Understanding the transition from alternative medicine to mainstream science: the homocysteine theory of heart disease and the crucial role of effective mentoring

A deficiency of effective ‘mentoring’ may contribute to the relatively low quality of alternative medicine research and to the medical/scientific community’s reluctance to consider even its most promising theories. This hypothesis derives from a case-study of the homocysteine theory of heart disease...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical hypotheses 2003-09, Vol.61 (3), p.340-345
Main Author: Podell, Richard N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cardiomyopathies - chemically induced
Complementary Therapies - education
Evidence-Based Medicine
Homocysteine - adverse effects
Humans
Mentors
Science - education
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Summary:A deficiency of effective ‘mentoring’ may contribute to the relatively low quality of alternative medicine research and to the medical/scientific community’s reluctance to consider even its most promising theories. This hypothesis derives from a case-study of the homocysteine theory of heart disease (HTSD), one of only a few recent theories to have made the transition from ‘alternative’ to ‘mainstream’.
ISSN:0306-9877
1532-2777
DOI:10.1016/S0306-9877(02)00417-6