Health Benefits of the Weekend Warrior
I tend to view skeptically science reporting that leans heavily on simplistic concepts and flashy titles. However, “skeptical” does not mean “dismissive”. Mainstream reporting may focus on click-bait terms but that does not necessarily mean anything about the underlying science. I have seen lots of recent headlines about the benefits of being a “weekend warrior” and decided to look at the primary...
Questions About Pandemic Preparedness
The theme at SBM this week is questions for Trump’s nominees for key health positions within the federal government. David got the ball rolling with an excellent summary of the nominees and questions for each. Jonathan followed up with his own list of questions. I would like to continue the theme, focusing on our preparedness for the next pandemic. It is arguably...
Your Brain In Space
Amid all the shocking and depressing news regarding the future of American healthcare and medicine, at least over the next four years, I thought I would tackle something a bit lighter today. What happens to the brains of astronauts aboard the ISS? Space medicine is a field of study, if fairly niche, and will likely have increasing implications as humanity increases its...
Physician Misinformation
When physicians spread medical misinformation, the potential harm to health is far greater than their direct patient care. And yet, in a recent study, medical boards rarely discipline physicians for spreading misinformation. The JAMA article looked at 3128 medical board disciplinary proceedings involving physicians. Spreading misinformation to the community was the least common reason, at 0.1%. Direct patient misinformation and inappropriate advertising...
Some Data on Fluoride
David Gorski wrote yesterday about the threat that a second Trump term holds for American health, specifically if he keeps his promise to give RFK Jr. some high level position over public health. Unfortunately, we have seen this movie before, although the sequel promises to be much worse. Putting a pseudoscientist, crank, conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer in charge of the organizations that are...
EMDR Is Still Dubious
A recent meta-analysis of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy concludes that the evidence “confirms” EMDR is effective in treating depression. It is a great example of the limitations of meta-analysis, and how easy it is to create essentially a false narrative using poor quality research. EMDR was “developed” by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. It is the notion that bilateral...
Latest Acupuncture Pseudoscience
JAMA Internal Medicine just published an article titled: Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture for Chronic Sciatica From Herniated Disk, A Randomized Clinical Trial. In an accompanying editorial comment, Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek and Mitchell H. Katz write: “This was a methodologically rigorous study; there were multiple experienced acupuncturists, the comparison group used a well thought-out sham control, and patients were followed up for 1...
microRNA – 2024 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine
The 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine goes to two researchers, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, for their work on microRNA. They began their research in the same lab in the late 1980s as postdoctoral fellow, and then continued to collaborate after they each started their own labs. Their research involves a key question about multicellular life. Every cell in the...
Conspiracy Thinking And Alternative Medicine
Just recently, in casual conversation, someone commented to me that “they” already have a cure for cancer but are hiding it. This is a claim I frequently encounter. One survey, from 2005, found that 27.3% of those surveyed endorsed this belief. Another survey from 2014 found that 37% of people believe the FDA is suppressing natural cancer cures on behalf of “Big...
RFK Jr On Obesity
We have been giving a lot of attention to RFK Jr recently, with good reason. He is poised to be put in charge of the federal institutions that regulate health and medicine. This is beyond problematic, as he has a long list of antiscience opinions. Part of the problem is that he lacks topic expertise (he is not a health care professional...