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=== HIV and AIDS ===
=== HIV and AIDS ===
Mercola has questioned whether [[HIV]] is the cause of [[AIDS]]. He has argued instead that the manifestations of AIDS (including [[opportunistic infection]]s and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful.<ref name="mercola-hiv">{{cite web | publisher = Mercola.com | first = Joseph | last = Mercola | title = Can AZT and Other "Antiretrovirals" Cause AIDS? | date = January 2, 2008 | url = http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/azt.aspx}}</ref> Mercola.com has featured positive presentations of the claims of [[AIDS denialism|AIDS denialists]], a fringe group which denies the existence of AIDS and/or the role of HIV in causing it.<ref name="mercola-hiv"/><ref name="mercola-al-bayati">{{cite web | publisher = Mercola.com | title = HIV Does Not Cause AIDS | date = September 5, 2001 | first = Mohamed | last = Al-Bayati | url = http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/09/05/hiv-aids.aspx}}</ref>
Mercola has questioned whether [[HIV]] is the cause of [[AIDS]]. He has argued instead that the manifestations of AIDS (including [[opportunistic infection]]s and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful.<ref name="mercola-hiv">{{cite web | publisher = Mercola.com | first = Joseph | last = Mercola | title = Can AZT and Other "Antiretrovirals" Cause AIDS? | date = January 2, 2008 | url = http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/azt.aspx}}</ref> Mercola.com has featured positive presentations of the claims of [[AIDS denialism|AIDS denialists]], a fringe group which denies the existence of AIDS and/or the role of HIV in causing it.<ref name="mercola-hiv"/><ref name="mercola-al-bayati">{{cite web | publisher = Mercola.com | title = HIV Does Not Cause AIDS | date = September 5, 2001 | first = Mohamed | last = Al-Bayati | url = http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/09/05/hiv-aids.aspx}}</ref><ref name=ChicagoMag/>


The [[scientific community]] considers the evidence that HIV causes AIDS to be conclusive<ref name=iomreport>{{cite web | url = http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=771&page=2 | title = Confronting AIDS: Update 1988 | publisher = [[Institute of Medicine]] of the [[U.S. National Academy of Sciences]] | year = 1988 | quote = …the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is scientifically conclusive.}}</ref><ref name=niaid>{{cite web | url = http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/HIVAIDS/Understanding/howHIVCausesAIDS/Pages/HIVcausesAIDS.aspx | title = The Evidence that HIV Causes AIDS | publisher = [[National Institutes of Health]] | date = 2010-01-14 | accessdate = 2011-02-04 }}</ref> and rejects AIDS-denialist claims as [[pseudoscience]] based on [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]],<ref name = Cohen>{{cite pmid | 7992043 }}</ref> faulty reasoning, [[Cherry picking (fallacy)|cherry picking]], and misrepresentation of mainly outdated scientific data.<ref name=iomreport/><ref name=niaid/><ref name="denying science">{{cite journal |author= |title=Denying science |journal=Nat. Med. |volume=12 |issue=4 |page=369 |year=2006 |pmid=16598265 |doi=10.1038/nm0406-369|quote=To support their ideas, some AIDS denialists have also misappropriated a scientific review in ''Nature Medicine'' which opens with this reasonable statement: "Despite considerable advances in HIV science in the past 20 years, the reason why HIV-1 infection is pathogenic is still debated." |page= 369}}</ref>
The [[scientific community]] considers the evidence that HIV causes AIDS to be conclusive<ref name=iomreport>{{cite web | url = http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=771&page=2 | title = Confronting AIDS: Update 1988 | publisher = [[Institute of Medicine]] of the [[U.S. National Academy of Sciences]] | year = 1988 | quote = …the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is scientifically conclusive.}}</ref><ref name=niaid>{{cite web | url = http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/HIVAIDS/Understanding/howHIVCausesAIDS/Pages/HIVcausesAIDS.aspx | title = The Evidence that HIV Causes AIDS | publisher = [[National Institutes of Health]] | date = 2010-01-14 | accessdate = 2011-02-04 }}</ref> and rejects AIDS-denialist claims as [[pseudoscience]] based on [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]],<ref name = Cohen>{{cite pmid | 7992043 }}</ref> faulty reasoning, [[Cherry picking (fallacy)|cherry picking]], and misrepresentation of mainly outdated scientific data.<ref name=iomreport/><ref name=niaid/><ref name="denying science">{{cite journal |author= |title=Denying science |journal=Nat. Med. |volume=12 |issue=4 |page=369 |year=2006 |pmid=16598265 |doi=10.1038/nm0406-369|quote=To support their ideas, some AIDS denialists have also misappropriated a scientific review in ''Nature Medicine'' which opens with this reasonable statement: "Despite considerable advances in HIV science in the past 20 years, the reason why HIV-1 infection is pathogenic is still debated." |page= 369}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:48, 13 June 2013

Joseph M. Mercola
Born (1954-07-08) July 8, 1954 (age 69)
Known forRunning mercola.com, a high-profile alternative medicine website
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician (DO)
InstitutionsNatural Health Center
Sub-specialtiesNutrition

Joseph M. Mercola (born 1954) is a web entrepreneur and alternative medicine guru who markets a variety of dietary supplements and medical devices as part of his diet- and lifestyle-based approach to health. Mercola, an osteopathic physician, also operates the "Dr. Mercola Natural Health Center" (formerly the "Optimal Wellness Center") in Schaumburg, Illinois.[1] He wrote the best-selling books The No-Grain Diet (with Alison Rose Levy) and The Great Bird Flu Hoax. Mercola criticizes many aspects of standard medical practice, such as vaccination and the use of prescription drugs and surgery to treat diseases. He is a member of the politically conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons as well as several alternative medicine organizations.[2]

Mercola has been the subject of criticism from the business, regulatory, medical and scientific communities. A 2006 BusinessWeek editorial criticized Mercola's marketing practices as "relying on slick promotion, clever use of information, and scare tactics."[3] The Better Business Bureau gave his business a failing grade for not honoring its money-back guarantees.[4] In 2005, 2006, and 2011 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Mercola and his company to stop making illegal claims regarding his products' ability to detect, prevent and treat disease.[5] The medical watchdog site Quackwatch has criticized Mercola for making "unsubstantiated claims and clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations [and making] many unsubstantiated recommendations for dietary supplements."[5]

Biography

Mercola is a 1976 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a 1982 graduate of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine.[6] According to Mercola's website, he is a former Chairman of Family Medicine at St. Alexius Medical Center. He has written two books which have been listed on the New York Times bestseller list: The No-Grain Diet (May 2003) and The Great Bird Flu Hoax (October 2006).[7][8] In the latter book, Mercola dismisses medical concerns over an avian influenza pandemic, asserting that the government, big business, and the mainstream media have conspired to promote the threat of avian flu in order to accrue money and power.[9] Mercola has appeared on programs such as The Dr. Oz Show[10] and The Doctors.[11]

Mercola purchased a $2 million lakefront home in South Barrington, Illinois in 2006. He is described as a private person. Although he never married, he told a reporter with Chicago Magazine that he has a girlfriend.[4]

Views and controversy

Mercola operates mercola.com, which he has described as the most popular alternative-health website on the Internet.[3] The site reportedly brought in about $7 million in 2010 through the sale of a variety of alternative medicine treatments and dietary supplements. An article in BusinessWeek was critical of his website's aggressive direct-marketing tactics and complained of Mercola's "lack of respect" for his site's visitors, writing:

Mercola gives the lie to the notion that holistic practitioners tend to be so absorbed in treating patients that they aren't effective businesspeople. While Mercola on his site seeks to identify with this image by distinguishing himself from "all the greed-motivated hype out there in health-care land", he is a master promoter, using every trick of traditional and Internet direct marketing to grow his business... He is selling health-care products and services, and is calling upon an unfortunate tradition made famous by the old-time snake oil salesmen of the 1800s.[3]

Phyllis Entis, a microbiologist and food safety expert, highlighted Mercola.com as an example of websites "likely to mislead consumers by offering one-sided, incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information."[12] The Better Business Bureau, responding to complaints including allegations that Mercola did not honor an advertised money-back guarantee, gave the website a grade of 'F'.[4]

Mercola has also received three warning letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for violations of U.S. marketing laws. The first two letters, dated 2005 and 2006,[13][14] charged Mercola with making false and misleading claims regarding the marketing of several natural supplemental products, which violated the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.[5] In the most recent letter, sent in March 2011,[15] Mercola was accused of violating federal law, by making claims about the efficacy of certain uses of a telethermographic camera exceeding those approved by the FDA concerning the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of the device (regulation of such claims being within the purview of the FDA). Dr. Mercola has challenged the FDA's order stating that "We believe that the FDA's warning letter is without merit and is an attempt to regulate the practice of medicine, which the agency does not have the regulatory authority to do. Our use of the thermography device is consistent with its 510(k) clearance for use by health care professionals in their diagnosis and treatment of patients."[16]

Food consumption

Mercola advocates a diet consisting mostly of unprocessed foods. He sees value in paleolithic diets and advocates metabolic typing, and is a proponent of vegetable juicing.[17] Mercola argues fervently against over-consumption of sugar, especially high-fructose corn syrup, which is the predominant sweetener of many commercial sodas and soft drinks, and processed flour and grains, which the body rapidly converts into sugar. He has also been an advocate of increasing the consumption of Omega-3 fats and of strategies to greatly increase blood levels of Vitamin D3.

Mercola's dietary recommendations often put him at odds with mainstream dietary advice.[12] Mercola encourages the ingestion of unprocessed saturated fats, including unrefined coconut oil in place of polyunsaturated fats such as vegetable, corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola oils.[18]

Food preparation

Mercola's website has called microwave ovens dangerous, claiming both that they emit dangerous radiation and that microwaving food alters its chemistry.[19][20] In contrast, academic reviews have concluded that "no significant nutritional differences exist between foods prepared by conventional and microwave methods."[21] Other studies have suggested that food cooked in microwave ovens can be more nutritious than conventionally cooked food.[22][23] The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide states that "as a general proposition, cooking with a microwave probably does a better job of preserving the nutrient content of foods because the cooking times are shorter."[24]

Mercola is also against homogenization,[25] claiming that it leads to xanthine oxidase absorption and oxidative stress.[26] This idea has been described as "tenuous and implausible" in the Journal of the American Medical Association.[27] A review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that "Experimental evidence has failed to substantiate, and in many cases has refuted, the xanthine oxidase/plasmalogen depletion hypothesis".[28]

HIV and AIDS

Mercola has questioned whether HIV is the cause of AIDS. He has argued instead that the manifestations of AIDS (including opportunistic infections and death) may be the result of "psychological stress" brought on by the belief that HIV is harmful.[29] Mercola.com has featured positive presentations of the claims of AIDS denialists, a fringe group which denies the existence of AIDS and/or the role of HIV in causing it.[29][30][4]

The scientific community considers the evidence that HIV causes AIDS to be conclusive[31][32] and rejects AIDS-denialist claims as pseudoscience based on conspiracy theories,[33] faulty reasoning, cherry picking, and misrepresentation of mainly outdated scientific data.[31][32][34]

Drugs and supplements

Mercola opposes the use of most prescription drugs and immunizations, favoring better food choices, especially unprocessed, organic produce and elimination of most sugar and grains from our diet, lifestyle modifications, especially regular exercise, better sleep, and removing household toxins from cleaning supplies and cosmetics, and energy psychology tools to address emotional challenges.[35] He promotes and sells numerous dietary supplements, including krill oil, vitamin K, probiotics, and anti-oxidant supplements.

Mercola is especially critical of new drugs, as well as of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.[36]

Sunscreen

Mercola has also claimed that the use of many commercial brands of sunscreen increases, not decreases, the likelihood of contracting skin cancer with high UV exposure. He advocates the use of "natural" sunscreens, some of which he markets on his website.[37] This view is not held by mainstream medical science; in 2011, the National Toxicology Program stated that "Protection against photodamage by use of broad-spectrum sunscreens is well-documented as an effective means of reducing total lifetime UV dose and, thereby, preventing or ameliorating the effects of UV radiation on both the appearance and biomechanical properties of the skin".[38]

Vaccinations

Mercola has been highly critical of vaccines and vaccination policy, claiming that too many vaccines are used too soon during infancy.[39] He hosts vaccine critics on his website, advocates preventive measures rather than vaccination in many cases, and strongly criticizes influenza vaccines.

Mercola argues that thimerosal, previously widely used as a vaccine preservative, is harmful.[40][41] Thimerosal is no longer present in most vaccines given to young children in the USA, though it is still present in some vaccines approved for adults.[42] Extensive evidence has accumulated since 1999 showing that this preservative is safe,[43] with the World Health Organization stating in 2006 that "there is no evidence of toxicity in infants, children or adults exposed to thiomersal in vaccines".[44][43]

In his book The Great Bird Flu Hoax,[45] Mercola appears to take a stronger anti-pharmaceutical industry stance by accusing them of a fear-mongering marketing campaign against the public. In supporting this stance, Mercola often has wholly critical views of those working in governmental health care, as well as towards international health organizations. He argues at length that concern over swine flu and the resulting immunizations were actually false alarms put forth to terrify the public.[46] The World Health Organization reports that by August 1, 2010, about 18,500 deaths have been caused by the H1N1 pandemic influenza.[47]

References

  1. ^ "Doc's got odd appetite". Chicago Tribune. May 25, 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  2. ^ "Who Sits at the Clintons' Table, and Who Picks Up the Tab?". Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. 1994-04-01. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  3. ^ a b c Gumpert, David (May 23, 2006). "Old-Time Sales Tricks on the Net". BusinessWeek. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d Smith, Bryan (February, 2012). "Dr. Mercola: Visionary or Quack?". Chicago Mag. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c Barrett, S (2011-05-26). "FDA Orders Dr. Joseph Mercola to Stop Illegal Claims". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  6. ^ My Education, from mercola.com
  7. ^ "Paperback Best Sellers: May 18, 2003, How-to and Miscellaneous: Hardcover". New York Times. May 18, 2003. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  8. ^ "Paperback Best Sellers: October 22, 2006". New York Times. October 22, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  9. ^ "About 'The Great Bird Flu Hoax'". Google Books.
  10. ^ "The Alternative Health Controversy". The Dr. Oz show.
  11. ^ "Health Investigation: Artificial Sweeteners". The Doctors.
  12. ^ a b Entis, P (2007). Food safety: old habits, new perspectives. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 300. ISBN 1-55581-417-4.
  13. ^ "FDA warning 1: Living Fuel Rx, Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil, and Chlorella" (PDF). Food and Drug Administration. 2005-02-16. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  14. ^ "FDA warning 2: Warning Letter: Optimal Wellness Center CHI-7-06". Food and Drug Administration. 2006-09-21. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  15. ^ Silverman, S (2011-03-22). "Warning letter from Center for Devices and Radiological Health". Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  16. ^ Tsouderos, T (2011-04-26). "FDA warns doctor: Stop touting camera as disease screening tool". Chicago Tribune.
  17. ^ Mercola, Joseph (2003). The No-Grain Diet. USA: Dutton. p. 292. ISBN 0-525-94733-7.
  18. ^ [1], mercola.com
  19. ^ Wayne A, Newell L.The Hidden Hazards Of Microwave Cooking, mercola.com
  20. ^ The Proven Dangers of Microwaves, mercola.com
  21. ^ Cross GA, Fung DY (1982). "The effect of microwaves on nutrient value of foods". Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 16 (4): 355–81. doi:10.1080/10408398209527340. PMID 7047080.
  22. ^ O’Connor, Anahad (October 17, 2006). "The Claim: Microwave Ovens Kill Nutrients in Food". New York Times.
  23. ^ Hoffman CJ, Zabik ME (1985). "Effects of microwave cooking/reheating on nutrients and food systems: a review of recent studies". J Am Diet Assoc. 85 (8): 922–6. PMID 3894486. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  24. ^ "Microwave cooking and nutrition". Harvard Medical School. 2008. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  25. ^ Don't Drink Your Milk!, mercola.com
  26. ^ Milk May Worsen Heart Failure, mercola.com Jul 10, 2002
  27. ^ Bierman EL, Shank RE (1975). "Editorial: Homogenized milk and coronary artery disease: theory, not fact". JAMA. 234 (6): 630–1. doi:10.1001/jama.234.6.630. PMID 1242197. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  28. ^ Clifford AJ, Ho CY, Swenerton H (1983). "Homogenized bovine milk xanthine oxidase: a critique of the hypothesis relating to plasmalogen depletion and cardiovascular disease". Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 38 (2): 327–32. PMID 6349321. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ a b Mercola, Joseph (January 2, 2008). "Can AZT and Other "Antiretrovirals" Cause AIDS?". Mercola.com.
  30. ^ Al-Bayati, Mohamed (September 5, 2001). "HIV Does Not Cause AIDS". Mercola.com.
  31. ^ a b "Confronting AIDS: Update 1988". Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. 1988. …the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is scientifically conclusive.
  32. ^ a b "The Evidence that HIV Causes AIDS". National Institutes of Health. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  33. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 7992043 , please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid= 7992043 instead.
  34. ^ "Denying science". Nat. Med. 12 (4): 369. 2006. doi:10.1038/nm0406-369. PMID 16598265. To support their ideas, some AIDS denialists have also misappropriated a scientific review in Nature Medicine which opens with this reasonable statement: "Despite considerable advances in HIV science in the past 20 years, the reason why HIV-1 infection is pathogenic is still debated."
  35. ^ Mercola, Joseph. "Death by Medicine". Retrieved 2003-11-26.
  36. ^ FDA is "Virtually Incapable of Protecting You From Unsafe Drugs", mercola.com
  37. ^ How Supermodel Gisele Bündchen "Infuriated Cancer Experts", mercola.com, April 22, 2011. (Scroll down to avoid registration popup.)
  38. ^ Photococarcinogenesis Study of Retinoic Acid and Retinyl Palmitate, draft technical report, National Toxicology Program
  39. ^ A User-Friendly Vaccination Schedule, mercola.com, December 2004
  40. ^ How the Mercury in Vaccines Can Kill Your Baby, J. Mercola
  41. ^ Proof That Thimerosal Induces Autism-Like Neurotoxicity , J. Mercola
  42. ^ "Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers".
  43. ^ a b Clements CJ, McIntyre PB (2006). "When science is not enough - a risk/benefit profile of thiomersal-containing vaccines". Expert Opin Drug Saf. 5 (1): 17–29. doi:10.1517/14740338.5.1.17. PMID 16370953. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  44. ^ Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (2006-07-14). "Thiomersal and vaccines". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  45. ^ J. Mercola, The Great Bird Flu Hoax: The Truth They Don't Want You to Know About the "Next Big Pandemic,"Nelson Books, September 19, 2006, ISBN 0-7852-2187-5
  46. ^ "Major Expose on Swine Flu by 60 Minutes".
  47. ^ Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - update 112 World health organization August 6, 2010

External links

Template:Persondata

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Mercola&diff=559754024&oldid=559753870

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