Hormone supplements derived from plants are widely promoted as more 'natural' than hormones from horses, but they carry the same risks - and some more of their own. The New Zealand Menopause ... (786 words)

Making a submission to a parliamentary committee proved to be a worthwhile exercise. When the Natural Health Products Bill was introduced to Parliament in September 2011 with cross-party support it ... (2317 words)

As someone currently enduring a bout of shingles I have a few comments to make on the excellent article on the bad science behind the vaccine scare (NZ Skeptic 100). Further to benefits of ... (666 words)

A 'natural' way to manage teething pain has no plausible mechanism. Parents, especially new parents like myself, are a vulnerable group. We tend to be full of anxiety that we are doing the 'right ... (1235 words)

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the National and Green parties, the Ministry of Health has been developing proposals for a natural health products scheme to regulate such products ... (396 words)

A therapy marketed as a guaranteed way to stop smoking appears to lack a sound theoretical basis and to have little experimental support. As health researchers in the field of tobacco smoking ... (2402 words)

White-tail spiders: a web of misconceptions Linley Boniface is to be congratulated for her humorous take on the prevailing hysteria around alleged "white-tail spider bites" (Dominion Post 9 March). ... (1126 words)

Placebos may contain no active ingredients, but they have real effects on the human brain. This article is based on a presentation to the NZ Skeptics 2008 conference in Hamilton, September 26-28. ... (2648 words)

Many pharmaceuticals originate from nature, but their development is very different from that of so-called natural health products. This article was originally presented at the 2005 Skeptics ... (1839 words)