Killing Us Softly

<p>More people than ever are using alternative medicine. But as expert Dr Paul Offit explains these untested therapies are ineffective expensive and even deadly.</p> <p>Now that homeopathic remedies are offered on the NHS it’s clear that various therapies once considered alternative or complementary have become mainstream – prescribed to burn fat shrink prostates alleviate colds reduce stress eliminate pain and prevent cancer. At the same time uptake of effective vaccines such as MMR has fallen – a disturbing trend which in the case of the MMR has lead to a sharp rise in the number of measles cases.</p> <p>In ‘Killing Us Softly’ Paul Offit reveals alternative medicine – an unregulated industry under no obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks – can actually be very harmful. In ‘Killing Us Softly’ he exposes how:</p> <ul> <li>Homeopathic asthma preparations and bogus cancer cures have replaced life-saving medicines.</li> <li>Acupuncture needles have pierced hearts lungs and livers and transmitted viruses including hepatitis B hepatitis C and HIV.</li> <li>Chiropractic manipulations have torn arteries.</li> <li>Megavitamins increase the risk of cancer and heart disease—a fact well known to scientists but virtually unknown to the public.</li> </ul> <p>Using real-life case histories to back his argument Dr Offit shows us why any medical treatment – alternative or conventional – must be properly evaluated. ‘There’s no such thing as alternative medicine. There’s only medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t.’</p>