Month: January 2021
One More Time – Masks Work
The evidence supports the conclusion that mask-wearing policies are effective and justified.
Wim Hof, the Iceman
Wim Hof, the Iceman, is extraordinarily resistant to extreme cold. His Wim Hof Method (WHM) combines breathing exercises, cold exposure, and meditation. Hyperventilation has been shown to reduce the body's response to inflammation, but Hof's extravagant claims of health benefits are not supported by scientific evidence.
Did the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine cause a fatal case of ITP?
Last week, a post by Heidi Neckelmann, the wife of Miami obstetrician Dr. Gregory Michael describing his death from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) 16 days after being vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine went viral. Unsurprisingly, in her grief she blamed the vaccine for her husband's death from a rare autoimmune condition that destroys platelets and causes bleeding. Unfortunately, Dr. Michael's tragic...
Topical Barley Flour for the Management of Newborn Jaundice: A Real Study Done by Actual Pediatricians
Ever heard of coating a newborn in barley flour as a treatment for jaundice? Me neither...but here we are. And there's a study! This is not satire.
Deliberately Spoiled Vaccines: Conspiracy thinking and health professionals
A Wisconsin pharmacist is facing charges after deliberately tampering with a batch of COVID-19 vaccines, demonstrating that a health professional's education is no vaccine against conspiracy beliefs.
The New SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Two new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been detected that are more infectious. What are the implications?
Kambo: Frog Poison for Health?
The Kambo fad: people are applying frog poison to burns created on their skin, making them vomit repeatedly and feel terrible. They think this torture has health benefits. There's no evidence that it does anything but poison them. Could anything be more ridiculous?
Germ theory denial in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic
As hard as it is to believe, in the middle of a global pandemic that's claimed so many lives and so thoroughly disrupted society, there are people who still deny germ theory. How can this be?
Bastyr University’s MPH and MPH/ND programs should not be accredited
Bastyr University's application for accreditation of MPH and MPH/ND programs should be denied. Bastyr's curriculum is filled with pseudoscience and incompatible with the science of public health. Naturopathy is a poor fit for an MPH program, especially considering its opposition to immunization.