9 November 2019 | New Scientist | 3DO YOU know what they call alternative
medicine that’s been proved to work?
Medicine. So says Tim Minchin in his
poem “Storm”, in which he makes the
case for evidence-led treatment.
We have a long history of therapies
that first seemed bananas, only to be
proved marvellous medicine. In the
1980s, two Australian scientists showed
that stomach ulcers were caused by
bacteria, not stress. As a result, simple
antibiotics could treat a problem once
considered incurable. But the medical
establishment took some persuading.
The pair won a Nobel prize, for having
the “tenacity to challenge the prevailing
dogma”. Tenacity is just what is needed
now, in identifying the place of hypnosis
in mainstream medicine (see page 34).
People are right to be sceptical, given
its fantastical origins, but evidence isaccumulating that hypnosis has real
promise as a medical therapy – helping
doctors perform surgery with fewer side
effects and at lower cost, minimising
chronic pain, improving weight loss
techniques and potentially aiding an
international addiction crisis.But no establishment should accept
any alternative medicine until we have
solid evidence of what works, and what
doesn’t. Tenacity only gets you so far.
We also need investment and rigorous
studies. When it comes to hypnosis,
these are still in short supply.
For instance, despite its popularity asa means to quit smoking, a recent review
found no good evidence that hypnosis
helps. But this doesn’t mean it doesn’t,
says Jamie Hartmann-Boyce at the
University of Oxford, because relevant
research has been so poorly designed it
makes it impossible to say for sure either
way. “It’s such an important issue that
we need... bigger, better trials,” she says.
Hypnosis may be hard to define and
difficult to study, but the pay-offs could
be huge. With suggestions that it can
potentially reduce reliance on opioids,
drugs which kill 130 people in the US
every day due to overdose, surely it is
worth taking seriously.
The jury is in on alternative remedies
like homeopathy, but that shouldn’t
stop us from exploring other unusual
treatments – you never know, it might
just lead to a Nobel prize. ❚Return of hypnosis
Time to see if it really has a place in mainstream medicine
The leader
“ The jury may be in on therapies
like homeopathy, but that
shouldn't stop us exploring
other unusual treatments”EDITORIAL
Chief executive Nina Wright
Finance director Jenni Prince
Chief technology officer Chris Corderoy
Marketing director Jo Adams
Human resources Shirley Spencer
HR coordinator Serena Robinson
Facilities manager Ricci Welch
Executive assistant Lorraine Lodge
Receptionist Alice Catling
Non-exec chair Bernard Gray
Senior non-exec director Louise RogersMANAGEMENTCONTACT US
newscientist.com/contact
General & media enquiries
US Tel +1 617 283 3213
210 Broadway #201, Cambridge, MA 02139
UK Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1200
25 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ES
Australia PO Box 2315, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
US Newsstand
Tel +1 973 909 5819
Distributed by Time Inc. Retail, a division of Meredith
Corporation, 6 Upper Pond Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Syndication
Tribune Content Agency
Tel 1-800-346-8798 Email [email protected]
Subscriptions
newscientist.com/subscribe
Tel 1 888 822 3242
Email [email protected]
Post New Scientist, PO Box 3806, Chesterfield MO 63006-PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL
Display advertising
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1291 Email [email protected]
Commercial director Chris Martin
Display sales manager Justin Viljoen
Lynne Garcia, Bethany Stuart, Henry Vowden,
(ANZ) Richard Holliman
Recruitment advertising
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1204 Email [email protected]
Nicola Cubeddu, Viren Vadgama,
(US) Jeanne Shapiro
New Scientist Live
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1245 Email [email protected]
Events director Adrian Newton
Creative director Valerie Jamieson
Event manager Henry Gomm
Sales director Jacqui McCarron
Exhibition sales manager Rosie Bolam
Marketing manager Katie Cappella
Events team support manager Rose Garton
Marketing executive Jessica Lazenby-Murphy
Marketing
Head of campaign marketing James Nicholson
Poppy Lepora
Head of customer experience Emma Robinson
Head of data analytics Tom Tiner
Web development
Maria Moreno Garrido, Tom McQuillan, Amardeep Sian© 2019 New Scientist Ltd, England. New Scientist ISSN 0262 4079 is
published weekly except for the last week in December by New Scientist Ltd,
England. New Scientist (Online) ISSN 2059 5387. New Scientist Limited,
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other mailing offices
Postmaster: Send address changes to New Scientist, PO Box 3806,
Chesterfield, MO 63006-9953, USA.
Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in USA by
Fry Communications Inc, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055Editor Emily Wilson
Executive editor Richard Webb
Creative director Craig Mackie
News
News editor Penny Sarchet
Editors Jacob Aron, Timothy Revell
Reporters (UK) Jessica Hamzelou, Michael Le Page,
Donna Lu, Adam Vaughan, Clare Wilson
(US) Leah Crane, Chelsea Whyte
(Aus) Alice Klein, Ruby Prosser Scully
Interns Gege Li, Layal Liverpool, Jason Arunn Murugesu
Digital
Digital editor Conrad Quilty-Harper
Web team Lilian Anekwe, Anne Marie Conlon,
David Stock, Sam Wong
Features
Head of features Catherine de Lange (parental leave)
and Rowan Hooper
Acting head of features Tiffany O’Callaghan
Editors Gilead Amit, Julia Brown,
Kate Douglas, Alison George, Joshua Howgego
Feature writers Daniel Cossins, Graham Lawton
Culture and Community
Editors Liz Else, Mike Holderness, Simon Ings
Subeditors
Chief subeditor Eleanor Parsons
Bethan Ackerley, Tom Campbell, Chris Simms, Jon White
Design
Art editor Kathryn Brazier
Joe Hetzel, Dave Johnston, Ryan Wills
Picture desk
Picture editor Susan Banton
Production
Production manager Alan Blagrove
Robin Burton, Melanie Green