tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-451271892473686275.post5342443575138109957..comments2023-08-24T06:43:12.127-04:00Comments on The Tufted Titmouse: The CAM DonutDr Benwayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01487095207583971575noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-451271892473686275.post-78028636134072985022009-04-15T07:41:00.000-04:002009-04-15T07:41:00.000-04:00Yes, I once thought of CAM v medicine as unproven ...Yes, I once thought of CAM v medicine as unproven v proven. But that's an inadequate razor for dividing the two sets.<br /><br />Words like "integrative" and "CAM" are the invention of marketers --people who need not think deeply about logic or set theory. Marketing is pre-rational and associative. In marketing, ideas group by family resemblance rather than explicit rules. Translating these ideas into a rational system takes a bit of fudging.<br /><br />An oncologist develops a novel chemotherapy approach and has some success in two patients. Is that approach "CAM" because it hasn't yet been proven in controlled trials? No, it is not.<br /><br />The razor as I understand it now: prior plausibility based on science verses prior plausibility based on politics or collective desire.Dr Benwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01487095207583971575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-451271892473686275.post-2418970626866740552009-04-13T16:39:00.000-04:002009-04-13T16:39:00.000-04:00Ah, Dr. Benway, you have come so close to the myst...Ah, Dr. Benway, you have come so close to the mystery but have veered off at the last moment!<BR/><BR/>If "CAM" is defined as:<BR/><BR/><I>"... health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine."</I><BR/><BR/>and if "conventional" (<I>real</I>) medicine is defined as:<BR/><BR/><I>"Diagnostic and therapeutic modalities that have been tested and found to be effective and safe."</I><BR/><BR/>then, using set theory, "health care" can be seen as the union of the sets "CAM" and "conventional medicine". <BR/><BR/>Since "CAM" does not have defined bounds (it can, and does, include <I>anything</I> that hasn't been tested and found effective and safe), the set "health care" <I>also</I> is unbounded (infinite). <BR/><BR/>The only bounded set in this system is "conventional (real) medicine", which is bounded by the limits "tested", "effective" and "safe". <BR/><BR/>As a result, we can conclude that the set "CAM" - which is unbounded (infinite) - contains all "health care systems, practices and products" which DO NOT fall withing the limits of "tested" AND "effective" AND "safe". <BR/><BR/>Thus, "CAM" is "untested" OR "ineffective" OR "unsafe". Combinations are also allowed.<BR/><BR/>PrometheusAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com