Alternative Medicine

News, commentary, criticism, analysis, and research from complementary and alternative medicine.

Causality: how to prove it scientifically, and why it matters

Edzard Ernst - 17th August 2026

Science has long understood the dangers of attributing false causality, developing tools like Koch's Postulates and the Bradford Hill Criteria to avoid it.

Alternative Medicine

From growing basil to curing disease, pseudoscientists find support in the Qur’an

Stefano Bigliardi - 22nd July 2026

While pseudoscience is not unique to Islam - nor more pervasive within the religion - it is important to challenge where the Qur’an is used to support clearly pseudoscientific ideas.

Alternative Medicine

Aromatherapy, the NHS maternity crisis, and the obsession with “natural” birth

Michael Marshall - 24th June 2026

As part of an NHS push for "normal" births - without medical intervention - midwives around the country have been treating labour complications with aromatherapy.

Alternative Medicine

Autohemotherapy: blood pseudoscience with a Brazilian twist

Mauro Proença - 15th June 2026

Autohemotherapy, involving withdrawing blood from a vein and injecting it into a muscle, has been gaining followers in Brazil.

Alternative Medicine

The Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine retraction scandal

Edzard Ernst - 5th June 2026

Prior to its closure, the journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine retracted hundreds of papers due to concerns over their validity.

Alternative Medicine