Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Volume 25, Number 1, January February

• Buy this back issue
• Medicine Wars: Will Alternative and Mainstream Medicine Ever Be Friends?
• Investigative Files: Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense
• Special Tribute to Steve Allen

Issues in Alternative Medicine

Medicine Wars
Will Alternative and Mainstream Medicine Ever Be Friends?
In the wake of dozens of new and complementary medicines flooding both the marketplace and some hospitals, which path will medicine take?
Barry F. Seidman

Herbal Medicines and Dietary Supplements
A Risky Health Gamble
Think herbal medicines and dietary supplements are always "natural," "pure," and free of problems associated with toxicity? Think again. There is little control or uniformity of these products, and most consumers seem oblivious to the potentially significant health risks associated with them.
John M. Allen

Psychoactive Herbal Medications
How Do We Know They Work?
Numerous psychoactive herbal medications are available to treat cognitive and emotional conditions. This article examines the evidence for their effectiveness and our assurances that it's not "all in our minds."
Marcello Spinella

Chiropractic
Does the Bad Outweigh the Good?
Many people go to chiropractors for relief of back pain. But there is reason for caution. Much of what chiropractors do is nonsense, and they often misinform their patients.
Samuel Homola

Special Report

Science Indicators 2000: Belief in the Paranormal or Pseudoscience
National Science Board

Article

Damaged Goods?
What, If Anything, Does Science Tell Us About the Long-term Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse?
A recent meta-analysis of child sexual abuse studies typifies a common problem when social science research is used to drive socio-political agenda. Empirical gaps are plugged with wish-list postulates of special interest groups.
Margaret A. Hagen

Columns

Editor's Note

News and Comment

• Exorcism and Suggestibility Study: False Memories of Possession Can Be Created
• Hotbed of Skepticism: Firewalk Held at Center for Inquiry International
• Cracked Crystal Balls? Psychics' Predictions for Past Year a Litany of Prognostive Failures
• Sensationalism Six Pack: One Company Owns All the U.S. Supermarket Tabloids
• Are Magnetic Shoes Starting to Attract Lawsuits?
• Olympic Spoon-Bending: Failed Flame Fires Geller Claim

Special Tribute to Steve Allen
Paul Kurtz

Notes of a Fringe-Watcher
Facilitated Communication: A Cruel Farce
Martin Gardner

Investigative Files
Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense
Joe Nickell

Psychic Vibrations
Reptoids and Martians Invade Silicon Valley
Robert Sheaffer

New Books

Science Best Sellers

Articles of Note

Letters to the Editor

Book Reviews

Paranormal Beliefs: A Sociological Introduction
By Erich Goode
Jeffrey S. Victor
[Shop for this book]

The Undergrowth of Science
By Walter Gratzer
Tom Napier
[Shop for this book]

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