A Poorly Conceived Study Fails to Prove Ayurveda Works

Quackery is alive, well, and government-supported in India, as demonstrated by a terrible study of Ayurveda.

/ July 17, 2020

Expert review warns against compounded bioidentical hormone therapies

A National Academies report finds widely-marketed compounded hormone replacement therapies lack evidence of safety and effectiveness, and recommends restriction of their use.

/ July 16, 2020

Another Broken Meditation Study

Another study shows meditation does not work, but the authors manage to conclude that it does.

/ July 15, 2020

Juvent:  Space Age Technology to Achieve Total Health?

Juvent is a small vibrating platform that is advertised to provide all kinds of health benefits for everyone by just standing on it for 10 minutes a day. They have no convincing evidence and the price is exorbitant.

/ July 14, 2020
COVID party

COVID-19 parties: Urban legend or real thing?

You've probably seen breathlessly scolding stories in the media about young people holding "COVID parties", in which attendees intentionally try to become infected with COVID-19. Are these parties really a thing, or are they an urban legend? The answer is not entirely clear yet, but current evidence (more specifically, the lack of evidence) for them is much more consistent with the latter...

/ July 13, 2020

The Questionable Ethics of Medical Grade Nonsense: Chinese Herbal Medicine and Kawasaki Disease

A toddler in China with Kawasaki disease was treated with herbs and potions rather than science, and is extremely lucky to have survived without serious complications.

/ July 10, 2020
Pharmacy shelf of priobiotics

Probiotics, revisited

New guidelines do not recommend probiotics for most gastrointestinal conditions.

/ July 9, 2020

More Evidence Raw Milk is Bad

More evidence that raw milk has no health benefit, but does carry higher health risks.

/ July 8, 2020

Dry Drowning

What is dry drowning, and should we worry?

/ July 7, 2020
Sneeze COVID

Is COVID-19 transmitted by airborne aerosols?

A recurring debate about COVID-19 bubbled up late last week, when a group of scientists announced an as-yet unpublished open letter to the World Health Organization arguing that COVID-19 transmission is airborne and urging it to change its recommendations. What is this debate about, and, if coronavirus is airborne, should we be more scared?

/ July 6, 2020