Results for: supplement quality
Homeopathy is Worthless and Not Always Harmless
More cases of homeopathic contamination remind us that it is beyond time to properly regulate this pseudoscience.
Hydroxychloroquine and the price of abandoning of science- and evidence-based medicine
Based on anecdotal evidence early in the pandemic and then-unreported clinical trials, followed by hype and bad studies by French "brave maverick doctor" Didier Raoult, antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine became the de facto standard of care for COVID-19, despite no rigorous evidence that they worked. A steady drip-drip-drip of negative studies has led doctors and health authorities to rethink and backtrack,...
Are hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin an effective treatment for COVID-19?
Saturday morning, President Trump Tweeted a claim that the combination of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine "have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" and hoped that they be "put in use IMMEDIATELY" to treat COVID-19. His claims were based on a single clinical trial out of France. Unfortunately, although it is not implausible that...
Lipogen for Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Lipogen PMS-Free is a dietary phospholipid supplement marketed as a remedy for PMS. The evidence for its effectiveness is less than convincing.
Quackademic medicine update: UC Irvine reneges on promise of scientific rigor
In 2017, UC Irvine promised that the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute would be "rigorously evidence-based". A recent review discovers plenty of pseudoscience.
Genetics and evolution in cancer
Several new studies were published earlier this month describing the sequencing of over 2,600 cancer genomes. What the results show include what sorts of mutations drive cancer development and how evolution makes cancers so difficult to treat.
Are medical errors really the third most common cause of death in the U.S.? (2020 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 has 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 recently published study suggests...
A miracle cancer prevention and treatment? Not necessarily as the analysis of 26 articles by legendary Hans Eysenck shows.
A recent investigation at King's College London has revealed major problems in the scientific career of one of psychology's most published scientists, Hans Eysenck.
Legislative Alchemy 2019: Chiropractors seek scope of practice expansion, including authority to prescribe drugs
In 2019, chiropractors continued their push for practice expansion, including prescription privileges, as well as co-opting the opioid crisis to mandate physician recommendations for "chiropractic care".
How can we counter misinformation from “chemo truthers”?
Denial of the benefits of chemotherapy is very prevalent in "natural health" movements. This denial is based on fear mongering, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories and thus shares many similarities with the antivaccine movement. How can the misinformation spread by "chemo truthers" be countered on social media?