanced by the fact that electrical machinery was being put into practical use in medicine at this time. Electrocautery machines proved much more effective than hot irons and other primitive cauterization tools, for example. The 20th ...

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Electrical quackery, Electrical quackery - Perkins Patent Tractors, Electrical quackery - Electric belts and corsets, Electrical quackery - Electronic Reactions of Abrams, Electrical quackery - Other Theories of Electrical Medicine

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Colloidal silver can be used to keep drinkable water potable over a long period; however, it is not suited for disinfection. It is also used internally and externally for alleged health benefits. Colloidal silver has been claimed to kill various microorganisms. Continued ingestion of silver may result in argyria, a permanent discoloration of the skin. While high concentrations of colloidal silver will certainly kill many bacteria in vitro, the use of colloidal silver as an inter ...

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Colloidal silver, Colloidal silver - Properties, Colloidal silver - Controversy, Colloidal silver - Preparation

Read more here: » Colloidal silver: Encyclopedia II - Colloidal silver - Properties