Fwd: What's Going on at WIKIPEDIA?

[Guest guest]

Does anyone know of any watchdog websites looking out for internet

censorship?

 

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service <omns

Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 5:20 PM

What's Going on at WIKIPEDIA?

alobar

 

 

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also the OMNS archive link

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included.

------------------------------

 

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

*Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, April 26, 2010*

 

What's Going on at WIKIPEDIA?

Do You Detect Any Bias Against Nutritional Medicine?

 

(OMNS, Apr 26, 2010) Wikipedia is a popular internet site for those seeking

information on a very wide variety of subjects. What is unique about it is

that anyone, it is said, can contribute to or edit its content. The

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service has received complaints from readers

who have tried, and failed, to correct what they think are a number of

strongly biased declarations at the Wikipedia page on Orthomolecular

Medicine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomolecular_medicine<http://www.cihfimediaservic\

es.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=69 & e=OTkyMg== & l=-http--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomol\

ecular_medicine>.

 

Here are some of those statements. (Emphasis added.) How many do you agree

with?

 

" (T)he broad claims made by advocates of megavitamin therapy are considered

*unsubstantiated* by available medical evidence. Critics have described some

aspects of orthomolecular medicine as *food faddism or quackery*. Research

suggests that some nutritional supplements might be harmful; several

specific vitamin therapies are associated with an increased risk of cancer,

heart disease, or death. "

 

" In the early 20th century, some doctors hypothesized that vitamins could

cure disease, and supplements were prescribed in megadoses by the 1930s.

Their *effects on health were disappointing*, though, and in the 1950s and

60s, nutrition was de-emphasized in standard medical curricula. "

 

" Amongst the individuals claimed posthumously as orthomolecularists are Max

Gerson, who developed a diet that he claimed could treat diseases, but which

is now thought to be *ineffective and dangerous*. "

 

" *Niacin has no known efficacy in psychiatric disease*. "

 

" (Dr. Abram) Hoffer believed that particular nutrients could cure mental

illness. In the 1950s, he *attempted* to treat schizophrenia with niacin. "

 

" Orthomolecular therapies have been criticized as lacking a sufficient

evidence base for clinical use: their scientific foundations are too weak,

the studies that have been performed are too few and too open to

interpretation, and reported positive findings in observational studies are

contradicted by the results of more rigorous clinical trials. Accordingly, '

*there is no evidence that orthomolecular medicine is effective*.' "

 

" The lack of scientifically rigorous testing of orthomolecular medicine has

led to its practices being classed with other forms of alternative medicine

and regarded as *unscientific*. It has been described as *food faddism and

quackery*, with critics arguing that it is *based upon an 'exaggerated

belief in the effects of nutrition upon health and disease*.' "

 

" The claims made by orthomolecular medicine proponents have been rejected by

the medical community as unsubstantiated or false; *as of 2009, current

evidence does not support the efficacy of orthomolecular medicine in

treating any disease*. "

 

" Barrie Cassileth, an adviser on alternative medicine to the National

Institutes of Health, stated that " *scientific research has found no benefit

from orthomolecular therapy for any disease*, " and *medical textbooks also

report that there is " no evidence that megavitamin or orthomolecular therapy

is effective in treating any disease. " *

 

" The American Academy of Pediatrics labeled orthomolecular medicine *a

" cult " * in 1976, in response to claims that orthomolecular medicine could

cure childhood psychoses and learning disorders. "

 

" (O)rthomolecular medicine can cause harm and is often *very expensive*. "

 

" Further clinical studies show *no benefit of vitamin E supplements for

cardiovascular disease*. "

 

" Several orthomolecular related AIDS approaches such as multivitamins,

selenium and amino acids are used with reported improvements in patients,

which are attributed to the *placebo effect*. "

 

As you read the full article, you may find more statements that you think

are biased, or that you may agree with. Either way, your input to Wikipedia

is invited. And, perhaps, very much needed.

 

The problem, according to our sources, is that when interested people have

tried to correct biased or even derogatory Wikipedia statements, their

contributions and edits have been immediately eliminated and overwritten.

 

If you would like to verify whether this is true or not, please go directly

to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomolecular_medicine<http://www.cihfimediaservic\

es.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=69 & e=OTkyMg== & l=-http--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomol\

ecular_medicine>and

make whatever corrections you think are needed in order for the

Orthomolecular Medicine page to be more accurate.

 

Then check Wikipedia again in a few days.

 

We would welcome your sharing your Wikipedia experiences with us:

omns A sampling of readers' comments will appear in a

future OMNS release.

 

*Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine*

 

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight

illness. For more information:

http://www.orthomolecular.org<http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt/t_go.ph\

p?i=69 & e=OTkyMg== & l=-http--www.orthomolecular.org>

 

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and

non-commercial informational resource.

 

*Editorial Review Board:*

 

Ralph K. Campbell, M.D. (USA)

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (Canada)

Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)

Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)

Steve Hickey, Ph.D. (United Kingdom)

James A. Jackson, PhD (USA)

Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D (Sweden)

Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)

Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)

Erik Paterson, M.D. (Canada)

Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)

 

*Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor and contact person. Email:

omns *

 

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[Guest guest]

oh wow, that is alarmingly biased and misleading.