Claims are often put forward by proponents of alternative remedies and therapies stating that they have tested their treatment and it has passed the test: proof that it works. Skeptics, however, insist that unless a treatment has passed a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, it is not valid.

Why is this? What is so special about the double-blind, placebo-controlled test? To find the answer, we need to look at the different ways that treatments can be tested and what the pitfalls are. (more…)

Only a couple of weeks ago, stem cell research hit the headlines when a 30-year-old Spanish woman became the first person to have a transplanted organ (trachea) that had been grown from her own stem cells. It is an example of the potential that stem cell technology has for the future of medicine: it offers not only the hope of rejection-free transplants, but also cures for genetic diseases too.

Stem-cell treatments are in the news again this week. However, it’s for the wrong reasons this time. (more…)