This article at CNN references a study in the Archives of Ophthalmology stating that acupuncture treatment for lazy eye is substantially more effective than the traditional eye-patch treatment.

The article quotes Dr. Willie Y.W. Chen, an Atlanta board-certified ophthalmologist who also includes acupuncture in his practice. “I have been using acupuncture to treat certain eye conditions but only with success in a few, including eye and head pain,” he says.

Dr. Chen is concerned about this practice, which uses acupuncture in sensitive areas in children: “Can 7-12 year olds tolerate this treatment?”

I am extremely skeptical about the study. I have downloaded it from the journal, but I’ve only had time to skim it. I won’t deny that my opinion is that there are either methodological flaws or fraud. They phrase the conclusions so strongly that there’s a smaller possibility of the “chance” error, which occurs because 1 in 20 studies will (by chance) cross the 95% threshold of effect, even when there is no effect.

I have the paper available to read, please e-mail or comment here if you would like to review it.

Governor-elect Nathan Deal of Gainesville, Georgia, has incorporated several religious activities into his inauguration festivities, according to his hometown paper, the Gainesville Times.

It all starts with a prayer service at 9:00 AM on January 10th at “the” Mount Paran Church of God, which will include a choir from his home church, First Baptist Church of Gainesville.

“There has been a long-standing tradition that governors and constitutional officers on the morning of the inaugural have begun their day with a time of prayer. We are going to continue that tradition,” [Deal spokesman Harris] Blackwood said. “This will be a very ecumenical event that will be inclusive of various religions and beliefs.”

One would like to perform a constitutional test of the limits of his inclusion…

The prayer service will be open to the public, as will the 2pm inaugural at the state capitol. It is all funded by private contributions.

I was at a meeting in Auburn and spent a few minutes digging around the stores for some of the (occasionally) funny football shirts, when I discovered the secret of Auburn’s football success this season: Power Force Ion Infused Wristbands!

These wristbands “work with your body’s natural inner force” and contain “ions that work with your body’s energy to give you confidence from within.” Based on my years of observation, the only ions I have seen reliably giving confidence have been ethanol ions in aqueous solution. And it’s obviously not THOSE ions helping Auburn to such a good season, so this must be something special.

I did further research, and discovered a scientific analysis of the product by its manufacturer (from Guangdong, China). Their homepage is here: http://www.hottime.cn/ but I don’t care enough to find the research page there. On the research page you learn lots of amazing things about them. It’s almost entirely a list of absurd claims for every medical and scientific scam over the last century. They make you more “stable” so you can’t be knocked over (they have pictures to explain this)!

The research page contains this exciting list:

Benefits of energy:

I knew all of this MUST be the secret of Auburn’s astounding football success this year, where the team has the chance to win more games this season than the last two seasons put together. Surely major American university bookstores and athletic departments wouldn’t be selling their name and this product without thoroughly reviewing the evidence supporting these amazing claims!

Auburn’s success is plenty of evidence for me to trust that this product delivers everything it promises! I don’t need to research any more.

Wait, I’ve got one more page open from my google search…Oh, never mind, this page has new evidence that contradicts everything above about Power Force Ion Wristbands and football success.

[Added 12/22/10] This story, about the Australian consumer watchdog group ACCC cracking down on Power Balance bracelets seems relevant, though the company uses a different name. The product looks identical.