Quote:
Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma
Let's say, hypothetically, 5000 people have astrocytoma and are being treated. Out of that, 1000 haven't responded to treatment, so they seek alternatives to conventional methods. Now, let's say spontaneous remission (it does happen) is 1%, so out of the original 1000, ten were "treated" successfully. They tell their family members "Hey, XYZ from Dr. dumbshit really worked".
And the other 990? Well, they had grave odds anyway, but they would be like the other ten had they come sooner! This is the basis of crock-as-shit alternative methods with no causal evidence.
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Well said.
However, there has been quite a bit of animal model research that shows positive benefit. This isn't quite as placebo/quack as homeopathy or magnets (or that second video with the tuning forks... ouch that's embarrassing). The problem is that the research into cannabinoids is still very inconclusive, and human trials have been small and weren't double blind. The evidence that it CAN stop some kinds of tumor growth is statistically significant, but it's countered by the fact that in some people and situations, it might not help at all, or it might be harmful. The research is going on right now.