Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Is Wikipedia Purposely Suppressing Information About Successful Natural Therapies?

Would Wikipedia purposely suppress or even outright censor legitimate information about natural therapies?


If so, would they do it based on biased internal policy, or only after being pressured to do so by darker forces?


The article below does not answer those questions. But it does demonstrate that Wikipedia eliminates from its public pages a staggering amount of valuable information regarding natural therapies.


The good news is that much of this important information can still be accesssed, if you know how. The bad news is, most people don't know how, and indeed, don't even realize it's possible.


The very interesting article below from our good friends at the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service explains how to access some of the most important information on natural healing that Wikipedia has hidden from view.


-- Steve


The Hidden Wikipedia: How to Find Deleted Material About Nutritional Medicine


(OMNS, May 11, 2010) There is nothing quite like a paper trail, and Wikipedia has one. Consequently, you can read for yourself all the material that has been added, and then deleted.


For example: Wikipedia's page about Max Gerson, M.D., is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Gerson


The doctor is widely known for the nutritional cancer therapy that bears his name. Gerson's principal biographer is his grandson, Howard Straus http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonbio.htm


Mr. Straus tells the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service of some interesting experiences he has had with Wikipedia bias:


"Some years ago, on seeing that the pages for Dr. Max Gerson and the Gerson Therapy were only stubs (short place-holders with little information on them), I took it upon myself to flesh out the pages. I thought Wikipedia was fairly neutral on balance, so I put in all the information that I could, and kept it factual with references, citations, and literature links.


"Within a month, the following had happened:


"The information was labeled as "biased" and "unreliable" because I am Dr. Gerson's grandson and biographer. There appeared a big red flag at the top of the article labeling the articles neutrality "dubious."


"The photograph I posted was removed. Provable, referenced facts, with dates and places, all suddenly became "claims," even quotes from no less than Nobel Laureate Albert Schweitzer, M.D., who famously said: "I see in Dr. Max Gerson one of the most eminent geniuses in medical history." Dr. Schweitzer and his wife were patients of Dr. Gerson, making this a first-hand account from a rather reliable source.


"All my links, references and citations were removed. They were replaced by links to the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute, which offer only criticism of the Gerson Therapy. Even quotations from published scientific papers were removed. Attempts to rectify these actions were immediately overwritten.


"It's easy enough to show the progression of the pages, since Wikipedia displays former edits on request, dated and documented. One can verify this by clicking on the "History" tab at the top of the Max Gerson page, and looking at 2005 and before.


My editing is archived at:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/69.109.140.164 and also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Howard_Straus


"A second Wikipedia page, specific to the Gerson Therapy, has been completely removed. See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerson_therapy&redirect=no. To see something of what happened, you can click the "History" tab here as well."


The Orthomolecular Medicine News adds just one other intriguing statement about Dr. Gerson's work that is probably too "unreliable" to be seen on Wikipedia:


"I know of one patient who turned to Gerson Therapy having been told she was suffering from terminal cancer and would not survive another course of chemotherapy. Happily, seven years later, she is alive and well. So it is vital that, rather than dismissing such experiences, we should further investigate the beneficial nature of these treatments." (H.R.H. Charles, Prince of Wales)


Max Gerson is not the only nutritionally-oriented physician whose work is slanted or censored at Wikipedia. Others include Matthias Rath, M.D., and Robert F. Cathcart III, M.D.


Matthias Rath, M.D.


Dr. Rath coauthored a number of papers with Linus Pauling. (1-8)


They discussed high-dose vitamin therapy for cardiovascular disease. To see what is going on at Wikipedia concerning him:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Matthias_Rath


Paul Anthony Taylor, a supporter of Dr. Rath, comments: "Instead of providing free access to the sum of all human knowledge, as is its supposed aim, Wikipedia would appear to be just another way of supporting the scientific, political and social status quo.”


In a sense, however, the game is already up for Wikipedia. The official exams watchdog in the UK, Ofqual, recently stated that schoolchildren should avoid it as it is not "authoritative or accurate" and in some cases "may be completely untrue" (See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/6943325/Schoolchildren-told-to-avoid-Wikipedia.html)


Believe it or not, one of Wikipedia's contributors is the CIA, and they are not just updating their own entries, either. (See http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/16/2007049.htm)


When it comes to nutritional therapies, you won't currently find much of it on Wikipedia.


Robert F. Cathcart, M.D.


The Wikipedia page for this physician has been deleted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Robert_Cathcart


Why? Because Dr. Cathcart "does not meet notability criteria per WP:BIO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:BIO" and "a quick google search shows up no reliable hits for this subject."


Indeed? It appears that someone was not looking.


Orthopedic surgeon Robert F. Cathcart III is the inventor of the Cathcart Elliptical Orthocentric Endoprosthesis, a replacement hip-ball joint still in widespread use today after 37 years. http://www.orthomed.com/pros.pdf


Some physicians report it to be superior to other similar devices. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2661497 That alone qualifies him as notable, and invalidates the deletion of his page at Wikipedia.


In addition, Linus Pauling personally singled out Dr. Cathcart for recognition for his nutritional knowledge as early as 1978. (9)


Possibly, just possibly, the real reason Dr. Cathcart is deleted from Wikipedia has much more to do with his outspoken advocacy of very high doses of vitamin C to treat viral illnesses. See:


http://www.doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html and either http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html or http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm


Here is all the deleted material on Dr. Cathcart:


http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Robert_Cathcart&action=history


Take a look and decide for yourself.


For More Information:


Max Gerson, M.D.


Complete bibliography of Dr. Gerson's publications:


http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson.html


Extensive list of papers about the Gerson Therapy: http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson_therapy.html


For free access to a documentary on the Gerson Therapy: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7357629140536485998


A review of this film, from J Orthomolecular Med, 2006: http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonmovie.html


Additional Reading:


http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersontherapy.html

http://www.doctoryourself.com/charlotte.html


Matthias Rath, M.D.


Papers coauthored with Linus Pauling:


1. Rath M, Pauling L. Immunological evidence for the accumulation of lipoprotein(a) in the atherosclerotic lesion of the hypoascorbemic guinea pig. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec;87(23):9388-90. PMID: 2147514


2. Rath M, Pauling L. Hypothesis: lipoprotein(a) is a surrogate for ascorbate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6204-7. Erratum in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1991 Dec 5;88(24):11588. PMID: 2143582


3. Rath M, Pauling L. Solution To the Puzzle of Human Cardiovascular Disease: Its Primary Cause Is Ascorbate Deficiency Leading to the Deposition of Lipoprotein(a) and Fibrinogen/Fibrin in the Vascular Wall. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3&4th Quarters, 1991, p 125.


4. Pauling L, Rath M. An Orthomolecular Theory of Human Health and Disease. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3&4th Quarters, 1991, p 135.


5. Rath M, Pauling L. Apoprotein(a) Is An Adhesive Protein. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3&4th Quarters, 1991, p 139.


6. Rath M, Pauling L. Case Report: Lysine/Ascorbate Related Amelioration of Angina Pectoris. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 6, 3&4th Quarters, 1991, p 144.


7. Rath M, Pauling L. A Unified theory of Human Cardiovascular Disease Leading the Way To the Abolition of This Diseases As A Cause for Human Mortality. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 7, First Quarter 1992, p 5.


8. Rath M, Pauling L. Plamin-induced Proteolysis and the Role of Apoprotein(a), Lysine and Synthetic Lysine Analogs. J Orthomolecular Med, Vol 7, First Quarter 1992, p 17.


Dr. Rath's Assessment of Wikipedia: http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_FOUNDATION/wiki_rath/how_the_facts_arent_welcome_on_wikipedia.html


Robert F. Cathcart, M.D.


Reference 9. Pauling L. Robert Fulton Cathcart, III, M.D., an orthomolecular physician. The Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine Newsletter, 1(4):1-3 Fall 1978. Free download of article: http://www.orthomed.com/PDF/pauling.pdf


Short biography of Dr. Cathcart:


http://orthomolecular.org/hof/2008/cathcart.html


His extensive website on vitamin C therapeutics: http://www.orthomed.com/


Bibliography of his publications with links to full-text articles: http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_cathcart.html


The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Ralph K. Campbell, M.D. (USA)

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (Canada)

Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)

Michael Ellis, M.D. (Australia)

Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)

Steve Hickey, Ph.D. (United Kingdom)

James A. Jackson, Ph.D. (USA)

Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)

Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)

Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)

Erik Paterson, M.D. (Canada)

Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA),

Editor and contact person. Email: omns@orthomolecular.org


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1 comment:

  1. ~~Just Me in T~~May 12, 2010 at 3:46 AM

    If Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation - then surely there must be a valid reason?

    Wikipedia, is the online encyclopedia compiled by a distributed network of volunteers, and has often come under attack by academics as being shoddy and full of inaccuracies.

    Even Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he wants to get the message out to college students (? and everyone else?) that they shouldn’t use it for class projects or serious research.

    http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/05/wiki-warning.html

    ReplyDelete

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