Comments for Edzard Ernst

Comment on Religiosity and health by JK

JK — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:22:33 +0000

‘The name ‘Forest Wanderers’ does rather sound like the name of an English football team Talker.
It might be that ‘Evidence Based Wanderers’ would be a more suitable name for your group. Wandering would though have to be restricted to paths that have been proven with evidence to exist and that meet your wandering criteria. Informed consent of course would be required by wanderers before any wandering.
Don’t be surprised though if some wanderers start listening to anecdotes from non evidence based Wanderers and then start wandering down other non-evidence based paths.

Comment on Useful tips for examining health claims by DavidB

DavidB — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:17:49 +0000

BBC Radio 4’s topical “You and Yours” lunchtime programme on Wednesday 15th July featured cases of “herbal” sleeping tablets being sold by sellers on Amazon. Purchasers reported them to be extremely effective. That is because they were 100% Zopiclone. One user discussed her terrible addiction and severe withdrawal problems. Legal cases are ongoing, about where responsibility lies in the matter. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002yx7k

My Facebook feed is currently full of adverts for “Smiles & Joys” East Asia cream for eczema and psoriasis. Many patient testimonials say how very effective it is and how fast at giving relief. The blurb mentions extract of a particular plant. If the testimonials are true and not simply fabricated, then I am certain the cream must contain potent topical corticosteroids. Topical steroids have an important place in managing atopic ecema (less so in psoriasis) but to be used effectively, you have to know which one, and in what potency. Time and again, when I was on the Board of the National Eczema Society, “herbal creams” from China that were effective, contained undeclared steroids.

Comment on Religiosity and health by Talker

Talker — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:01:15 +0000

An alleged negative effect that comes to mind is a sudden and mysterious decline in the number of digits on your bank balance. Consider the American megachurch pastor, whose relationship with God is apparently mediated exclusively through a private jet, or the Indian guru whose path to enlightenment runs directly through your savings account.

I therefore propose a religion free of these unfortunate side effects. Forest Wanderers, a group of people gets together and wanders in the forest. That’s it. That’s the religion. There are no leaders, because the moment someone appoints themselves Chief Wanderer, they will inevitably start selling a premium wandering experience with early access to the good trails. There are no teachings, because nature has been running a perfectly good curriculum for four billion years without a single PowerPoint. There are no sacred texts, because the second you write something down, someone’s grandson translates it wrong and starts a war over which direction to wander.

Just people from all walks of life, forming a community, wandering the forests, and enjoying nature — completely free of charge, with no membership tiers, no building fund, and absolutely no gift shop.

The only tithe we accept is picking up your own trash. The only commandment is: watch out for that root. The only afterlife we promise is compost, which, frankly, is more than most religions can guarantee.

Comment on How unethical is chiropractic? by Kurt Youngmann

Kurt Youngmann — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 19:04:56 +0000

One of the frequent ethical issues that I encounter is deliberate obfuscation of the fact that the “doctor” isn’t a doctor at all – he or she is merely a D.C. For example, I’ve seen chiropractic newspaper ads that use words like “doctor” or “physician” without adding the “D.C.” or the word “chiropractor.” Maybe I’m too much the cynic, but I believe that the average person seeing those 2 words will assume that the advertiser is, indeed, an actual doctor.

Comment on Religiosity and health by Terry Polevoy, MD,FRCPC

Terry Polevoy, MD,FRCPC — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:39:47 +0000

My recently resurrected web site about Church of Scientology. Their Canadian HQ is right down Hwy 401 from me in Cambridge, Ontario.

Narcononymous.com follows the actions of Narconon with a special focus on legal issues, challenges to their drug rehab facilities, and the many tragedies around the world. Of particular interest, are their close alliances with Scientology & CCHR

Comment on Causality: how to prove it, and why is it important? by Edzard

Edzard — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:46:25 +0000

In reply to Chris Robinson. there is a search function; see box on the top right

Comment on Causality: how to prove it, and why is it important? by Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:39:17 +0000

Thank you for another great article. It would be good if there was a way of seraching your archive of these posts.
I have added this to my list of useful links as I know I will want to reference it again in the future as I deal with sceptics and misinformed comments amongst many.

Comment on Causality: how to prove it, and why is it important? by Timothy Nelms

Timothy Nelms — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:05:05 +0000

along these lines I recently was surprised to learn that- in reading about John Steinbeck’s journey along the shores of the Baja (Journal of the voyage in the Sea of Cortez),examining invertebrates that a method of rational evaluation was proposed by his mentor marine biologist Edward F Rickets: (he named it:) non teleological thinking……basically : do not be lured into jumping to a conclusion to explain an event…….

Comment on The Church of England promotes “conversion therapy” by Murmur

Murmur — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:08:41 +0000

In reply to Thom. I'm a retired CAMHS senior nurse, one of whose areas of work included working with young people struggling with issues of sexual and gender identity: I see absolutely nothing in the current proposals which would have made me practise any differently to how I did, which involved a heap of very open discussion about the young person's thinking etc. I'm not sure where folk get these sort of ideas.

Comment on This must be the most sickening cancer scam I have seen for a while by Edzard

Edzard — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 07:01:44 +0000

In reply to Heli Contreras.

https://edzardernst.com/2019/02/scam-for-animals-part-1-homeopathy/