Americans all know about Camilla and certainly Diana, his early love and theirs up until her tragic death, and they also may know of Prince Charles' love of the country life, since he's often pictured in riding clothes and doesn't appear to spend too much time at the office or working, other than at public affairs where his presence is required.
But there's a lot Americans probably don't know about the Prince of Wales, and one thing his advocacy of all things related to alternative medicine, from non-mainstream treatments to health-foodie, non-earth-destroying agricultural practices. He in fact runs a business that turns out such products, with the proceeds going to charity.
But now the prince is under fire, and for what would appear the best of intentions: his work supporting alternative healthcare, including a series of pamphlets intended to inform the public on the matter.
Today a book is due out in London titled “Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial,” about what is sometimes called complementary medicine, which includes acupuncture, homeopathy and reflexology.
What sets this new book apart from others is that the authors, Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh, have taken to attacking the prince's pamphlets as misinformed or worse. In a letter to the Times of London last week, they take direct aim at the prince, saying he should withdraw two publications.
“They both contain numerous misleading and inaccurate claims concerning the supposed benefits of alternative medicine. The nation cannot be served by promoting ineffective and sometimes dangerous alternative treatments.”
The letter generated a story in the Times and a few others besides.
Alternative medicine has long been controversial, yet its use has been growing, and it's now big business, with global spending at about $80 billion, according to the book. And the bigger it gets, the more outrageous the claims about its effectiveness, it would seem.
The idea behind “Trick or Treatment?" is simple: to look at alternative medicine from a scientific perspective, and Ernst would seem just the man to do it, having worked in both traditional and complementary medicine. In his native Austria he was a highly regarded medical doctor. He then moved to the UK to become a professor of Complementary Medicine at Britain’s University of Exeter’s Peninsula Medical School.
That switch might seem contradictory, but Ernst's aim was to apply science to the under-researched field. "Trick or Treatment?" is the result of that effort.
He speaks bluntly on his findings. “This has a lot to do with people being lied to (and being sufficiently gullible to accept lies). There are 40 million web sites on alternative medicine and most tell blatant lies. Hence the need for an honest book,” he tells Media Life.
Here are a few of Ernst’s and Singh's conclusions: Chiropractic manipulation can work for back pain, but there is no proof it works for anything else. Homoeopathy has no more benefit than a placebo. Acupuncture may be effective, but only for a small range of conditions. Herbal treatments can cure, but they can also kill.
And here’s where Prince Charles fits in. A longtime advocate of alternative medicine, he started the Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health, an influencing body that pushes for a healthcare policy that includes, among other things, complementary medicine, and that publishes a guide on the uses of alternative medicine for different ailments.
Charles was also a force behind a major study that argued that getting the National Health Service to pick up the tab for alternative treatments could save money.
But at the same time, the prince has advocated more scientific research into alternative medicine, and that’s the point that Ernst picks up on when he calls for the publications to be withdrawn.
The prince’s foundation is not impressed. “We make it clear in the publication that evidence is not strong and people need to make up their own minds,” says Kim Lavely, chief executive of the prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health.
“It’s slightly cynical timing that this attack comes at the same time that he’s publishing a new book,” she says
Ernst takes no offense, all but admitting that's precisely the strategy. “Publicity is perfect--not so much for the book but for the principles it stands for."
Below are questions Media Life posed to Ernst and Singh on their book, the prince and alternative medicine, with their answers.
What was your goal with this book?
The public is genuinely confused about alternative medicine: what works, what does not, what is dangerous, what is safe. There is so much vague commentary, misleading information and clever marketing that the public doesn’t know what to believe.
We wanted to look at all the evidence and present the most accurate, fair and honest view of alternative medicine.
In general, many of our conclusions are critical of alternative medicine, but when we encounter alternative therapies that work based on scientific testing, such as some herbal remedies, then we happily declare this to be the case.
Can you provide some key findings on which alternative treatments work and which don't? Would it be possible to get the top line on a just a few key ones?
In some cases, the picture is complicated.
Chiropractic is effective for some back problems, but no more effective than conventional treatments. Moreover, particular manipulations of the spine can cause strokes in rare cases, but this might be enough to make you think twice before visiting a chiropractor. Also, all the other claims made by chiropractors concerning conditions unrelated to the back (e.g., ear infections, colic) are not based in any evidence.
This is obviously a highly controversial area. Do you feel that your book has presented enough evidence to help move the arguments over efficacy forward?
There have been literally thousands of clinical trials relating to alternative medicine, so the evidence exists to make some fairly firm statements. The difficult job is collating and sifting through that evidence. But it can be done, and we have presented the final conclusions of this mountain of research.
Why do you think that people are so willing to use such a wide range of alternative treatments despite the fact that there is little proof that many of them work?
I think people turn to alternative medicine for all sorts of reasons, but at the heart of it there is the belief that the treatment will be effective.
In some cases, such as homeopathy, this is completely untrue. Two years of testing has failed to demonstrate that homeopathic pills are anything other than a placebo. On the other hand, placebos can be effective--faith in a medicine can have real benefits--but conventional medicines that are known to be effective also carry the placebo effect. So why on earth would you give a patient a pure placebo when they can have a real medicine plus a placebo?
What do you think the future is for alternative medicine?
For us, there is no such thing as alternative medicine.
There is either medicine that is effective or not, medicine that is safe or not. So-called alternative therapies need to be assessed and then classified as good medicines or bogus medicines.
Hopefully, in the future, the good medicines will be embraced within conventional medicine and the bogus medicines will be abandoned.
What was your aim in writing your letter to the Times? What do you think about Prince Charles' involvement in the area of alternative medicine generally?
Prince Charles is a hugely influential voice in this debate, for obvious reasons, so we wanted him to realize that he has a responsibility to base his statements on the latest and best evidence.
I know doctors and medical researchers who have devoted their lives to healing the sick and developing new medicines, and Prince Charles needs to listen to these people.
The letter brought a good deal of publicity about your book. Was that your goal?
The prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health has published "Complementary Health Care: A Guide for Patients," which makes numerous misleading claims. Inaccurate claims in medicine can be dangerous, so we want this publication to be corrected or withdrawn.
We believe our book is more accurate, and we advise people to rely on it rather the prince’s pamphlet or his speeches or clever marketing from the alternative medicine industry. By all means people can buy the book, but you can just as easily borrow it from a friend or the library, or read extracts online.
Our message is be aware of the facts and avoid the hype surrounding alternative medicine.
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere in popcult, new release "The Forbidden Kingdom" topped the box office charts for the weekend of April 18-20, bringing in $20.9 million. Fellow new release “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was in second with $17.4 million, while last week’s topper, “Prom Night,” dropped to third with $9.1 million.
In DVD rentals for the week ended April 13, according to IMDb.com, new release "There Will Be Blood" topped the charts, bumping “Alvin and the Chimpunks” down to second.
On iTunes this morning, Madonna’s “4 Minutes” stayed at the top of the charts, followed by Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” and “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne.
And in books, “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri dropped to second place on the New York Times hardback fiction bestseller list, behind "Where Are You Now?" by Mary Higgins Clark. And on USA Today’s book chart, Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” stayed on the top of the list, followed by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow's "The Last Lecture."
|
TOP MOVIES
Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of April 18-20, 2008 |
|
Rank
|
MOVIE
|
Engagements
|
Box office (millions)
|
|
1
|
The Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate)
|
3151
|
$20.87
|
|
2
|
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Universal)
|
2798
|
$17.35
|
|
3
|
Prom Night (Screen Gems)
|
2700
|
$9.10
|
|
4
|
88 Minutes (Sony)
|
2168
|
$6.80
|
|
5
|
Nim’s Island (Fox Walden)
|
3277
|
$5.65
|
|
6
|
21 (Sony)
|
2903
|
$5.50
|
|
7
|
Street Kings (Fox Searchlight)
|
2469
|
$4.00
|
|
8
|
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who (20th Century Fox)
|
2670
|
$3.50
|
|
9
|
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
|
1052
|
$3.15
|
|
10
|
Leatherheads (Universal)
|
2798
|
$3,022
|
|
Source: Yahoo Movies |
|
IMDb TOP DVD RENTALS
Week ending April 13, 2008 |
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
There Will Be Blood
|
-
|
|
2
|
Alvin and the Chipmunks
|
1
|
|
3
|
Lions for Lambs
|
-
|
|
4
|
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
|
-
|
|
5
|
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
|
2
|
|
6
|
I Am Legend
|
3
|
|
7
|
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
|
-
|
|
8
|
The Mist
|
4
|
|
9
|
Enchanted
|
5
|
|
10
|
No Country for Old Men
|
6
|
|
Source: IMDB
|
|
ITUNES TOP 8 SONG DOWNLOADS
for week ended Monday, April 21, 2008 |
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
|
1
|
4 Minutes, Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
|
|
2
|
Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis
|
|
3
|
Lollipop, Lil Wayne
|
|
4
|
No Air, Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown
|
|
5
|
Say, John Mayer
|
|
6
|
Love In This Club, Usher feat. Young Jeezy
|
|
7
|
Sexy Can I, Ray J feat. Yung Berg
|
|
8
|
Pocketful of Sunshine (Natasha Bedingfield)
|
|
Source: iTunes
|
|
NEW YORK
TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending April 12, 2008 |
|
Fiction (hardback) |
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
Weeks on chart
|
|
1
|
Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark
|
-
|
1
|
|
2
|
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
|
1
|
2
|
|
3
|
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
|
-
|
1
|
|
4
|
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
|
5
|
2
|
|
5
|
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
|
2
|
2
|
|
Nonfiction (hardback)
|
|
1
|
Home by Julie Andrews
|
2
|
2
|
|
2
|
Mistaken Identity by Don and Susie Van Ryn
|
1
|
3
|
|
3
|
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
|
2
|
6
|
|
4
|
Ladies of Liberty by Cookie Roberts
|
-
|
1
|
|
5
|
Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
|
4
|
2
|
|
Fiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
|
3
|
2
|
|
2
|
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
|
1
|
10
|
|
3
|
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
|
2
|
32
|
|
4
|
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
|
4
|
6
|
|
5
|
The Kite Runner
|
5
|
4
|
|
Nonfiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
|
1
|
63
|
|
2
|
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
|
2
|
64
|
|
3
|
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
|
3
|
16
|
|
4
|
John Adams by David McCullough
|
4
|
4
|
|
5
|
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
|
-
|
1
|
|
Source: New York Times
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA
TODAY BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending April 13, 2008 |
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
|
