
-
PSG eye becoming France's first 'Invincibles'
-
Late birdie burst lifts Ryder to Texas Open lead
-
Five potential Grand National fairytale endings
-
Trump purges national security team after meeting conspiracist
-
More work for McIlroy even with two wins before Masters
-
Trump hopeful of 'great' PGA-LIV golf merger
-
No.1 Scheffler goes for third Masters crown in four years
-
Where Trump's tariffs could hurt Americans' wallets
-
Trump says 'very close to a deal' on TikTok
-
Trump tariffs on Mexico: the good, the bad, the unknown
-
Postecoglou denies taunting Spurs fans in Chelsea defeat
-
Oscar-winning Palestinian director speaks at UN on Israeli settlements
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Fernandez fires Chelsea into fourth as pressure mounts on Postecoglou
-
South Korea court to decide impeached president's fate
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
E.T., no home: Original model of movie alien doesn't sell at auction
-
Italy's Brignone has surgery on broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic
-
City officials vote to repair roof on home of MLB Rays
-
Rockets forward Brooks gets one-game NBA ban for technicals
-
Pentagon watchdog to probe defense chief over Signal chat row
-
US tariffs could push up inflation, slow growth: Fed official
-
New Bruce Springsteen music set for June 27 release
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's tariffs list
-
Zuckerberg repeats Trump visits in bid to settle antitrust case
-
US fencer disqualified for not facing transgender rival
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
Italy's Brignone suffers broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Iyer blitz powers Kolkata to big IPL win over Hyderabad
-
Russian soprano Netrebko to return to London's Royal Opera House
-
French creche worker gets 25 years for killing baby with drain cleaner
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Ruud wants 'fair share' of Grand Slam revenue for players
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris
-
'Unprecedented crisis' in Africa healthcare: report
-
Pogacar gunning for blood and thunder in Tour of Flanders
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Wall St leads rout as world reels from Trump tariffs
-
Mullins gets perfect National boost with remarkable four-timer
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
-
Tate Modern gifted 'extraordinary' work by US artist Joan Mitchell
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list
-
Tonali eager to lead Newcastle back into Champions League
-
Lesotho hardest hit as new US tariffs rattle Africa

From ice baths to osteopaths: unproven therapies at the Olympics
The Paris Olympics have been a showcase not only for athletic prowess but also for therapies such as ice baths and osteopathy which have little scientifically proven medical value, according to experts.
The Olympics have long been a fertile ground for questionable medical treatments, as athletes seek out every way possible to improve their performance and tamp down their pain.
"In sport there is a lot of propaganda for all kinds of 'alternative medicine' -- there is a lot of demand from athletes," French neurologist and pain specialist Didier Bouhassira told AFP.
At the Rio Games eight years ago, cupping was the latest pseudoscientific fad. Though praised at the time by athletes such as US Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps, there is little scientific evidence that applying heated cups to the skin has any more benefit than a placebo.
For this year's Games, which kicked off in Paris on Friday, ice has been all the rage.
Cryotherapy -- which includes cold-water swimming, ice baths and more advanced cooling chambers -- is touted to help athletes recover after vigorous exercise.
- The new ice age -
According to a recent editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the federations taking part in the Paris Games together requested more than 16,000 tons of ice -- at a cost of 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million).
No vendor was able to supply such a massive amount of ice, so the Olympics will have to make do with 650 tons, the editorial said. That is still 10 times more than was required at the Tokyo Games only three years ago.
The editorial's authors criticised the routine use of cryotherapy for athletes between training sessions.
While ice baths can treat some conditions, such as heat stroke, athletes often use it "to obtain benefits which are not evidence-based," they wrote.
"Ice could have the opposite effect to that expected such as delayed tissue regeneration or impaired recovery."
The authors also stressed the environmental impact of producing, transporting and storing such vast amounts of ice.
- 'Long way from science' -
Another alternative medicine sought out by athletes -- osteopathy -- is no newcomer to the Olympics.
Osteopaths are on the staff of federations and integrated into the teams at the official Olympic clinic which monitors athletes daily.
But osteopathy, which promises to restore health through manipulations of the body, has little scientific basis and its effectiveness remains hotly contested.
Studies with rigorous methodology have found that broad swathes of the discipline -- such as "cranial" or "visceral" osteopathy -- simply have no effect.
Other osteopathic manipulations, which hew closer to those done by physios, appear to have no particular advantage over conventional, evidence-based physiotherapy.
A randomised clinical trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2021 compared the effect of osteopathic manipulations with "sham" treatments such as light touching in 400 patients with back pain.
The difference between the two was "likely not clinically meaningful", the study said.
Osteopaths offer athletes a feeling of "well being without curative properties", said Pascale Mathieu, president of France's council of physiotherapists.
Mathieu emphasised she was not too worried about osteopathy being given a showcase at the Olympics, where routine care is often a mix of physiotherapy and osteopathy.
"What I'm really fighting for is to prevent osteopathy from entering hospitals," she said.
Some companies have also been accused of using the Olympics to sell products of dubious medical value.
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi came under criticism for promoting a "pain-relieving" patch called Initiv in the run-up to the Games.
Advertised with the support of athletes such as French Olympian Kevin Mayer, Sanofi says the patch has particles which reflect infrared energy emitted by the body towards a particular area to relieve pain.
Sanofi told AFP that a clinical trial of the patch had been "received favourably by the scientific community".
But pain specialist Didier Bouhassira was not convinced.
"A product is being touted as a miracle, but it's pure PR and a long way from science," he said.
Th.Berger--AMWN