Yet more BS to pollute the minds?
Seen in a local newspaper is a large add for a silver ring you wear on your little pinkie and it is claimed to stop snoring. It’s evidence for efficacy are some anecdotes, of the type where more of them does not equal a fact. Of course there is no scientific evidence for it working but hey, why let facts get in the way of a miracle cure? The best “evidence” is a TV show called “Deal or Dud” in the US where 3 couples tested the ring, with the expected great results.
Here’s the link for how it is claimed to work. That’s right, “Chinese medicine”, acupuncture pressure points and the flow of magical unmeasurable “energy”. All of which have a long history, many thousands of years, of being BS.
Of course any proper test would involving a blind test, say with the lumps ground off and the ring covered in tape so the subject hopefully doesn’t know. And there would be a lot more than 3 people, the ways of quantifying the amount of snoring would be independently verified etc. etc. However don’t hold you breath waiting for this sort of testing, like most health quackery, I’ll predict they will shy away from serious tests.
It would be wise for them to invest some of their not so hard earned profits into brushing up on section 52 and 53 of the Trade Practices Act.
For those of us not pushing such scams it’s good to know that the ACCC has quite a website these days. It’s called scamwatch and can be found at: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/scamwatch/
On this site is also an online form for filling out complaints which conveniently includes a section for “Health & medical (including weight-loss, miracle cures)”
Filed under: General
It happens to work. I sleep like a baby next to my husband who snored me out of the room before he started to wear the ring.
Oh dear..
For your education please use the web to find out what the terms “scientific method” and “placebo” mean.
Many, many minor medical issues respond to the placebo effect and snoring is no exception.
The problem with one-off anecdotes is that the test has not tested the reverse condition “does the snorer resume snoring when the ring is removed”? Unfortunately this needs to be done without the wearer knowing. However in this case it is the specific bumps on the inside which are claimed to cause the effect.
There is also no control of any other changes or the fact that there may be other reasons (variables) that have may also changed, diet, exercise, bedding, pillows,different sleepign posture, etc.
To test this claim properly you would need to have two rings , one that claims to do something and one that doesn’t. The user would need to wear one or the other for say a week at a time without knowing which is which, easier said than done. A real test would involve this procedure on many, many people.
Lisa, your statement should have read “When I tried it the snoring stopped but I don’t know if the ring was the reason”…because you don’t.
EDIT: It is also interesting that Lisa happens to live in the same city (Boulder) as another Lisa Bell (303-527-0203) who happens to promote this product?
[...] evidence for it working but hey, why let facts get in the way of a miracle cure?… source: Antisnor ring bullshit?, City of [...]
My fellow on Orkut shared this link and I’m not dissapointed at all that I came here.