Gaia Health

Gaia Health (gaia-health.com) is a website founded in 2009 by Heidi Stevenson that promotes alternative medicine and conspiracy theories. Stevenson has appeared on Infowars, where she alleged that Gardasil was dangerous,Remembering Heidi Stevenson of Gaia Health by Heather Callaghan (March 24, 2014) Activist Post.Gardasil Destroys 16 Yr Old Girl's Ovaries by The Alex Jones Channel (Aug 12, 2013) YouTube. and has also contributed to GreenMedInfo.
It's explicitly opposed to evidence-based medicine, is anti-vaccineSweden: A Cautionary Tale About Vaccines, Gaia Health. anti-chemical,Antibiotics Breed Apocalyptic Diseases, Gaia Health. and relies almost exclusively on cherry-picked anecdotes.The Plural of Anecdote IS Data!, Gaia Health. They dismiss ScienceBlogs writers who naturally critique Gaia Health as pseudoscience as "pseudoskeptics".
Fortunately, the site appears to have virtually no traffic.https://www.similarweb.com/website/gaia-health.comhttps://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/gaia-health.com
==Site content==
===Intro===
In the site's intro, Gaia Health explains to the reader to be open minded to its bullshit:http://gaia-health.com/
===Quack Miranda Warning===
Some time after the death of Stevenson, the site added a Quack Miranda Warning. It claims that their "articles are well researched and sources are provided", which is laughable given the shoddy quality of their articles:Disclaimer. Gaia Health.
So, even though the site often has information contrary to good medical advice (e.g., homeopathy and antivax), the site still recommends that you consult your doctor for primary information.
===Subcategories===
The site also gives the impression of being far more comprehensive than it is with a long list of subcategories. However, as of November 16, 2017, thirteen of their categories are empty including most of the disease category, including topics such as drug resistant bacteria and childbirth. The site also included a humor section allegedly filled with "funny" anti-medicine and anti-chemical articles and videos.Humor Gaia Health (archived from September 11, 2013).
===Big Pharma===
Gaia Health leans heavily on Big Pharma conspiracy theories. It opposes government regulation of alternative medicine, at one point expressing outrage at the banning of Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets (which were found to have unsafe levels of belladonna), claiming the FDA was a servant of Big Pharma and that it was an assault on health freedom.FDA Bans Hyland's Homeopathic Tablets by Heidi Stevenson (archived October 28, 2010) Gaia Health (The idea that large pharmaceutical companies, in actuality, hate FDA regulation never occurred to them.)
Stevenson lacks a basic knowledge of hypothesis testing and epidemiology, yet she felt qualified to criticize the very basis of a vaccine-autism epidemiology study.CDC Claim of No Autism-Vaccine Link Based on Junk Science by Admin (March 30, 2013) Gaia Health (archived from October 29, 2013).The final nail in the coffin for the antivaccine rallying cry "Too many too soon"? by David Gorski (April 1, 2013) Science- Based Medicine.
===Homeopathy===
====Against homeopathy regulation====
In an article titled "Should We Regulate Water Like Alcohol Because They’re Both Liquids?" Gaia Health pushes against homeopathy regulation in the UK by comparing alcohol regulation to water:http://gaia-health.com/natural-health/homeopathy/regulate-water-like-alcohol-theyre-liquids/
====Placebo effect====
As a homeopath, Stevenson has also attempt to refute the existence of the placebo effect.Busting the Placebo Myth: Placebos Don’t Cure by Heidi Stevenson Gaia Health.The "myth" of placebo effects by Orac (March 21, 2013) Respectful Insolence. However, it is well-established that placebos do have real and measurable effects, which are psychosomatic in nature.
==External links==
*Gaia Health official website
*Gaia Health on Facebook
==References==
Category:Alternative medicine promoters
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Websites