Category: Science and the Media
Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop: Another triumph of celebrity pseudoscience and quackery
Earlier this month, the hostilities between Gwyneth Paltrow's den of celebrity pseudoscience and quackery, her "lifestyle" website and store Goop, and skeptics erupted into open warfare, as Goop attacked Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN, blogger, and frequent critic of the pseudoscience published and sold by Goop. This leads to the question: Who are the physicians facilitating Paltrow and Goop? And does debunking...
Adrenal fatigue: A fake disease (updated)
“Adrenal fatigue” is not a real medical condition, but some claim it is real and that medicine is ignoring it. What does the science say?
Consumer Reports Misses the Boat on Back Pain
Consumer Reports' recent articles on low back pain address anecdotal customer satisfaction rather than scientific evidence of effectiveness.
Can mind-body practices “reprogram” our DNA?
A recent systematic review has been touted as demonstrating that "mind-body" practices like yoga can reprogram our DNA. There are several reasons to doubt these claims, not the least of which is the history of bias in past studies on this topic.
Does society try to shame and shun vaccine refusers and the vaccine-averse?
Antivaxers often complain that they are judged harshly, even shunned. A recent study suggests that, to some extent, they might well be. But are judging, shaming, and shunning parents who refuse to vaccinate their children wrong? More importantly, what about the children, who didn’t choose not to be vaccinated, and how likely is such stigmatization to change behavior?
The closure of major integrative medicine “Crown Jewels”: Terminating the Terminator?
When it comes to expansion and infiltrating medicine, "integrative medicine" has frequently seemed like the Terminator: utterly relentless. Recent setbacks at major integrative medicine "Crown Jewels" resulting in their closure cast that narrative in doubt. However, I never forget that after its seeming destruction, the Terminator always comes back.
Anti-inflammatory drugs and heart attacks: How real are the risks?
A new study provides more evidence that anti-inflammatory drugs like naproxen and ibuprofen cause small but real increases in the risk of heart attacks.
Two (now retracted) studies purporting to show that vaccinated children are sicker than unvaccinated children show nothing of the sort
Antivaccine websites have been touting two recently published studies as strong evidence that vaccinated children are less healthy than unvaccinated children. The studies are so flawed that they show nothing of the sort. Even more hilariously, the bottom-feeding predatory open access journal that published them appears to have retracted them.
The Medical Medium’s Thyroid Pseudoscience
Anthony William calls himself a "Medical Medium". He has no medical expertise, but he provides medical advice based on claimed communication with the spirit world. What could possibly go wrong?
The New York Times: Promoting False Hope as Journalism
The New York Times sells a narrative of false hope, and fails to engage in even basic journalism to tell a more complete story.