Category: Science and Medicine
The Parasympathetic State
The claims for an essential oil mixture, Vibrant Blue Parasympathetic, are devoid of science. They are a mixture of pseudoscience, misrepresentation, lies, and imagination.
“Natural health” and the antivaccine movement: The case of Dr. Joseph Mercola
Dr. Joseph Mercola has been selling quackery for over two decades. It turns out that he also promotes antivaccine pseudoscience, as a new report from The Washington Post shows.
NCCIH surveys physicians on their recommendation of “complementary health approaches,” with depressing results
The NCCIH recently published a study examining the percentage of US physicians who had recommended "complementary health approaches" to their patients in the last year. The percentages are far higher than they should be.
Measles Deaths Surge Worldwide Thanks to Poverty and Anti-Vaccine Propaganda
According to recently released WHO/CDC data on worldwide measles mortality, 2018 marks the second year in a row with a significant increase since the historical low in 2016. And 2019 is shaping up to be even worse. The main reason for this is poverty and lack of access is resource poor regions.
The Apple Heart Study
A recent study involving the Apple Watch raises some interesting points about modern clinical trials. It also has some implications and conclusions about screening for atrial fibrillation (a. fib).
Supplements with Multiple Ingredients, Many with No Apparent Rationale
Dietary. supplements frequently have multiple ingredients, often mixtures of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. The rationale for including each ingredient is questionable, to say the least.
How to make the opioid epidemic worse in Pennsylvania
Two bills are pending in the Pennsylvania legislature - SB 675 aimed at restricting prescription of buprenorphine, and HB 1005 that imposes reporting requirements in cases of suspected drug overdose. Both are a bad idea, and I hope Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf will continue his past trends of vetoing bad bills that will harm his constituents.
Would you pay $1 million to enroll in a phase 1 clinical trial of an “anti-aging” gene therapy?
Libella Gene Therapeutics, LLC made the news last week for announcing a "pay-to-play" trial of its telomerase-based anti-aging gene therapy. What was shocking about the announcement was not that it was a "pay-to-play" trial, given that such trials have become all too common, but rather the price of enrollment: $1 million. Worse, the trial is being conducted in Colombia; the therapy doesn't...
Science-Based Satire: Pacifier Vaporizer Manufacturer Denies Marketing to Infants
Have e-cigarette companies really been marketing to infants? Could this actually be a real product? It's an undeniable fact that children have been targeted in an effort to produce customers for life, but thankfully this is satire. The littlest ones are safe…for now.
From the Vault: Newborn Vitamin K Shots Save Baby Lives
I've gone into the vault in order to save new content until after technical difficulties have been ironed out. Here is one of my earliest and most memorable (to me) posts on the newborn vitamin K shot and risks of refusing it.