Category: Science and Medicine
Science-Based Satire: American Academy of Pediatrics Releases New Guidelines on Corporal Punishment
In December of last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their policy statement on effective discipline. Did it include an algorithm to help caregivers safely dose corporal punishment? No, that's actually pretty absurd. Offensive even, if you think about it. Don't though. Look...a squirrel!
Are those “inactive” ingredients in my medicine really inactive?
Drugs and supplements contain dozens of inactive ingredients. Is this a concern to those with allergies and sensitivities?
Lessons in confounding epidemiology: Household cleaning products, the microbiome and childhood obesity
Do eco-friendly cleaning products prevent obesity? Probably not, and you shouldn't be eating them anyway.
Using Intranasal Breast Milk to Treat Premature Infants with Intraventricular Hemorrhages
A recent study investigated intranasal breast milk as a treatment for brain bleeds in premature infants. It's a neat idea, but I don't find it all that plausible and the study conclusion is overly optimistic.
Another Australian Chiropractor is in Hot Water for Manipulating a Newborn
Yet another Australian chiropractor is under fire for treating young infants. Will anything be done about it?
The Cholesterol Controversy
Why is cholesterol so much more controversial than the other cardiac risk factors? A review of cholesterol’s troubled and contentious history might help us understand where many of the cholesterol controversies originated… and why it’s time to let them pass into history.
Rotavirus Vaccine May Reduce Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in Kids
Rotavirus infections kill thousands of kids every year around the world, but far fewer than before the introduction of a safe and effective vaccine in 2006. Now it looks like the vaccine may also prevent type 1 diabetes.
Do custom-compounded pain creams actually work?
Pharmacy-prepared pain creams are widely used for different types of pain and injuries. They may be expensive, but do they work better than a placebo?
Are medical errors really the third most common cause of death in the U.S.? (2019 edition)
The claim that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US has always rested on very shaky evidence; yet it's become common wisdom that is cited as though everyone accepts it. But if estimates of 250,000 to 400,000 deaths due to medical error are way too high, what is the real number? A study published last month suggests...
Science-Based Satire: 8th Edition of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program to Address Tongue-Tie
Is the NRP really updating its guidelines to include assessment and management of tongue-tie during newborn resuscitation? Should babies maintain skin-to-skin contact with their mother while receiving chest compressions? No. None of this is even remotely true.