|
Nominations and Campaigning for the 2024 RationalWiki Moderator Election are now open |
Gaia Health
| Against allopathy Alternative medicine |
|
| Clinically unproven |
| Woo-meisters |
Gaia Health (gaia-health.com) is a website founded in 2009 by Heidi Stevenson (–2014) that promotes alternative medicine and conspiracy theories. Stevenson has appeared on Infowars, where she alleged that Gardasil was dangerous,[1][2] and has also contributed to GreenMedInfo.
It's explicitly opposed to evidence-based medicine, is anti-vaccine[3] anti-chemical,[4] and relies almost exclusively on cherry-picked anecdotes.[5] They dismiss ScienceBlogs writers — who naturally critique Gaia Health as pseudoscience — as "pseudoskeptics".[5]
Fortunately, the site appears to have virtually no traffic.[6][7]
Site content
Intro
In the site's intro, Gaia Health explains to the reader to be open minded to its bullshit:[8]
The hope of Gaia Health is to clear the mist from our eyes. It has always been human nature to question, research, and think—to be a rebel and even outcast. Gaia Health echoes those propensities.
We hope that you’ll look through the pages and read articles with an open mind. You’ll likely be surprised, shocked, amazed, and stunned at some of the information. Some will likely be contrary to what you’ve believed. That’s the idea—to challenge accepted views of the world, but only with facts and reason.
Quack Miranda Warning
Some time after the death of Stevenson, the site added a Quack Miranda Warning. It claims that their "articles are well researched and sources are provided", which is laughable given the shoddy quality of their articles:[9]
Gaia Health offers a different take on health. Although our articles are well researched and sources are provided, we accept no responsibility, including for the efficacy of the information or how the information may be used. In addition, the opinions expressed in articles on this site are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the owner(s) of this website. Please consult your doctor as your primary source of health information.
So, even though the site often has information contrary to good medical advice (e.g., homeopathy and antivax), the site still recommends that you consult your doctor for primary information.
Subcategories
The site also gives the impression of being far more comprehensive than it is with a long list of subcategories. However, as of November 16, 2017, thirteen of their categories are empty including most of the disease category, including topics such as drug resistant bacteria and childbirth. The site also included a humor section allegedly filled with "funny" anti-medicine and anti-chemical articles and videos.[10]
Big Pharma
Gaia Health leans heavily on Big Pharma conspiracy theories. It opposes government regulation of alternative medicine, at one point expressing outrage at the banning of Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets (which were found to have unsafe levels of belladonna), claiming the FDA was a servant of Big Pharma and that it was an assault on health freedom.[11] (The idea that large pharmaceutical companies, in actuality, hate FDA regulation never occurred to them.)
Stevenson lacks a basic knowledge of hypothesis testing and epidemiology, yet she felt qualified to criticize the very basis of a vaccine-autism epidemiology study.[12][13]
Homeopathy
Against homeopathy regulation
In an article titled "Should We Regulate Water Like Alcohol Because They’re Both Liquids?" Gaia Health pushes against homeopathy regulation in the UK by comparing alcohol regulation to water:[14]
Homeopathic remedies are on the verge of being regulated in the same manner as pharmaceuticals in the UK. The reason being used is that they’re both medicines, so they should both be treated in the same manner.
Regulating homeopathic remedies like pharmaceuticals because they’re both medicines would be like regulating water the same way as alcohol, since they’re both liquids.
Placebo effect
As a homeopath, Stevenson has also attempt to refute the existence of the placebo effect.[15][16][15] However, it is well-established that placebos do have real and measurable effects, which are psychosomatic in nature.[16]
External links
References
- ↑ Remembering Heidi Stevenson of Gaia Health by Heather Callaghan (March 24, 2014) Activist Post.
- ↑ Gardasil Destroys 16 Yr Old Girl's Ovaries by The Alex Jones Channel (Aug 12, 2013) YouTube.
- ↑ Sweden: A Cautionary Tale About Vaccines, Gaia Health.
- ↑ Antibiotics Breed Apocalyptic Diseases, Gaia Health.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Plural of Anecdote IS Data!, Gaia Health.
- ↑ https://www.similarweb.com/website/gaia-health.com
- ↑ https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/gaia-health.com
- ↑ http://gaia-health.com/
- ↑ Disclaimer. Gaia Health.
- ↑ Humor Gaia Health (archived from September 11, 2013).
- ↑ FDA Bans Hyland's Homeopathic Tablets by Heidi Stevenson (archived October 28, 2010) Gaia Health
- ↑ CDC Claim of No Autism-Vaccine Link Based on Junk Science by Admin (March 30, 2013) Gaia Health (archived from October 29, 2013).
- ↑ The final nail in the coffin for the antivaccine rallying cry "Too many too soon"? by David Gorski (April 1, 2013) Science- Based Medicine.
- ↑ http://gaia-health.com/natural-health/homeopathy/regulate-water-like-alcohol-theyre-liquids/
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Busting the Placebo Myth: Placebos Don’t Cure by Heidi Stevenson — Gaia Health.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The "myth" of placebo effects by Orac (March 21, 2013) Respectful Insolence.