Mercury

MercuryRespectful Insolence has a good post on the prevalence of mercury in some Chinese herbal medicines, noting the irony that a good number of alternative medicine fans blame the ills of modern society (autism, Alzheimer's, etc.) on mercury in dental fillings and vaccines.When I was in the UK earlier this week there was an article about leading physicians asking the NHS not to pay for alternative medicines. They were hoping to counteract Prince Charles' advocacy of same. Both sides could be right in that one. A spokesman for the Prince noted that he was calling only for coverage of alternative treatments shown to be efficacious, while critics of the physicians noted their ivory tower approach.