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Jun 01 2010
Topic Suggestions
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935 Responses to "Topic Suggestions"
# Fifion 13 Aug 2008 at 12:08 pm
Um, because I'm lazy and I'd like someone else to compile all the information, I'd love to see a series that looked at the biological and neurobiological aspects of various "mystical" experiences in a systematic way. But perhaps you've done this and I should just check the archives
Can you do something on placenta injections? A female friend in Korea ran out of her doctor's office after he offered to inject her with Japanese placenta, claiming it would pretty much cure anything. Google shows others have quacky ideas. And just recently some a list hollywood star claimed placenta makes good fertilizer:
# kvsherryon 13 Aug 2008 at 2:41 pm
I would like to know your opinion, both as a doctor and as someone who can deconstruct an argument, about the expanding roles of and reliance on Nurse Practitioners in todays healthcare. I know that there is much debate from both the ANA and various physicians groups about whether or not the public should be treated by NPs. The most recent article against was written by a DO and can be found at the following link:
Thank you
# SatansParakeeton 14 Aug 2008 at 11:04 am
I find it a little difficult to separate the fact from the fiction regarding medical marijuana (MM). The MM movement still seems to me to mostly be about providing a legal back door to allow people to get high, but I know there have been a fair amount of studies on using marijuana to treat pain and nausea. The MM movement tends to go a little far and suggest that marijuana can cure everything. Which studies have shown real benefits from MM and have they been repeated often enough to make them fairly convincing?
Dear Steven,
it would be most interesting to read your analysis of Jill Bolte Taylor's reflection of her stroke she has been widely expressing in media and in her book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey. TED has her talk, which is the most e-mailed and much discussed of all TED talks.
Her experience has been an inspiration to many people, but some say that despite of her scientific background she has taken a leap of faith into New Age mysticism.
Best wishes from Estonia!
# ordinarygirlon 20 Aug 2008 at 10:12 am
My dad was recently diagnosed with Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks. He's been referred to a university hospital in North Carolina for treatment. My mom is a kind of freaked out about the whole thing and has been doing a lot of research on the internet. She explained the surgery he might go through to me, but wasn't really sure about what type of treatment he would have.
Are you familiar with the treatment? My dad hasn't had sinus surgery in the past, but he has had multiple strokes and did have heart bypass surgery several years ago which left him in a coma for several months during recovery, possibly resulting in additional strokes. The site of leakage is his nose and he's apparently been having leakage for several years, although he didn't know it was spinal fluid until about a month ago. I know the primary concern is bacterial infection, but I don't know if there are any other risks or concerns due to his past medical history.
I'm confident that he'll receive good treatment and I accept that there are risks to any type of treatment. I'm hoping to learn more to help put my mom at ease. My parents have a hard time accepting science and are suspicious of doctors, especially after my dad's previous surgery.
I think a great topic for either the blog or podcast would be the recent announcement by columbia neuroscientists in which motoneurons were produced from stem cells that were derived from reprogrammed stem cells.
# Deemeron 28 Aug 2008 at 5:46 am
I'm surprised that there hasn't yet been any comment around the news (at least as reported in Europe) about the JAMA study reporting heavy metal content in Ayurvedic "medicines".
Can the increased diagnoses of autism be linked to an increased consumption of woo?
# anandamideon 29 Aug 2008 at 11:16 am
I´ve just left a comment on ´The Color Test´, in which I mentioned NLP. I don´t know if you know a lot about the subject, but if you do it could be an interesting topic for a post; NLP (´Neuro-Linguistic Programming´) hangs on to scientific-sounding and neuroscientific terms to give an air of credibility, promises much and can be found in various forms in both personal-empowerment literature and management seminars. The Skeptics Dictionary has a good introduction to it, and even if you don´t decide to write a post on it I´m sure you´ll find the subject interesting, as a neurologist and skeptic.
I´d also like to secind Fifi´s suggestion re: mystic experiences, mainly as I´ve had a number of very powerful ones!
Many thanks for a fine blog.
# Fifion 29 Aug 2008 at 12:17 pm
And I'll second anandamide's suggestion of NLP as a subject (and check out the Skeptic's Dictionary in the meantime).
# daedalus2uon 29 Aug 2008 at 12:39 pm
Regarding mystical experiences, it is likely that some of them are mediated though the effects of NO as a neurotransmitter. Those NO effects occur at NO levels in the range of a few nM/L, (on the order of 30 parts per trillion).
Some of the physiological states associated with mystical experiences include acute fever, hypoxia, other near death experiences, following orgasm, childbirth, and meditation. Some of these are associated with high NO levels, but that association is not well understood.
I suspect that the experience of something "mystical" is to provide a rationalization for transformative changes to ways of thinking. The physiological extreme state results in a reprogramming of neural physiology that is discontinuous with neural physiology prior to experiencing the physiologically extreme state.
I suspect that the most extreme "mystical" states will occur due to high NO following extremely low NO. I see that in terms of functional connectivity (mediated largely through NO as in the fMRI BOLD measurements). Low NO causes a relative disconnection of the long range functional connectivity, in effect "re-booting" the long range functional connectivity scheme the brain is using. High NO then restores that long range connectivity, in effect restoring the integrated functioning of multiple brain regions "in sync", but with a somewhat different connectivity.
I think this is what happens during things like Stockholm syndrome. The extreme stress of abuse causes low NO which fragments the "mind" and allows for independent activity of different brain regions to allow for better "multi-tasking" to survive the extreme stress. (I see multiple personality disorder as a manifestation of this) When the stress is reduced, the reformation of the long range connections can lead to people attaching to those who caused the stress via abuse in the first place. A useful survival feature in "the wild" where abuse of females by alpha males is not uncommon.
# zntneoon 02 Sep 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hey Steve could you maybe go over your process of determining what the scientific consensus is on different issues?
Hi Steve,
My wife recently gave birth to our second daughter at the beginning of June. She's had a series of issues that are as yet un-specifically defined but are currently being termed neurological in nature.
Specifically she has an uncoordinated swallow that leaves some liquid going up rather than down and she doesn't seem to trakc and focus as well as her peers.
Anyway, we've had an ultrasound (nothing found) and have an MRI, as well appointments with a neuro-opthamologist and geneticist in the coming weeks (All at Mass general Hospital in Boston).
So, our daughter general practitioner has us reading up about everything from Cerebral Palsy to mitochondrial diseases but is also cautioning that she may just be "a little behind in the curve".
All that to get to this: She recently asked us to consider the Rotavirus vaccine but didn't provide a lot of information about it. Instead saying we should research it on the web and let her know if we wanted to do it. She mentioned if our daughter had a mitochondrial issue that it would be important for to have had the vaccine.
So, the only things I could find about it are that it is relatively new (only 70k children have had the new vaccine) and that there is a specific time-line for when you need to take the doses. if I recall correctly the first dose was noted for 8 weeks but our daughter is currently 14 weeks old.
So, I'm not afraid of vaccines and autism and all that silly stuff, I'm just concerned that only a small amount of children have had the new vaccine and from what i read online the prior version was proven to have some issues and was removed from the market.
Do you have any thoughts/data you could share on this vaccine? And perhaps any thoughts in general on how a parent should decide when to accept a new vaccine or treatment that is on t he market? We all know that some products come to market and are later proven to cause more harm than good, even if they have been through clinical trials, but I'm guessing that is more the exception than the rule.
Thanks for your thoughts and keep up the good work!
# echovaldon 28 Sep 2008 at 9:56 am
Regarding the topic of binaural and structural integrity of brain training. There is a company known as "Volition Thought House. inc", this company claims to have incorporated a technology known as imagince, which incorporate a series of beats that are hidden within music (giving the music slightly choppy quality) which travel through your ears and towards your brain, where it induces certain brainwaves, such as Alpha, Beta, Delta and so on. As a result, listening to their commercial products provides 'beneficial' results, such as increased mental capacity and speed processing, as well as a greater feel for comprehension in terms of understanding topics. These beats apparently stimulate specific brainwaves and brain activity, once again their scientific basis and justification lies in the studies shown by the EEG studies, and a series of controlled experiments conducted involving small numbers of people. Not only do they have commercial products for brain training, with the fabricated promises of increased IQ, but they have other inducing soundtracks which can either evoke an array of frequencies, such as aiding with sleep. "iMusic", is the term used for this specific product, although there is many reviews, I believe that most of this has been fabricated to an extent. I've also checked some of the acclaims, and some apparent, iconic figures are seemingly non-existent.
Imagince & iMusic overview:
There are also a variety of articles.
What I would like to know if is their claims of increasing IQ and cognitive function simply by listening to their music true?
I've already read from your previous archives, about a similar incident regarding, "Neuro Programmer 2″, but I feel this is quite different, for one, this is an entirely different company, with different principals and so called technologies for enhancing cognitive function.
There are also so many reviews, which help reinforce and justify the belief that "iMusic", works, is this true? Or is it merely a product of the placebo effect or the expectancy effect?
# Saorsaon 07 Oct 2008 at 6:54 pm
Dr. Novella,
Are you familiar with the claims of Suzette Foster? (http://www.suzettefoster.com/) She claims to have suffered a spinal-cord injury (she provides an MRI image as evidence) and states that she recovered through the magic of energy healing. Now, she is using her experience to recruit people suffering with SCI into "healing circles" with the promise of curing them. All for a fee, of course.
Worse, yet, she is reportedly going to receive national attention on Oprah's radio show.
I've been a tetraplegic for over 14 years and have heard similar claims a thousand times before, but never suspected they might receive media attention that could provide them a modicum of legitimacy. Her claims not only dupe desperate people of their money, but also of their hope, while undermining an already ignorant public's understanding of SCI. If she and most TV movies are to be believed, every person in a wheelchair is just too lazy, or too faithless, to cure themselves. These memes infect public perception and conceal the reality that spinal-cord injuries are devastating and, given time, fatal, because of the many respiratory, renal, and ulcer issues that occur as a result of SCI.
Could you comment on her claims, SCI, and perhaps the state of current SCI research? Thank you.
# llysenwion 10 Oct 2008 at 1:40 pm
What is the responsibility of competent scientists to conduct well-designed studies on CAM? Given that money is going to be given to NCCAM and that there is loads of private funding for this research, do competent scientists have an obligation to compete for that money to do quality research on CAM, instead of letting the funds go to badly designed studies that will simply propagate misinformation? Probably best to ignore the fact that I have no idea how to ethically design an IRB protocol or informed consent for something like a homeopathy clinical trial.
# Monicaon 12 Oct 2008 at 6:34 pm
Dr. Novella and anyone else with Stroop information,
I am an honor student in the 7th grade. Last year I did a science fair project on how age affects results in the Stroop color test. I won first place in my category and was lucky enough to be selected to go to the regional science fair with my project.
This year I am working on a continuation project. I am working to find out how the test was or still is used in spy work. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding information on this subject for my research paper. Since you mention this in your posting of August 28, I am hoping that you can help me.
If you or anyone else has any information on how the Stroop test was used to detect foreign spies, or if you are familiar with resources that I can look at please post it to this site. I hope to win my school fair again this year and participate in this year's ISEF regional science fair.
Thank you so much!!
could you comment on this NYTimes article, it seems to be a rebuttal of sorts of the claim that preventative medicine does not decrease the overall costs of the healthcare system.
# ADR150on 20 Oct 2008 at 9:59 pm
Dr Novella
I was wondering if you had any insight to the benefits of Clean Coal technology. Does this significantly increase efficiency and/or reduce carbon emissions?
# bobfobbiton 22 Oct 2008 at 8:14 pm
I didn't see anything on the blog about nootropics. All the literature on them is pretty much couched in scientific terms, so I can't really make an informed decision. Any help?
Piracetam is the specific drug that seems to be pushed pretty strongly.
# Claireon 24 Oct 2008 at 6:47 am
Dear Dr Novella,
I know you have posted before on NLP in the context of mental health and counselling but I would be interested in your views on its application on other health areas, such as allergy, where NLP practioners make what seem to me to be poorly evidenced claims. See e.g. this blog post and comments:
The NLP practitioner in question has been brave enough to show up in the comments and talks quite a bit about psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), which he says is a field of medical immunology. I don't know what the standing of PNI is in medicine but it does appear popular within NLP.
thanks and best wishes,
# ADR150on 24 Oct 2008 at 11:10 am
"Doctors Often Prescribe Placebo Treatments"
I know you've talked about this a little on the podcast, but I'd be interested to hear your take on this report.
# MBoazon 04 Nov 2008 at 2:14 am
I'd love to hear your thoughts on osteopathy. Is there any real distinction between the D.O. and the M.D. aside from training in OMT? Isn't "osteopathic medicine" a philosophy-based medicine? I hear that osteopaths emphasize preventive medicine, and treat "the whole person." Isn't such rhetoric misleading? Why does osteopathy exist as a unique discipline?
I hope you or one of your colleagues at SBM can address this topic.
Best regards,
# CrookedTimberon 11 Nov 2008 at 5:14 pm
Dr N
The History channel ran a program about the brain last night (November 10, 2008). In typical History channel fashion they provided some very good information and then proceeded to undermine the credibility of the entire program by including some shameless pseudoscience. They actually spent time speaking with a researcher who is convinced John Edwards is a "real medium".
This made me wonder if there were other aspects of the program that were fallacious, but not as obvious to a non professional. I would love to hear your views if you happened to see the show.
I greatly enjoy your many blogs (where do you find the time) and podcast, keep up the good work!
# Dread Polackon 14 Nov 2008 at 4:50 pm
I would like to hear you discuss the current state of understanding of Narcolepsy and "Idiopathic Hypersomnia". I was diagnosed with the latter a couple years ago, and discontinued treatment recently due to a lack of progress. I spend some time on Narcolepsy message boards and hear a lot of rumors, speculation, and quotes from obscure studies. I'm very skeptical of what is true or not regarding these conditions. Thank you.
# jwmiller64on 17 Nov 2008 at 12:27 pm
Dr Novella,
Take a look at the wealth of information on this site for speech apraxia.
excerpt… from mailing list for apraxia…
My mission as a researcher, an activist and mother of 2 vaccine-injured boys is to keep you informed and that is with articles and documents that will help you see outside the box!!!
It has been proved by many scientists, and doctors that vaccines cause brain inflammation, and micro-vascular strokes… That is where you can compare our children with people who have suffered strokes and have the same language problems… Our children's problems are originated in the brain, Motor planning, and liver: muscle tone (mitochondrial issues)… That being said each child is different and some are affected more than others… if your child only has language delay, than you are a few of the lucky ones, some are autistic, epileptic and CP… some have a combination of this and have far more difficult road ahead… but, they can all recover, as long as we can determine the cause or origin, to work in pro of building their brains and other affected organs…
By the way, not so long ago two Mexican scientists found a possible relation between the virus that causes chickenpox, chickenpox-zó ster, and cases of multiple sclerosis in active stage.
The investigation was developed by Adolfo Martinez and Julio Sotelo, who identified the presence of the virus just chickenpox-zó ster in a group of 62 patients with multiple sclerosis when it was in active stage.
The virus of chickenpox would cause in the brain a scar that would prevent the myelin production, a protein that surrounds nervous fibers and facilitates the transmission of the nervous impulses.
The investigation was published in the Annals magazine of Neurology.
"In resistance, were not viral particles in samples of patients with multiple sclerosis in phase of remission or subjects to neurological control", indicate the conclusions of the scientists.. .
"We considered that this is the cause. Or he will see himself if it is cause or one of the causes", indicated Julio Sotelo. "In these initial findings he can be one neither forceful nor dogmatic one", said the scientist.
The multiple sclerosis affects the spinal marrow and the brain, causing damages in the coordination, the balance and the memory; in addition, it hits the muscular development and the visual capacity.
Now correct me if I am wrong… but MS cases are also on the rise along with Alzheimer's and ASD, Remember that MS and ASD share same mitochondrial issues… And the most common exposure to chickenpox this days is childhood VACCINES!!! What do you think?!!!
Here it is straight from the horse's mouth:
The following document is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lists the inactive ingredients in vaccines along with the materials that are used to culture or grow mass quantities of vaccines.
Vaccine Excipient and Media Summary:
Were you aware that vaccines have all this ingredients?!!! Do you know what all this ingredients can cause?!!!
Love, Gabby. :0)
# bob_plotkinon 17 Nov 2008 at 2:56 pm
Thanks for the original and follow-up info on Acupuncture.
How about "cold laser" therapy? I just found out that it is being used in rehabilitation of someone I know and find the plausibility that low-level light therapy has any beneficial effects to be negligible at best. (I will ignore the fact that the practitioner told the patient that they could do the procedure through clothes – seems to violate some basic principles of light!?)
Given that from my basic research, cold lasers are also being used as an alternative to needles for acupuncture, I would be curious to get your take on this device and its applicability to medicine.
Thanks -
# daedalus2uon 18 Nov 2008 at 2:18 pm
How about a blog on Alzheimer's and the amyloid hypothesis?
A number of recent results have seemingly shown clearance of amyloid with seemingly no resolution of dementia.
My own feeling is that the accumulation of amyloid and tau is a side-show, the real causal factors relate to ATP status and blood flow (as controlled by NO).
# Radoslav Harmanon 20 Nov 2008 at 3:17 am
Dear Dr. Novella. I would like to know your opinion on the following topic:
# The skepTickon 21 Nov 2008 at 1:56 pm
Dr. N,
Roy Asim has "finally" published his controversial theory on the brain. According to him, different parts of the brain are controlled by a master controller. I gather he repudiates the power of self-organization that we see so often in nature. It sounds like this might be right up your alley so I thought you might want to make a few comments about it.
The layman's link is here: http://www.physorg.com/news146319784.html
Best Regards,
The skepTick
Dr. Novella,
Have you looked into the film, "The Beautiful Truth?" It appears to be a propaganda film extolling the virtues of how an organic food based diet will cure cancer. It's getting a fare amount of press about how it "takes on the medical industrial complex." Here's a link to the film's trailer and a misguided review of the film. Please shed some light on this dark, dark territory.
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/thebeautifultruth/
Review: http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialty-releases/e3i2dd2f2ead332946a80eca22aad7adc37?imw=Y
# HCNon 22 Nov 2008 at 8:03 pm
eatbolt aka Matt have you seen this takedown of that movie by a cancer researcher?…
Thanks for the link. Just what I was looking for.
# HCNon 25 Nov 2008 at 12:31 am
Glad to be of help… there is more of the same here:
# Amorphous Intelligenceon 27 Nov 2008 at 6:20 am
Dr. Novella:
I have heard you say a number of times on your podcast that—as best as memory serves—"correlation is not causation." It is a phrase which has made sense to me per your usages and I recently wanted to invoke it myself for my new blog at http://www.amorphousintelligence.wordpress.com. But I also wanted to provide a link that gave a rational justification for it. I was hoping you had written about it; alas, I was unable to find it if you had. So I checked many other science-based and skeptical blogs as well as doing a broad Google search. The closest thing I could find that was accessible to the lay reader was a Wikipedia article titled "Correlation does not imply causation," which I at first thought was close enough. (In fact, if one types "correlation is not causation" in the search box one is directed to "Correlation does not imply causation.") But then I heard your most recent SGU 5X5 podcast (#46 "Skepticism 101-Confusing Correlation With Causation") in which you point out that correlation can, in fact, imply causation, so a more accurate phrasing would be "correlation is not necessarily causation." Upon further reflection this now makes even more sense than the aforementioned phrase (which makes me wonder if all this time you had been saying "necessarily" and I just hadn't clued in to it). Which now leads to the two points of my writing you: First, given the apparent inaccuracy of the Wikipedia article, I recommend that you try to fix that article or write a wholly different one altogether. (I would gladly do it myself but it seems you are far more qualified than I.) And second—especially if revising/rewriting the Wikipedia article is too much effort—might I recommend that you blog about this phrase? It strikes me as a highly useful phrase that the average person can find an application for its usage on a near daily basis which, in fact, I do use on a near daily basis. For us lay skeptics it would be nice to have an authoritative, easily readable article to point others to, though. (And yes, I understand authority is not science, but it does persuade.) It would be especially helpful to say something like: "What? Don't believe me? Check it out on Wikipedia." After all, if Wikipedia says it, it must be true.
Thank you,
Amorphous Intelligence
# taustinon 29 Nov 2008 at 4:24 pm
This is an old screed, but I don't find anything about Ritalin with a search:
Has all the earmarks of of quackery based in ignorance (and sounds remarkably like the anti-vaccine screeds), how ADHD doesn't exist, it's all a massive criminal conspiracy between "big pharma" and the government, and it can all be cured with a diet change and it's all the fault of boring schools anyway.
And the very specific claim that Ritalin causes stunted growth in children.
You probably already have a post ready to go up on this , but apparently researchers at Duke have found that "Acupuncture beats aspirin for chronic headache"!!!
The results? – "53 percent of patients given true acupuncture were helped, compared to 45 percent receiving sham therapy"
Doctor, what say you to that!?!
oops – link:
# Paradymon 05 Dec 2008 at 10:32 am
Dear Steve,
As you may or may not know, David Kirby has been posting to Huffington Post almost weekly regarding the vaccine/autism connection fallacy. I know you've addressed this topic many times before, and I have been attempting to be a counter, however small, to all the misinformed posters lauding Mr. Kirby's assertions. As expected, most of those supporting him are the same dozen or so, but there is an alarmingly growing number of people claiming that because of theses articles they are now concerned about vaccinating their children. I know all that can be a ruse to feign larger support, but it still concerns me that Mr. Kirby isn't being refuted by a knowledgeable source.
With respect, I am imploring you to please attempt a rebuttal, or at least try to get an authority in this specific field to write an article that calls out the fallacies in the anti-vaccination argument. I am troubled by Huffington Post's continually giving Mr. Kirby an opportunity to feed this conspiracy (and his book sales). I think it could be argued as irresponsible, if not dangerous, as the ramifications are huge to the public health.
Thank you, as well as all the Skeptical Rogues, for all that you do, and as a big fan I hope to meet you all soon someday!
Chicago, IL
How about drug-related internet hoaxes?
I received a recent one from my sister, detailing the threat of receiving a business card from a stranger, that may be dosed with Burundanga (aka: Scopolamine/Datura) and will render the subject almost instantly intoxicated.
What alarms me about this sort of thing, is that there is usually a grain of truth somewhere. Yes, scopolamine can be used as a "date rape drug", but ten minutes on the internet will reveal that it can't be absorbed in transdermal fashion in sufficient quantities to cause intoxication and that the e-mail is an established hoax.
Looking at the e-mail itself, my sister appears to have received her copy of the message from a serving police officer (a detective no less). You really would expect the police to be a bit more critical in their thinking before sending out this sort of thing.
# Spenceron 09 Dec 2008 at 8:43 am
Could you please do an article on the contribution Henry Gustav Molaison (HM) has made to neuroscience due to his profound amnesia.
I have read the NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/05hm.html?_r=1) and was somewhat touched by the sad story of his life.
I'd like to suggest an article (or Podcast segment) on the recent Nature paper suggesting that use of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall by people wishing to improve cognative ability should be legalised.
You can find more at -
# Bunnyon 17 Dec 2008 at 2:41 pm
Jenny McCarthy has been sharing her medical expertise via the Oprah show, Larry King, etc., and now her boyfriend, Jim Carrey, is getting in on the act. Here's some fascinating medical advice from Jim Carry in the current issue of Us Magazine:
"At the risk of like opening up the whole Tom Cruise Prozac argument, you know, I don't disagree in many ways," Jim Carrey said. "I think Prozac and things like that are very valuable to people for short periods of time. But I believe if you're on them for an extended period of time, you never get to the problem.
"You never get to see what the problem is, because everything is just kind of OK," he said. "And so, you don't deal. And people deal when they get desperate."
Carrey's solution: "Supplements," he said.
"It is vitamins. But it's also certain elements of the brain like Tyrosine and hydroxytryptophan that they're treating depression with now," he said. "It is a natural substance that's in your brain. Instead of being a Serotonin inhibitor, which just uses the serotonin you have and Prozac and things like that — it just uses the Serotonin you have and it doesn't allow it go back into the receptor.
"It metabolizes your serotonin after a while and you have to keep taking more and more to feel good.
"This actually creates dopamine and creates serotonin," Carrey continued. "It's a wonderful thing. It's amazing. I'm going to talk a lot about it in the near future."
# Bunnyon 19 Dec 2008 at 4:29 pm
Oh, and I would like to second the suggestion from SatansParkakeet on 8-14-08. When my mother was dying of cancer in the 1990s, she had a prescription for Marinol, which I understood to be "medical marijuana" in pill form. If this is already available legally, why are people still fighting to make marijuana legal for medical purposes? Why do they insist on the smokeable kind?
# DevilsAdvocateon 23 Dec 2008 at 1:15 pm
Topic Suggestion:
University of Tilburg (Netherlands) study of a man blinded by multiple strokes who nonetheless navigated an obstacle course without aids such a cane nor by touching and feeling his way through.
Suggests visually obtained data may be processed in another part of brain than usual, and that it can occur without the person realizing it (?).
No *apparent* outward woo or pseudoscience… but, if true, considerable implications for neuroscience and other disciplines.
# Gary Goldwateron 26 Dec 2008 at 8:28 pm
I'd like to have a reading list for people with a scientific interest but who are not trained scientists. For example, I'm a special education teacher. I have not trained in the hard sciences nor did I take anything but 100-200 level science classes when I was in college.
If you had a list of 12 books, we could read one each month. At the end of that month, you could write a blog using the knowledge base gained from that book. Of course, I'm thinking like an old-timer. You could just as well have links listed that need to be digested before reading the target blog.
If you posted the book 6 weeks in advance, for example, we could get the book from Amazon and read it by the time the target blog comes out.
Gary Goldwater
# daedalus2uon 05 Jan 2009 at 10:42 pm
There is a recent death in the news, John Travolta's son, reportedly due to a seizure secondary to Kawasaki Syndrome. It is an interesting case because the Kawasaki Syndrome was reportedly improved by a detox system based on Scientology.
Tragically it was not improved enough.
# battlestarleton 06 Jan 2009 at 3:49 pm
I am an esthetician (facialist) and am constantly confronted with pseudoscience in the spa industry. I would love to hear your thoughts on:
- antioxidants
- salicylic acid versus willow bark extract (it's my understanding that salicylic acid is derived from willow bark and that both are anti-inflammatories related to aspirin, but the true-believers say that willow bark is gentler, healthier, and just as effective because it is more.. ahem.. natural)
- lymphatic massage for normal, healthy individuals
- high frequency therapy done to eliminate acne
- colloidal silver used topically (not internally)
I also consider myself a feminist and it saddens me that the beauty industry does such a good job of convincing women (who, as a whole, are already behind their male counterparts in savings and investings) to turn over their hard-earned cash for questionable treatments. I try to do my best to bring reason to my industry, but it is a constant battle.
# son 06 Jan 2009 at 9:43 pm
Aspirin is the brand name of a very well known salicylate-containing tablet introduced in 1899.
Aspirin is named so after Spirea ulmaria (meadowseet, today Filipendula ulmaria) that is another salicinproducing plant.
The active compound in these plants, among which the willow is probably most know, is salicin that will be metabolized to salicylic acid in the body.
Yes the extract should be milder. According to Akao et al "[salicylic acid] appeared slowly in the plasma and levels increased gradually, in contrast to the rapid appearance observed after oral administration of sodium salicylate… [salicin] did not induce gastric lesions even at a dose of 5 mmol/kg; conversely, ["aspirin/salicylic acid"] induced severe gastric lesions in a dose-dependent manner at 1, 2.5 and 5 mmol/kg. …These results indicate that [salicin] is a prodrug which is gradually transported to the lower part of the intestine, hydrolyzed to [saligenin] by intestinal bacteria, and converted to [salicicylic acid] after absorption. It thus produces an antipyretic action without causing gastric injury."
In sum taking salicin is "milder" as it does not get metabolized into salicylic acid until in the bloodstream, while aspirin means salicylic acid is directly ingested into the stomach and can cause upset. This probably also means that salicylate poisoning is less likely as concentrations are lower.
Planta Med. 2002 Aug;68(8):714-8. Evaluation of salicin as an antipyretic prodrug that does not cause gastric injury. Akao T, Yoshino T, Kobashi K, Hattori M.
# AutismNewsBeaton 14 Jan 2009 at 6:21 pm
Write about the New York Time' latest op-ed contributor, Bono. It doesn't have to be off topic.
Bono is a terrific lyricist, as evidenced by the millions of CDs and albums he's sold. So why was his first op-ed a muddled, incoherent, unreadable mess? Could it be that the skills we possess in one area do not necessarily translate into another, seemingly related area?
Thus we have competent chemistry department chairs pumping out muddled, incoherent papers on autism. And chiropractors sharing worthless advice on nutrition and toxicology with parents of autistic children.
The NY Times will soon enough realize its mistake, and replace Bono with an bona fide essayist. Anti-vaxers will take longer.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the increased use of non-invasive diagnostic medical imaging use and the movement of imaging studies out of the radiology reading room and into the practicing physician's office.
We (FiatLux Imagine ) have used computer gaming technology, in the form of Direct X, to harness the inate capability of everyday computers to provide 2D and 3D rendering capabilities to view these medical images in any location, independent of costly specialized servers. By doing this at an affordable price, we see an ability to provide medical images anywhere, anytime, to any practicioner.
With the ever increasing ability to diagnostically peer inside the body, and with the increasing technical ability to render those images into physiologic appearing 3D volumes,an ever increasing number of specialties are now proficient at doing their own interpretations and moving ahead with treatment regimes and surgical planning.
# Dr J In Trainingon 22 Jan 2009 at 2:03 am
I have done some rudimentary digging and can't find much in the way of reliable information regarding the "Post-Massage Malaise" that many masseurs warn against. They profess it's due to released toxins…so a real explanation is certainly lacking. I'd love to read your thoughts on it.
# tmac57on 23 Jan 2009 at 6:32 pm
I was recently struck by the current TV commercial war between Campbell's Soup and Progresso Soup over inclusion of MSG. Campbell's Soup trumpets the 'All Natural- no MSG' line, and Progresso goes with the 'more people prefer their taste' approach.
What caught my interest was what's really wrong with MSG anyway? So I did a little research, since I had heard MSG being used as a 'bad guy' ingredient for many years, and I found out that, while it has been suspected as a headache and asthma trigger in the past, there doesn't appear to be any well controlled studies to bear this out.
Is this a case of anecdotal stories and 'common knowledge' maligning a perfectly good flavor additive that adds the UMAMI taste to foods, or is there any really good reason for people to avoid it? FYI, I have no dog in this fight except to know the facts.
A double blind placebo controlled homeopathy study:
I noticed the above paper cited by Dana Ullman (who seems to be a big name in homeopathy) on this blog:
The study is small (about 60 people) but from my unsophisticated reading does match the "double blind placebo controlled" goal post required by at least us lay skeptics.
What's deal? Tell it to me straight, doc.
# HCNon 30 Jan 2009 at 12:57 pm
mindme, I do not have time to read the paper, but at a first glance it is on a condition that is not well defined and with subjective data points, as noted here:
"Tender point count and tender point pain on examination by a medical assessor uninvolved in providing care, self-rating scales on fibromyalgia-related quality of life, pain, mood and global health at baseline and 3 months, were the primary clinical outcome measures for this report."
It is the "self-rating" scale that makes it not so good.
For a better idea read the book "Snake Oil Science" by R Barker Bausell.
# Johnshieldon 08 Feb 2009 at 10:16 pm
Good day, Dr Novella
I recently stumbled upon this add on a local billboard:
and I found that I had a few questions like:
1) if their claims on the effects of homotaurine on brain volume and also the list of Wonders it brought about, was on the level?
2) CAN this new natural health product who was Scientifically proven, be true?
3) And finally, is this, as I found out with a little digging, really a re-ashed failed Anti-Alzheimer's Pill,and if so, is that legal or ethical?
Thank you for your time!
Dr. Novella,
In your recent discussion with a Creationist blogger, he avoided actually answering your challenge by dropping some random questions, one of which ran along the lines of "How do you explain the origin of the Universe?".
Although it had nothing to do with the subject at hand at that time, it does represent an interesting question.
I think I remember reading something on this in Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion", although it might have been another book I was reading at that time. I think I remember that he wrote about a couple of different possible explanations being explored on this, and I remember distinctly that they had to do with the properties of vacuum (symmetry). I'll do my homework and look for this reference, but I did want to ask you if you have some reading material on this, or can reference me to a good source, and most importantly, blog about it or discuss it in the Skeptics Guide.
Thank you for your time and the guiding beacon you represent to all of us Skeptics out here.
# Anderson 14 Feb 2009 at 5:39 pm
Good day, Dr. Novella
Here is a cool article about a new Prosthetic Arm. Remember to watch the video. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/22730/
# TSkidCon 16 Feb 2009 at 6:58 pm
Steve, have you ever done any research on, or are you aware of any good research on candida and "the candida diet". A friend of mine went to a alt medicine practitioner who used a vega machine to diagnose her with candida (amongst other thing). I have been trying to find some solid information and research on this condition and the supposed diet-cure but have been unable to find anything worthwhile on the net. Thanks.
# TSkidCon 02 Mar 2009 at 6:39 pm
I have been a vegan for 7 years and a vegetarian for 13 before that. I would be interested in hearing your perspective on the science behind the John McDougall and Dean Ornish diets, as well as the research conducted by Colin T. Campbell (author of The China Study) and Neal Barnard (who is the president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine). All of these individuals advocate the importance of a vegetarian/vegan diet for optimal health. I have always been impressed at the quality of the scientific/medical research on which they draw. I'd love to hear your take on the science that these individuals use to promote their position.
# eddiecurrenton 05 Mar 2009 at 12:45 am
This post by Alone at Last Psychiatrist tweaked me:
Now I think his stance here is a little bit too far (Alone, on the whole, seems to indulge in the Galileo Fallacy– "my ideas are unpopular and marginal, and thus must be right"), but it does make me ask:
How can a layman spot bias in a study? You've written a few times (as have others) on how the media spins research, but if I go to the original paper to get past that how do I tell if the writer of that paper isn't working an agenda beyond testing a hypothesis?
# IanJNon 09 Mar 2009 at 11:32 am
Dr. Novella,
I have a friend studying Transpersonal Psychology and I was wondering what your thoughts were. While the psychology of spirituality is worthy of study, I can't tell if TP is credible or credulous.
# glensteinon 09 Mar 2009 at 8:58 pm
There is a recent article in the New Atlantis (link) called "Why Minds Are Not Like Computers", that I think is problematic. There are bits, such as…
… arguments for strong AI typically describe the lowest levels of the mind in order to assert its mechanical nature. The rhetoric of mechanism pervades the writing of AI believers, who claim again and again that the brain is a machine. In his 2002 book Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us, roboticist Rodney Brooks declares that "the body, this mass of biomolecules, is a machine that acts according to a set of specifiable rules," and hence that "we, all of us, overanthropomorphize humans, who are after all mere machines." The mind, then, must also be a machine, and thus must be describable in computational terms just as the brain supposedly is.
Both these positions fail to acknowledge that the mind may be simultaneously like and unlike a machine, depending on the level at which it is being described. That is, perhaps it is the case that the highest levels of mentation cannot be described in computational terms, but some lower level can.
I think there is something slippery going on here- if I understand it correctly, all that we mean when describing "mind as machine", is that a scientific account of the proccesses in a mind must be mechanistic. The article suggests that at some point, the mind is becomes so complicated that it's somehow not mechanistic any more.
This suggestion that the minds processes can be explained without reference to its underlying physical components strikes me as a not very scientific position to take, and similar in spirit to arguments against evolution, that life could be "so complicated" that it's impossible that natural systems could describe. But it's also a fairly well written piece, and on my readings the problem is really difficult to unpack, so I thought it might be of interest here.
# Kilgore Trouton 10 Mar 2009 at 10:49 pm
Dr. Novella,
After watching the video on the prosthetic limb posted by Anders, I was just wondering what this means when it comes to explaining phantom limb pain?
# Keldoron 13 Mar 2009 at 5:02 pm
What do you think of "Calorie Restrictive" diets and the search for and use of Resveratrol in anti-aging? Seems like bunk to me, but there are supposedly compelling studies being done on it at SMU.
# Ruthon 17 Mar 2009 at 6:20 am
I had a relative with a significant alcohol problem and I was shocked at how little connection there seemed to be between the academic research and the firmly held beliefs surrounding treatment.
In the uk it's unacceptable for a medical proffessional to push religion, yet the spiritual cure for a frequently sloppily diagnosed 'disease' (or even worse 'spiritual disease') seems widespread even in the state provision of healthcare. Things are changing but slowly but over the years that have since past I have still never encountered such an odd mix of disease versus behaviour and state funded spiritual cure, often mixed with secular, medical solutions.
It's a can of worms to be sure – but for an innate skeptic it seemed a shocking state of affairs in such a widespread and actually well researched issue.
# IanJNon 25 Mar 2009 at 5:36 pm
I'd love to see a post about theory selection and best explanation to the cause. Why, when given the same evidence, is one interpretation preferred over another?
# MWSlettenon 26 Mar 2009 at 10:13 am
This would seem to be right up your alley:
# Chicago Skepticon 30 Mar 2009 at 10:53 pm
Poverty Goes Straight to the Brain
The preceding article discusses a study that appears show that being raised in poverty can result in lower working memory as an adult due to stress, caused by poverty, on adolescent brains. If true, the findings have many interesting implications.
I would love to get your take on the article, the underlying study, and the potential implications of the research.
The study, as given at the end of the article is:
"Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory." By Gary W. Evans and Michelle A. Schamberg. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106 No. 13, March 30, 2009.
# Brownbomber3on 09 Apr 2009 at 11:40 am
I would love to see a post regarding mitochondrial disease. I had never heard it until it took our daughter's life. Treatment is vague and a cure seems to be nowhere in site. I have read everything there is to read but I would like to know more about what is up and coming in terms of testing. UMDF has been a great resource but I need more.
Thank you!
# Suzion 10 Apr 2009 at 6:30 pm
My boyfriend had an interesting discussion regarding his theory that people who truly believe that they can see auras, may be suffering a neurological condition, specifically synesthesia. We both said "I wonder what Steve would say about that?". Thanks!
# kvsherryon 11 Apr 2009 at 12:27 am
Here in San Diego a man who ran a CAM clinic and sold "drugs" to people in and out of the area is being prosecuted for, amongst other things, practicing without a license. His Name is Kurt Donsbach and he actually ran a clinic in Mexico where Coretta Scott King died from cancer while receiving his "treatments".
Included in the comments of the article was the post that I pasted below from John Hammell, the President of the International Advocates for Health Freedom. In it, he mentions some pretty scary ways for CAM proponents to dodge prosecution…
"Mexican authorities will allow any clinic to remain open if it pays the bribe money unless they're leaned on by US Authorities to shut a clinic down. Mexico is a totally corrupt country, but then so is the USA. You can't judge any clinic just because the Mexican government shut it down. There are a lot of very good clinics in Mexico that aren't operating in the USA due to major corruption in the USA that suppresses alternative treatment modes employing the use of treatments that threaten pharmaceutical profits. These suppressed treatments include bioxidative treatments such as ozone and hydrogen peroxide. Cancer is anaerobic, it can't live in the presence of oxygen, but no money can be made off these treatments which play hob with Big Pharma's money game. Don't kid yourself, the pharmaceutical industry and mainstream medicine are like the mafia. They wield enormous political power, and thats NOT in our best interests. I once worked for Kurt Donsbach at his Hospital in Rosarito Beach. I witnessed the man save a lot of lives. He is not a criminal, the AMA are criminals, mainstream medicine is chock full of criminals who do everything humanly possible to maintain their monopoly at our expense.
Donsbach should have joined the Nemenhah Band of the Native American Church. He would have come under the protection of a Supreme Court Decision (Gonzalez v O Centro) that extends only to members in good standing in the Native American Church, which anyone can join, regardless of whether or not they have so much as a drop of Native Blood. In Ohio, a woman who was charged recently with "practicing medicine without a license" was apologized to by the Judge when she explained to him that she was under the protection of this Supreme Court Decision and that he had no jurisdiction over her: http://www.nemenhah.org
Any alternative practitioner reading this should join so as to avoid Donsbach's fate. What happened to him didn't have to happen. This Supreme Court decision allows members of the Native American Church to consider any substance to be a sacrament used for healing, including peyote and marijuana, and this extends to all substances sold in health food stores. Supplement manufacturers should join and set up Buyers Clubs that only members in the Nemenhah band could enter. This would remove them from FDA jurisdiction so they could then make medicinal claims on product labels. They would be allowed to do this because they would not have entered into interstate commerce, so FDA would have no jurisdiction. See http://www.nemenhah.org/internal/resources.html
John Hammell, President
International Advocates for Health Freedom
# JasonEllison 21 Apr 2009 at 9:27 am
Dr. Novella,
One of my 'the truth is out there' friends sent me a link to a film on youtube about how the universe and intention (mind power) are connected and one can physically influence the other, it's called The Science of Miracles.
I have not watched the whole series (there are eight episodes), but in the first episode, the narrator claims one of the studies that supports this theory is a russian study that has been coined the 'Phantom DNA' study. The scientist, who 'published' the study from what I think is a russian university that specializes in 'psychic phenomena', is Pjotr Garjajev.
This study is being retro-fitted into some old psuedo-scientific favorites and my bologna detector is ringing like crazy.
Here is some 'information' on this study:
and here is the link to the youtube series 'Science of Miracles' with Greg Braden:
I haven't been able to find good information on this study or an objective discussion. I thought this would be a good topic for this blog or SGU.
Love your work – thank you!
I've been looking into Live blood/cell analysis recently. My first stop was a search of your blog (long time reader, first time poster, that sorta thing) but couldn't find anything.
After coming across some investigative sites I found that the wikipedia page seems to sum up the field well with:
Live blood analysis is an unestablished diagnostic test[1] promoted by some alternative medicine practitioners, who assert that it can diagnose a range of diseases. There is no scientific evidence that live blood analysis can detect any disease state, and it has been described by medical authorities as a fraudulent means of convincing a patient that they are ill and require treatment with dietary supplements.
There's also some good info here: http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/livecell.html
Also interesting is that in one case a practitioner was forced to stop performing it by a department of health: http://www.casewatch.org/board/chiro/martin.shtml
It seems like your kind of topic! And it would also be great to get your personal views/analysis of it.
# tmac57on 23 Apr 2009 at 9:25 am
Just saw a post on Snopes about "an Urgent warning" about the Gardasil vaccine from the Health Sciences Institute : http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/gardasil.asp
Jenny Thompson has posted this video on Youtube :http://hsibaltimore.com/files/2009/04/hsialert.htm
Implying that the vaccine is responsible for 32 deaths and nearly 12,000 adverse reactions.
Once again, medical quacks are misusing data to try to frighten the public and promote their own fraudulent agenda.
Hello Steven,
As you follow anti-vaccine rhetoric more than I do, I am curious if you know anything about a particular part of it. Have any anti-vaccination campaigners ever suggested any sort of idea as to how their chosen bug-bear caused autism? As in, which chemicals had what effect on the body, and the way this caused the child to develop the traits specific to the spectrum of autism?
Or is the claim of correlation usually considered sufficient?
# switterson 27 Apr 2009 at 1:02 pm
Dr Novella
On the Autism topic,
I recently came across a book by Robert Mellilo titled 'Disconnected Kids'.
in it he claims something called the brain balance program can eliminate something called functional disconnection syndrome.
I am all of 10 pages in and my skeptic alarm has sounded at least 3 times, particularly when he claims that he has reversed autism in a thousand patients and when he claimed that adhd autism, tourettes and ocd all have the same root cause.
just wondering if anyone has come across this. from what i gather, without reading too much farther, he is advocating various brain exersices, so i don't know if there is any harm in it even though he appears to be Jenny McCarthy level crazy.
again, just wondering if you or anyone else here has come across this guy. ran a few web searches and couldn't come up with any skeptic viewpoints.
# RickKon 05 May 2009 at 11:49 am
For this blog or SGU, did you see this item about "activating" DNA to resist AIDS?
I was sent this and haven't followed up, but I'd be interested in whether this is in any way related to a reported gene or mutation found in some Northern Europeans that provides resistance to AIDS.
# garnercxon 09 May 2009 at 1:02 am
Have a look at this.
A credulous, intellectually lazy, half page story on page 21 of the biggest selling newspaper in Melbourne Australia today…
Here is the online version
Here is what I wrote in the comments…
"While the self-styled animal communicator from North Bondi can communicate with living animals…"
I cannot believe I am reading these words? What a credulous, lazy and demonstrably false statement to make! Never in the history of the human species has anyone ever been able to demonstrate, under proper controlled, blinded conditions that there is any reason to believe that the is such a thing as a psychic. In every single case, psychics are either calculated liars using cold reading techniques, or deluded.
The statement above asks us to accept that this person can 'read the minds' of animals, and that the 'phenomena' is real. Why havn't they claimed James Randi's $1M prize then?
No wonder the 'journalist' makes the statement "…and please be nice". They know this intellectually lazy, clap-trap is going to get slammed for the waste of time it is. Please don't make things worse by promoting these deceptive, morally bankrupt frauds.
# Dread Polackon 09 May 2009 at 1:49 pm
I was wondering if you've read this, and what your thoughts might be. Also, what experience do you have with Narcolepsy, in general?
Quirks and Quarks is a science series on CBC radio. It has a good reputation for popularizing credible science, so I was surprised to hear that the title of one of the segments on 2 May was "Fever & Autism" (mp3). I feared that it was going to be about a disease-based claim for the cause for autism. However, it turned out to be an interview with Dr. Dominick Purpura about his hypothesis that, if many autistic children exhibit reduced autistic behaviours when they have fevers, then perhaps autism is caused by a developmental dysregulation related to the locus coeruleus. He admits that he has lots of testing ahead of him to see if there is any merit in his idea. Since the story was about neurology and autism, I thought you might be interested.
# mmron 14 May 2009 at 3:10 pm
Hi Steve,
I'm curious about veterinary woo– "alternative" medicine for pets. I've gotten into some arguments about this, and have referred people to whatstheharm.net though this only has human examples of possible harm from chiropracty, homeopapthy, acupuncture, etc. that is now being applied to pets. I haven't been able to find studies on this, and any discussion in the media are anecdotes about how it "works." I know this isn't your specialty, but do you know of any studies or even real-life examples that I could use in the future? Any strategies for discussing this with folks who argue that as long as you also see a traditional vet, what could go wrong?
Medical woo is always upsetting, but it really bothers me when its applied to animals (and children) who don't have a say!
# mmron 14 May 2009 at 3:48 pm
Sorry, I just thought of one little addition that might make the topic I suggested above more interesting to blog about:
From my scattered reading on the vet woo issue, it seems like vet medicine is often operating in a fairly evidence-poor environment, especially on issues of nutrition and pain management. How should a skeptic go about choosing vet care under these circumstances? One argument I've heard about some of these treatments is that though they're not science "yet," science changes. My alarm bells go off when it is some homeopathic remedy they are talking about, but under what circumstances would it be ok to try a treatment that hasn't been scientifically proven, given a general lack of research?
# philstuon 16 May 2009 at 3:34 am
Hi Steven.
Perhaps you can write on the water fluoridation issue? (And other sources of fluoride/fluoridation) There is so much information it is difficult to separate the facts from the myths. What is the history of the fluoridation practice? Are there health risks? Is it a case of unethical mass medicating? what are your own ideas? how has the issue been distorted by media, special interest groups, individuals, conspiracists etc.
Thank you for reading.
# Watcheron 16 May 2009 at 3:18 pm
This just popped up in nature on the 14th. Pretty interesting stuff if you feel like discussing abiogenesis.
# Sebastianon 16 May 2009 at 5:08 pm
I stumbled upon a site on CAM for Swine Flu. Among the usual homeopathy nonsense I found something new (for me at least):
Emotional Freedom Techniques.
I quote:
"There are many accounts of reduction in symptoms using EFT. Although it takes a few minutes to learn the fingertip tapping sequence, it is free to the public and always available."
A few minutes! Woohoo!
I then googled EFT and found it's proponents, among them Deepak Chopra, claim it can "influence gene activity", cure "everything from the common cold to multiple sclerosis", "fear, trauma, depression, grief and schizophrenia".
But it doesn't stop there. There is a series of videos you have to see over at emofree dot com / freevideos.aspx – the video with the vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is disturbing on so many levels.
Basically, EFT "works" by tapping "energy centers" with the fingers. It's like accupuncture for belonophobics.
I am sure you will have a field day with this monstrous load of nonsense.
I searched through the archives and the SGU podcasts but couldn't see if you have touched upon it already.
Warm regards from Denmark
Oh, btw: http://www.fda.gov/oci/flucontact.html – every skeptic should have this link at hand these days.
First, I want to thank you and your compatriots at NESS for the weekly podcasts and your tireless advancement of reason over irrationality. It's a great comfort to me, someone who doesn't work in a scientific setting and is confronted with irrational, magical thinking by people on a day to day basis.
On to my question. I stumbled across an idea being promoted by Bruce Lipton, Ph. D. that smacks of pseudo-science and I wondered what you might have to say about it. Lipton's argument is that "mind" is a factor in epigenetics, via our subconscious thoughts mainly. He posits that we can avoid disease and heal ourselves via "mind's" interaction with genes, with the mind commanding the use of various genes as blueprints for protein production that would be better for us versus the blind, predisposed march of genetics.
He goes on to claim that theory is supported by the concept of epigenetics and is proven by the placebo effect. My skeptical "spidey sense" tells me this is probably nonsense and that the elephantine concept he's trying to get by me is the existence of "mind" – which I see you debate on the site. Seems to me to be typical new ager nonsense. When you boil the argument down, it's essentially that some entity or emergent property that can't be explained is actually in control of our physical existence and that we can control it by some equally opaque process that at it's best is a black box or at worst a "then some magic happens" step in the theory he's positing.
Care to comment? I'd appreciate it. Again, thanks!
Glenn Donovan
# Torgoon 21 May 2009 at 11:48 pm
Would love to hear your thoughts on this piece from NPR (see link below), especially the details of Dean Radin's study and its findings mentioned toward the end. I know why the quantum entanglement hypothesis is bologna, but any skeptical thoughts on the following?:
"After running 36 couples through this test, the researchers found that when one person focused his thoughts on his partner, the partner's blood flow and perspiration dramatically changed within two seconds. The odds of this happening by chance were 1 in 11,000. Three dozen double blind, randomized studies by such institutions as the University of Washington and the University of Edinburgh have reported similar results."
Thanks for all you do.
# catherineturleyon 22 May 2009 at 4:48 pm
read your thoughts on stem cell treatment in china, and one reader's comment that he just sat back and let his kid die rather than pursue a longshot. i've been trying to help a 28 year old bulgarian girl with sma type 2. her doctors tell her there's nothing she can do, so she is fund raising for treatment at beike. she's only set on that option because nobody has offered up any alternatives. what do you suggest to someone who doesn't want to sit back and die? i agree that it's unproven, maybe a total fraud, but what else is there. i thought maybe she should try to get her hands on a drug being tested for similar conditions, like iplex, but even that isn't safe or easy to find.
# Blair Ton 09 Jun 2009 at 1:00 pm
Hi Steve,
I was wondering if you would comment on the current back and forth between Chris Money and Jerry Coyne in their blogs on compatibility and accommodation between science and religion?
It seems to me that Money is a bit muddled in the points he is trying to make, and I would appreciate hearing comments from a clear thinker such as yourself.
Tho I would imagine you are already on this, the FDA advisory about Zicam seems right up your alley.
# canadiaon 18 Jun 2009 at 12:09 pm
Hi Steven,
I'm a 22 year-old university student from canada, and I love you blog. Refreshing and intelligent writing.
I would love to see what you have to say about the persistent fear-mongering urban legend that radiation from wireless devices like cellphones and wifi routers causes every terrifying disease under the sun.
To be honest, this seems like a very damaging idea. It has already caused several towns and cities to rescind their plans to increase wifi coverage, sometimes even banning it completely. Its a global phenomenon, and unlike many pseudo-scientific conspiracy theories, these ones do use some scientific data (sufficient or not).
This idea is spreading and as a prominent scientist with a relevant specialization I think it would be useful for you to weigh in on the issue.
# Kitapsizon 19 Jun 2009 at 8:57 pm
I'd be interested in hearing from you on neuroplasticity, most of the information that can be found goes yea/nay … so, how do we know with any degree of certainty?
How realistic is the plasticity factor?
Age dependent?
Behavioral dependent?
Dietary dependent?
How much do we know, factually?
# bob_plotkinon 30 Jun 2009 at 11:47 am
Sitting on the train yesterday, I saw someone reading a book from http://www.lymeinducedautism.com
I can't help to think that this is a statistical game playing with correlation of the growth of these.
Not sure if you have seen this – but with all the blogging on vaccines and autism, I thought it might be interetsing.
# amyron 02 Jul 2009 at 11:59 pm
Hi Steve:
A topic I haven't seen addressed on skeptical blogs yet is the efficacy of gastric bypass for long term weight loss. There's a number of people on the internet (such as http://www.sizewise.com/docs/wls.html) who claim there is no weight loss benefit and the complications just horribly awful. I have no doubt some gastric bypass patients do suffer from serious complications. But trustworthy sources on weight loss results and complication rates are hard to come by.
# amyron 10 Jul 2009 at 9:25 am
Hey Steve:
Read this article on CNN this morning: "Unsung Heroes Work Hard To Counter Hospital Acquired Infections"
Most of the interventions are undoubtedly good things, like daily bathing and thorough cleaning of patient rooms. But the yogurt and the pH balanced soap? I'd assume staph operates within the same pH range that we do.
# dszyon 17 Jul 2009 at 11:53 am
I've sent this to Quackwatch, SGU forums, & Respectful Insolence. I hope someone with a big following starts talking about it. This autism clinic (!) in Austin is getting sued because it told a man he had Alzheimer's & then chelated him for 10 months.
This spreading of the chelation market is very creepy to me. Writing this I remembered that I recently saw something at Age of Autism linking heavy metals & ALS. ( I troll there periodically to see what people are saying. I work with a number of well-off autistic kids, so I try to keep up with the fads).
# Woodyon 22 Jul 2009 at 9:09 pm
I was wondering if you or any of the other bloggers on SBM have tackled the topic of "medical foods"? It seems to me that this is just a method to get FDA approval for a product without going through the same rigorous clinical trial process that a drug must endure. It also seems to be a potential way to give CAM therapies a patina of legitimacy that is not valid. Case in point – Axona. Thanks for all the work you and the others do!
# Draalon 23 Jul 2009 at 7:10 am
Yesterday I was listening to Obama's address to the Nation about health care reform. One point he emphasized was in order to pay for the new plan was to re-allocate money from programs that have proven not to work. A few things came to mind: abstinence education and alternative medicine. Could Obama's new health care reform be the death blow to alternative medicine if the government refuses to cover payment for it?
# Prataon 12 Aug 2009 at 9:15 pm
Have you done any analysis of the work being done by Laurel Mellin at the University of California San Francisco — called "The Solution"or "The Pathway"? Here is a reference to their website.
Thank you very much,
# Shiftymruzikon 20 Aug 2009 at 12:03 am
Dr. Novella,
I recently got into an argument about critical thinking and neuroscience. I tried to take the stand that critical thinking was a skill and firmly in the nurture camp. Others thought that critical thinking had (and I really hope I'm not misrepresenting their argument) a biological basis. (i.e. that some people by the virtue of their brains are better at it)
When I returned home I tried to find research on the subject, and I can't find any. Is there any research on this question? What would your thoughts be on the subject?
Thanks for the great blog and podcast,
-Chris Mruzik
# praktikon 20 Aug 2009 at 11:29 am
Ok Steve, help me out here.
The thimerosal-autism link you're probably even more tired of hearing about than me, but the local woo-spreader on a message board I'm on has posted the following abstract:
Have you heard about this study?
I don't have access to the full study so I can't really gauge anything here – and it would seem to contradict a recent post on your blog linking to a study showing low-level thimerosal exposure to kids in Boston having no such effects….
Do you know anything about the journal it was published in?
# praktikon 20 Aug 2009 at 11:32 am
oops better link here: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a910652305~db=all~jumptype=rss
and woo links here:
# praktikon 20 Aug 2009 at 12:33 pm
Ok buried in the 2nd woo-link I found out the funder of the study was CoMeD: http://mercury-freedrugs.org/
Whose URL and stated "values" raise major alarm bells for me.
But I'm still curious about the journal it got into and some of the details of the study – how did they engineer the outcome they wanted?
Cause I can't access the full study its hard for me to say where it went wrong.
# Emily Churchon 23 Aug 2009 at 5:29 pm
Just curious our thoughts on this article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23wright.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1. Some things about it bothered me, but I can't put my finger on what exactly.
# fusionauton 24 Aug 2009 at 9:08 pm
Hi Steven-
A friend of mine is interested in the research of Daniel Amen (www.amenclinics.com) and Guy Berard ("auditory integration"). Both look extremely shady to me. I'd be very interested to get your expert opinion on their claims so I could respond to my friend with some specifics. There was a show on PBS recently about Amen, so I expect your comments on him would be of interest to many people besides me.
Thanks for all your hard work.
# taustinon 25 Aug 2009 at 6:26 pm
In depth look at placebos, and the research in to the placebo effect, past and present.
Placebos are getting more effective? Most of the references to that are related to depression drugs. One cannot help but wonder if this is because depression is over diagnosed, at least in some areas. If you're told you have depression, you're likely to believe it (the "nocebo effect"). Then you get drugs that you're told will make you better, so you feel better. For those on real trial drugs, at least some of them will suffer from the very real side effects, which could well lead to making the depression symtoms (real or imagined) worse.
# NiroZon 28 Aug 2009 at 2:57 am
Recently in my philosophy class we discussed conciousness. It really urked me because they were using it as proof of a dualistic univerise, because it couldn't be reduced to smaller parts. Has neuroscience got anything to say on the topic?
# GHcoolon 08 Sep 2009 at 2:05 am
I was given a book called In the Beginning: Biblical Creation and Science by Nathan Aviezer. Aviezer accepts evolution and seems pretty pro-science, but the book argues for a reinterpretation of the Genesis account as a metaphor for what science has discovered about the ancient past. The science in the book is pretty basic, but there's one part I wasn't sure about as my knowledge of biochemistry doesn't extend very far. Aviezer writes:
"[L]iving cells need both proteins and nucleic acids … [but] neither of these complex molecules can have produced without the other. Therefore, it follows that life could not have developed from inanimate matter because inanimate matter contains neither proteins nor nucleic acids."
Aviezer solves the paradox with a "God of the gaps" conclusion, but I'm curious about whether what was quoted about is an accurate description of the present understanding of biochemists.
# praktikon 09 Sep 2009 at 7:12 am
So someone posted this link:
which purports to show no effect from vaccines on the "end" of various diseases like polio.
I don't know where to begin.
# neilsteron 09 Sep 2009 at 12:00 pm
Hi Steve,
So… my father is slowly recovering from a brain aneurysm and I was googling neuro rehabilitation and came across this piece of quackery:
As far as I can tell you shine a ($1499.00) torch at a patients head and this helps with the recovery (though you get the impression they would like to take credit for all of the recovery).
Considering your professional speciality you may have heard of this, but here it is in any case.
# DevilsAdvocateon 13 Sep 2009 at 12:15 pm
Not sure it commands a whole post entry, but it might be nice to acknowledge the death this weekend of a science giant who is virtually unknown to the general public. Norman Borlaug has died, aged 95 years. Rest in peace.
Not an unusal article, given the current state of science journalism, but it's interestign because it's on the BBC, who are usually better than this:
"Depression can damage a cancer patient's chances of survival, a review of research suggests."
# saburaion 07 Jan 2010 at 11:39 am
Aha! This thread is working now. The reply panel wasn't active yesterday for some reason.
# saburaion 07 Jan 2010 at 11:43 am
Now that this is working, I'll post this suggestion here.
I read a post on Slashdot (http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/01/06/0027229/The-LHC-Black-Holes-and-the-Law) referencing an MIT news article (http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24611/) about a law review paper (http://arxiv.org/abs/0912.5480) that attempts to deal with the legal issues arising from a hypothetical lawsuit attempting to shut down the LHC, or any other large science project with possible global implications.
The Slashdot bit was fun, the article was pretty good, but the paper itself was outstanding. It's 80 pages long and I read the entire thing in one 2 hour sitting. What struck me about the article was its sober parsing of the controversy, the science, and the relevant personalities, and the way it weighed issues rationally against each other while describing, in great detail, all of the logical fallacies and cognitive errors that could come into play.
Frankly, I thought the author sounded very much like you, Dr. Novella… except he seems to come to different conclusions than you do on the topic of the LHC (specifically, he knows he is unqualified to make a determination on the safety of LHC but makes a convincing argument that the case should be decided in court).
If you have the time and inclination, I encourage you to read it and possibly discuss it on your blog. Even if you don't have an opportunity to read the whole thing, the MIT piece does a decent job of distilling it, but you'd be cheating yourself out of a great read.
# Shamrockon 08 Jan 2010 at 12:20 pm
I am new to the Skeptic community and am unaware of another blogger who tackles themes of immigration/racism. Perhaps something you could have a look at if you are in need of a topic is a video currently circulating (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU).
I found some of the assertions in the video suspicious. For example a supposed quote from the German office of statistics and census (I am paraphrasing the title of the office) citing unsustainable fertility levels. I have searched the offices website and find no direct link to any such study.
An additional assertion was that France "as we know it" would be extinct in precisely 39 years.
I have no evidence yet to hold these claims in refute though I am, well, skeptical of them.
# JLoatson 11 Jan 2010 at 11:38 pm
Fun to hear you on NPR the other day!
I was hoping to find an entry either here or in SBM about Bisphenol-A (BPA). Has that been done?
Hi all, just joined the site as i am looking for opinion on something myself and others may have discovered that is not yes oriented.
i invite you to watch this video, the technique can be repeated anywhere in the world and is 100% succesful so what are we filming, instructions are provided if you wish to try yourself and I hope that you do.
Ignore the small white dots, I cannot prove they are not insects so will accept they may as well be.
Perhaps the objects are due to camera distortion somehow but the same objects have been filmed in different parts of the world, maybe a new species of animal? I dont know.
UFO's over Canberra
UFO Flying creature
I am convinced they are not green/grey dudes in space ships but am leaning to a kind of life that inhabits our atmosphere , they are visible in Infa Red but not clearly in visible light so are hard to see with our eyes, easy with a camera.
i have provided a quick demo on how the camera picks up IR at the end of the 1st video.
Anyone can video them, no cgi is used, try for yourself and decide what you think.
If its a new species of animal, I want one named after me.
# Hector Moraleson 18 Jan 2010 at 11:01 pm
The assassination of JFK. I noticed you and an emailer discussed it briefly. If it has been examined elsewhere on your website, I haven't found it. I appreciate your scholarship.
Several issues trouble me.
1.) Marina's involvement with Lee; her answers to the WC, the SS and the HSCA.
2.) The condition of the bullet after it penetrated JFK and Connally.
3.) The direction of the break in Connally's radius and the trajectory of the missile.
4.) Statements made by Dr. Gregory and other M.D.s regarding the probability that WC Exhibit 399 caused all the wounds in JFK's back/neck and Connally's torso, right forearm and left thigh.
5.) Bertrand Russell's questions, particularly on the appearance of a conflict of interest with the investigators and the government that assigned them.
# Coverdrivenon 21 Jan 2010 at 6:33 am
Hi Steven,
a presentation from David Blaine was recently posted on the TED.com website. In it, he explains how he successfully held his breath for 17 minutes on an Oprah Winfrey show. He explained his technique for pulling it off. Should one believe him? Does it defy current medical understanding? He did say that he consulted neurologists and other doctors in his preparations for this stunt.
I thought that if a magician explains the secret to his/her trick, you can usually be sure that the explanation given isn't the actual secret at all. Rather, it is a means to propel the mystery and awe further.
Any thoughts?
# PDCon 23 Jan 2010 at 10:47 am
Just came accross Oxytocin. Here is a brief summary that I think I know.
Our bodies can produce it. If it is given to a person as a nasal spray for example, it can increase empathy, reduce fear etc.
So I was thinking. How much is empathy something that is a chemical reaction and how much can it be learned? Is learned empathy someways different? Should it be called something else? If you increase your ability to empathize by, lets say, working in a place where you can help people out, is it somehow different if you just "take a hit from the ol' Oxytocin bottle"?
How would "Oxytocin shots" help for example prisoners to become "better humans"?
And other ideas can arise from this. Its endless.
Would love to hear your take Steven
# khalednouimehidion 23 Jan 2010 at 11:01 pm
Hey love your blog… I've got a few suggestions.
1. Often psychology & psychotherapy is attacked for not being backed up by tangible proof of efficacy. However, Freud argues in his introduction to Lectures on Psycho-Analysis that this is because psycho-analysis and its use cannot be demonstrated to the public as that would be a breach of ethics–it can only be described. What do you think as a neurologist & a skeptic about psychology's merits as a discipline or as a practice?
2. I was having trouble earlier this year because I would struggle staying awake after 10 hours of sleep a night with 30 min. naps around 3:00. I went to my neurologist (who I was originally referred to for migraine problems) and he prescribed Concerta (methylphenidate HCl). He then described to me in such non chalante tones how he often self-medicates with it when he needs to focus. What do you think about the off-label use of Alzheimer's of ADHD drugs as so-called "brain boosters"?
3. There is a lot of crap out there as far as the dietary benefits of Ginseng, Mate Vana, herbal remedies, and antioxidants as far as their effects on overall health & longevity. Obviously these things cannot be taken seriously, but what can you, as a doctor, tell us about increasing longevity & bodily health? Do we stick to conservative, recognized pillars of good health, or can we do something more?
4. I have been reading Think Smart by Richard Restak, M.D. and Brain Rules by John Medina, and what struck me most (more from Brain Rules) was the mass of knowledge on how to teach and learn, and how little these facts are being applied. Especially in the realm of math & science, I have noticed that my teachers (11th grade) seek to assign work and get through the day as opposed to teaching fundamental concepts. For example, my anatomy & physiology teacher bases his class solely on the rote memorization of muscle names (he doesn't even explain how they were named; this would help immensely), while half the class still does not understand how a muscle contracts. I know you already did a piece on science education, but I am curious to know what measures should be implemented to make for a more educated America in the subjects of the future.
Thanks, hope you read this
# open4energyon 25 Jan 2010 at 12:58 pm
You posted on power factor correction in homes last year, but I would like you to take this up again.
We now have a whole family of internet scams around home energy saving, from DIY solar panels to power factor solutions costing $1,500.00 – all do nothing to save.
I am the founder of open4energy where we have a list of the more prevalent scams.
We are working with a site called http://scamraiders.com to raise awareness and provide a forum for sharing and finding remedy.
On power factor correction, we have a post thanks to an expert from splatco, explaining how it works – but bottom line the savings to all but a few consumers is negligible.
We need some help to reach the growing community of energy conscientious consumers, motivated by government stimulus, who do not know much about electricity and are vulnerable to these scam people who prey on misfortune.
Many of the web sites promoting these products are in fact affiliates, out of work people, duped into buying a web business that is now the perpetuation of a scam based on a scam.
# Fifion 27 Jan 2010 at 11:03 am
I just ran across this blog and thought this might be an interesting topic to cover since it talks about why Dr. Lawrence Dubuske resigned from Harvard's Brigham and Women's hospital when they recently changed the rules regarding taking money from pharmaceutical companies. Also, Dr. Carlat and his efforts seem worthy of a post themselves. (Sure it's fun to castigate the woo merchants, they're easy targets, but it's also good to promote those fighting the good fight and to make it clear that there are many doctors and psychiatrists doing this!)
# isaoneon 27 Jan 2010 at 1:18 pm
I am in desperate need of someone who understands these things to tell me if this study http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm is proof that GM corn is bad for us as stateed in The Huffington post ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20100112/cm_huffpost/420365 ) or no problem at all as states GM ( http://www.monsanto.com/products/techandsafety/fortherecord_science/2010/monsanto_response_de_vendomois.asp ) .
Now I am no fan of Monsanto but given that the Huff Post is completely run over with wacko's my assumption is that whatever they say is opposite the truth. On the other hand even the National Inquirer occasionally gets it right (John Edwards love child).
So I would appreciate it if you could review the study and let me/us know. If you are aware of any rational fair minded report that could explain it in layman terms, that would also be great.
Thanks for being a voice of reason in the world of illogic
Wendell Henry
Nashville TN
# Hector Moraleson 29 Jan 2010 at 5:57 am
Testimony Of Dr. Robert Roeder Shaw
Mr. DULLES – Could you tell at all how the arm was held from that mark or that hole in the sleeve?
Dr. SHAW – Mr. Dulles, I thought I knew Just how the Governor was wounded until I saw the pictures today, and it becomes a little bit harder to explain.
I felt that the wound had been caused by the same bullet that came out through the chest with the Governor's arm held in approximately this position.
Mr. SPECTER – Indicating the right hand held close to the body?
Dr. SHAW – Yes, and this is still a possibility. But I don't feel that it is the only possibility.
Senator COOPER – Why do you say you don't think it is the only possibility? What causes you now to say that it is the location—-
Dr. SHAW – This is again the testimony that I believe Dr. Gregory will be giving, too. It is a matter of whether the wrist wound could be caused by the same bullet, and we felt that it could but we had not seen the bullets until today, and we still do not know which bullet actually inflicted the wound on Governor Connally.
Mr. DULLES – Or whether it was one or two wounds?
Dr. SHAW – Yes.
Mr. DULLES – Or two bullets?
Dr. SHAW – Yes; or three.
Mr. DULLES – Why do you say three?
Mr. DULLES – Oh, yes; we haven't. come to the wound of the thigh yet, have we?
Mr. McCLOY – You have no firm opinion that all these three wounds were caused by one bullet?
Dr. SHAW – I have no firm opinion.
Dr. SHAW – All right. As far as the wounds of the chest are concerned, I feel that this bullet could have inflicted those wounds. But the examination of the wrist both by X-ray and at the time of surgery showed some fragments of metal that make it difficult to believe that the same missile could have caused these two wounds. There seems to be more than three grains of metal missing as far as the I mean in the wrist.
Dr. SHAW – I feel that there would be some difficulty in explaining all of the wounds as being inflicted by bullet Exhibit 399 without causing more in the way of loss of substance to the bullet or deformation of the bullet.
(Discussion off the record.)
"I think it is hard to say that the first bullet hit both of these men almost simultaneously.
Dr. Novella:
You might want to review this article by Christopher Ketcham in GQ, asserting among other things that cell phone radiation is known to be "genotoxic" and that American corporations are covering this up.
# Hector Moraleson 30 Jan 2010 at 10:28 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Are you familiar with the x-ray of Connally's radius? It poses a problem for me when I look at it carefully. The angle of the break goes in the opposite direction of the path of the bullet. That is, if the bullet actually passed through the governor's chest and his right radius and ended up penetrating his left thigh.
"Mr. SPECTER. Now looking at that bullet, Exhibit 399, Doctor Humes, could that bullet have gone through or been any part of the fragment passing through President Kennedy's head in Exhibit No. 388?
Commander HUMES. I do not believe so, sir.
Mr. SPECTER. And could that missile have made the wound on Governor Connally's right wrist?
Commander HUMES. I think that that is most unlikely … The reason I believe it most unlikely that this missile could have inflicted either of these wounds is that this missile is basically intact; its jacket appears to me to be intact, and I do not understand how it could possibly have left fragments in either of these locations.
Mr. SPECTER. Dr. Humes, under your opinion which you have just given us, what effect, if any, would that have on whether this bullet, 399, could have been the one to lodge in Governor Connally's thigh?
Commander HUMES. I think that extremely unlikely. The reports, again Exhibit 392 from Parkland, tell of an entrance wound on the lower midthigh of the Governor, and X-rays taken there are described as showing metallic fragments in the bone, which apparently by this report were not removed and are still present in Governor Connally's thigh. I can't conceive of where they came from this missile."
His reluctance to endorse Exhibit 399 does not jive with the Commission's conclusions about support for their SBT position.
# Potter1000on 02 Feb 2010 at 12:28 pm
Hi, Dr. Novella. I would really appreciate your analysis and opinions about antidepressant drugs. I recently read Sharon Begley's article in Newsweek and was very surprised to read that the evidence for their effectiveness in general seems to be pretty thin. I also found the "pro-drug" response by a psychiatrist to be unconvincing.
Here are the articles:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/232781 (Begley's article)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/232782?obref=obinsite (Dr. Klitzman's)
# jugaon 10 Feb 2010 at 4:50 pm
Ben Goldacre seems to have a somewhat different take on the placebo effect here http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/ben_goldacre_on_the_placebo_ef.php and PZ seems to agree.
Your post here http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=24 says "A common belief is that the placebo effect is largely a 'mind-over-matter effect,' but this is a misconception. There is no compelling evidence that the mind can create healing simply through will or belief."
Ben Goldacre says "the placebo effect shows the amazing power of the mind over the body".
# MWSlettenon 10 Feb 2010 at 6:11 pm
New research on how brain damage affects spirituality. More evidence that 'mind' resides in brain?
# Michael Hutzleron 14 Feb 2010 at 10:43 am
Follow up testing by Dr. Laureys shows that facilitated communication could not work for Rom Houben:
# Efemralon 15 Feb 2010 at 5:54 pm
Dear DR N.,
(Apologies if already covered.)
This is gaining media attention in Australia and the Pacific Islands. It would be interesting to hear your take. If this interests you let me know I can provide material, sources etc.
Many things are claimed including detox, faster healing etc.
Another claim is that because the "virgin coconut oil contains mainly medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), and some short-chain fatty acids, which has a different effect on the body than the typical long-chain fatty acids (in both form saturated and unsaturated), prevalent profusely in meat and vegetable oils." (from the media release copied below.)
According to proponents the MFCAs mean cholesterol is not raised as with other saturated fats.
Proponents also use the "other oil manufacturers (such as olive oil) have waged an anti-coconut oil propaganda war on us" line.
Below is a copied media release from SPC (South Pacific Community http://www.spc.int/corp/ )
16 FEBRUARY 2010 SUVA ( SPC) —– Pacific Islanders have used coconut for centuries as a vital source of food for health and general well being and everyday "The Tree of Life" in contributes in hundreds of different ways to
towards the sustenance of life.
Abandoning recent unhealthy lifestyles adopted by many urban Pacific Islanders and reverting to wholesome natural local foods such as coconut can help reduce the incidence of several devastating non-communicable
diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
To encourage communities to re-evaluate locally available resources which have major export market potential, the European Union funded Facilitating Agricultural Commodity Trade (FACT) project is organising a
media conference to raise awareness on the health benefits and potential of virgin coconut oil.
The FACT project is implemented by the Land Resource Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) with the goal of increasing agricultural and forestry trade within the region and exports from it by ensuring
a consistent and quality supply.
According to Dr Epeli Nailatikau of Strauss Herb Company Fiji Limited, virgin coconut oil contains mainly medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), and some short-chain fatty acids, which has a different effect on the body
than the typical long-chain fatty acids (in both form saturated and unsaturated), prevalent profusely in meat and vegetable oils.
"These same medium-chain fatty acids play a crucial role in cleansing the body from toxins."
"Coconut oil is heralded as a natural health food, and a coconut oil detox simply speeds up healing results by thoroughly flushing the entire body of toxins in a short time," said Dr Nailatikau. "Blood cholesterol levels remain
normal with the intake of virgin coconut oil and the body's immune system is also boosted."
Dr Nailatikau also added that the chemical composition of virgin coconut oil is very stable hence it can be kept for almost a year without losing its quality.
Apart from its eating qualities, the other medicinal benefits of VCO outweigh any disadvantage it may have. VCO can be identified by its colourless appearance and is processed with low or without any heat application
while normal coconut oil is golden in colour and produced with high heat application. For about 3960 years of the of the past 4000 years of the documented historical use of the fruits of the coconut palm as a food and a pharmaceutical, the news has all been good. It was seen as a sustainable resource providing materials that influenced every aspect of the lives of Pacific communities.
Studies have shown that virgin coconut oil has numerous health benefits. If you're not using virgin coconut oil for your daily cooking and body care needs you're missing out on one of nature's most amazing health products….PNS (ENDS)
# XYZon 16 Feb 2010 at 4:55 pm
Multiple sclerosis and CCVSI. Legit or junk? I've read both views. Curious for your take.
# canadiaon 19 Feb 2010 at 11:16 am
Hi Stephen,
I'd appreciate it if you took a look at Dr. George B. Roth. He's quietly building an empire based on first class pseudoscience, and charges his patients hundreds of dollars for unsubstantiated and unscientific treatments. He also runs frequent seminars for other CAM practitioners that see huge turnouts.
# Caitlinon 22 Feb 2010 at 1:42 am
This might lie outside the parameters of your blog but it'd be informative nonetheless.
I'm an interior design student and often find it hard being a skeptic amongst the sustainability movement that currently categorizes architecture and design. For the most part it is solid, but when it comes to aesthetics things get a little wishy-washy for me.
Specifically, in a building systems course we were discussing HVAC systems. At one point we started talking about indoor air quality where my professor mentioned multiple chemical sensitivity which I immediately marked as bullshit and once I did a little research found out it was. I was happy to see that you even had an entry about it!
Because of the eagerness to mark MCS as a real illness I began to wonder about other "facts" design students are being told. So, I'm curious about the actual facts regarding the importance of Low or no VOC paints, the harm in offgassing (ie:carpet, textiles, certain finishes etc.) It's my understanding that materials and paints offgas but is it "toxic" enough to cause actual physical harm? Are these concerns legitimate like the concerns once surrounding asbestos and lead paint?
If you're not able to answer these particular questions maybe you could lead me to a source that could. I've found it difficult to find any information regarding my skepticism.
Thank You!!!!
-Caitlin Brown
# Daniel Schealleron 25 Feb 2010 at 5:48 pm
Worth comment – I'd appreciate your views:
# szeldichon 26 Feb 2010 at 1:46 pm
A mammal Brain is a dynamic structure reflecting every moment in a body life. Not events in the environment, but life of a body. Because of that modeling of a brain is not possible, nor required to understand how a body is determine it own behavior.
Attempt to understand how a brain functioning could bring a lot of benefits in medicine. Take a look on the Russian project "Transparent brain", as example. However. that is fruitless in attempt to design a machines capable to behave reasonably.
Best regards, Michael
# Gunshyon 27 Feb 2010 at 1:02 pm
Dr. Novella,
When I remember an activity I've been engaged in, my memory isn't of myself inhabiting my body looking out through my eyes, but rather it is of an external view of myself. As if I'm looking at a movie of myself.
I've asked around and the people I've spoken with have a similar experience.
Why is that? Is this universal? What is going on neurologically. What, if anything, does this have to say about out of body experiences?
Thanks for the great blog and podcast!
# Skepterinarianon 02 Mar 2010 at 11:09 pm
There is so much wrong with the miracle fruit juice, MonaVie. It cures everything from cancer to athlete's foot AND is a pyramid scheme. It's almost too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel….although apparently that is kind of difficult according to Mythbusters!!! There is a so-called "study" that shows that the juice kills cancer cells.
I can't remember what you call using fancy scientific terms to make your claim seem valid…but this is definitely an example!!!!
# tmac57on 04 Mar 2010 at 9:40 am
Steve, I just saw this headline in the New York Times:
"Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets". It talks about a new strategy by anti-evolutionist to try to teach the "controversy" of divisive subjects such as evolution, global warming, origins of life,etc. in public schools. Here is the link to the online article, if you haven't seen it yet:
# PDCon 05 Mar 2010 at 6:51 am
Mexico apparently has its first H1N1 mutation
# kelskenon 09 Mar 2010 at 3:31 pm
Article from local paper about US Supreme Court taking up case regarding vaccine injury:
FYI, here is a link to the document on her vaccine court case
# Rebekah Dekkeron 11 Mar 2010 at 11:48 am
Dr. Novella,
As a parent with children exhibiting sensory integration disorder and some ADD, I'm always looking for help since we're on five waiting lists for assessment and appropriate therapy. I ran across an ad in our local once-a-week newspaper recently that touted something called "Crossinology BIT." The website and ad are here: http://www.southwesttherapy.com/. Sounds great! No meds or invasive procedures, but will ERADICATE all kinds of problems! In as little as ten hours!
However, at this website (http://www.crossinology.com/), I found a smorgasbord of woo! Chi, acupressure, meridians, muscle testing, applied kinesiology, and more! "Research" articles from the website appear to be unpublished papers written by Ms (Dr?) McCrossin and reference tons of other woo-meisters.
As a neuroscientist, I thought you might be interested. This "technique" seems to be gaining steam in the US. The individual to whom I spoke by phone claims that Ms. McCrossin is training people in several states to perform these miracles whereas until recently, there was only one center, in Colorado. Unfortunately, my state (NM) is one of those that now has a center.
That individual also specifically told me what diagnostic codes to tell our pediatrician to use in order to help get insurance coverage for the "technique." Is that even ethical?
At any rate, here's some neuro-woo for you! Happy trails!
Rebekah R. Dekker
# Draalon 12 Mar 2010 at 4:59 pm
Court rules against parents claiming vaccines cause autism.
# CivilUnreston 12 Mar 2010 at 6:46 pm
Was just about to post the same story. Choice quotes:
"…given the present state of the science, the proven benefits of vaccinating a child to protect them against serious diseases far outweigh the hypothesized risk that vaccinations might cause autism," Autism Speaks said in a statement.
Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation: "There is not a bottomless pit of money with which to fund autism science. We have to use our scarce resources wisely."
# Louis Bartfieldon 14 Mar 2010 at 1:40 am
I'd sure like to learn how to navigate this blog. I can't even find the letter I wrote to you about MS and my wife and the Zamboni and other approaches. Help! I want to get some comments, and I want to help some of you. I'm a very successful guy, but how the hell do I navigate this place. Is there anybody there that doesn't do webspeak, not to mention checking in with those unreadable Avatar language words by someone who never learned how to write. Or is this site only for geeks and people with iq's of 320, and not for an ordinary guy who runs a business with almost a hundred employees, not to mention two or three degrees. Oops, just lit and history, I slept through chem, doesn't mean I don't have common sense.
Louis Bartfield
# Louis Bartfieldon 14 Mar 2010 at 4:41 am
I'll even go a step further. If someone has iron deposits in the brain tissue while the hell do they call it something like hemachromatosis, at least six goddamn syllables, and why do all the comments sound like Ph.D. theses. I took a master's in journalism and wrote some bad TV scripts that were actually done on some good shows, but thank heaven for little girls, oops, I mean than god I don't get that language. Will someone please begin to write in the English language. I'll be glad to edit.
Oh, XYZ, CCSVI is not junk, it's just good plumbing and electrical. I have remodeled many buildings and when the pressure in the pipe gets too high and doesn't drain well, then you get oxidation and the pipe becomes occluded. I've got some sample pipe from an old building across from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk where I had to replace damn near all the plumbing because a contractor cheated in the beginning. Just like god cheats some folks early on with not enough Vitamin D, or they wear too many religious garments, short their pregnant ladies on Vitamin D, and voila, MS. More prevalent in middle east in the poor ladies than on their menfolk. Zamboni was just a damn good plumber-electrician and not a neurological genius feeding immune systems with poisons. Did I mention the study that indicated that anti-bodies stimulated by Big Pharmas steroidals stick around over four years sometimes. Not to mention my wife got pneumonia right after a four hour infusion of Solu-Medrol, another miracle drug. Come on, take me on, I'm very angy about what conventional docs have done to my wife and others. Speak up, skeptics, you may be skeptical about the wrong thing. Come to one of my three motels in Morro Bay on a sunny day and get some Vitamin D, plus relaxing anti-depressants. Phone me for a special rate. I'm not always mad, only at some of my wife's doctors and their FDA papers. Plus, John McCain now wants us to get a letter from Congress everytime we go to buy some Vitamin D, which might improve his Alzheimer's and not remembering he gained thirty pounds in captivity. I hope he marries Sarah Palin, and they come up with a treatment for their retarded chldren. He'll get support from Big Pharma.
Very truly yours,
Louis Bartfield
# ChrisHon 14 Mar 2010 at 12:53 pm
John, try Google, and then put into the search box "bartfield zamboni site:www.theness.com/neurologicablog"
This is what I use when I want to find something specific on most blogs.
# EvanHarperon 18 Mar 2010 at 8:37 pm
I just read this, about a Canadian traveling to Poland to undergo a "controversial" therapy for Multiple Sclerosis. Of course, the fact that Canada's health system doesn't cover this treatment — and even the MS Society's recommendation to avoid it — is being seen in conspiratorial terms (check the comments section.) Seems like your kind of issue, Dr. N.
# ChrisHon 18 Mar 2010 at 9:20 pm
I'm sorry, but we just had a horrible family incident. So I may not be coherent, and I am using this as an outlet. A family member who was big into alternative medicine, but was also dealing with serious mental illness, just committed suicide.
Just once in the last five years she seemed to be doing well, and that was after she left the county psyche ward after six weeks of real treatment. She got real medication, talk therapy and support. While she ended up in there because she had a breakdown and her mother called the police, she was the happiest and felt better after she left.
But then the support stop. Since she was unemployed, and was not a danger to anyone the system let her seek help voluntarily. So even though they do provide outpatient care, she actually had to want to go… so it was downhill from there.
Suggestions include (and they might be good for ScienceBasedMedicine) is:
1) Lack of mental health services, especially for those without insurance (she quit her job in a what could have been a manic state).
2) The issue of whether or not you can "force" a person to accept psychiatric services.
3) If it is possible or even fair to diagnose promoters of certain alternative medicine with mental illness. Like those who come back over and over again with the same "facts" even after they have been refuted. Especially with those that focus on a single issue.
4) Also because of lack of mental health services, are some alternative medicine claims seem attractive as a way to alleviate health problems that may be because of, or amplified due to the mental health issues (our relative recently became very sensitive to sound, while in the basement she could hear a tea cup being put into the microwave upstairs in the kitchen on the other side of the house).
# ChrisHon 19 Mar 2010 at 1:41 am
Sorry, it is me again.
Other ideas (and yes they are related to our relative):
A common theme from this evening was "At least she is no longer in pain."
She suffered from chronic migraine headaches, starting from when she was 18 years old. She tried for over thirty years to get rid of the pain. And I have just been told the hypersensitive hearing was not uncommon among sufferers of migraine headaches.
So ideas of topics include: migraine headaches, sensory issues with them, and mental health issues with migraines.
I have Cerebral Palsy, would it be possible to address the causes of (and life with) this condition?
# geogarfieldon 23 Mar 2010 at 6:11 am
Dear Dr Novella,
First of all, congratulations for running and updating a fascinating blog.
What brings me to write today is the following: my girlfriend has recently started to carry out leaver flushes. She has been having digestive problems for years and believes that these flushes can do her some good. She hasn't been to a doctor nor has she been diagnosed with gallstones.
The flushes do not seem to be dangerous, but they are certainly not a pleasant experience. Being a skeptic myself, and having never heard of such things, I started to investigate and found an article on Science Based Medicine (http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=93) about these flushes. I am however disappointed since this article is not providing me with strong evidence. It does debunk a few improbable facts about flushes but does not provide me with an airtight clinical trial addressing this issue, and I find the style of writing sometimes condescending and certainly not really suited for a proper scientific discussion. Would you be aware of any reference/trial on this topic that confirms these flushes are a scam or is this still an open question ?
best regards,
# CodeSculptoron 26 Mar 2010 at 5:31 pm
This topic isn't skeptical, it is more science-y than magick-y (as Tim Minchin often says)…
Since it's neurologica, and that deals with nerves… how about something like actual discussions regarding nerve cells.
My personal favourite is schwann cells or neurolemmocytes… I'd always wondered how the wrap around nerves or form near them in any case. And how they sped up propogation. Always thought that was an interesting topic…
Might put the rest of the people to sleep
# MWSlettenon 29 Mar 2010 at 8:35 am
I just read this article which suggests overeating shares many neurological factor with drug addiction.
What's your take?
Mark Sletten
# dwayneon 29 Mar 2010 at 12:14 pm
Hi Steve.
After listening to a recent Quackcast episode, I was hit with an idea (I'm sure it's not original):
I wonder if it would be easier to tease out placebo effects if studies — especially those that rely on subjective reporting — included groups who were intentionally given false information about the treatment they're receiving.
So, in addition to double-blind control for treatment and placebo, there is a single-blinded group that is told which treatment is being given, and there is a single-blinded group that is lied to about the treatment.
So this breaks down into six sets:
1. Double-blinded group receiving treatment.
2. Double-blinded group receiving placebo.
3. Single-blinded group in which patient receives treatment and is told it is the treatment.
4. Single-blinded group in which patient receives placebo and is told it is the placebo.
5. Single-blinded group in which patient receives treatment and is told it is the placebo.
6. Single-blinded group in which patient receives placebo and is told it is the treatment.
If a result differs significantly based on the patient's assumption about the treatment, could the data be used to blunt the placebo effect and give a better picture of the efficacy of the treatment?
To reduce the effect of bias in the single-blinded groups, the researcher who actually implements the treatment also could be blind to the type of treatment; in that case, he/she would only be passing on (either true or false) information given by those who set up the study.
This approach wouldn't be feasible (or ethical) in all cases. And my characterization of the patient being "lied to" could be softened: Some studies could tell patients up front that the information they receive about the treatment may be false (though I wonder how this would affect the placebo reaction).
I think of studies like those that use "sham acupuncture." I could envision patients being told they were getting the real thing reporting the same results as those receiving the real thing, and patients being told falsely that they were receiving the sham reporting the same results as those who were receiving the sham. This might more clearly show the ineffectiveness of the treatment.
(And, yes, I know there still would be special pleading.)
Has this been tried? Is there any benefit?
# courtsmith16on 01 Apr 2010 at 9:33 pm
Hello Steven,
Please help my boyfriend and I settle a dispute we are having. Does the food or liquid (in particular soda) cause acne?
# geraldguildon 08 Apr 2010 at 12:00 pm
Dr. Novella,
I am an SGU listener, Rogues Gallery reader, skeptic blogger, licensed psychologist, and autism specialist.
Parents have been inquiring about Dr. Robert Melillo's Brain Balance program for children on the Autistic Spectrum. He is a chiropractic neurologist. Really??? there is such a thing??? Evidently this program costs $6000. My research brings up only pseudo science indicators. Is this something you are familiar with?
Thank you,
gerald guild
# LVon 09 Apr 2010 at 7:53 pm
Another "celebrity" spokesperson for woo
Mayim Baliak (Blossom), who contrary to Jenny McCarthy is somewhat educated after earning a Ph.D in Neuroscience, is nonetheless the spokesperson for The Holistic Moms Network (http://www.holisticmoms.org/), which, among other things, "believes that parents need to make informed and educated choices about all healthcare options for their children, including vaccination, and that they deserve the freedom to make the choice that works best for their family". One of the experts on vaccinations is Lauren Feder, M.D., "who specializes in primary care medicine, pediatrics and homeopathy"…
The network has such sponsors as the National Center of Homeopathy.
Practitioners can be looked up through The Wellness Possibilities website (http://www.wellnesspossibilities.com/), but I'm just too scared to even open the page and look what cranks might advertise themselves on there…
# locutusbrgon 10 Apr 2010 at 12:45 pm
Sound therapy for autism. Did not see if you covered this before. See Katie Couric interview.
# locutusbrgon 15 Apr 2010 at 1:05 pm
Just read an internet story " the Great Atlantic Garbage patch", sounds fishy(HaHa). To me at best this is dramatic and lacks plausibility since UV light completley degrades plastics given my understanding.
Wander over to my blog where I've posted all 5 videos of psychiatrist Steve Wiseman, MD, kicking some L Ron Hubbard ass.
Even though the audio is kinda crappy, it is a thing of joy, courage, and inspiration.
So go see it. Now. DO EET!!!!!!!!!!
# elmer mccurdyon 18 Apr 2010 at 9:11 am
I would like to see something on low-level laser therapy or cold laser therapy for pain. I understand that it's considered experimental now, but I'd like to see your opinion of the evidence that exists.
# ungullibleon 20 Apr 2010 at 8:03 pm
Snopes is data-mined to compare the "truthiness" of political claims that spread by email…
My blog: http://blog.ungullible.com/2010/04/ask-snopes-are-political-gullibles-more.html
# EvanHarperon 22 Apr 2010 at 4:39 am
"No more letting industry help pay for developing medical guidelines. Restrictions on consulting deals. And no more pens with drug company names or other swag at conferences.
These are part of a new ethics code that dozens of leading medical groups announced Wednesday…"
# mikwonderon 24 Apr 2010 at 6:11 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I came across this anti-anti-depressant post by Mark Hyman on the HuffPost, which (thanks to you) I know is a hotbed for pseudo-science and demagoguery. I'm pretty sure you've talked about this guy Hyman before, and his diatribe against anti-depressants struck me as odd. After reading it and finding no explanations of why these drugs don't work other than his argument that there are lots of "unpublished studies" that suggest otherwise, I am a little skeptical about his conclusions, which seem to do little more than support the alternative therapies he's pushing.
Here's the link to the post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/depression-medication-why_b_550098.html
As a user of anti-depressants, I know for a fact that they do have an actual effect (they are "drugs" for a reason, yes?). Whether or not they are the best treatment is a valid question, one that I have a personal stake in answering. But Hyman's accusations that the studies are all pushed by pharmaceutical companies (a pseudo-science red flag you've warned us about) aren't convincing, and they certainly don't jive with what my doctor says. So, I was wondering what your take is on the use of anti-depressants. Patients being treated for depression need to be able to know who they should be listening to.
Thanks, and I hope to hear back from you.
# dougdbon 26 Apr 2010 at 1:24 pm
Heard a related story on This American Life a couple of weeks ago, and didn't see it discussed here.
The proposed mechanism for hookworms providing an evolved symbiotic relationship, rather than a parasitic one seems sound; but what's the medical consensus?
# Lucianon 27 Apr 2010 at 12:54 am
Dr. Novella,
A couple of topics I'd like to see discussed on your blog, I'm sorry if they've been aforementioned.
1. Binaural beats. I've done my own research and found some of the actual studies I've read say positive things about the claims made. I'm curious what your opinion on the matter is. It seems to good to be true. And if it does prove to have legitimate benefits for human brain function, I'm afraid that this technology has the potential to be misused greatly. Sounds paranoid, I know.
2. Lucid dreaming as a way to treat anxiety symptoms such as nightmares. I've even seen claims of lucid dreaming helping sufferers of PTSD.
3. What are your thoughts on the existence of advance animal life in the universe. I read a book by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee entitled Rare Earth which delves deeper into the Drake equation and gives more rigid qualifications for sentient life using Earth and it's life as an example.
# Chris_Mon 28 Apr 2010 at 2:36 pm
Hi Steven
I'm a practicing veterinarian in the UK. We have a weekly news journal for the profession here called the 'Veterinary Times,' whose letters page can often be filled with discussion about homeopathy and other nonsense- but one letter from a vet using homepathy over here stood out last week. I'll quote a short part of it.
"I would like to commend to you a website (www.homeopathyeurope.org) to your readers. It features reports of the effects of 'homeopathic dilutions' and their electromagnetic properties.
The Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier, a French virologist who discovered HIV and won the Nobel Prize in 2008, and his team, report the results of a series of vigorous experiments investigating the electromagnetic properties of highly diluted biological samples. Before any of you criticise this work and disagree, do remember Prof Montagnier has won the Nobel Prize."
The guy who wrote the letter also describes his success treating all kinds of cattle disease with nosodes.
I just wondered if you'd come across homeopaths using Luc Montagnier's work as 'evidence' before?
Best wishes
# Methodissedon 29 Apr 2010 at 5:13 pm
Here's a topic that needs more exposure. According to City Pages News (http://tinyurl.com/29f6jlo), a tenured college professor with questionable credentials is selling junk science on the side to earn a six digit supplemental income. It's not just nonsense – he is causing real world harm.
Part of his side business involves being a paid expert witness, representing police officers accused of using excessive force. In nearly 100 cases, he always supports the use of force and always defends police when they are accused of overstepping their bounds. He charges $475 an hour for his work as an expert witness. By his own estimate, he bills upward of $100,000 a year in expert testimony fees alone. The article says that he is often called upon to present a scientific-sounding justification and then responds with junk science.
This article reminded me of the excellent Law and Disorder chapter in the book, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) by Carol Tarvis.
Here's the article: http://tinyurl.com/29f6jlo
# hmartineauon 30 Apr 2010 at 3:41 pm
Hello, Dr. Novella!
I've been reading your blog for over a year now – thank you for all the amazing work!
I stumbled upon an article in AlterNet today that I'd love your take on. It's an interview with an author who claims that psychiatric drugs are only making us worse, not better, and is claiming itself to be the "Silent Spring" of the antidepressant world.
I'm inclined to think that the reason mental illness rates have gone up are due to the ability to better diagnose disorders, but I'd love to hear you take on an issue that's near to my heart (and my brain).
The article is here: http://www.alternet.org/story/146659/are_prozac_and_other_psychiatric_drugs_causing_the_astonishing_rise_of_mental_illness_in_america?page=1
Thank you for your time!
# thawr098on 16 Jun 2010 at 6:45 pm
The original and updated article on an Indian man who claims to have spent over 70 years without food or water.
"…Dr. Sudhir Shah, a neurophysician involved in the study, called this a "miracle in the science."…"
I am curious as to know your thoughts on this case.
# daedalus2uon 17 Jun 2010 at 10:47 am
Sci over at Neurotopia had a post on a very interesting paper.
The one where they are using optical techniques to stimulate specific populations of neurons. I haven't gotten to the library to get the whole paper yet, but what I found very interesting in her write-up was the mention that stimulating the excitatory neurons caused an increase in the BOLD fMRI signal and stimulating the inhibitory neurons caused a decrease.
I mentioned this in a comment there, but I think what this is showing is that both excitatory and inhibitory neurons are coupling to what ever it is that regulates vasodilatation (which we know is NO).
This implies that the basal blood flow is regulated by the basal level of what ever it is that these different populations of neurons are changing to cause the acute vasodilatation and acute vasoconstriction. This also implies that disorders of reduced basal blood flow in the brain (i.e. all of the neurodegenerative disorders plus some more) are characterized by reduced basal levels of what ever it is that is regulating vasodilatation (which we know is NO) which shifts the operating point of the dilatation/constriction trade-off to less dilatation.
The reduced blood flow associated with neuroinflammation (i.e. via TNF-alpha) is then seen as a "normal" (normal as process, not necessarily normal as outcome) perturbation of the basal NO level (via superoxide). The prompt effects of Etanercept on Alzheimer's can be rationalized via a prompt effect on local superoxide by blocking the action of TNF-alpha.
I wanted to give you a heads up on this paper and what I see are the implications of it for disorders characterized by reduced brain blood flow, and how those couple to disorders characterized by reduced functional connectivity.
# emote_controlon 17 Jun 2010 at 11:21 am
I'm a long-time reader of your blog, and I thought you might be interested in the story I'm linking here for you. This seemed like the sort of thing you might be interested in getting out to a wider audience, both because of the ethical concerns and because it happened despite the oversight process that is supposed to prevent this sort of thing happening in a place of science-based medicine.
Here's the link: http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=4730&blogid=140
Here's the story: Alice Dreger and Ellen Feder have called into question the research of Dix Poppas of Cornell University. He has been performing surgery to reduce the size of the clitorises of very young girls, because he decided that they were too big. The point of this seems to be so that he can demonstrate that he can hack out the clitoral tissue to shorten the clitoris without disturbing the nerve connections to the clitoral head. His follow-up, for that reason, consists of applying a vibrator to the clitoris of each girl and asking her to rate the intensity of sensation.
Dreger and Feder point out that this is appalling, and wonder how such a thing could have been approved by the Cornell review panel. Not only do the tissues removed play an important part in normal sexual response, but the follow-ups seem practically designed to traumatize the 5- or 6-year-old patients.
What I hope you will do is offer some commentary on what the heck might have happened at Cornell to allow what is essentially female genital mutilation to occur under the auspices of clinical medicine. I work on songbirds, and I expected that the ethical standards for human experimentation to be a bit more restrictive than those covering my subjects. Certainly, Poppas talked the parents into allowing it, but I don't think he should have been allowed to.
I discovered this story through the blog of sex-advice columnist Dan Savage, who puts together a pretty good summary of Dreger and Feder. It can be found here: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/16/female-genital-mutilation-at-cornell-university
# saburaion 21 Jun 2010 at 12:00 pm
Hey, Steve, two interesting topics on Slashdot today.
1. Commencement speaker at Stanford School of Medicine talks about the difficulty of modern diagnosis and the effect this has on health care costs.
Sort of related to your discussion about computer assisted diagnosis a few weeks back.
2. Stem cell tourist in Thailand dies; injections to her kidneys caused bizarre growths that probably contributed.
I personally think the very ill should be free to pursue untested or experimental treatments, assuming they are reasonably aware of the risks. Having driven our citizens out of country by not giving them that option here, we really now have NO control over what kind of treatment they get. That's just my read on it, of course.
# saburaion 21 Jun 2010 at 12:35 pm
Oh, PS: Watch out. Some scientists in Texas observed a reservoir lake diversion that chiseled a 7-meter deep bedrock gorge in three days of heavy flooding.
It will be no time at all before the Creationist-minded get a hold of this legitimate study and start using it for all kinds of batty things. The article practically begs them to, with its references to insta-canyons and mega-floods.
I'm going to put the over-under for that at… let's say three days.
# Timmehon 22 Jun 2010 at 11:27 pm
A neurosurgeon sees a brain in Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel. This is published in an academic journal.
# blkcaton 22 Jun 2010 at 11:29 pm
Could you comment on Brain State Technology. It comes from a guy named Lee Gerdes. It involves some aspects of biofeedback with other ideas. I have several people I know doing it and it seems suspicious. I also can find no scientific articles on its validity, just testimonials on their website.
# saburaion 24 Jun 2010 at 12:10 pm
Sigh, I underestimated the creationists. They cited the rapid canyon formation as proof of biblical creationism way back in 2007 when it occurred. In retrospect, I guess there was no reason for them to wait for geologists to study the phenomenon. Why does science always take so much longer than religion?
With creationists, always take the "under".
# Norwegian Shooteron 28 Jun 2010 at 10:19 am
Not a topic suggestion, but a category suggestion. It seems you've stopped using the "autism" category label since January. Can you add it to the relevant posts since then? Thanks, great work, much appreciated.
# justincase11on 30 Jun 2010 at 3:06 pm
Dr. Novella,
I think a lot of folks would appreciate your thoughts on CTE in the wake of the findings on Chris Henry, a 26 year old active NFL player who died in a car accident.
He had a string of what we call bad behavior but his autopsy showed he was suffering from an advanced case of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
As a lot of new evidence is coming to light about long term affects of concussions and sub-concussive hits, those of us who played football, ice hockey, wrestled or soccer in high school, college or even just weekend warrior style are concerned.
Should we allow our kids to play these rough contact sports? When does CTE start? How soon is it to stop? Pop Warner, Junior High, High school?
How many cases of irrational or violent behavior can be attributed to undisclosed cases of CTE?
Is it just professional athletes at risk or anyone whose played contact sports for a long time?
There are semi pro football leagues, fireman vs. policeman leagues, full contact flag football leagues, adult ice hockey leagues, etc…etc…
Can many cases of Alzheimer's really be CTE misdiagnosed?
And since there is no way of diagnosing it while alive, is there anything that can be done about it?
Please consider the subject. A lot of concerned former players and parents to future players would really like your insight on this very important subject.
# Demitrovon 01 Jul 2010 at 12:30 am
I'd like your thoughts on the new MS treatment by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni based on a theory that blocked veins lead to an iron buildup in the brain, which causes MS symptoms.
Thank you for your time.
# Draalon 01 Jul 2010 at 11:10 am
As seen on TV:
Irenew bracelets.
# jbg_byronon 11 Jul 2010 at 12:24 pm
Dr. Novella,
I also would like to hear what you have to say about the new MS treatment being touted by Dr. Zamboni.
I live in Canada, and the CBC has taken a fairly credulous slant on it, calling it "huge hope." Other articles, like this one,
have been offering more balanced coverage.
Anyone I've talked to about the issue seems to think that MS has been cured all of a sudden. My question is this: Is Dr. Zamboni wasting precious research time and money by hyping a pet theory, or is this a legitimate area of research that deserves the attention and funding it's getting?
# Eon 19 Jul 2010 at 4:29 pm
Here's a portion of a Tweet I just saw from one of these BHRT doctors:
"…B/c I'm fee-4-service & don't take insurance, I'm not "subject" to HIPAA!"
What does that mean? Aren't all doctors, regardless, subject to HIPAA?
Makes me wonder if this person is indeed a doctor after all, let alone the extraordinary kind she continuously makes herself out to be.
Any thoughts appreciated,
I realize a lot of the BS covered in the link I am about to provide has been covered on SBM, Neurologica, Quackwatch and the Quackcast, debates, and so on.
But if you want one (very) long post on just how irrational and crazy people can get about neuroscience (or "neuroscience"), don't hesitate to visit:
It is actually so sad and strange, I wasn't sure how to react, and ended up just waiting for my head to explode which, unfortunately, didn't happen…
# Anarreson 21 Jul 2010 at 7:45 am
What do you think about plant neurobiology?
# Krongradon 23 Jul 2010 at 8:42 pm
What causes the episodic, variable, and often excruitiating pain of severe chronic prostatitis, an illness that accounts for an estimated 2 million doctor visits a year in the US?
On the one hand, there is a school of thought that suggests that the problem is neuromuscular. Supporting this thought is the observation that pelvic trigger point release can in some cases bring relief. The data are skimpy and the reported relief is short lived. I know of no data beyond a few weeks.
On the other hand are recent observations, as partly described on the Prostatitis Surgery site, that support a primary prostatic origin. This is because excisional surgery in some cases completely, immediately, and durably eliminates the pain. The videos illustrate just how severe chronic prostatitis can be. And just how badly doctors can treat their patients. Including doctor patients.
# skepdicon 24 Jul 2010 at 1:04 pm
I'd like to see an article on coherence between the two brain hemispheres. A devotee of transcendental meditation claims "In normal waking activity for the average person there is dissonance between all parts of the brain meaning there is "incoherence". For criminals and drug addicts the incoherence has risen to such a degree that they can't think clearly and make mistakes." He also says that "What I witnessed in my EEG signal during practice of TM was astonishing. The incoherence suddenly faded and the different lobes of the brain became coherent – as if the various parts of the brain were talking to each other." It seems obvious that we don't know whether brain waves are in sync or not while a person is writing a book or robbing a bank unless we have him hooked up to a device that can measure brain activity. Is there compelling evidence that coherence or lack of it in brain waves correlates to ability to think critically, mental disorders such as schizophrenia, or criminal (anti-social) behavior? Is there evidence that any particular set of brain waves achieved during meditation correlates with any positive set of mental or physical skills post meditation?
Bob Carroll
The Skeptic's Dictionary
# pittmanstonehouseon 25 Jul 2010 at 11:56 pm
Dear Dr. Novella:
I just read an article on Huffington Post by Mark Hyman, MD. about "yeast overgrowth." Apparently, yeast is responsible for my chronic fatigue syndrome and my digestive issues.
In his post, Dr. Hyman uses several references to seemingly back up his claims, and not all of the references are from alternative medicine journals. For instance, he cites a study from the May 2010 issue of the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility which supported the hypothesis that "intestinal microbiota may play an important role in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms." I don't have the scientific background to figure out if this has anything to do with yeast, but the study appears to come from a legitimate journal.
I checked your archives and I didn't see anything on yeast overgrowth. Have you heard of this before? I think it's scandalous that this yeast problem has overlooked by conventional medicine. I'd like to know your opinion on whether I should start taking two to three activated charcoal capsules every four to six hours (I ate a big loaf of bread earlier today).
Here is a link to the article:
# elmer mccurdyon 26 Jul 2010 at 4:19 am
1st, just a followup on my earlier question about low-level laser therapy: I came across a couple of things which seem to debunk it pretty conclusively:
Like others, I was initially impressed by the (apparently flawed) systematic review on this topic that was published in the Lancet.
2nd, after finding this site, I did word searches on some topics that are of interest to me: trigger points, Feldenkrais, and physical therapy. I have some objections as well as questions about what little I found, but unfortunately the comments are closed. For that reason I hope you'll post on these topics again.
# Christopher JHon 27 Jul 2010 at 12:12 am
Lately I've seen a great deal of commentary over a list published by the Environmental Working Group concerning skincare products and sunscreen. They are infamous for having raised the alarm about pesticides in produce and for making the false claim that organic produce is nutritionally advantageous without a substantive platform of evidence and review.
I've seen some responses to this listing by mothers and other consumers worried about what products are safe for use with their infants/children due to various ingredients that have shown carcinogenic properties (oxybenzophenone, retinyl palmitate) in animal trials (though not in any in vivo study). Additionally there is some concern over persistence of nanoscale material entering the bloodstream transdermally (like zinc oxide) and other materials having teratogenic consequences. I've even seen comments where people have totally overhauled their entire product selection of skincare and other dermatological products in favor of super expensive or "natural" products in an attempt to purge their lives of chemicals that have shown no conclusive danger to their health.
I've scoured the references listing provided by EWG and read over the methods they've used to discern X from Y product, but I feel like I just don't have the experience/expertise to tell what is or isn't good about the science that supposedly supports these assertions (that sunscreens and their ingredients are somehow carcinogenic or worthy of concern).
I think this highlights a important dilemma: that somehow people feel they cannot rely on the FDA to tell them the truth or to have taken the precautions required to keep them safe regarding personal care products. As a result, in swoops an NGO with a consumer first message that may or may not be scientifically or statistically rigorous enough to be free-standing.
Although my gut feeling is that it is largely post hoc reasoning, false analogy, appeals to mistrust or failures by the FDA, or some other naturopathic gimmick against "the establishment", I think it would help dispel myths that are everyday and important to our hyper-hygienic society if a little truth-testing were sent down upon this topic from an experienced and qualified observer in healthcare/research.
I'm posting a link to these studies below and thank you for you time. I enjoy reading your blog terribly.
# Christopher JHon 27 Jul 2010 at 12:13 am
Ooops, I mean in vivo specifically with respect to humans. The animal trials have been performed.
# Kashif Ahmedon 28 Jul 2010 at 7:27 pm
Neurologica readers might find this op-ed piece interesting on the need for regulating Natural Health Products (NHPs) in Canada.
# Kashif Ahmedon 29 Jul 2010 at 4:02 pm
And here is today's eccentric op-ed response by an NHP lobbyist in Canada, stating that "science has ceased to be a tool for discovery, and instead has become a mechanism of control."
"Natural health products safer than pharmaceuticals"
The anti-evidence misinformation campaign is alarming.
It could be interesting to discuss some of the arguments for children born without (much of) a cerebral cortex being conscious. There are almost annual reports of parents who claim that their particular anencephalic or hydranencephalic child is, in fact conscious, and there have been a few articles in the literature recently where the authors have made similar claims. I think it's BS, and that it stems from a all-or-nothing view of consciousness, whereby a child that smiles MUST have the same emotional capacity and hence THE SAME conscious states as other humans.
This article is a good example:
Consciousness without a cerebral cortex – a challenge for neuroscience and medicine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17475053)
# ehannumon 09 Aug 2010 at 9:13 am
Hi, my name is Eric Hannum. I'm a big fan of the Skeptic's Guide podcast and the co-founder of the Atheist's and Skeptic's Club at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Anyway, I was on facebook and saw my friend who is studying to become a nurse post the following:
Interesting…. [Ibogaine] will never be legal in the U.S because Pharmaceutical companies cannot profit from it. But imagine, curing long term opiate addictions in less than 24 hours."
The "big pharma suppressing miracle cure" part of it is what got my attention and made me immediately skeptical, but addiction medicine is something I'm really interested in so I decided to see for myself if there's any science behind ibogaine. I tried going to PubMed but I couldn't find much and what I did find was either too vague or too technical for me to understand. Everything I could find on it was just way above my head other than the facts that it made some mice cut back on cocaine (by how much and for how long, I don't know), Dr. Drew says it doesn't work, and someone died from using it on an episode of CSI.
I was wondering if you could offer any insight into this as a neurologist. What does the science say about ibogaine? Does it work? If so, is it safe? If so why isn't it used? Or is this just another miracle cure from the internet?
PS. Have you written any books? You do a lot of writing for free on your blog but I would totally pay money to read a whole book by you.
# pr0realityon 12 Aug 2010 at 2:07 pm
Hi Steve,
I'd like to know what you think of Bruce Lipton's (PhD) work on the biology of perception. Here's the first of a 7 video presentation on Youtube:
He's essentially talking about completely rewriting some basic axioms of biology and genetics. He makes claims like "Our beliefs change our genetics" and he appears to be teaming up with people like Wayne Dyer and other new agey-type folks due to these "revelations."
Some searching has shown that he has published scientific papers on his topics, I think.
# pr0realityon 12 Aug 2010 at 2:09 pm
BTW, these videos were brought to my attention by my girlfriend who said that they played this in her biology class at SF State. I believe he's made these presentations at least at San Francisco State University and Stanford.
# ChrisHon 12 Aug 2010 at 4:48 pm
PS. Have you written any books? You do a lot of writing for free on your blog but I would totally pay money to read a whole book by you.
Actually he has written a chapter in Science Meets Alternative Medicine.
Plus a couple of Dungeons and Dragons books with friends like Even Bernstein.
Peer reviewed science hits an all-time low!
Good to meet you at TAM8…
Kevin Folta (GMO guy from U. Fla)
# micwaton 13 Aug 2010 at 11:57 pm
Is this "Epoc neuroheadset" genuine?
It claims to allow users to:
"Use your thoughts, feeling, and emotion to dynamically create color, music, and art."
"Life changing applications for disabled patients, such as controlling an electric wheelchair, mind-keyboard, or playing a hands-free games"
"get true insight about how people respond and feel about material presented to them. Get real-time feedback on user enjoyment and engagement. "
"14 saline sensors offer optimal positioning for accurate spatial resolution"
It charges $299 per set.
Is it bogus or genuine?
would be interested in your answer either here or on the SGU
# bluedevilRAon 15 Aug 2010 at 9:41 am
Dr. Mercola posted in that bastion of pseudoscience known as the Huffington Post about the "cholesterol myth."
He peddles the usual tropes: cholesterol is actually good for you because all cells need it, it is a poor indicator of heart health, inflammation is a much better indicator, he claims that doctors don't understand the importance of inflammation with regards to heart health, cholesterol drugs have terrible side effects, and finally he gives advice on how to lower cholesterol naturally, in direct contrast to the fact that he spent several paragraphs explaining cholesterol is natural, important and does not need to be lowered.
# daedalus2uon 17 Aug 2010 at 11:32 am
Dr Novella, Interesting article on ALS.
Apparently ALS can be mimicked by traumatic brain injury. Presumably that means shared final common pathways. I suspect neuroinflammation leading to low NO and insufficient mitochondrial biogenesis leading to low ATP, chronic ischemic preconditioning and eventual neurodegeneration.
# Researcher44on 17 Aug 2010 at 2:44 pm
I want to point you to a little known problem. Forty years ago designers hired to modernize the business discovered that subliminal sight operating under "special circumstances" could cause mental breaks.
The cubicle was designed to deal with it by 1968.
There is no research about this phenomenon. No one in mental health services is aware it exists.
http://VisionAndPsychois.Net is my seven year project about it.
# jwalker1960on 18 Aug 2010 at 5:24 pm
Dr. Novella,
I'd be interesting to see what you think of this news story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7952015/Traditional-Chinese-medicine-could-boost-cancer-treatment.html .
I'm a bit skeptical, but maybe that just because of the whole "Traditional Chinese Medicine" bit in the headline.
# CivilUnreston 19 Aug 2010 at 5:05 pm
Dr. Novella,
I have a friend who has been suffering (for years now) from a condition that causes chronic inflammation in his lower GI tract (it's unclear if it's Crohn's, colitis, IBS…) . The real doctor's he's seen have only been able to alleviate the symptoms, and only then temporarily. To make matters worse, the treatments have scary side effects like increased risk of tumors.
As you know, this sort of situation makes a person ripe for being lured by woo. Since college, he has steadily descended deep into the woo machine (even taking out huge loans to enroll at a CAM school). It's difficult to talk about how baseless I think ALL the CAM stuff is, especially when my friend is now SO invested in it.
His latest venture is with the GAPS diet. I trawled through their site and, although the doctor who invented it (she is actually a real doctor, sad as that is) knows how to throw around medical terminology, there's nothing there but the standard woo nonsense: toxic load, autism/ADHD and diet, chemicals from modern society, etc.
So, I have two questions/topic suggestions:
1) I'd love to see you do a take-down of the GAPS diet
2) Do you have any strategies for deprogramming a friend who has been "woo washed"?
# RonHon 21 Aug 2010 at 8:42 am
on the radar
Tai Chi Reported to Ease Fibromyalgia
# Marshallon 23 Aug 2010 at 5:26 pm
Hi Steve,
I was wondering if you could give an overview of the research surrounding Melatonin supplement and its efficacy in assisting with sleep and jet-lag. I'm under the impression that the evidence is still largely inconclusive. A very prominent neuropharmacologist at my school (Dr. Eric J. Nestler) believes that all talk of Melatonin supplements actually working to assist with sleep is basically utter crap, but I know there have been quite a few clinical studies showing some small benefit.
# Brendo6084on 25 Aug 2010 at 1:07 am
Hi i recently found this book called "The Yeast Connection" among my mother's things. It set off my skeptic sense by its one cure for all attitude. Saying that yeast is causing all these people to be sick.
It even makes you take a quiz in the beginning of it.
However i'm not a doctor and could be completely wrong, i'd love to hear your opinion of it.
Heres a link to the book on amazon:
Do you know anything
A puertorrican physician Osvaldo Font M.D. is claiming today to have invented a method to getting rid of pain he calls it electroneuromedular therapy.
In searching the subject it seems he is not the originator, but has modify the technique called Neural therapy.
Here is a Congress he is organizing:
All these seem very dubious and implausible. They also say the are members of the American Academy of Neural Therapy which is a quack organization in Quackwatch.
I meant to say:
Do you know anything about the so called electroneuromedulary therapy for management of pain? This guy even says he has been nominated for Nobel prize in medicine….
Dr. Font's approach bears similarities to neural therapy, and might even be considered a variation of neural therapy. However procaine is not a primary part of treatment, nor are interference fields searched for in the usual ways. Where it resembles neural therapy is its effect of altering abnormal autonomic nervous system tone, particularly in the region of the spine.
Electroneuromedular medicine targets the spine, more specifically the dura mater. In cases of chronic pain or spinal cord injury, a long acupuncture needle is inserted into the spine until the tip touches the dura mater. The patient feels a sharp pain, often in an extremity, and the operator feels a powerful shock in his or her fingers through the needle from the dura itself. Dr. Font explained that dura mater carries a voltage of approximately 115 volts at a 60 Herz frequency, i.e. much like that in North American house wiring.
# CHugheson 28 Aug 2010 at 11:45 pm
Any thoughts on Nootropics? Apparently they are quite popular in Europe and gaining in popularity here in the US.
# Shaneon 30 Aug 2010 at 6:22 pm
How about a review of ADHD?
We now have two sons who are in their 20s and have been on medication since they were seven.
We took the best medical advice at the time, but have been going through 9 levels of hell for the past 15 years with failed schooling, failed apprenticeships, criminal behaviour, suicide attempts and a total inability to integrate into adult society.
I would love to know what the current thinking is as the parents of gen r struggle with their adult offspring.
Cheers from Australia
# Adamon 31 Aug 2010 at 5:48 am
Dr. Novella,
I live in Japan and am recently hearing a lot about enzyme supplements. A quick look at some sites on the web immediately sent up red flags. Although I found some skeptical pages critical of enzyme supplements for healthy people, I haven't found a good overview of the topic. I would like to hear your views on the subject.
# Gary Goldwateron 02 Sep 2010 at 12:53 am
This PLoS 1 study just came out on OG vs. Commercial Strawberries. It's an interesting study and appears to me [a non-scientist] to be well done. I'd love to read an analysis from a scientist. The interest to your readership would be the relationship of these findings to the Organic Fallacy.
# Gary Goldwateron 02 Sep 2010 at 12:54 am
Here's the article:
# GCon 02 Sep 2010 at 8:12 am
Hi Steve,
Could you please blog about or talk about in your podcast (SGU) about the heritability of intelligence and its scientific merit?
Just recently Thilo Sarrazin, a German economist published a book called "Germany does away with itself" (which is, by the way, largely popular). The book is controversial because it touches on the topic of eugenics, immigration and the heredity of certain traits (such as intelligence).
Here is an exert from the economist:
"…because people at the bottom of the social pyramid are less intelligent and have more children than those at the top, and because intelligence is largely inherited, "the inherited intellectual potential of the population is being progressively diluted."
Thanks, looking forward to your unadulterated thoughts.
# SDRNon 03 Sep 2010 at 1:49 am
Dr. Novella,
Is there any evidence to support a gluten-free diet/lifestyle for the general population in the absence of celiac or gluten-sensitivity symptoms? My son came home from school and announced that he wasn't going to eat bread for a week at the suggestion of his P.E. teacher. I emailed the teacher to inquire about the rationale behind this idea, since while reaching for a cereal bar, my son obviously had little understanding about why he was participating in this no-bread experiment.
The response I received supported my hunch that he was promoting a gluten-free diet. It seems to me that most of the evidence he presented were studies of gluten-free diets on those with diagnosed autoimmune disorders such as celiac sprue and rheumatoid arthritis, not studies of why a gluten free diet is healthier for the average person without these afflictions.
Any insight is appreciated and I'm happy to forward the 34 page powerpoint presentation he sent me if you're interested.
# Blair Ton 03 Sep 2010 at 2:11 pm
Thought you might enjoy this article below.
A University of British Columbia psychology researcher is doing experiments where subjects using a Ouija board are better able to answer trivia questions than by guessing alone.
Might make a good science or fiction question.
# factsonlyon 03 Sep 2010 at 6:06 pm
hi dr novella,
though a little past the time of your debate with homeopaths at the University of Connecticut Health Center: A Debate: Homeopathy – Quackery Or A Key To The Future of Medicine? (2007), i'm wondering why in your response to the actual debate on your blog you respond in the comments section to a post:
"The bottom line is that homeopathy is a tangle of magical thinking, every element of which lacks a theoretical or empirical basis."
i'm unsure how you can make this statement when Dr. Rustom Roy disproved one of your main arguments, that homeopathic medicines are merely placebos, showed evidence that the structure and thus function of water can be changed for extended periods of time. this evidence presented refutes that the remedies are merely water, the inert substance that we all think it is. your quote above entirely ignores and contradicts the evidence that was shown to you.
this would be an interesting topic of discussion.
# OIIIIIIIOon 04 Sep 2010 at 9:04 pm
How about something about barefoot running?
# BaldySlapheadon 09 Sep 2010 at 3:48 am
Hi Dr Novella,
Following on from your Sept 3rd post, I was interested to see the news stories in the British press today claiming that a £0.10 daily cocktail of B vitamins may significantly reduce brain shrinkage in Alzheimer's patients; for example this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11232356. I note that it's a relatively small study – 168 patients.
In looking at stories on Digg using the keywords "Alzheimer's Vitamin B", there seems to be a less clear picture; some of the stories there suggest the opposite; that B vitamins do *not* slow the condition. In fact, while they did demonstrate a reduction in the chemical homocysteine, they did not detect any change in cognitive outcomes. An example would be this story: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125432.php (which was based on a study of over 400 people).
Now, that last link is from 2008, and the positive story is Sept 2010. I wondered whether you might consider picking through the facts for us? I assume that cognitive outcomes are the important thing here – that there is a clear improvement whether in symptoms or in slowing the onset or progression of the disease?
It would be too wonderful to hope that we've had a major breakthrough in the battle against this terrible illness, but I would really appreciate your insight.
Love the blog and SGU – keep up the good work!
Yours sincerely,
Fraser Marshall
# BaldySlapheadon 09 Sep 2010 at 5:55 am
Addendum to previous post: Ben Goldacre has just tweeted a link that suggests the B vitamin and Alzheimer's news story may be complete bullshit:
Prof. David Smith is apparently a Holford collaborator too.
Still an interesting story but for different reasons!
Fraser Marshall
# BaldySlapheadon 09 Sep 2010 at 8:25 am
Excellent – thanks for taking that up so quickly!
# Kawarthajonon 09 Sep 2010 at 12:21 pm
I was wondering if you'd ever heard of Dr. Bonnie Burstow? She was a professor of mine at the University of Toronto and she has some wacky ideas about trauma and the relationship between men and women. She also is an increasingly prominent spokeswoman for the anti-psychiatry movement in Canada and the U.S.. For example, she believes that any psychiatric label (i.e. Depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Schizophrenia, etc.) given to a patient is a form of abuse and torture. For the past few years she has been spearheading a movement to get electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) banned. In her view it is a form of torture used by a facist society to victimize vulnerable people, especially those who have been traumatized by the male hegemony (which is inherently abusive and victimizes women). I'm not necessarily writing to you about your views about violence against women and feminism, but I'm interested in your views about mental illness denial and more specifically about ECT. Being a neurologist, I'm sure that you have interesting views on these subjects. You can hear a short interview with Dr. Burstow on the CBC show "The Current":
On Dr. Burstow's webpage you can find a list of the articles she's published on psychiatric "survivors", as she calls them. Here's her website:
# Marshallon 10 Sep 2010 at 1:43 am
Steve–I know you avoid politics, but you have never really posted your opinion much on the tough debate between religious freedom and safety; can you weigh in on the (possibly stupid) debate about whether people were legitimately criticizing Jones, and why he should have backed out, or not?
# Palladiumon 13 Sep 2010 at 7:26 pm
Dear Dr. Novella,
A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that she is starting brain reprogramming, or brainwave optimization, today to treat her migraines and chronic depression. When I looked at the websites I could not find a clear description of what the procedure involves beyond monitoring the brain frequencies and sending other frequencies back into your brain. Additionally, a simple google search did not reveal any real scientific evidence for or against this treatment despite it being one of the topics of conversation on Oprah this week. I am very skeptical about any medical treatment that is preformed by a technician who bought an online kit and does not have medical training. I would greatly appreciate your feedback/opinion on brainwave optimization.
Here is one of the websites:
Thank you.
# bisraelon 13 Sep 2010 at 9:44 pm
Dr. Novella,
What do you think about the claim that certain food dyes can cause hyperactive behavior in children. From what I can find it seems the evidence is still inconclusive. Thanks.
# sheajon 15 Sep 2010 at 9:46 am
I have seen in passing a book on Game Theory which claims to have 90% accuracy in making predictions – sounds too good to be true. Would this be a topic worth covering?
# Kawarthajonon 15 Sep 2010 at 2:06 pm
I was wondering if you've ever written anything on "Wind Turbine Syndrome". Sounds like medical/scientific bunk to me and has all the hallmarks of a pseudoscientific movement (i.e. big industry pulling the wool over people's eyes for profit, unspecified health effects of wind turbine noise, unscientific research, etc..). Check out this website where Dr. Nina Pierpont is promoting her new book: http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/
This is a real issue in Ontario, where there is a big fight to prevent the building of wind turbines in rural areas for electricity generation. The issue is coming to a head in my small, rural community, where a bunch of people are protesting the development of a number of wind farms.
I would really appreciate your point of view on this topic.
Jon from Millbrook, Ontario
# rumpuson 24 Sep 2010 at 2:36 am
Dear Dr. Novella,
An interesting and rather weird neurological diagnostic technique…
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
dave, Melbourne Australia
# thawr098on 05 Jan 2011 at 11:37 pm
The recent conspiracy theories about why all the birds and fish are dying all over the world at once.
# Noophyon 17 Jan 2011 at 1:31 pm
I have a cousin who was raving about a book. "The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman". It seems fishy to me, but I was wondering if you wanted to take a look at it.
# EnderTheThirdon 19 Jan 2011 at 2:26 am
Dr. Novella,
I've been reading your blog and SBM for close to a year now, and I really appreciate what you do. As a 2nd year medical student, I've had friends and family ask me about certain medical/scientific concerns, and while now I'm getting much better and finding, dissecting, and interpreting information from PubMed, NeuroLogica and SBM have been an incredible resource!
Over the holidays, my sister-in-law asked me about "The Dirty Dozen" and the pesticides used in conventional farming practices. Supposedly these are the 12 produce items that should be purchased organic so as to limit pesticide residue exposure by 80% or some such, at least according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). I've had trouble locating the original study the EWG is referring to, and I can't find much information about the EWG that isn't directly from a pro-organic website.
Dirty Dozen link: http://www.healthyreader.com/2008/05/13/12-most-contaminated-fruits-and-vegetables/
I know that talking about reducing your exposure by 80% means very little if you go from .1% of toxic exposure to .02% of toxic exposure, but I don't know what the absolute exposure levels are nor what is an acceptable exposure. I advised her that "organic pesticides" are still used in organic produce, and if she's worried about pesticides to just wash all produce before preparing it, but I would love to have some actual evidence-based information for reference. And should there be any legitimacy to this claim, that would be useful to know as well.
Thanks for everything you do and keep up the great work!
# mcphadenmikeon 20 Jan 2011 at 6:33 pm
Dear Dr. Novella,
Thank you for publicizing the recent episode of Marketplace that turned a skeptical eye on Homeopathy. As a Canadian, I was proud to see homegrown skepticism go mainstream.
The CBC website garnered a lot of comments, many of them angry accusations of obvious bias – not too surprising since it's hard to argue with the science.
However, one sciency-sounding argument cropped up again and again: homeopathy works in animals, therefore in CANNOT be attributed to the placebo effect, therefore homeopathy works.
Is it true that an effect is seen in animals, and if so, how does this square with what we know about homeopathy in humans? If I had to guess, I'd say that any results seen in animals are thanks to either improper blinding (ie. the people judging the animals' health know which ones have been given a homeopathic preparation) or improper controls (ie. no one even bothered to have a control group).
I'd like to have a counter-argument ready the next time I hear this claim, so any help you can offer would be appreciated.
# Tyron 21 Jan 2011 at 4:29 am
Dr. Novella,
I am curious if you had ever looked at forest bathing (Shinrinyoku)? I have seen this recently and the claims that it cures cancer, boosts immunity, has research behind it, etc.
For example one of Dr. Oz's minions claims that this is a "newly realized form of healing" and that this study http://www.springerlink.com/content/e0k86t3v4ulk078g/ proves it.
Robert Whitaker
# lazaruson 21 Jan 2011 at 9:29 pm
Thought this might be an appropriate topic considering Dr. Penfield's birthday is coming up.
I found the idea of the brain's hemispheres each having their own, independent consciousness interesting.
Keep fighting the good fight.
# JWWalkeron 23 Jan 2011 at 6:46 pm
Agreeing with "skepdic", in more detail: I'm wondering whether you've read Robert Whitaker's book "Anatomy of an Epidemic" (2010, Crown Publishing Group) and if so what you think of it. He's not a mental illness denier, but argues that long-term use of psychotropic drugs may have actually increased the amount of disability from mental illness.
# emote_controlon 01 Feb 2011 at 1:09 pm
NaturalNews is publishing a pamphlet that is simply drenched in antivax poison. It's being promoted as written by the "International Medical Council on Vaccination" and is basically just the most concentrated source of misinformation on vaccination that I have ever come across.
Thought that this would make a good topic.
# Dave McGinnon 02 Feb 2011 at 9:34 am
Hey Steve,
Just saw this news article (from 2009, seemingly written by a cancer specialist) regarding the 'benefits' of using tanning beds:
He basically says that exposure to UV rays increases vitamin D production, which has lots of benefits. He also says you can't get sufficient vitamin D from food, and he is reluctant to recommend vitamin supplements in pill form.
Any veracity to these claims? I'm under the impression that the increased risk of skin cancer outweights the benefits.
# baconholioon 03 Feb 2011 at 8:13 am
I found the book "The Secret of Perfect Vision: How You Can Prevent and Reverse Nearsightedness ".
Is this even possible?
Since it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Would like to hear your or the SGU crew's opinion.
# MWSlettenon 05 Feb 2011 at 10:33 am
NPR did a piece (http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/02/04/133500606/lawmakers-demand-treatment-for-troops-with-brain-injuries) on a push by a few federal legislators to mandate the Pentagon provide "cognitive rehabilitation therapy" to troops with brain injuries.
Apparently, the Pentagon's health insurance providers contracted a study (http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/2009-ecri-assessment-on-cognitive-rehabilitation-for-traumatic-brain-injury) which found insufficient evidence to justify the therapy.
A Dr. Wayne Gordon of Mt. Sinai's Dept of Rehabilitation Medicine disagrees (http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/dr.-wayne-gordon-response-to-ecri-cognitive-rehabilitation-assessment).
Can you comment?
# zntneoon 10 Feb 2011 at 2:05 pm
Could you do a post on diet soda? Specfically this new study that i guess a lot of people are flipping out about.
# S.on 11 Feb 2011 at 11:32 am
Hello there,
I am a listener of SGU and a fan and I want to thank you for the good job of spreading awareness and knowledge.
However I am writing because I am quite concerned about a certain book that has been released in my home country and became a bestseller. It is this book:
I have come across an interview with the author (unfortunately in my native Slovak language) where he states various and outrageous things- like all vaccines, even those against hepatitis or polio are useless; or that an aspirin can kill you etc. I am worried, because in my neck of the woods this man is treated like an insider hero, who knows what is going on in the world of big pharma etc.
I have searched several skeptical blogs and websites to find out something more, but came up with nothing. The anti-vaccines movement in Slovakia is young but gaining momentum- ironically even after Andrew Wakefield has been discredited and this book adds another spin to the whole issue.
I would be grateful for any info.
# Ufoon 13 Feb 2011 at 4:32 am
It seems to me that the media is overblowing this case, have a look:
The video is interesting, especially when comparing what you see in the video to the examples that the mother gives.
# lonelytylenolon 13 Feb 2011 at 3:34 pm
Love the blog, cannot say enough. Ran into this today and I feel it could use some attention:
The worst part is that they're making it sound like he's better, when he hasn't been tested since stopping treatment.
# hippiehunteron 14 Feb 2011 at 6:34 pm
I would love to see an article on amber teething necklaces.
These charming trachea sized beads are said to ease teething pain. WOW what sort of lowlife promotes fake pain relief for children ? These amber choking necklaces are very popular here in hippieland, as yet I am unaware of any deaths resulting from them but it seems inevitable.
Oh well at least they are not full of toxins……OOOOOHHHH the toxins
# Ufoon 15 Feb 2011 at 10:17 am
This study is often being used as proof that vaccines cause diabetes…
"Physicians and par- ents should consider whether to administer the vaccine. While the subgroup results were often not statistically sig- nificant, except for the polio vaccine, it would be justifiable to abstain from immunization in this subgroup at present."
# chaos4zapon 16 Feb 2011 at 5:53 pm
Not that this would qualify as a topic, but maybe. The old "living near power lines gives you cancer" debate is firing up here in Kansas city:
Also, Maybe on here or SBM you or one of the other authors could cover the Delta 32 mutation that apparently makes people immune to HIV and I beleive there were some other claims of immunity to other things as well. I recently saw in the news that a man has apparently been cured of HIV after a stem-cell transplant (whatever that means, just a few? all of them transplanted?) from a doner that had the Delta 32 mutation. If the hype is to be believed, then it seems like a promising avenue to head down, I could just use some help seperating fact from exageration.
# Ufoon 24 Feb 2011 at 4:26 am
"Effects of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Signal Exposure on Brain Glucose Metabolism"
# spudcoon 28 Feb 2011 at 10:04 pm
I would love to see an examination of John Friend's Yoga Therapy. I have several friends who have come under John's spell and I can't find any credible evidence that supports his claims.
# DEG80on 04 Mar 2011 at 3:01 pm
Dr. Novella,
I'm not buying their hypothesis about chemicals being the cause of lowering sperm counts. We are undeniably safer about the way we approach exposure today than we were in the 80s, and likewise we were safer in the 80s than we were in the 50s. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I suspect nutrition in utero is probably more important. What makes more sense is the fact that, at least in the USA, we started our unhealthy relationship with food (leading to increasing obesity) in about the mid-70s. As over-eating and weight issues took off, sperm counts lowered. Perhaps the same aspect of obesity that causes girls to start puberty earlier also negatively affects sperm counts in men? That's my hypothesis. Now, this study was done in Finland, so it is important to note that Finalnd's rate of obesity is not the same as the USA's. I think they actually peaked in obesity rates in the 80s and then had their rates come back down, so my hypothesis is totally testable by seeing if sperm counts increase in children born in the 90s or if they can account for BMI of mothers during pregnancy.
Anyway, I was hoping you could weigh in on this because "chemicals" just doesn't sit right with me. It sounds too much like "toxins," which elicits a knee-jerk negative reaction from me.
# Ufoon 08 Mar 2011 at 6:48 am
"The Healthy Skeptic" Chris Kresser is increasingly popping up here and there:
He is an acupuncturist and has been active on the SBM comments section, for example:
Would be interesting to read your take on his approach and references. It looks like he has fallen to the "Ioannidis trap" as well.
I thought this was interesting and wondered if you have any other info or thoughts on this as a possible treatment/vaccine for Alzheimers.
# AGWeirdon 14 Mar 2011 at 4:09 am
Personally I'm a big fan of the articles where you sort of go back to the basics. You have an inspiring way of writing, which I really enjoy to read. I have showed some of your texts to other people interested in public debates (such as the debate on evolution and climate) and they are very impressed as well.
Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
I was wondering if you could do a piece on how to refute an argument or assertion. I have heard that the only way to refute an argument is by showing that one or more of the premises are wrong, or by showing that the conclusion does not logically follow the premises.
Then compare this fact with how creationists and so called "climate sceptics" tries to refute arguments.
In my opinion they fail at doing so, because they neither attack the premises nor show that the conclusion does not follow the premises.
An example of this is:
Or this page as a whole:
Your thoughts on this matter would be very interesting. Or if you already know about an article discussing this topic, I would be interested in reading it.
Ps: sorry about my English. It's not my first language.
# ghulseon 16 Mar 2011 at 3:40 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I know I should ignore YECists, but there's a guy on a forum where I hang out making a lot of noise about the Hubble Constant. His conspiracy theories tend to gravitate towards the idea that evolution is a sham and that scientists are on a bandwagon in order to gain grant money (or something like that). Along these lines, this YECist is claiming that the Hubble Constant has been changed many times to accommodate the size of the universe. You see, scientists are vested in keeping the universe large to make it appear old in order to keep the theory of evolution alive. I've done a lot of reading about the Hubble Constant (good site here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~dfabricant/huchra/hubble/) and I'm finding it to be a fascinating subject.
According to Wikipedia: The law is often expressed by the equation v = H0D, with H0 the constant of proportionality (the Hubble constant) between the "proper distance" D to a galaxy (which can change over time, unlike the comoving distance) and its velocity v (i.e. the derivative of proper distance with respect to cosmological time coordinate . . .
I was hoping you could put your word wizardry skills to good use and explain the Hubble Constant to a layperson such as myself. What is the significance of the Hubble Constant and why is it so difficult to get a handle on the value H0?
# Nikolaon 21 Mar 2011 at 9:36 pm
"Experiments suggest that infections could spread more rapidly in space"
I stumbled upon this and it seemed interesting and potentially worth getting into a bit more detail about.
If zero G can trigger an acceleration in some infections, maybe exposing patients to a higher G force (like in those giant centrifuges) may be beneficial? Or maybe even a variable G force may do something to screw up the molecular triggers….
It's fun to speculate as a layman, not sure if it tickles your higher expertise.
# Daneel Olivawon 24 Mar 2011 at 1:29 am
Browsing through the PLoSONE articles I found this interesting piece of research: PLoS ONE: Pre-Exposure to 50 Hz Magnetic Fields Modifies Menadione-Induced Genotoxic Effects in Human SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells.
# lans ellionon 27 Mar 2011 at 12:37 am
I don't know if you have done a talk on anti-expert ideas but I thought it might be an interesting topic. I did a quick search and didn't see any articles specifically on this subject.
I just watched a TED talk by Noreena Hertz who boldly states that we need to challenge and rebel against experts. She has a bit of a point that in some cases we should ask questions of experts to make sure they aren't making a mistake but the talk appears to go much too far and implies that non-experts should have more of a say in fields that generally require expertise.
The TED talk just made me think that we skeptics need to battle back against anti-expert ideas and try to raise awareness on why its important to trust experts rather than trying to comabt them with our own limited knowledge and also how to know when it is reasonable to question experts.
Here is a link to the TED talk:
# RonHon 27 Mar 2011 at 1:45 pm
How about food dyes – as someone else suggested above.
It's in the news.
Didn't find anything in the archives.
# rfisherphotoson 28 Mar 2011 at 12:00 am
My wife and I are discussing starting a family, and she has been researching midwives vs. hospital births. Could you shed some light on the safety of both, the effects of drugs and any other aspects of birth that we might find helpful in understanding this topic? Thanks!
# Anarreson 28 Mar 2011 at 3:27 pm
It is laughter therapy a joke?
"Laughter has shown physiological, psychological, social, spiritual, and quality-of-life benefits. Adverse effects are very limited, and laughter is practically lacking in contraindications. Therapeutic efficacy of laughter is mainly derived from spontaneous laughter (triggered by external stimuli or positive emotions) and self-induced laughter (triggered by oneself at will), both occurring with or without humor. The brain is not able to distinguish between these types; therefore, it is assumed that similar benefits may be achieved with one or the other. Although there is not enough data to demonstrate that laughter is an all-around healing agent, this review concludes that there exists sufficient evidence to suggest that laughter has some positive, quantifiable effects on certain aspects of health. In this era of evidence-based medicine, it would be appropriate for laughter to be used as a complementary/alternative medicine in the prevention and treatment of illnesses, although further well-designed research is warranted."
# Scientia205on 29 Mar 2011 at 9:10 pm
There are a lot of myth and a lot of hearsay concerning the effects of using marijuana. I was wondering what the literature looks like on this particular issue.
# jwmiller64on 30 Mar 2011 at 11:11 am
My son's speech was delayed and looking for info on the topic I came across this group which pushes supplements as the answer to delays defined as Apraxia.
The discussion group is worthwhile entertainment.
Lisa Geng
President CHERAB Foundation
Communication Help, Education, Research, Apraxia Base
John Miller
# J-Dadon 30 Mar 2011 at 2:04 pm
Food dyes are in the news now, here's an msnbc news item about the 'link' between dyes and hyperactivity: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42338423/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
Is there anything to these claims? Your thoughts? It seems to me that a diet rich in these dyes is also probably rich in crap we shouldn't be eating a lot of anyway (salt, fat, and sugar.) Could cutting back on these foods themselves, regardless of dye use, cause ADD-like symptoms to lessen after switching to a more healthy diet?
Thanks for all you do!
+1 to water fluoride and fluoridation, even if it is tangentially mentioned in:
On one hand, there seems to be a lot of conspiratorial theories around that, and some statements disguised as scientifically proven and accepted facts.
On the other hand, if this were true, it would be an historic scandal. As much as you can say as a skeptic, scientist and neurologist will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
# stichton 03 Apr 2011 at 11:59 am
It would be great to discuss in a more comprehensive way some topics like: how we can improve our mental capacity, learnig skills, memory (all kinds), and if there is any "natural" and also "medically proven" way of adding some supplements (or so) to our diet to energize brain.
Also it would be nice to comment about the claims of Amen Clinics (I mean by D.Amen in his books, blog etc.) about the correlation between using natural supplemnts (certain)(and also other lifestyle changes-but supplements are emphasized) and making the brain "better" which is seen via SPECT scans.
with regards,
# Tod Schimelpfenigon 07 Apr 2011 at 2:29 pm
Dr Novella
This is not a topic suggestion. It's a comment. I've been enjoying your teaching company series, recently listening to the myths behind metals and magnets.
As an EMS provider I'm aware of another myth, that is, when a set of handcuffs is placed on certain people, they immediately develop chest pain. It must be the metal in the cuffs.
Yours in amusement
# kloxon 08 Apr 2011 at 12:24 am
I would love to hear your comments, either in blog form or a discussion on SGU, about Sam Harris's perspectives on science and morals. You've often said that there is a reasonable divide between science and decision making and it's because you need a value judgement. Science can only inform those judgments with information. I think Harris would disagree with that assessment, and instead say science can definitely tell you some values are better than others, under simple assumptions, and to me he does so pretty convincingly.
# jmpon 12 Apr 2011 at 6:53 pm
Hello and thanks for running a great blog and podcast!
While specific misconceptions can be very interesting, I have become especially interested in how thinking in general goes wrong. The biggest problem, as I see it, is our tendency to subconsciously twist facts and logic to fit whatever we want to be true. People often mention this problem, but I have never read a discussion about how we can avoid it in our own thought processes. How do we fight a problem when we don't even recognize it in action? For example, I have had good, insightful conversations about cognitive biases with people who believe strange things; they can often see these issues in other people, just not in themselves.
While this topic is important for skeptics, I think it is even more important for the world at large. After all, if otherwise intelligent people can be led by their personal desires to fall for something like homeopathy, what chance does logic have with complex and subtle political issues like healthcare reform?
Thank you!
# PhoenixSkepticon 14 Apr 2011 at 1:47 am
Dr. Novella
I Just heard about this on Coast to Coast. Gotta keep an eye on the crazys!
The Free Speech about Science (FSAS) Act, HR 1364,
# PhoenixSkepticon 14 Apr 2011 at 8:53 pm
The above link does not pass the : in the html
Hope this works.
# PhoenixSkepticon 14 Apr 2011 at 8:54 pm
Last time I'm going to try this. Otherwise, add a colon : after 1364
# Xplodyncowon 19 Apr 2011 at 3:43 pm
A nonphysician wants to know: deep brain stimulation and depression — a plausible and practical treatment option?
Friedrich MJ. Depression relief. JAMA. 2011;305(11):1085.
# Gehackteon 20 Apr 2011 at 10:56 am
I recall awhile back an article, that I THINK was written by you, defending the field of psychology against claims of it being… less then adequate. If I'm mistaken, I apologize right off.
But if I remember correctly, I was wondering if you could direct me to some materials or people in that field with some good research. I have a side interest in people's behavior, and am working my way through "The Lucifer effect" by Philip Zimbardo. He seems a bit more on the up and up(although I'm not done it yet), but as for other subjects, like schizophrenia, I'm not sure where to look. The best I found was a "how to cope with a family member with…" style books, not really anything comprehensive on the subject. I bought a book recently on sociopaths and was disappointed that it was just kind of an allegorical fear tale about how they're everywhere and plotting against us, not really anything about what mechanisms are involved, genetic or through raising, and so forth.
But at any rate, anything I find on the shelf at my local chapters/indigo (like barnes and nobles in the states) seems like a lot more opinion then fact (especially one that was saying fundamentalism in religion was a healthy mental construct, but for all I know). So long ramble short, any suggestions?
essentially I need a good starting point, otherwise I'll have difficulty in evaluating the information if it contradicts my viewpoint. which for some issues, I know i'll ignore, if I'm not 100% sure the person is on the up and up.
Likewise I have an inkling that a lot of the skeptical community may be.. giving less then adequate attention that people are irrational by nature and perhaps should work within those confines.. But I won't know until I read more~ Although I do know, the whole "don't be a dick" conversation factors into these concerns.
Are there any blogs of note written by people higher up in the psychology field? I know some of these issues relate to your field as well, and any thoughts too on where neuroscience and psychology interweave would be helpful.
Hi Steve,
I am a long time listener and lover of your show, it's always the first podcast I listen to each week. As an English major I'm very interested in the ways that literature and art might interact with science. Your show has highlighted a number of artists who help to disseminate scientific ideas to the general public but I don't recall any interviews looking at how art itself could aid more directly in the progress of science. One recent book that I've encountered, Angus Fletcher's "Evolving Hamlet" (2011) takes up this subject by extending William James argument that Pragmatism could provide an ethical dimension to evolution. I would love to see a treatment of this topic either on your show or on your blog.
Thank you again for a marvelous show and for your being a leader in the fight against pseudoscience everywhere,
Detroit MI
# cocoleenoon 24 Apr 2011 at 9:39 pm
I had a fried post a link to this on facebook and thought you might want to address it in a blog post or on the podcast. Supposedly sunscreen is causing cancer not preventing it, yes great work from good 'ol Dr Mercola:
Notice that part way through the article he is trying to push the sunscreen that is sold on their website. It would be great to get your thoughts on this.
# jsacc001on 25 Apr 2011 at 12:00 pm
Dr. Novella,
I am a biology major at Florida International University who loves your blog. I read this article today, Rewrite the Textbooks: Findings challenge conventional wisdom of how neurons operate
Neurons are complicated, but the basic functional concept is that synapses transmit electrical signals to the dendrites and cell body (input), and axons carry signals away (output). In one of many surprise findings, Northwestern University scientists have discovered that axons can operate in reverse: they can send signals to the cell body, too.
I would love it if you could critique this article, which I think is the most exciting paper I've ever read in neuroscience.
- James Sacco
# Ufoon 27 Apr 2011 at 5:11 am
How about a comment about this study in BMJ:
"The true cost of pharmacological disease prevention"
"Accepted 3 February 2011
Despite widespread use of preventive drugs such as statins, antihypertensives, and bisphosphonates, there is no valid evidence that they represent value for money, argue Teppo Järvinen and colleagues"
# Ivanon 02 May 2011 at 10:27 am
Dr. Novella,
I'd like to hear your opinion on Stefan Molyneux's videos titled
"The Bomb in the Brain: The Effects of Child Abuse"
Especially on Part 3
- Ivan
# palliseron 07 May 2011 at 9:42 am
I was sent a link to this anti-vax study by a friend:
"Infant mortality rates regressed
against number of vaccine doses
routinely given: Is there a
biochemical or synergistic toxicity?"
The authors are described as an "independent researcher" and "independent computer scientist" Right away that rings warning bells….
Anyway in my amateur opinion the paper is phony as correlation does not imply causation.
But I would appreciate some help from you or the other commenter looking at the statistical part and underlying data, as my stats skills are not the best. In other words does this correlation even exist
thank you,
# winwinon 09 May 2011 at 10:56 am
Dr. Novella, it's ironic that you claim to be of "science-based" medicine when you in fact sherk the principles of science, and by your own admittance, by tryting to create your own new scientific paradigm: "plausibility."
"To make matters worse, Dr. Steven Novella, the self proclaimed defender of science based medicine, (and what is that exactly?) sat on a panel discussion to defend his miopic stance on the science and plausibility medicine…I think Dr. Novella's expertise is best used in lab, removed from humans and the conditions they suffer from."
# tmac57on 09 May 2011 at 9:21 pm
From a story from NPR this morning:
"Study Suggests Autism Rate May Be Underestimated"
May 9, 2011
An exhaustive study of autism in one community has found that the disorder is far more common than suggested by earlier research.
The study of 55,000 children in Goyang, South Korea, found that 2.64 percent — one in every 38 children — had an autism spectrum disorder.
"That is two-and-a-half times what the estimated prevalence is in the United States," says Roy Richard Grinker, a professor of anthropology at George Washington University and one of the study's authors.The South Korean study probably produced such a high figure because it screened a lot of kids who seemed to be doing OK and included in-person evaluations of any child suspected of having autism, Grinker says.
"Two-thirds of the children with autism that we ended up identifying were in mainstream schools, unrecognized, untreated," he says.
I would really like to know more about this.
# Ufoon 13 May 2011 at 3:13 am
Sam Harris writes about meditation, the first of several forthcoming articles is here:
Interesting stuff, with links to studies showing benefits from mediation, would be nice to dig deeper into these. Would also be interesting to have Sam on SGU talking about the issues raised about his new book on morality and of course about meditation, how it differs from normal relaxation, and how we can get the most out of it without deluding ourselves, or can we.
# Ufoon 13 May 2011 at 10:37 am
This is probably more relevant for SBM but I didn't find a "Topic Suggestions" thread anywhere:
"Conclusions: A low-fat diet was not significantly associated with adverse glycemic effects up to 6 y after random assignment in postmenopausal women. However, diabetic women experienced adverse glycemic effects of the low-fat diet. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611.
Received December 21, 2010.
Accepted April 15, 2011."
# Mark Entelon 13 May 2011 at 4:53 pm
Dr. Novella,
I just read a blog post from a poltical/policy site discussing something called the "Free to Choose Medicine Initiative." (available at: http://www.frumforum.com/fast-tracking-the-fda ). i think this could be especially interesting as there is not a great deal of cross-talk between the political reading I do and the scientific discussions that occur on this site
The article discussed the possibility of a second approval track through the FDA, that would basically be saying, "We think this is generally safe, but we haven't gotten through enough testing & trials to be entirely certain, but doctors & patients may choose to accept a heightened risk and utilize the medication."
Some other details (e.g., full disclosure by pharmaceutical companies in re: 2nd-track drugs, mandatory reporting into a central database, etc.) are offered, but I am wondering if you have heard of this proposal and what you make of it? The opinion piece, if not the proposal itself, seems reasonable and well intentioned, but I am interested in a take that more explicitly addresses the ethical considerations affecting the choice to use riskier medication.
I know that you advocate for using the best available evidence to make the best decision balancing risk and benefit. It appears that this, or a modified version, could fulfill that goal, but what is your take? This would seem to be an area where a scientific-minded physician can contribute as the emotional appeal to allowing for extraordinary and experimental measures can be great
Thank you for all of your work,
# Red Thwayteson 15 May 2011 at 10:28 pm
Heeeeeee's back.
# tmac57on 17 May 2011 at 8:11 pm
Annie Jacobsen a contributing editor at LA Times Magazine has written a book 'Area 51′ about …well area 51.She was interviewed today on Fresh Air by Terry Gross.Much of the early part of the interview was about various military secrets surrounding the base,but the part that caught my ear was when she went off the rails about a conspiracy theory concerning the Roswell incident.Ex:
"The Horten brothers were involved in the flying disc crash in New Mexico. And that is from a single source. … There was an unusual moment where that source became very upset and told me things that were stunning that's almost impossible to believe at first read. And that is that a flying disc really did crash in New Mexico and it was transported to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and then in 1951 it was transferred to Area 51, which is why the base is called Area 51. And the stunning part of the reveal is that my source, who I absolutely believe and worked with for 18 months on this, was one of the engineers who received the equipment and he also received the people who were in the craft.
"The people were, according to the source, were child-sized pilots, and there's a lot of debate about how old they were. He believes they were 13, although other people believe they may have been older. But this is a firsthand witness to this, and I made a decision to write about this in the very end of the book, after I take the traditional journalist form of telling you everything in the third person, I switch and I kind of lean into the reader and I say, 'Look, this is not why Area 51 is classified to the point where no one in the government will admit it exists. The reason is because what one man told me.' And then using the first person, I tell you what I was told. And there's no doubt that people are going to be upset, alarmed and skeptical of this information, but I absolutely believe the veracity of my source, and I believe it was important that I put this information out there because it is the tip of a very big iceberg."
To Terry Gross's credit,when the interview entered this crazy territory,she maintained a rather skeptical tone,however,she was really not prepared to counter the allegations as effectively as she might have.
Here is the link to the story:
# tmac57on 18 May 2011 at 9:34 am
Annie Jacobsen appeared again last night on The Daily Show.This is bound to stir up some serious nonsense.Stay tuned!
# K_Grahamon 19 May 2011 at 2:20 am
Hi Steve,
This topic isn't quite neurology but I think it is quite interesting (and is in my area of expertise, pharmacology).
Have you thought about doing a piece on the pseudoephedrine/phenylephrine debate? With the methamphetamine problem in many Western countries, it is quite a topical discussion and with governments looking for an alternative there is a big push for phenylephrine as a replacement. Personally, I suffer from hayfever and pseudoephedrine is one of the few treatments that provide me with relief. Unfortunately, it is getting harder to find pharmacies that stock pseudoephedrine-containing products and I find that OTC oral phenylephrine is ineffective. Having had a look at some of the literature myself, there is certainly an interesting debate going on that is a small microcosm of the scientific process and the external factors that influence it.
Either way, keep up the good work!
# Ufoon 24 May 2011 at 4:41 am
"The director of GM Freeze, an umbrella group for community, consumer and environmental organisations opposed to GM farming, described the research as 'very significant'.
Pete Riley said: 'This research is a major surprise as it shows that the Bt proteins have survived the human digestive system and passed into the blood supply – something that regulators said could not happen.
'Regulators need to urgently reassess their opinions, and the EU should use the safeguard clauses in the regulations to prevent any further GM Bt crops being cultivated or imported for animal feed or food until the potential health implications have been fully evaluated.'
The Agriculture Biotechnology Council, which speaks for the GM industry, questioned the reliability and value of the research.
Its chairman, Dr Julian Little, said: 'The study is based on analysis that has been used in previous feeding studies and has been found to be unreliable.'
He said the toxins found are also used in other farming systems and gardening 'with no harm to human health'.
Dr Little said: 'Biotech crops are rigorously tested for safety prior to their use and over two trillion meals made with GM ingredients have been safely consumed around the world over the past 15 years without a single substantiated health issue.'"
Smells BS to me.
# Ufoon 24 May 2011 at 4:45 am
Ooops, pressed submit too early, I meant to write:
Smells BS, and at least, very misleading to me.
# tmac57on 26 May 2011 at 10:21 am
Last night my local PBS station in Dallas aired a program titled:
'Under Our Skin: A Health Care Nightmare'
It was a very biased and manipulative documentary on Chronic Lyme Disease and how "Big Pharma" and the insurance companies and mainstream medicine are preventing CLD sufferers from getting treatment (long term antibiotics).
I know that you have written about the CLD controversy previously and wondered if you had seen this piece of propaganda,and what you made of it.I was very disappointed that my PBS station aired this,and wish that they could balance it out with better science based information.
# tmac57on 26 May 2011 at 10:24 am
I forgot to include this link to the 'Under Our Skin' Facebook page:
I've seen alot about blind people that are able to "echolocate." There's a case study (I refuse to call it anything else) that uses fMRI to look at two people who click and listen for echoes.
Here's the paper:
And here's a video:
I keep thinking about a couple years back when a blind man was shown not to consciously see things, but he could still move around fairly well because he subconsciously saw them. The connections were still firing in his visual cortex, he just wasn't aware of it.
Do you have any thoughts?
# kvsherryon 29 May 2011 at 3:40 pm
Dr. Novella-
An article has been circulating about the mathematical proof of the existence of God (http://blog.io9.com/5805775/proof-of-the-existence-of-god-set-down-on-paper). This is also being discussed over on the JREF site.
I understand that Gödel was just using it as an intellectual exercise, but apparently, many theists use this to support the argument of a diety.
I see many issues with proof and a few premises that require fideism to be true. It also appears to not allow for the agnostic point of view, instead relying either the theist or atheist with no in between.
I would love to read your insight into the issue.
# Ufoon 30 May 2011 at 4:00 am
The company that promotes earlights to combat serious depression (and has already sold them in numerous different pharmacies and stores for months) has released new information about the science behind it all:
Should be interesting!
# Ufoon 30 May 2011 at 4:08 am
Here's the link to Valkee's updated homepage:
# DeltaZon 31 May 2011 at 7:23 pm
More Cell Phone and Cancer (NeuroGliomas?) causation nonsense proclaimed…. needing debunking???.. Now hits Medscape today
ahubbard, m.d.
# mnkidon 07 Jun 2011 at 2:21 pm
Would you please speak about the surgical treatment of Diabetic Neuropathy? Namely I'm inquiring about the decompression of leg and foot nerves (i.e. tarsal tunnel syndrome) a.k.a. the Dellon procedure.
What is the real science behind DM neuropathy, the production of sorbitol absorbtion of nerves, compressive neuropathy in the diabetic.
This procedure has been presented to me as a treatment with an up to 80% positive results. It's the same result quoted over and over but I cannot find the result replicated in the literature.
Thank you.
# Nuttycomputeron 08 Jun 2011 at 4:40 am
Steve, looks like Watson has been put towards a medical purpose as suggested and is doing very well:
# Eon 08 Jun 2011 at 10:15 am
I'm writing about the chat room section of your "Skeptics' guide to the universe" podcast website. And I am doing so here to steer clear from any further dealings there.
Are you aware of the goings on taking place in that chat room? I made several attempts to join in and was met with what amounted to a lot of demeaning language (including silly words describing female body parts), uncalled for retorts, and basic juvenile nastiness. Some of which not only seemed out of context but also made no sense. My motive for going there in the first place was to get ideas for a skeptics' group that is taking shape in my area. I somehow thought I was joining a place to maybe hear about similar experiences. But no, it was just a small group of mostly unruly people using that chat room for unrelated socializing – something to which they admitted. My short stay culminated in one person posting my family's IP address so everyone present could see where I was located, and then immediately banning me from the group. Wow, that's not only childish but also pretty low, isn't it?
Since all this reflects on you I thought you might like to know about it. As for a suggestion: I suggest you eliminate the chat room section from the above mentioned website.
Thank you.
# mhunt3on 17 Jun 2011 at 2:47 pm
Dr. Novella,
First of all I would like to say thanks for all of the information that you have provided in your various blogs and on the SGU. I would be interested in your thoughts on physicians that follow the path DO rather than MD. I started going to a new doctor about a year and a half ago and he is a DO. I have done some of my own research, and after talking with him about some of my concerns I feel fairly comfortable with his knowledge and the care he provides. He has mentioned acupunture to me once, which made alarms go off in my already skeptical head. I would really be interested in your thoughts on the topic (DO, not acupunture. I agree with your ideas on acupuncture). Thanks again for your many contributions to society.
Hi Steve,
Fan of SGU, and enjoyed meeting you at Tam Oz last year (is it last year already?)
Just watched a documentary on Stilnox – which apparently is able to give stroke victims some lucid time for an hour or so after taking it, but then patients return to their previous state.
It's being pushed by two South African and Uk doctors who have shares in its marketing. Normally I would be skeptical, but the doco was persuasive.
This seems to be in your area of specialty – any thoughts?
# Ufoon 01 Jul 2011 at 7:47 am
This study is causing a lot of talk lately:
"Professor Helen Hazuda, of the University of Texas's health science centre, said diet sodas and artificial sweeteners may foster a sweet tooth, distort appetite and even damage key brain cells. As a result, treating them as healthy alternatives may be 'ill advised'
The professor, who no longer drinks diet colas and lemonades, said: 'They may be free of calories but not of consequences.'"
# EmilKarlssonon 08 Jul 2011 at 9:23 am
Dr. Novella, can you critically comment on Jerry Coynes anti-psych entry: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/is-medical-psychatry-a-scam/?
There is not that much resources for combating anti-psych online (only two posts on SMB, that is about it) and it might be very useful.
# Norwegian Shooteron 10 Jul 2011 at 12:39 am
While this article is great, I haven't seen anything in depth on the study. Can you tackle it?
# MWSlettenon 10 Jul 2011 at 9:37 am
I shared some of your thoughts regarding anti-depressant medications with a friend who has been taking them long-term for diagnosed depression. She has often shared with me her frustration at having to take a medication that comes with such a social stigma.
After reading your blog posts she followed up by reading some of the actual studies for herself. Based on your comments and what she found during her research she decided to stop taking the anti-depressant.
This morning I read this in the NYT:
The author makes what appear to be very valid points about the problems with the studies involving anti-depressants, the difficulty the industry is having in dealing with the placebo effect (including some of the things that have been tried to mitigate/eliminate its impact on validity) and perhaps a bit of sensationalism on the part of the mainstream media seeking to pile on a hated industry (big pharma).
I wonder if you would care to comment?
# siodineon 12 Jul 2011 at 6:22 am
Thinking Away the Pain
Meditation as cheap, self-administered morphine
Author: Jonah Lehrer
The journal article, from the Journal of Neuroscience, used by Lehrer to support his article: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/14/5540.abstract
Is there any truth to the claim that meditation can be as effective in managing chronic pain as morphine?
Any thoughts on the "rapamycin bubble?"
There were some studies in mice showing rapamycin increased longevity in rodents; supposedly mimmicking at the biochem level the effects of calorie restriction (that leads to increased longevity): supposedly relating to cellular efficiency and energy use.
I see that you've posted on mTOR before, in the context of AD.
I was at a meeting yesterday of scientists in psychiatry (focusing on successful aging) and rapamycin got raving reviews as a silver bullet. However, I am skeptical and I see a "bubble" forming as researchers hop onto this bandwagon. I could conceivable propose to do research myself with rapamycin and healthy aging …. various cognitive & behavioral tasks in mice whose lifespans maybe were extended by rapamycin followed by neuropath assessments, but it seems like we've gone down this road before and it's just a shiny object to distract us from making newer discoveries.
Rapamycin has been around for decades and decades. I have read studies showing its effects as "neuroprotective" in specific situations. It is mainly used as an immune suppressant to prevent rejection in organ transplants. But: cancer, Alzheimer's disease, longevity, etc?
# Geoffrey Charleson 13 Jul 2011 at 2:20 pm
Dr. Novella,
I love your work, especially the podcast. Thanks so much for it.
Due to your interest in Bayes' Theorem, I was wondering if you'd care to respond to the McGrew's Bayesian argument for the Resurrection of Jesus.
Their paper, which appears in the Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, can be found at the following link:
Thanks again, and Regards,
# locutusbrgon 20 Jul 2011 at 10:52 am
Another incident of unbelievably bad reporting.
# mountaingoaton 21 Jul 2011 at 3:35 pm
@ EmilKarlsson:
Dr. Novella has written quite a bit on psychiatry. See the following Science-Based Medicine entry by Harriet Hall:
In the comments, Dr. Novella links to his five-part entry on mental illness denial in NeuroLogica.
# Ufoon 21 Jul 2011 at 4:46 pm
This just in:
"European Medicines Agency recommends restricting use of Pandemrix"
"In persons under 20 years of age Pandemrix to be used only in the absence of seasonal trivalent influenza vaccines, following link to very rare cases of narcolepsy in young people. Overall benefit-risk remains positive."
# tmac57on 22 Jul 2011 at 9:38 am
Steve,this story from NPR Morning Edition: 'Poor Peer Review Cited In Retracted DNA Study'
illustrates nicely what you have been trying to drive home about the self correcting nature of science.
Link: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/22/138585089/poor-peer-review-cited-in-retracted-dna-study
# Papageno89on 22 Jul 2011 at 11:40 am
Dr. Novella:
Andrew Nusca, an on-line columnist for CBS' SmartPlanet site (which I find reasonably well-done), reported ("Language software promises to help children with autism" http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/language-software-promises-to-help-children-with-autism/17831) on some software Fast ForWord ® from the firm Scientific Learning that supposedly helps those with autism. He was obviously prompted to do so by a press release; I would like to think his intentions — and perhaps I will be so generous as to say the company's as well — are good. However, the evidence that this software is helpful would seem to be weak: only one study supporting the program's effectiveness for autism was cited in the company's press release (Press release http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Scientific-Learnings-New-bw-592083083.html?x=0 ; Study "Improved Language Skills by Students with Developmental Delays
who used Fast ForWord® Products" http://www.scilearn.com/alldocs/rsrch/sbr/30294pddedurpt.pdf ).
I was prompted to look more deeply when the results graphic included in Mr. Nusca's posting showed a sample size of just 29 participants, and found a review of the software in its use for the general student (as opposed to those with autism) at the U.S. Department of Education – Institute of Education Sciences (see http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/fastfw/index.asp ). They categorized only a small sub-set of the entire published evidence (2 articles outright, 8 more with reservations; see references listing at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/adolescent_literacy/fastfw/references.asp ), and excluded the article cited to support the effectiveness of the software for autism "The study is ineligible for review because it does not use a comparison group." The Dept of Ed – IES concluded "Fast ForWord was found to have no discernible effects on the alphabetics and general literacy achievement domains, and potentially positive effects on the reading fluency and comprehension domains for adolescent learners."
# chaos4zapon 29 Jul 2011 at 9:55 am
Steven, one of the right wingers at the office sent this link (along with a commentary about how Al Gore invented global warming and it's nothing more than a myth). I notice that it doesn't say anywhere in the article that global warming is a myth, just that the alarmist are….well, alarmist. My impression is that this has always been the case and that it has been the generally accepted consensus that the alarmist were blowing things out of proportion. I'm curious rather this NASA data is all that new and changing the informed conclusions of the consesnus at all about how serious of a threat global warming really is. If you have time, maybe you can cover this.
# chaos4zapon 29 Jul 2011 at 12:22 pm
Regarding my previous request, Steve, you have your hands in so much that I didn't even notice that I posted the request to talk about global warming in an inappropriate place. Not really something to be covered on Neurologica, more SGU material. Additionally, I have already looked into this guy, Dr. Ray Spencer and found that he has a long history of questionable science and conclusions that are based far more on political ideology than science.
Maybe a topic at some point: chiropractors calling themselves "neurologists." Seems to be a growing trend.
Here's one on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-David-Clark-Functional-Neurologist/92451382182
# Ufoon 07 Aug 2011 at 4:14 am
Would be very interesting to hear your thoughts about Bruce Greyson and his views about the brain, mind and NDE's:
# Strykeon 10 Aug 2011 at 9:09 am
Dear Steve,
there is some heated online discussion about a recent viral video showing a toddler getting "scared" by a toy.
With many comments denouncing the parents as being unresponsible and damaging the child's development.
Personally, I think it's ridiculous as young children are exposed to countless stimuli, some of them scary (toaster, pets, phone) and the occasional being-shocked-and-crying is a normal part of growing up.
I would like to hear your spin on this.
# Ufoon 11 Aug 2011 at 3:11 pm
"Conclusion: Our results suggest that red meat consumption, particularly processed red meat, is associated with an increased risk of T2D."
Some people argue science is becoming the new religion. With topics as cryogenics and the immortality promise I think it would be interesting for the audience in this blog to know which are the facts, what can we really expect from science and from an skeptical point of view.
I think that would help wrt skepticism, science, and neurology to clarify how much science is really in it and how much fiction, how much is sales patter and hopes with no base to be sustained. I think skepticism and good knowledge about science is specially important with those topics and facts that are claimed to be more scientific than they really are, those are the hardest to identify as trustworthy (as trustworthy as science can get) or not.
It would be also interesting to know which are the chances of resucitation, of information loss (in different scenarios, I think the normal scenario is to wait too much to undergo the procedure). But maybe that's too much.
In any case, thank you very much for your attention.
# Glennon 15 Aug 2011 at 11:08 pm
Dear Steve,
I stumbled upon this today:
and it set off my skeptic alarm immediately. I would love to hear your opinion on this particular discovery. It feels very much like one of those situations where scientists come out with experimental results and then non-scientific people extrapolate the outcomes and make extraordinarily bold and underinformed statements about the discovery.
Just thought you'd like to see it.
# SteveAon 21 Aug 2011 at 12:39 pm
Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants
# rezistnzisfutlon 22 Aug 2011 at 1:21 am
Here's a possible topic on ALS that was a study recently published in Nature, about the root cause of ALS; perhaps down your alley:
# Jordanon 23 Aug 2011 at 4:26 pm
Hi Steve,
A friend of mine recently purchased and installed about 50 of these "Stetzerizer Filters" (http://www.stetzerelectric.com/filter/) in her home. From what I understand, the point of these is to cleanse a household of "Dirty Electricity" – a term which I have never heard of before now. Apparantely this dirty electricity can have negative long-term health consequences, and even effect sleep. The front page of the product website seems to be a bunch of technobabble, however that could just be my lack of understanding. Right now I'm leaning towards scam – what do you think?
# PharmD28on 01 Sep 2011 at 11:45 am
If this has basically been coverend Steve, then I am sorry. I have read quite a bit of your archives so far, but not came across something that addresses this directly anyway.
My question/issue is regarding debating someone about an intervention that has not been proven effective yet they clearly tell you that it is effective for them.
Take acupuncture. I was talking to a nurse practitioner colleague just today about acupuncture as one of the MD's at my facility does it and has done it for her. She basically conceded that there is not strong evidence that it works, but she has had it done for her headache 5 times with "very good" results". She said one of the five times it made her nautious, but this was "expected" for the first treatment and subsequently it eliminated her headache. She told me it did nothing for her back pain or for her TMJ. I have no explanation for as to why this intervention worked in this case for "headache", but I find myself in that instance without good rebuttle for such, except to thinking to myself that yeah, placebo works too for subjective outcomes.
Similarly my colleague who is a psychologist and really a fellow skeptic reported taking glucosamine chondroitin for his chronic back pain. We discussed the data for a bit and he acknowledged the lack of data and that he too is skeptical that it would work for most any person, but at the same time he says that when he goes off of it for a few days, he has significantly worse stiffness and pain. I told him that based on the "mechanism of action" of this supplement that this timeline makes little since to me and suggests strongly a placebo effect, and that if the effect was not placebo effect, then such a robust response would surely be found within the literature to date, which it is not. But in the end, he was like, "well I do not care really, it works for me"….and It was hard to argue with that…
I just do not know how to respond to such people at times. I find myself going back to the evidence and reporting that this is just an anectdote, that this is likely a placebo effect…but am I missing something in my thinking?
Here's a school offering a fellowship in neurology for chiropractors: the Carrick Institute.
"Next weekend (January 21-23) Dr. Brock will be giving a three day lecture and hands on workshop dedicated to needle EMG in Orlando. This is a great review of peripheral nerve and primary muscle disease. Evaluating all electromyographic waveforms will also be conducted."
Chiros are doing EMGs now?
# sh58on 05 Sep 2011 at 3:37 pm
i would like to know how a keen wannabe skeptic can do internet detective work online. a post explaining how people can do research on their own would be fantastic.
for example, a friend of mine said he would abstain from masturbation for one month to increase his testosterone. he thought it would be him more attractive to the opposite sex, and also make his attempts to seduce the opposite sex more succesful because of the increased motivation. also he mentioned a couple of other benefits to do with general fitness.
doing a brief look on google brought in some studies, but i found it hard to reach any sort of meaningful conclusion.
so something like an internet skepticism 101 would be greatly appreciated
# SteveAon 11 Sep 2011 at 8:02 am
Thought this might be of interest. A book on old 'cures' such as blood letting and how they might have worked in some cases.
# K_Grahamon 12 Sep 2011 at 6:20 am
Hi Dr Novella,
Unfortunately, due to the decreasing rate of vaccinations, my home city is seeing the outbreak of various preventable diseases, the latest being whooping cough.
I don't think there can ever be enough public awareness on this issue, and I'd like to see some publicity on this outside of the local media.
# kvsherryon 13 Sep 2011 at 1:08 am
Hello Dr. Novella-
There's an article in today's LA Times about IBM's Watson being used to assist in diagnosis. My fear is if the algorithms are in error and steer the clinician down the wrong path. Far too often I notice an over-reliance on technology in medicine instead of just using it as another tool in our arsenal.
Your thoughts on the use, benefits and potential pitfalls of this tool would be very interesting.
Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity
Apparently its a syndrome where people suffer from wifi, cellphone and even TV waves. The WHO says its a non-thing.
BBC did an article about a town built in a wifi free zone because of their radio telescope. The folks with EHS are flocking to it. I'm at a loss as to why the telescope isn't bothering these folks. But I admit my science isn't strong.
# PharmD28on 17 Sep 2011 at 8:18 pm
I am really learning about evolution at age 28 in detail for the first time in my life…its very eye opening…I mean I knew the basic premise, but not in detail that made it concrete in my mind…
Anyway..I heard about this issue of vestigial DNA listening to dawkins on youtube….I googled it and the entire first page and all was creationists' websites refuting evolution including any attempt to point to "junk DNA" as not proving evolution in any way shape or form…
Anyway…I find this disturbing that an issue related to science fundamentally cannot be searched on google and quickly read about and understood…..
Not sure what you would do with this….but it cannot be good for spreading accurate information about science…and it may incrementally be a reason that people on the fence would fall on the wrong side….
# Ufoon 21 Sep 2011 at 1:57 pm
# horadric cubeon 22 Sep 2011 at 3:21 pm
I am a regular listener to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The show is great and Joe is a very smart guy. While mostly being skeptical he is a big fan of Graham Hancocks theories regarding ancient advanced civilisations and also holds some not entirely skeptical ideas about psychedelic drugs.
Those subjects, however, aren't what I would like to ask you about. I would like to ask you about nootropic drugs.
Lately on the podcast Joe has been pushing a nootropic drug called Alpha Brain. He has a small stake in the company, and the company is run by a friend of his. I think Joe is a decent guy and I don't think he is trying to con people out of their money ($34.95 for 30 pills), but I also feel like this doesn't seem entirely legit.
So I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on both Alpha Brain and nootropics in general.
The Alpha Brain website: http://www.onnit.com/alphabrain/
Clip from the podcast in which Joe and the creator of Alpha Brain talk about the product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDcps7PUIPA
Thanks for your time, sir.
# curlysharonon 04 Oct 2011 at 9:57 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I want to preface this by saying that I'm a huge fan of yours and I appreciate all your efforts to promote science and skepticism.
I specifically wanted to ask you what your thoughts were on the recent Slate article "Does Evil Exist? Neuroscientists Say No." http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_spectator/2011/09/does_evil_exist_neuroscientists_say_no_.html
# martybrentwoodon 07 Oct 2011 at 3:37 pm
In his weekly newsletter, Dr Stephen Barrett wrote that Steve Jobs had been a victim of quackery. Haven't seen that mentioned anywhere else yet.
I thought you or one of your colleagues might want to elaborate on the story. See http://www.ncahf.org/digest11/11-33.html and I'll quote the paragraph here:
"Steve Jobs was a quackery victim. Steve Jobs, the ultrasuccessful Apple Computer CEO who died this week of pancreatic cancer, delayed recommended surgery for nine months while treating himself with a diet. Although Jobs stated publicly that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, a Fortune Magazine reporter learned that Jobs was actually diagnosed in 2003 with a rare form of pancreatic cancer that has a high cure rate if treated early. But instead of undergoing the operation, he relied on worthless dietary treatment. [Elkind P. The trouble with Steve Jobs. Fortune Magazine, March 8, 2008 (http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/02/news/companies/elkind_jobs.fortune/index.htm)] It may be impossible to determine whether the delay decreased his survival time and quality of life. But it is clear that whatever time and energy he used in pursuing 'alternative' methods could have been spent doing something more useful."
# rezistnzisfutlon 09 Oct 2011 at 9:02 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I've been hearing a lot about this guy, Chris Kresser, who is an acupuncture "therapist" who regularly blogs and consults on all manner of topics from diet to mental health. Recently, I ran across an article he wrote on how western medicine (which he bashes on regularly) is wrong about chemical imbalances in the brain causing various personality disorders and mental illnesses, that pretty much was the last straw for me:
I was wondering if you had any comment on this and his philosophy of anti-SBM as a whole. Or perhaps, if you have the time and desire, you could further address the seeming rise of anti-SBM alt-med that appears to be sweeping across the country (if you don't think that subject has been beat to death by now).
It's just disheartening to see so many people falling for these so-called experts who have little in the way of actual education and training, yet don lab coats and talk in tech-speak as if they are hip-deep in scientific studies.
# Ufoon 13 Oct 2011 at 7:45 am
Yep, I agree with rez, I too have seen a lot of references to Chris Kresser in Facebook and other social media hubs. He used to go by the name of "Healthy Skeptic", but I guess this is his main website now:
# Ufoon 13 Oct 2011 at 7:58 am
Ayurveda and migraines:
"Cure migraine the natural way"
"Pranayama is another solution that will give permanent results when followed with punctuality. Shitali pranayama is also known as the cooling breathing exercise. This involves rolling your tongue like a tube and breathing in air through your mouth. You will feel your saliva and your tongue cooling while you inhale. Exhaling is done from the nose. Following this breathing technique regularly not only keeps you healthy but will be a sure solution to bring your headaches down and also keep your body cool and the pitta in check."
# Ufoon 19 Oct 2011 at 7:13 pm
"Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study."
# PharmD28on 21 Oct 2011 at 1:09 pm
We may need an update on your complicated legacy of steve jobs piece done earlier…..??
# mhunt3on 02 Nov 2011 at 1:45 pm
My company recently made some changes to their health insurance, prompting me to look closely at the coverage options. We are able to put pre-tax dollars into a medical savings account. I was looking at the types of "medical treatments" those dollars could be used to pay for and was apalled to see Christian Science Practioners on the list. I quickly went to Neurologica and found the following post from November 2009.
I would love to see a follow up on this and what has happened in the past 2 years. It looks like this list (link below) comes from the IRS, and I would be interested in finding out what we could do to have Christian Science Practioners removed from the list.
Thanks for the great work.
Thought you might want to know about the anti-science brigade at VaccineInjury.info who are running a survey geared at showing vaccinated children are less healthy than unvaccinated children. Perhaps it would be possible to inject some reality into the survey as it seems to be publicised only on anti-vax sites.
They have previous done a survey trying to show that unvaccinated children are more healthy that the general population.
# Cow_Cookieon 08 Nov 2011 at 8:32 am
Interesting story:
KSTP hit with $1 million defamation verdict
A holistic healer said she was defamed by a 2009 news story.
Based on the article, it seems like the TV station handed the naturopath community an easy victory.
"The gist of KSTP's story was that Susan Anderson, then known as Susan Wahl, a Hudson doctor of naturopathy, had "de-prescribed" anti-anxiety medication to Cheryl Blaha. Cheryl Blaha then claimed to KSTP in interviews that she had tried to commit suicide as a result of being weaned from the medicine by Anderson. … In her suit, Anderson claimed medical records indicated that Blaha's own medical doctor had reduced the medication and that there was no proof of the alleged suicide attempt, said Patrick Tierney, Anderson's lawyer."
# Ufoon 09 Nov 2011 at 4:58 am
"However, now scientists have come up with a new way of tackling seasonal affective disorder (SAD), that they say cures it in just eight minutes a day.
The technique involves beaming light directly into the brain through the ears.
It is based on the discovery that the brain itself is just as sensitive to daylight as the eyes, with 'photoreceptive' parts using it to help set our biological clocks.
At least 18 brain regions contain light-sensitive opsin proteins, which are also found in eyes, discovered scientists at Oulu University in Finland, a country with high rates of SAD."
Their collection of evidence:
Would be nice if you looked at this more carefully, the device has been on the market for over a year now and it costs 185 euros.
Ufo from Finland
# Ufoon 09 Nov 2011 at 9:21 am
Especially these studies from the evidence page:
"Transcranial Bright Light Treatment via Ear Canals in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) – a Randomized Controlled Trial"
"Group-ICA Model Order Highlights Patterns of Functional Brain Connectivity"
"Stimulating brain tissue with bright light – resting state fMRI analysis"
# Craigon 12 Nov 2011 at 5:38 am
New study published on ASD and brain cell quantity. (I don't have access here from home to JAMA)
# PharmD28on 14 Nov 2011 at 11:39 am
Ok, so I have seen this flying around facebook on my local "occupy birmingham" facebook site….it seems highly apparent that this is conspiracy thinking non-sense, but I cannot seem to find a good skeptical blog post regarding this fantasy….I know in listening to your show, that wireless power is far from a reality at this point, but hearing them speak it is stowed away in some JP morgan or government drawer along with the cure for diabetes, HIV, and the plans for the car that runs on water.
Any help would be appreciated,
# Ufoon 15 Nov 2011 at 5:16 am
Valkee Ear LED's now in Huffington Post as well:
"Out of the 89 volunteers, 74 to 75% responded positively to the ear treatment and found that their SAD symptoms had improved. A further 62% who had the lower intensity light therapy said their seasonal depression had improved, as well as general anxiety levels.
"We have always been aware from previous research that the human brain is sensitive to light," says Juuso Nissila, Valkee's co-founder and chief scientist. "Our latest clinical trial, via the ear canal into the brain's photosensitive areas is far quicker and more effective way of preventing and treating symptoms of SAD."
Valkee and the University of Oulu have been studying brain photosensitivity and its therapeutic ability to help cure depression and sleep disorders, since 2007. Prior to the recent findings, Valkee discovered that the human brain responds to light via the ear canal and that the human brain, not just the visual system, is sensitive to light.
"These two trials show that bright light channeled into the brain via ear canal is an important future method to treat seasonal affective disorder," says professor Timo Takala, MD, PhD, and chief physician at the University of Oulu."
# Geoffon 18 Nov 2011 at 3:15 pm
Hi Steven
Recently my friends and I have been discussing the mind, in so far as, is it physical or electrical. It has been an interesting discussion but as an acclaimed neurologist your input would be invaluable.
The thread is here http://yayhooray.net/thread/2171/if-you-were-simultaneously-duplicated-and-destroyed/p/0
Fair warning, there may be undercover creationists at play there.
If you wish to comment let me know and I'll organise an account.
I think this would be a great topic for the blog or SGU also.
# CWon 21 Nov 2011 at 9:49 pm
I thought you might find this article interesting since it involves interpreting FDA's action on a somewhat popular drug.
Dr. Novella,
I've recently seen some articles about health affects of BPA. It seems to be the new media scare for health. I'm wondering if there is any real risk or hyperbole over misunderstood studies. I don't think you've done a post on this before.
# Ryanon 27 Nov 2011 at 9:27 am
Hi Dr Novella,
Arguably the greatest hockey player in the world, Sidney Crosby, missed 10 months of play due to a concussion suffered last January. A major story coming out of his return last week was how treatment he received from a neurological chiropractor was pivotal in his recovery. I know hockey is not as popular in the US so I'm not sure how aware of this situation or treatment you might be. I would love to hear your opinion on the matter. Here is a link to a story that aired last night in Canada featuring the methods used by this practitioner.
# Nevaron 29 Nov 2011 at 2:29 am
What if academics were as dumb as quacks with statistics?
"They've identified one direct, stark statistical error that is so widespread it appears in about half of all the published papers surveyed from the academic neuroscience research literature."
Something fishy about that.
# rezistnzisfutlon 30 Nov 2011 at 4:01 pm
It seems that fact-checking and responsible reporting are becoming less and less common these days. Check out this article that is rehashing the already debunked issue of arsenic in apple juices:
It bandies about one unsubstantiated claim after another. Now Consumer Reports has gotten involved. I was wondering if you had any new thoughts on this…
It's little wonder that people are so misinformed these days. The media outlets are equally misinformed and do little due diligence, a skill that was once the mainstay of most journalists. I guess it's more important to them to receive those advertising dollars than to actually be accurate in their reporting.
# PharmD28on 04 Dec 2011 at 2:58 pm
How can we allow modern universities to teach CAM courses? And when I say "teach CAM" I mean be CAM apoogists….to teach for example pharmacy students about evidence based medicine as a core principle, but then allow some person(s) to "teach" CAM in a way that fails to point out all of the fallacies, lack of data (quality data that is), and the inherent idiocy of creating a separate non-sensical class of treatments?
I have spoke to the assistant dean at my university (pharmacy school, back in 2007 she was my advisor) and asked her if they had yet canned the crank that thought "pharmacognosy" – in which class his opening remarks were anti-evidenced based medicine…textbook CAM apologist…and the remainder of the course was NOT AT ALL about evidence, it was about dogma.
Her response included some apologizing for support via citing vaguely "well there is data for some of it"…and when I pressed her about that hollow claim, she then stated something to the degree of "that why we teach EBM as a foundation of your pharmacy training"….
It is all likely very political at this point I am sure…but I think if I were ever a rich alumnus to give money to make a new building, one string would be get the woo out of my pharmacy school.
***disclaimer, 99.99% of what we did in pharmacy school was evidence based based, and we as modern pharmacists are on the whole, very much proponents of evidence based medicine and are very skeptical of CAM, but they could stand to be as professionals more clearly skeptical….because we see people buying this garbage at the forefront…the previous pigasys awards with CVS case and point….having said that, pharmacists rarely in my experience endorse the herbals etc OTC, in fact, in my experience, patients who buy it rarely ask us because they know the answer they will get (sorry, that is only anecdote). My desire would be that every MD, PharmD, CRNP, etc…take a course that has both voices for pro-CAM folks, AND people teaching evidence based science without the CAM exception****
My question is…how do skeptics penetrate back into our schools a message that addresses this garbage…when I look back at all the money I spend getting an education….those 2-3 credits were expensive, and I am appalled that I had to take them….how do we best lobby our alma matters best Dr. Novella?
# Chason 06 Dec 2011 at 12:49 pm
I've recently been in an argument about the arsenic levels in juice and I know that you have addressed this already but Consumer Reports have done their own study and they have come to the conclusion that there is need for concern. Here is the article about the report. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/12/06/consumer-reports-finds-excessive-arsenic-lead-in-apple-grape-juices/
I am still reticent about accepting this but would love to know your comments.
Thank You.
# blackswan666on 08 Dec 2011 at 10:20 pm
Sun downer? A type of Alzheimer that hits younger people. The character on SUV (yes I know dumb ass tv show) only had problems after six at night? How legit?
# Andrewon 11 Dec 2011 at 9:44 pm
Hi Steve,
I'd love to have you address this NYT article about Ambien use in patients with persistent vegetative state either in your blog or on an episode of the SGU.
# tmac57on 22 Dec 2011 at 9:00 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Just ran across this story on Yahoo News :
'Readied To Donate Organs, 21-Year-Old Emerges From Coma'
Another 'miracle' coma recovery. Thought you could add some perspective.
Hello Dr Novella,
I've just found this recent post which posed the question: why did the Whitehouse send out a 'variation' (see what I did there) of its 2011 Christmas card with an image of a UFO hovering above the Whitehouse?
I just thought it might bring some festive cheer to the odd skeptic out there who might be getting another Occams razor for Christmas instead of that Braun, which is what is truly required.
Happy Christmas to one and all!
# rezistnzisfutlon 28 Dec 2011 at 2:57 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
One subject I've seen coming up in interesting debates is water fluoridation, not something I've yet seen as a (central) topic of discussion here or SBM. The debate seems to fall into two categories: conspiracy, and personal liberty.
Water fluoridation seems to be something a lot of conspiracy theorists find easy to latch onto, which as usual is a springboard for the spread of misinformation, pseudoscience, and scientific misrepresentation.
On the other hand, the idea of personal liberties is a more interesting topic. Many countries have adopted alternate forms of mass fluoridation, such as adding fluoride to table salt instead of the water supply, in essence giving people the option to forego fluoridation if they wish. Unlike vaccines, which the avoidance of can actually effect other people (herd immunity), the only ones that fluoridation affects ARE the individuals who choose to avoid it.
So, this to me begs the question: is fluoridation ethical since it's pretty much compulsory in nations that fluoridate the water supply, since avoidance of fluoridation poses no health risks to anyone other than the individual who avoids it?
Another question is: in developed countries, where dental care is highly available and personal hygeine is statistically high (fluoride products), is fluoridation beyond this actually necessary and worth the expense?
I tend to reject conspiracy claims for what they are, but to me the "personal liberty" question is more interesting, as is whether fluoridation is relevent anymore (some studies also seem to indicate a higher incidence of fluorosis in fluoridated areas).
Just wondering your thoughts.
# cordeliawrenon 30 Dec 2011 at 7:40 am
Hi Dr. Novella ,
Could you discuss this article/research on GM corn causing organ failure? It's in the Huffington Post, which tends to make me disregard it automatically but many of my friends have been posting it on their Facebook pages… If the article is misrepresenting the facts, overvaluing a bad study, etc. I'd like to explain that to them. If not, it would be nice to no what conclusions should be drawn (their research summary comes from "Food Freedom," which hardly sounds like an unbiased group).
I've read your previous posts on GM foods and am interested to see what you would make of this!
Thanks for your time, and for the fantastic blog!
# Chason 05 Jan 2012 at 9:09 am
Hello Dr,
Recent news of fracking causing earthguqakes: http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/01/03/expert_fracking_caused_youngstown_ohio_earthquakes.html?wpisrc=twitter_socialflow stirs all kinds of skepticism within me. What are your thoughts?
# Dougon 05 Jan 2012 at 6:20 pm
Dr. Novella:
We recently watched a TED talk by Dr. Terry Wahls, a University of Iowa Med School clinical professor, on how she was able to reverse her MS symptoms through what she calls a hunter-gatherer diet. As indicated in this news release from U of I (http://www.news-releases.uiowa.edu/2011/November/111411MS_study.html), some type of clinical study on this diet (plus an unspecified electrical stimulation) is currently underway. Having trekked on Mt. Kilimanjaro with several MS patients, I know that this type of a program will attract a lot of attention. What is your assessment of diet being a means of treating neurodegenerative diseases like MS or Parkinson's.
# milindkaleon 08 Jan 2012 at 9:00 pm
Please consider writing about Superbrain Yoga.
I am attaching a link to the news snippet:
# digitalgoldfishon 10 Jan 2012 at 6:27 am
Hi Steve
We're expecting a child in May, and have started looking for research in to Neurology and babies – There is an awful lot of pseudoscience out there and I'm struggling to find the most up to date literature on the subject (in a consolidated form at least – I can always look at pubmed).
I came across John Bruer's "Myth of the first three years" through a skepdic links, but this was published in 1999.
Are you able to suggest some more up-to-date sources? My interest is to read around the subject, rather than looking for something specific that can give my child an advantage – Certainly from reading John Bruer's book, it doesn't seem like there's anything credible one could actually do in any case, but I'd be grateful for a better understanding of the area.
# lans ellionon 10 Jan 2012 at 7:50 pm
Dr. Novella,
I've been noticing friends posting this video regarding Iron filings being in breakfast cereal recently and it has all the signs of pseudoscience but I don't have the background or knowledge to comment on this to correct my friends. I didn't see any previous posts on this issue and wondered if the amount of Iron in cereal actually is excessive with respect to an acceptable daily dose or whether the test used in the video is just dramatic showmanship.
If you are interested, here is the video:
Dr. Novella,
a picture of mcdonald's "cancer warning" in CA is going around on my FB friends wall. couldn't find anything about it here, on SBM or science blogs, so anything you got would be appreciated!
# Benclimbon 15 Jan 2012 at 2:40 am
Dr. Novella,
recently I came across an interesting cognitive illusion. It goes like this:
A persons Mum and Dad give him $25 each, giving him a total of $50. He then goes out and spends $45, leaving him with a new total of $5. Next he gives his parents $1 each, leaving him with $3.
It appears that his parents are each owed $24 each now and the son comes out $1 ahead. Clearly not possible, when I work the same problem using just Mathematics and not Natural Language then the illusion disappears(i.e. 25 + 25 = 50, 50 – 45 = 5, 45 + 3 = 48, 50 – 48 = 2).
How extensively do such Cognitive Illusions effect us. I'm intrigued by how the illusion appears in English but in Mathematics the illusion disappears. Also I observed I could see how to work around the illusion with ease but my partner(who is a bit 'mathphobic') could not see how to work around it, even when I showed her in several differing ways. Could such illusions be a factor in some peoples tendency to believe in various Woo?
I know that you've already discussed acupuncture at length, but the topic seems to be rearing its head again.
I listened to NPR's Science Friday and Ira interviewed Ted Kaptchuck on Jan 6, 2012 and he discussed his paper in NEJM. "Active Albuterol or Placebo, Sham Acupuncture, or No Intervention in Asthma," (July 14, 2011). Dr Kaptchuck seemed to imply on the radio interview that the placebo effect observed in his study — that subjective patient-reported improvement, was no different than Albuterol, even though only Albuterol yielded object FEV improvement — somehow suggests that placebo therapies (like acupuncture) are valid recommendations to patients in certain situations.
I had a look at the NEJM article, and it seemed as though this rhetoric was toned down a bit. In discussing the study, he also repeated that the placebo and acupuncture yielded an improvement greater than nothing (sitting in the office doing nothing), in looking at the data, it seemed to me that this "improvement" was nonexistent or within statistical noise, negligible Cohen's d (0.02), so on the radio, it was dishonest to talk about the "objective improvement due to placebo inhaler was the same as sham-acupuncture." (because there was no objective improvement).
Regarding the subjective (patient-reported) improvements; the sham acupuncture was only single-blinded, so the interviewer recording the patients' responses could have had an influence. I also feel that the presentation of the data is misleading. The patients rated their improvement on a scale of 0-10 (0 = nothing, 10 = complete improvement). These were somehow converted to a %Change, then they used error bars to report the standard error of the mean, which not the appropriate statistic, it grossly under representing the variance and they should have reported the standard deviation. Why didn't they just report the average & standard deviation of the ratings? Or better yet — dots representing all the individual data points or box-and-whisker? The answer is that they were shamelessly hiding the huge variance in this outcome.
This probably is a boring topic for a blog posting since it'd just be a rehash. But maybe timely for the podcast since the panels seems willing to rehash a topic when there are new developments.
Also: I wonder if patients' subjective responses would be influenced if they were informed of their objective test results? If you administered the placebo & the Albuterol. Performed the FEV; with one group: told them what their improvement was, another, did not tell them….. then asked for the subjective rating — would those that had been told of their objective measurement report higher improvement than those that didn't? Would those given the placebo and told that their FEV was no-change report no improvement and those that weren't told anything report an improvement?
# carmenczachoron 24 Jan 2012 at 12:01 pm
Whilst napping in front of the 49ers game on sunday (my team being the Green Bay packers, I was somewhat disinterested) I perked up when the announcer said that one of the players had been checked out by the team chiropractor and deemed safe to return. I am shocked that a chiropractor would be allowed to make such a judgment and also incredulous that a professional athletic team would use a chiropractor for an acute injury assessment. Did I hear wrong or are they as woo-ified as that?
# tmac57on 27 Jan 2012 at 12:52 pm
There is a new study out by the CDC about 'Morgellons Disease':
"CDC: Morgellons Disease May Be Psychiatric Disorder
Mysterious Morgellons Skin Fibers: Only Cotton From Clothing?"
No big surprise,but it will probably not diminish belief in it.
# chris62116on 27 Jan 2012 at 6:35 pm
# bluedevilRAon 31 Jan 2012 at 9:52 am
This is an interesting story about high school students being described (by news sources) as having a "contagious tourette's".
I find it interesting that Erin Brokovich is jumping in and potentially blaming a train accident from the 70′s as a possible cause.
# Gregon 31 Jan 2012 at 3:46 pm
Subject: Nutritional Pseudoscience @ TED?
Dr. Novella, I have the same topic suggestion as Doug a few weeks ago regarding Dr. Terry Wahls.
In her speech titled "Minding Your Mitochondria" she claims that she treated her MS with diet. (around 14 minutes & 45 seconds into her speech)
Can MS really be treated through diet?
# SteveFortinon 06 Feb 2012 at 9:20 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I recently stumbled upon "Structured Water" and thought it would be a great topic of discussion.
The science section of this website is, of course, rampant with pseudoscience:
"…provide the level of energy, metabolic anti-oxidation and detoxification power and optimal hydration needed to achieve and maintain optimum nutrition, fitness and holistic health"
"…the most energizing, detoxiying, anti-oxidizing and hydrating water on the planet. Using [hydrogen fortification] vortex technology, we've created hexagonal water that quenches your thirst from inside out."
Just a sampling of the garbage this website claims and promotes.
The Atlantic has been publishing some crazy things lately, so at first I took this with a grain of salt. My first thought was that this would get washed out in independent replication, but, it seems like there might actually be something to this. With all the data coming out suggesting that there are quite a few microorganisms that can have behavior-altering effects on their host, is it really that hard to believe? I'm still a bit skeptical, but this is certainly interesting.
# Physioon 17 Feb 2012 at 1:40 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Our physiotherapy clinic recently purchased an "AlterG antigravity treadmill" (http://www.torontophysiotherapy.ca/AlterGTreadmill.html) which is a unique body weight supported treadmill that uses differential air pressure to allow the user to decrease their body weight in 1% increments while maintaining normal gait and stride length. Basically the user's lower body is zipped into an air bubble! There are obviously numerous rehabilitation applications for the technology in orthopedic physiotherapy, but we are also keen to explore its utility for neurological rehabilitation populations including stroke, Parkinson's, etc. Body weight supported treadmills have long been used as a rehab tool for these populations, but the ability to reduce weight without restricting gait and stride is unique to this device.
A recent NEJM publication ("Body-Weight–Supported Treadmill Rehabilitation after Stroke") suggested no difference in functional level of walking at 1 year post-stroke, for stroke patients receiving physiotherapy, or physiotherapy involving a body weight supported treadmill. While the paper is well done, it compares (among other things): three intensive 90 min sessions of physiotherapy per week over 12-16 weeks, with three 90 min sessions of locomotor training involving 20-30 min on a body weight assisted treadmill for 12-16 weeks and ground walking. It's not too surprising that there was no statistical difference in outcome given the intensity of the physiotherapy regime, the proportionately minor use of body weight supported walking in the locomotor training group, and the use of a body weight supported system that does not allow for NORMAL gait, stride and balance training in a supportive environment. I would hypothesize that true functional training with the AlterG would result in greater outcomes, in part due to the psychological lift and confidence provided by device. What are your thoughts on this?
# Geekoidon 24 Feb 2012 at 11:48 am
I would like to see a post about Neurology and advertising. AKA neuromarketing
I know the advertising are partnering with some neurologist to create better ads, and perhaps ads that can bypass you natural impulse buying defenses.
How effective is neuromarketing? How wide spread is it's use?
# norrisLon 24 Feb 2012 at 11:20 pm
Last year the Australian Veterinary Association annual conference had the theme "Evidence Based Medicine". I point out to you that EBM is used in Australia like you in the US would use SBM. On this basis, I took umbrage to a lecture given by Huisheng Xie, DVM PhD MS of the Chi Institute, 9700 West Hwy 318
Reddick, Florida, USA. The first paragraph in the lecture reads as follows:
What is Acupuncture
Acupuncture may be defined as the stimulation of a specific point on the body, referred to as an
"acupoint". Physiological changes in response to acupuncture point stimulation is the basis of
clinical treatment. Some of these changes include release of endogenous opioids, immune
system stimulation, and blood pressure regulation. Stimulation of an acupoint causes activation
of Aα and Aβ nerve fibers to conduct electrical signals through the spinothalamic tract to the
hypothamalus and cause release of β-endorphins. Acupuncture also causes activation of the
descending pain inhibitory pathway which activates the periaqueductal gray matter to release
more β-endorphins and the nucleus raphe magnus to release serotonins 1. Pain is blocked with
the release of these endogenous opioids and neurotransmitters. Acupuncture can also activate
T-cell lymphocytes and increase the number of white blood cells for the treatment of pathologies
due to immuno-deficiency.
This first paragraph contains a list of highly improbable effects of acupuncture such as little needles stimulating the immune system. The remainder of the lecture appeared to be an attempt at self justification of acupuncture…oh no, it really DOES work. And of course the lecturer failed to mention the true effects of quack treatments like acupuncture brought on by innocent dogs, cats etc receiving this useless treatment instead of genuine, scientifically proven effective treatments. THIS is the worst part of using CAM on animals, they do not get to choose!
Stuart Scanlan B.V.Sc.
# jugaon 25 Feb 2012 at 7:18 pm
I've just had this suggested to me as my mother in law is suffering from Alzheimer's.
I am very skeptical of such things and it seems to have all the hallmarks of anecdotal, unproved nonsense. Is there any more to it than that?
# Psmithon 26 Feb 2012 at 7:09 pm
I have been a listener to The Skeptics Guide To the Universe since about 2006 (I'm 32), and I love reading your posts on Neurologica and Science-Based Medicine. My father is a pediatrician and started teaching me a bit about woo, though he never called it that, at an early age. So I've been skeptical of all the stuff that comes out about "energy fields" (and this device I'll show you is all about the energy fields) and the rest of that sort of thing.
I am involved with a grassroots skeptical community in Colorado Springs. Recently, on the 23rd of February, the Mile Hi Skeptics posted a link (http://www.meetup.com/DenverSkeptics/boards/view/viewthread?thread=20768092) to a local news program (http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/02/23/life-vessel-popularity/) that dealt with a "totally woo device" (to paraphrase you on SGU), the Life Vessel. There is a lady selling time on these $100,000 machines (so I'm told they cost) in Colorado now and making unfounded, irresponsible claims for their effectiveness. This device is new to me and I didn't find it in a search on your blogs or on Dr. Barrett's Quackwatch site.
One thing incidentally: the woman in the interview mentioned ANSAR testing. I've been looking for information on ANSAR, and it seems to me that it's a credible thing in itself, but I suspect it is being misused by people such as this woman.
I thought this might make a good blog post, for someone else you know if not you yourself!
Psmith (Sorry, since I mentioned my dad I don't want to use my name.)
# Psmithon 26 Feb 2012 at 7:21 pm
I found a paper by one of the co-founders of the Life Vessel racket: http://www.thejsho.com/pdf/BODY.pdf
All the best to you and yours,
# Marshallon 27 Feb 2012 at 12:34 pm
Hi Steve–
I recently saw this article about sleep, and how earlier humans may have used a double 4-hour sleep period, separated by 1-2 hours of wakefulness. I haven't seen much from you on sleep. Since everyone spends nearly 1/3 of their lives sleeping, it's a pretty important issue!
Here's the article I was referring to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783
# herbaladderallon 29 Feb 2012 at 3:31 am
i would really like to hear you guys weigh in on nootropics. i looked for a legal adderall alternative that was also a natural alternative. i finally found something called addieup at the site http://www.addieup.com can you guys take a look at this and tell me if i'm just experiencing the placebo effect?
# Bernard Leikindon 05 Mar 2012 at 3:17 pm
Please comment on the recent research published in the BMJ about the dangers of sleeping pills.
The research was done by Scripps researchers in San Diego and received a lot of press coverage.
See, for example,
Thank you,
Bernard Leikind
# zplafon 08 Mar 2012 at 7:40 pm
Please teach us about pain.
And here are two questions to get your attention:
You've been parachuted in the middle of the Atakama Desert with your daughter. The bad guys took all your belongings. After a few seconds, Julia, petrified, ask: "Are we going to live daddy?". What would be your answer?
You've been parachuted in the middle of the Atakama Desert with your daughter. The bad guys took all your belongings. After a few seconds, Julia, petrified, ask: "Are we going to die daddy?". What would be your answer?
A big fan
# kwilliams1on 10 Mar 2012 at 3:18 pm
Hi Dr Novella,
I'm a relative newcomer to both your Blog and SGU and love them both.
Surfing the web I recently came across a proposed name for a phenomena I have experienced since being a child, unaware that others have felt the same sensations;
As I am unaware of any correct scientific name for this experience I could not search to see if you have covered it. I was wondering if you have come across anything similar in your line of work.
I think it is a very interesting area and I wonder if rather a lot of people have this feeling but as no name exists for it we feel in a minority.
Personally I feel this "ASMR" the strongest when watching video clips of pseudo-scientific things such as Chiropractic treatments, Applied Kinesiology and Acupuncture. It seems the higher the level of Woo (e.g. KST Chiropractic) the stronger the feeling. For this reason I think the proposed name is a little ill though through as it suggests this sort of pseudo-science rather than an actual scientific phenomena worthy of investigation.
I have often wondered whether the feeling is an evolutionary throwback to Ape grooming and social bonding as it is very pleasant and moreish. Further to this I wonder if it could be the driving force behind these new-age and quack practices; people chasing this elusive feeling and being willing to part with their cash to feel it.
If this were ever to be studied scientifically it would be interesting to see if a link existed between the mild euphoria it brings and such things as meditation, spirituality, placebo effect, etc.
You never know, it may prove to be the scientific explanation behind a lot of this nonsense. Or I may just be dreaming.
Kev Williams
# tmac57on 12 Mar 2012 at 11:26 am
Just saw this story on Yahoo News:
"NASA's JPL computer specialist alleges discrimination over his belief in intelligent design"
From the article:
"The question is whether the plaintiff was fired simply because he was wasting people's time and bothering them in ways that would have led him to being fired regardless of whether it was about religion or whether he was treated worse based on the religiosity of his beliefs," said Volokh. "If he can show that, then he's got a good case."
# missmayingaon 14 Mar 2012 at 11:27 am
It would be kind of neat to see you take on some of ADHD treatment woo that's out there (eg: blaming it all on sugar, blaming it all on bad parenting, claiming it's just "kids being kids", focusing obsessively on Ritalin and its side effects despite there being approximately umpteen million other ADHD drugs on the market….). Not sure if that's up your alley, but it might be fun.
Alternatively, do you know of any other neurology/skeptic blogs that do cover that stuff? There's an outstanding amount of it out on the internet, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least one person who'd thought to tackle it.
Thanks a lot.
# Nicolas Bakeron 15 Mar 2012 at 4:45 am
Hello Steve,
thanks for your blog and podcast. I have become an avid reader/listener.
Have you ever written about the active process of forgetting dreams ? It seems like the brain is wired to forget everything that happened a few moments before, right after waking up. A significant chunk of our experiences (that can often be quite interesting and worthy) are being actively destroyed. Do we know what the neural mechanism is ?
Also, you recently stated (on the SGU podcast) that the brain in the dream state was fundamentally different from the brain in the waking state. I am an avid lucid dreamer, and have come to believe that the "quality" of dream imagery matches that of the waking state. Michel Jouvet who worked extensively on dreams wrote that "wakefulness is but a dream restricted by the senses" (my translation).
So apart from disabled motor skills as well as a lack of critical thinking (which you can overcome – especially if you are a regular lucid dreamer), what are the big differences in between a dreaming brain, and a waking brain ?
Thanks for your time,
Nick Baker
# Walteron 17 Mar 2012 at 2:00 am
I enjoy your blog Stephen. It has become a life line for me in coping with the credulous beliefs I encounter daily in my work as a therapist. I strive to practice only methods proven effective and based on real scientific testing and attitudes. I hold it is unethical to practice things which have been proven ineffective, a rare stance among therapists as far as I can tell.
I regularly get patients referred to me by physicians for damage control-people who did not receive effective help from their first counselors. I have seen many weird and wonderful practices, and altogether too much harm. One new one is called " One Eye Integration" claimed to be an effective trauma treatment. The website is http://www.sightpsych.com
This looks very suspicious, and needs a good debunking. It shows the typical pattern of little research, grand claims, being offerred as effective before real studies are done, and of course is offered for sale to therapists for a high price. It makes neurological claims without evidence, and looks like a derivative of EMDR. It was developed at Trinity Western University, a former bible college.
This idea is beginning to show up as "therapy" among some counselors in British Columbia, and could use some critical exposure and deconstruction. Every bit of resistance helps!
Here is what the website says:
"Some observers have said that OEI is like a combination of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Educational Kinesiology ('Brain Gym'), and Gendlin's Focusing. Others have noted a similarity to Dual Brain Psychology (Schiffer). It is important to recognize that OEI is none of these other therapies, but in fact has developed into an entirely new and different psychotherapy."
One of the inventors says this: "Shortly after initial training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, was using EMDR with clients and having excellent results, particularly with single incident traumas. She had never found a tool so useful for trauma and, to a lesser extent, for compulsive behaviour. She had a client who had one eye that was focused differently than the other. Because she had a background in Educational Kinesiology, she was familiar with the concept of hemispheric integration in the brain. As she experimented with those ideas, she found this integration proved very useful for many of her clients. She found that OEI techniques were gentler for those individuals, and that some of these tools could be used without a therapist present. Tapping techniques are also very helpful, and she uses EMDR, tapping, TAT, and OEI together, or separately."
Somehow, these statements are not reassuring. I respectfully recommenr OEI as a topic for Neurologica.
# ystokaron 20 Mar 2012 at 10:51 am
how about discussing this new paper about cellphone radiation on the brain of developing mice:
Neurologix, the company that last year reported a successful trial of a gene therapy product for Parkinson's, just went belly up. Hey tough economy, sh*t happens. But patients have been complaining about one of the docs involved with the study not returning phone calls for a couple of weeks. Office staff say he's "on vacation," but are vague about when he's going to be back. That seems like a red flag to me. Doctors aren't supposed to vanish without arranging coverage or at least providing a good explanation to their patients.
Anyway, maybe that Parkinson's study in the March 2011 Lancet needs a careful look by someone with a skeptical eye.
# Jaykwonon 28 Mar 2012 at 5:30 am
Hi Steve,
There are plenty of techniques for memory retention circling around the internet, and I'm curious about the science behind them, if any.
Some of the techniques are so common that I'd (almost) be surprised if there wasn't at least some evidence behind them, such as associating the memory with a sound, a mental image or the like. Other techniques, such as "spaced repetition" sound reasonable, but again, many things that sound reasonable end up being disproven when the evidence starts rolling in.
The last one, spaced repetition, is something I'm particularly interested in because I recently started using a free flash-card program that's built around this principle.
I was able to find scant studies about some memory techniques, but it's hard to deduce if they are done by a neutral party or by someone deeply invested in the particular technique, be it for monetary or ideological reasons. (Your mention of the acupuncture studies all turning out positive from a certain country (Was it some cardinal direction of Korea?) comes to mind).
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your blog (and a thousand other things), wether you decide to take me up on this or not.
# Ufoon 28 Mar 2012 at 7:30 am
This might interest you Steve, a new study about antioxidant supplements and mortality:
"Our systematic review has demonstrated that antioxidant supplements may increase mortality. We have now updated this review."
# Dirk Steeleon 28 Mar 2012 at 8:08 am
I would agree with this too. Maybe start with the ADHD DSM-IV definition which involves 'climbing trees inappropriately' or even 'forgetting homework' in order to show proof of a mental disfunction/disease/disorder/syndrome etc. It is complete woo isn't it?
# locutusbrgon 28 Mar 2012 at 10:54 am
Maybe you could do a piece on blog Trolling? What are the motivations and psychiatric disorders they may be avoiding by trolling instead of dealing with the issue. Not truly science and skepticism but interesting.
# bluedevilRAon 29 Mar 2012 at 9:20 am
Missmayinga brings up a good point. There is a lot of of ADHD woo out there. Your previous posts on ADHD were excellent. This quack was invited to speak at a medical school recently by the CAM club on campus. I could not have been more disappointed. She is a mental illness denialist. She believes psychiatrists aren't practicing medicine and are just prescribing "cocaine" to patients to mask symptoms. She thinks ADHD is a food allergy and a whole bunch of other quackery. In true quack fashion, she claims psychiatrists all have financial incentive (via ties to Big Pharma) to sell their drugs but I am pretty sure she makes a hell of a living selling her books and snake oil.
My favorite part of her website where she suggests depression and headaches do not exist as we currently define them. There must be some sort of organic trigger:
# Woodyon 02 Apr 2012 at 11:30 am
I suspect you or one of the SBM bloggers is planning to tackle this, but today seems like a good day to suggest covering the recent CDC press release regarding increasing autism prevalence, since today is World Autism Awareness Day. Cheers!
# Woodyon 02 Apr 2012 at 11:36 am
Never mind – just saw Gorski's post! I thought you might tackle it since it is a neurological disorder…
# Dirk Steeleon 04 Apr 2012 at 3:23 pm
Thousands have petitioned against changes to the DSM. The annual meeting of the APA in May 2012 will be subject to 'occupy' type protests. The DSM5 is floundering. Is this the end of 'biological' psychiatry?
# Dirk Steeleon 06 Apr 2012 at 8:03 pm
It is my view that the so called 'placebo effect' is unscientific nonsense and is purely a measure of subjectivity as opposed to any objective fact. If one examines placebo responses in different aspects of medical care there are significant differences. Can the placebo effect actually change physical or objective measures? For example, it has an obvious change to the way that we report pain. But our measurement of pain is subjective (so my wife continually reminds me). My sugar pills seem to relieve my depression so that I feel happier to take them. Especially since my psychiatrist has convinced me of their efficacy. But can a placebo reduce the size of my growing cancerous tumour, or clear my arteries from clogging? Can a placebo affect my bacterial infection, or reduce my need for insulin? (I do have a few issues…)
Does the placebo pill, whether it is blue, red or green result in an objective measurable physical change in the body? I think not. But I have been mistaken many times….
One important aspect of this – is that we should question all research studies that demonstrate a significant placebo effect – for example, in those which involve anti-depressant medication or even ECT. It is my belief that the greater the placebo effect measured, the more we should be skeptical about the objective methodology of the study. As far as I am aware this factor has not been sufficiently examined. But I am happy to be proved wrong. Even though the little white pill has been administered.
# Ufoon 09 Apr 2012 at 7:22 am
I found this pretty interesting:
# nlk2on 10 Apr 2012 at 4:08 pm
This is an interesting one and describes some fallacies committed in the name of "drug approval"
# tmac57on 11 Apr 2012 at 9:47 am
Here's a story that illustrates even how NASA experts can initially misidentify an unknown object in the sky:
This should give people pause when they think that they know for sure that a UFO couldn't be some common object,such as a jet,that is being observed under unusual atmospheric conditions.
# TexCapPrezJimmyon 11 Apr 2012 at 12:48 pm
I am interested in you addressing the topic of religious freedom as applied to the birth control mandate in the new health care law. I keep getting forwarded emails from family on this topic, especially this one on the "Parable of the Kosher Deli."
Care to weigh in? Thanks for everything Steve. Keep up the good work.
# Phil Smithon 11 Apr 2012 at 6:39 pm
Steve, I would be quite interested in hearing your opinion on this recent neuroscience study on the relation of brain structures to general intelligence.
The paper sounds interesting, but I was unable to find a free version online.
My primary interest is in the definition of "general intelligence", and how one clinically tests for "general intelligence"?
# Captain Quirkon 12 Apr 2012 at 4:08 am
I'd be interested reading about narcolepsy and cataplexy without narcolepsy, and the associated disorders with the latter.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders, particularly the state of the evidence for various treatments like melatonin, light therapy, chronotherapy. (Anecdotally I take melatonin to help fall asleep, but have much more frequent sleep paralysis and a new problem of waking up ridiculously early)
Physiologic sleep architecture
Sham stem cell therapies for multiple sclerosis, autism, etc.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (a psychologist mistook my autistic sensory sensitivity to some odors as this, which looks like it's mostly a psychological thing, maybe as a learned sensitivity to the odors by associating them to "chemicals" and this anxiety triggering symptoms, since tests show the presence or absence of the "offending" chemical has no bearing on the symptoms).
Anti-psychiatry v. legitimate criticisms/controversies in psychiatry – perhaps the ways we determine how much of psychiatric disorder is socially constructed and how much is a brain malfunction, from clear-cut cases to the grey areas of disorders that are maladaptive in some circumstances, but in different life circumstances are adaptive, which doesn't inform treatment too much when circumstances are very difficult or virtually impossible to change, since dysfunction is dysfunction, but is an interesting exercise in understanding of what disease or disorder is. (I mean, cancer is pretty much always a negative. But then you have conditions like DSPS which is bad if you want to do college (specifically a program they don't have night school for required classes) and lots of mainstream careers, but neutral or positive for working night shifts or are self-employed. Similarly, there are cases of ASD that are disabling everywhere, while others due to severity and specific profiles of strengths and weaknesses are at least neutral to certain niches, if not a boon).
Illusions, hallucinations – differences and similarities (while they are defined as distinct phenomena, is it really more of a spectrum, or are they sharply distinct in the mechanism?)
Evidence for/against marijuana having a causative relationship with psychosis, or is it merely correlation, or do we not know? (Personally not invested, as I avoid marijuana like I do alcohol due to effects on sleep – lots of what I've read is either Reefer Madness II or Natural Herbs are Happy Herbs!).
Deconstruction of AR arguments that animals aren't needed in medical research, because scientists can just use cell lines and computer models (and if that's not enough, then screw scientists and just use all the nice, natural herbal remedies Mother Nature so thoughtfully provided to cure all illnesses that a perfect vegan diet, exercise, and sunshine don't cure). Oh, also the idea that humans are natural herbivores (selectively looking at molars and somewhat long gut while ignoring canines and such), which I hear a lot in vegan circles.
Fad gluten free (casein free) diets, versus Coeliac, and nutritional impact of following a gluten free diet while maintaining healthy nutritional intake.
The technology they're working on where an implant somewhere near the brain to let people who had strokes communicate by training to associate thinking letters to a computer that would recognize the signal and type. I heard about it on some news story and wonder how far along that is, and the usefulness in practice and limitations for the near future.
The history of defining autism, from a symptom of schizophrenia (Bleuler?) through to infantile autism and the modern autism spectrum. A lot of people, even who know the diagnostic criteria expanded a lot recently, aren't aware of the way and extent this concept has evolved. Between this history, the diagnostic substitution studies, and the exposure of Wakefield as a fraud, it's very clear to all but the most emotionally invested that the evidence for an autism epidemic is so scant it should hardly be the default assumption.
Also, any advice on what to do when a teacher (say, at high school or college level) endorses or promotes rank quackery (I don't mean promote as in advertising for money, but things like "There's a real scientific controversy about whether vaccines are safe, and I didn't vaccinate my kids because the risks are too great" or "Cell phones causing cancer is going to be a new big public health scandal like cigarettes" or "I went and got this stem cell treatment and cured my MS without drugs" when they aren't a professor of a scientific subject)? I've heard these things (paraphrased) during a class I took at college, from a prof professing to teach about logical argument and critical thinking.
Worse, she's looking into doing science journalism – yet another reason to add to why I think science journalists should all have at least a bachelor's in a science in addition to being good communicators – it wouldn't stop the terrible science reports, but maybe stem the tide. Unsurprisingly, she saw nothing wrong with the state of science journalism, which only strengthened my conviction that there IS something wrong, something grievously wrong (most saliently, stories being written to hype or scare according to what the media corporation and the editors whose jobs are on the line think will sell, with little regard to ethical or accurate reporting beyond the minimum, but that's a more intractable problem than science-ignorant people getting a podium to promote their woo).
While I questioned the prof in question during class, pointing out the fallacies employed and the basic science and studies omitted from discussion, I have no idea what (if anything) can be done to address things like spreading dangerous medical myths in a classroom. My grade didn't suffer for arguing during class about these or for writing my paper on why vaccines are safe and don't cause autism, so I can't file a complaint on that basis. It just rubs me the wrong way that there's NOTHING you can do.
# Dirk Steeleon 16 Apr 2012 at 7:28 pm
The trial of Breivik commenced today. Psychiatrists, after 2 months of interviews stated he was a paranoid schizophrenic. Another lengthy evaluation by other 'experts' have stated he is sane. I have read little commentry about this issue that proves psychiatry is not a scientific medical field but a pseudoscience akin to astrology. Of course we are told that mental illness is a disorder just like any other medical disease such as diabetes. What rubbish. David Rosenhan in 1973 demonstrated that psychiatrists could not tell who was 'mad' or 'sane'. Nearly 40 years later nothing has changed and no progress has been made. Psychiatry is a pseudoscience. You are being fooled.
A blood test for depression. The study looks small, but I wonder if you have any thoughts on its viability.
# PharmD28on 20 Apr 2012 at 5:07 pm
I have begun attending some meetups in my area (live in the deep south). These are meetups with atheists, evolutionists (which some are believers, a few), and generally most would call themselves "skeptics"…..
I have noticed that I am a bit of a loner (relatively) when it comes to issues of evidence based medicine…CAM…etc….I had a discussion one day and began to respond to the idea that for example glucosamine/chondroitin is really effective…started to explain that it is not and why I am asserting this…had a similar discussion about accupuncture….and have noticed that some of these health topics can really make me out to be some sort of "apparent cynic" rather than a "proper skeptic"….I try and carefully make my arguments, cite research, and respond to claims….but it would seem that to teach proper science based medicine related skepticism to broader groups of skeptics is a bit scary! In one of these examples someone got a bit testy with me….we are all still cool, I did not respond with any hostility (despite the person really being nasty at me for defending my position dispassionately).
Anyway, any advice for a pharmacist-skeptic that may take on some discussions on these matters more formally at meetups? They have some discussion nights where people sign up for a topic and discuss….I have a number of ideas that would perhaps prove "controversial" with many in the group (luckily by far not all however). Any ideas on an approach in such a scenario or advice on avoidance of land mines?
# neogardenon 22 Apr 2012 at 4:28 pm
Dr. Novella,
First, thank you so much for the time and dedication you've given to this blog and to the EBM blog. These discussions are invaluable to the larger discussion of science in our culture; neither is an easy thing to maintain amidst your undoubtedly busy schedule. As a longtime reader, I've directed many friends and associates to your posts in hopes of advancing more analog conversations.
To the point: I stumbled across a rather frustrating article yesterday on Salon, apparently excerpted from a book with an equally frustrating title. The article concerned Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and Out-of-Body Experiences by Mario Beauregard.
Succinctly, my frustrations, though many, can be summed into two points: the article is littered with logical fallacies (never the sign of a good argument) and concludes essentially endorsing the dualism that died with Descartes… without sufficient evidence to do so. What's more, the author ignores varying examples of non-lethal NDEs (such as the NASA "centrifuge" trainees). He seems to cherry-pick his data. For myself, I tend to see consciousness as an emergent behavior of many operations in the brain, not a locally-specific one.. therefore the idea that such an NDE event (assuming one takes the anecdotes as examples, problematic at best) occurs might also be non-localized seems unsurprising. Beauregards seeming insistence that the phenomenon is either localized/singly mechanistic or supernatural seems just another false dichotomy.
Further, the author dismisses the recent Nature publication on the subject, speaks incredulously about anecdotes as evidence, etc.
Perhaps most disturbingly of all, he specifically seeks to differentiate (and even by implication villify) what he calls "materialist scientists." As though there were any other kind.
I know you have previously discussed NDEs, but I would appreciate your view, especially if specific to any of the research Beauregard cites.
For my part, I can only confirm that Dr. Beauregard does actually have a PhD in neuroscience, and has previously been published in research that culminated in "The Spiritual Brain."
Thanks for your time.
# rezistnzisfutlon 26 Apr 2012 at 7:49 pm
Dr. Novella,
I recently was referred to a guy named Dwight Lundell, a former cardiac surgeon who had his medical license revoked a few years ago for questionable practices and has more recently been making a pretty decent profit selling supplements, blogging on hhfound.org (Health Humans Foundation, that he created) and on various other naturalistic websites, and off his book "The Great Cholesterol Lie". I noticed there was no reference to him on this website or SBM, and thought you may be interested in doing a review of some of his work, since he still seems to be going strong spreading around his quackery.
Thanks for your great blog!
# LMon 30 Apr 2012 at 6:04 am
Dear Dr. Novella,
First of all, thanks for your work, it's always a pleasure to go and find the latest entry on the blog.
Here's a link to an article you might be interested about, if you haven't checked it yet: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-talk-huppke-obit-facts-20120419,0,809470.story
Otherwise, I would love to hear your views on an argument one could raise in support for homeopathy (if you haven't yet addressed the question).
It often happens that pro-homeopathy advocates, when cornered during a debate, try to escape the conclusion that one should not take homeopathy by conceding homeopathy is nothing but placebo effect. Nonetheless, the argument goes, why should one take an expensive antibiotic (which one's body would get accustomed to and hence reduce its efficiency over time when one would really need it) when one could be treated for "cheap" by the placebo effect inducing medication?
The kind of argument I have in mind is really a family of practical reasons for letting people believe in homeopathy. It's the kind of last resort argument put forward by a cornered homeopathy advocate.
I live in Switzerland, near the french border, and homeopathy is all over the place. I often find myself arguing with relatives and friends about these issues, and I guess I've been able to convince them about the sientificity of the process, but I still find myself quite puzzled by this last issue. They might have a point, obviously not a very consistent and compelling one, philosophically speaking, but a practically good one.
Anyway, thanks again for your work, it's a genuine pleasure to read you!
# PharmD28on 30 Apr 2012 at 3:37 pm
Here we go, this was on my darwin meetup email listerv locally sent out by a fellow skeptic who finds accupuncture an interesting alternative and refuses to hear me out that it is quackery.
Please review this concept…the whole thing is silly it:
1) presumes that accupuncture is clinically effective vs. sham accupuncture
2) that this effective accupuncture has a known and valid "molecular mechanism"
3) and even suggests that this new "PAPupuncture" therapy may be more effective when used in the accupressure points.
Oh please…review this and I am going to share it with our list-serv. Hopefully you will go over some of the high points that I have already covered and perhaps you will see some things with this PhD neurologist and the research that I missed that are interesting.
# PharmD28on 02 May 2012 at 2:47 pm
by the way, on the issue of accupuncture…in case no one did not notice this, but within that NEJM review of it for back pain
there is this supplementary listing of the major studies that we ofen cite…notice closely that within the results column, they show multiple differences "favoring acupuncture" over sham is how they write it, but it is not statistically significant….just writing it that way shows how flawed they see this….no it could not just be a trend caused by some noise…it must favor accupuncture? Not sure if I am reading into this, but I would make sure to qualify it as "not statistically significant" or better yet, "no difference detecte"
# Dirk Steeleon 04 May 2012 at 8:36 pm
I have always felt that 'confirmation bias' is a deep seated human instinct, that may well have maintained an evolutionary benefit in the past, but now seems to fuel non scientific medical quackery.
'Believing is seeing and not the other way round'
Can't remember who said this and can't be arsed to google now… way past my bedtime!
But I think a little article on this would be of interest to many here… then again, I may be biased in my views.
# Dirk Steeleon 04 May 2012 at 9:00 pm
So, Steven, let us cut to the chase now. What is the purpose of your blog? Do you just want to attract acolytes to pat you on the back, tell you how wonderful you are, and feed your egotistical self importance. In which your endeavours have been very successful I must say. Well done! Or is the purpose of your blog to attract the average bloke down the pub supping on a single malt? Like me. I am no scientist and my background is in anthropology, myth and language.
So, who are you trying to reach out to? Do you think you are succeeding? It seems to me that anyone attempting to question your views are drowned out by a mass of tepid water. So they do not return. Those that question you are bombarded with insult and thus retire from the debate. This I think is a self defeating strategy.
What do you think?
# elmer mccurdyon 05 May 2012 at 12:38 am
I'm halfway through The Emotional Life of Your Brain by Richard J. Davidson. I'd be curious to know what you think of it.
# elmer mccurdyon 05 May 2012 at 12:41 am
Regarding that Salon article mentioned above: Salon quickly published an article debunking it, then a response from the original author, then the debunker's response to the response to the debunking. I think they've got it pretty well covered.
# Dirk Steeleon 05 May 2012 at 4:31 am
@elmer mccurdy
'I'm halfway through The Emotional Life of Your Brain by Richard J. Davidson. I'd be curious to know what you think of it.'
Seconded. Watched the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GMSczR7xrs
Don't ya just love this guy's smile and his promotional posters! A guru wannabe! I notice he hangs out at the 'Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds. Ha! I was banned from there a little while back because I have a mental illness… a disease similar to diabetes so I am told.
# elmer mccurdyon 05 May 2012 at 10:23 am
Why was the link for this thread removed from the main page?
# daedalus2uon 06 May 2012 at 1:00 pm
An article suggesting that the perception of auras may actually be synesthesia.
# Dirk Steeleon 07 May 2012 at 2:00 pm
Any views on the DSM5 progress?
or more stuff to be found here..
# emanresuon 08 May 2012 at 8:37 am
Discussion about launching a Dr. Novella fringe treatment to give believers hope, move believers money into the pockets of skeptics, and to further scientific inquiry by means of uncontrolled observational data collection from the customers.
Bacterial replacement therapy:
The Human Microbiome Project has the "goal of identifying and characterizing the microorganisms which are found in association with both healthy and diseased humans." For the unhealthy believers, a product can then be marketed with the hypothetical foundations that bacterial composition may be the reason for their ill-health, and changes through bacterial replacement therapy will restore their vitality. Healthy individuals looking for greater vitality are also in luck too.
The treatment would involve removing the patient's microbiota with various sterilizing processes (antibiotics, irradiation), then introducing new bacteria from selected healthy individuals through stool transfer.
1) The believer pays for a treatment that has roots in science.
2) Treatment is "natural", designated with the popular CAM label.
3) Auctions where healthy spiteful skeptics can bid for the privilege of having their stool stuffed into the stomachs of believers will be joyous and fatten the bottom line of the business.
4) Customers are all case studies for scientific investigation.
5) Dr. Novella administering the therapy can always, and enthusiastically suggest to the therapy seeker that a more natural way of administration would be for them to eat the stool.
6) Set up therapy as 4 or 5 sessions/stages so variables can be controlled for science data.
7) Stool eating uploaded to Youtube celebrating natural medicine treatments, videos go viral, more devout customers who swear by the process Steve becomes a guru.
8) $ + happy believer + science data + believer eating fecal matter = Extremely gratifying.
# Dirk Steeleon 09 May 2012 at 5:15 pm
Dr. Steven.
I think I have uncovered a new source of CAM being 'make up that shit'. It is called Psychiatric genetics. It is not even a proper field of study. It is a sub-field of neurobabblititus.
This is what it is about.
Psychiatric genetics, a subfield of behavioral neurogenetics, studies the role of genetics in psychological conditions such as alcoholism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism. The basic principle behind psychiatric genetics is that genetic polymorphisms, as indicated by linkage to e.g. a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), are part of the etiology of psychiatric disorders.[1]
The goal of psychiatric genetics is to better understand the etiology of psychiatric disorders, to use that knowledge to improve treatment methods, and possibly also to develop personalized treatments based on genetic profiles (see pharmacogenomics). In other words, the goal is to transform parts of psychiatry into a neuroscience-based discipline.[2]
Linkage, association, and microarray studies generate raw material for findings in psychiatric genetics.[3] Copy number variants have also been associated with psychiatric conditions. [4] [5] [6]
Is this just a big pile of woo???
# cwfongon 09 May 2012 at 5:43 pm
Nobody will care to answer your question.
# tmac57on 10 May 2012 at 9:53 am
Knowing your interest in supercapacitors , I thought you might like this:
'Making graphene supercapacitors with a DVD writer'
# deciuson 11 May 2012 at 10:04 am
Steve: I've read with attention all your blogs, including those on dieting and food faddism.
It isn't a topic that interests me particularly (when I needed to lose some extra weight, I went by the consensus science and rapidly achieved the expected results). However, a friend of mine, who is otherwise a very rational person, has been taken in, hook line and sinker, by what I would characterise as Taubes's conspiracy thinking and rank pseudoscience.
I tried unsuccessfully to talk her out of it, but I have no medical background and she can easily Gish-gallop circles around me, by citing all kind of factoids and cherry-picked peer-reviewed papers, which I suspect she can't even properly understand.
She has even listened to all your medical lectures, but declared you "wrong on this one" (she is no physician either, mind you).
If it isn't too much of a hassle, I'd really appreciate one of your wondrous dissection-and-demolition jobs over this fresh article by Taubes, which in my opinion packs even more dubious claims than customary.
In any case, thanks for all your wonderful work.
# Dirk Steeleon 12 May 2012 at 9:27 am
Dr. Novella
Given that, in your words, psychiatry is a subset of neurology, I am astonished to find that you have totally ignored the massive controversies currently being debated over the field trials of the DSM 5.
I, and I suspect many others here, would very much like your opinions on this. Maybe you are still collating your thoughts and will astound us all in the very near future. I hope so.
# Dirk Steeleon 12 May 2012 at 6:46 pm
Isn't 'mind reading' a part of a long line of medical and societal quackery? Why do you think that psychiatry is given such credence ensconsed by law? It is because of the magic of technological progress as determined by lobotomy, ECT or fMRI scans? Or do you dismiss such studies as these?
# elmer mccurdyon 15 May 2012 at 1:40 am
Article on child psychopaths
I'd like to know if you think this sort of disorder can be corrected.
# Ufoon 15 May 2012 at 5:50 am
Steve, I'm sure you'll find this new interview interesting:
# Danon 17 May 2012 at 1:32 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
Over at Why Evolution is True Jerry Coyne wrote about Ben Carson, the creationists doctor at Johns Hopkins, saying some bizarre stuff about evolution. In the comments a couple people have made the point that they don't think understanding evolution is directly relevant to being a doctor (especially a surgeon, ENT, or oncologists). One commenter even said he thought oncologists "have precisely and exactly zero need to understand evolutionary theory."
I tried to argue that understanding the foundational principle of biology was directly relevant to physicians, in a variety of areas. I am very interesting in your views on the subject. Does understanding evolution help a doctor be better as her/his job? Is understanding evolution going above and beyond as a doctor, or something that should be expected of physicians?
Here's the link to the main comment I had in mind (#30) and a couple responses, including mine:
# Mike3on 20 May 2012 at 8:37 am
A sleep researcher claims to be able to type by blinking: http://lsdbase.org/2012/05/11/hello-dream-world!
# Ufoon 20 May 2012 at 10:04 am
Just saw this on my Facebook feed:
And this, a more recent one:
I think meditation is an interesting subject and definitely in need for a critical and clear look.
# PharmD28on 20 May 2012 at 2:33 pm
So I had got to arguing with a group of local skeptics on our local list-serv for an atheist meetup….
We got to debating alternative medicine topics and sure enough out come the woo woo apologists. After a long debate about acupuncture, the two that were arguing basically backed down, but would not concede that sham acupuncture simply a placebo….and skeptics like myself should not be "too eager to dismiss"
Anyway, what was more interesting was that in the process of talking and debating about alternative medicine, there were a number of folks that felt the need to "balance" the alternative medicine debates with "proper" criticisms of "orthodox medicine". The manner in which they chose to criticize "mainstream" medicine, was essentially the whole "death by medicine" routine – 1998 JAMA and IOM reports.
I was advised by a couple folks that any criticisms of alternative medicine should be properly "balanced".
One of the folks applauded my thorough breakdown of acupuncture, but wanted me to use this same rigorous approach, to also criticize "orthodox medicine". This same person also interestingly was trying to prove a point, and was using the term "quackery" for criticisms of "orthodox medicine". He found my reluctance to use this "highly pejorative" with equal enthusiasm and felt him using it in his own ways was an equally good use of the term and that my reluctance points to a bias that I have….
So what happened in my view was that I made criticisms of alternative medicine, then they threw out red herrings into that conversation that were by no means necessary to that discussion, all driven by a straw man they assume that pretty much seems that I unequally apply proper skepticism to mainstream medicine….then they try and push a false equivalency – "quackery exists in mainstream as well as alternative medicine all the same and the term applies all the same"…..or the false equivalency they perceive is also apparent in their sense of a "need for balance when bashing alternative medicine"
And to top it off, any attempt at minimizing the "death by medicine" talking points (by the way, if you have never read the "cancer cure foundation" website, I recommend…it is apparently a big google hit on this topic….I was floored to see a skeptic quote that website) was then proof that I was simply an apologist for the big pharma scam….or at least that I was willing to apologist at all for mainstream medicine much, but was not equally as forgiving of alternative medicine. Basically any attempt to balance the "death by medicine" stuff, then I was asked why I felt to need to balance these criticisms (which gets back to the false equivalency issue I think).
Anyway, much is in there….perhaps something to use….for me the big issues were the straw man issue (you are not a proper skeptic of mainstream medicine because you do not bash mainstream medicine the same) and the false equivalency trying to be pushed (that mainstream medicine can be bashed in a similar manner as often and it should be at all times).
# PharmD28on 20 May 2012 at 2:37 pm
Also, I work at a federal VA healthcare facility…..there is some chatter with a couple docs I heard that they want to study acupuncture in combination with something like prolonged exposure or something like that for the treatment of PTSD….seriously? Why? How would it work? How are modern day doctors (these are medical doctors by the way, just with some acupuncture training and experience) buying into this premise at this point? These two docs are not on my team, so I am pretty sure the issue will not come up in conversation, but a clinical psychologist in my carpool told me about it, and he was voicing some severe skepticism about the idea….rightfully so I would think!
# thealienamonguson 20 May 2012 at 11:45 pm
I would also like to know your thoughts on DSM5 specifically Asperger's being subsumed into ASD
# LTerryon 25 May 2012 at 10:22 pm
Dr. Novella,
I'm an avid reader of your site. I'd be very interested in reading your views on the following news story concerning the use of "brain science" in marketing.
Leslie Terry
# vtijmson 27 May 2012 at 11:05 am
Hi Dr Novella
I think you have always done an excellent job on critiquing the autism-vaccine link (or lack thereof) on your blog. A few days ago, I saw a similar meme pop up. I had not heard of it yet, but I am quite sure it is just as unsubstantiated as the autism-vaccine link. However, that does not mean it won't be successful in spreading.
"Doctors working with autistic children are noting many correlations between the rats fed genetically modified feed and autistic children. When you look at the stomachs of the GMO-fed animals, they have all of the severe allergy responses, the inflammation and the reddening. The intestinal lining is deteriorating. The smell of the intestinal contents is very rank. The biology has been drastically changed. Doctors say that's exactly what they're seeing with autistic children."
I'd be interested in seeing you cover this.
# KenHon 27 May 2012 at 4:40 pm
I like to read sciencedaily.com to keep up with research results in science. However, I just came across this little gem:
"Tongue Analysis Software Uses Ancient Chinese Medicine to Warn of Disease"
I was disappointed to see this on Science Daily, and thought it might be a possible topic.
# Kawarthajonon 29 May 2012 at 1:24 pm
This article from Dr. Leakey about changing people's minds about evolution.
# Ufoon 30 May 2012 at 2:05 pm
OULU, Finland, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
- Brand new research findings from Finland published in a peer-reviewed medical journal
A recent placebo-controlled study reveals new evidence of trans-cranial bright light's effect to brain functions when administered through the ear. Bright light stimulation was found to increase activity in brain areas related to processing of visual sensory information and tactile stimuli. The findings constitute the first ever published scientific article about functional modulation of the brain with bright light delivered to the brain through the ears. The study was published today May 29th, 2012 in the World Journal of Neuroscience.
# tmac57on 02 Jun 2012 at 11:27 am
I'm sure that you have heard about this,but I would be interested in your take on it:
"Neuroprosthetics And Robot Rehabilitation Wake Up The 'Spinal Brain' And Restore Voluntary Movement After Spinal Cord Injury"
Irving Kirsch does research on placebo effect. He has stated that anti-depressant studies have a publishing bias and that for mild to moderate depression they are no more effective than placebo.
There is some effectiveness for major depression.
Is there anything wrong with his studies? Is he a crank, or does he have a scientifically strong position?
I found out about him by reading this transcript of a 60 minute interview. Stahl has definitely sided with Kirsch and there is little time given to explaining the other side of the story, so I don't know.
I found the following rebuttal/review of Krisch's book on the subject.
You are so good at making this kind of thing untangle in my head, and I generally trust your take on these things. Plus, I think it would make an interesting post.
# bluedevilRAon 11 Jun 2012 at 8:06 am
Don't know if this has been covered yet but it is hilariously sad. Gary Null makes a documentary declaring the FDA to be a rogue agency that uses armed agents and "Gestapo" tactics to force mainstream medicine and agriculture on people. Gasp!
# Ufoon 11 Jun 2012 at 8:39 am
…and from the comments:
"The few wise people among us knew Charles was right when he first uttered those wonderful words."
# Gallenodon 11 Jun 2012 at 11:32 am
I just read this article by philosopher Peg O'Connor entitled "The Fallacy of the 'Hijacked Brain" in the New York Times:
The author teaches philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. I would be interested to read your take (neurologist, as opposed to a philosopher) on her treatment of determinism vs. free will as it applies to addiction either here or on the Skeptics Guide podcast. (And maybe she might even be a good interview guest for SGU?)
# Ufoon 15 Jun 2012 at 11:11 am
"Ever wonder what happens inside your body when you eat processed food like gummy bears, Gatorade, or ramen? Here's what happens:"
# Sparticleson 15 Jun 2012 at 3:51 pm
Hi Steve. This article is making the rounds at Reddit, so it may already have come to your attention, but I would love to see/hear your comments either here or on the SGU podcast.
Reading through it, I feel like Owen is being extremely certain about his findings based on very limited data.
# curt1313on 24 Jun 2012 at 3:39 pm
I agree with @Sara's post about Irving Kirsch's claims that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos. I would love to see you tackle this in a way that is easier to understand than the current literature available.
Also, agree with @Sparticles in that I would love to hear a neurologist's take on Adrian Owen's claims.
# dpaulon 25 Jun 2012 at 1:14 pm
Dr. Novella,
I saw this in the morning paper and it struck me as a little "off":
The idea that "the drugs aren't getting worse, the placebos are getting better" sounds suspiciously like Dr. Crislip's favorite "look! Sham acupuncture works just as well as real acupuncture" article.
Sadly, the article is behind a paywall (so I don't have immediate access) and even if I could get the article, it is enough outside of my area of expertise that I'm afraid I'd miss some nuance that might be important.
Do you think that somewhere in your vast multimedia empire you could tackle it? Here, SBM, SGU…doesn't matter.
# kvsherryon 26 Jun 2012 at 1:17 pm
Dr. Novella-
Below is a link to a video from a Chinese news outlet (in English) about a "mystery" under the Baltic Sea. This seems like an interesting case of UFO hunting gone crazy, but I would love to hear your insights.
# tmac57on 27 Jun 2012 at 4:55 pm
Steve- Since you have written about calories in/calories out several times regarding weight loss,I wonder if you have seen this new study released in JAMA;
'Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance'
Also a piece on it in the NY times yesterday:
'Which Diet Works?' by Mark Bittman
The study (small) purports to show that the composition of the diet significantly affects resting energy expenditure (REE) total energy expenditure (TEE), hormone levels, and metabolic syndrome components.
# Ufoon 29 Jun 2012 at 12:19 pm
Exploring larger evidence-base for contemporary Ayurveda
"The technology for developing new scientific evidence for the validity of a classical fact or concept will have to be created afresh precisely to test the original knowledge without distorting the same to suit the application of the new methodology. Any undue compromise in this regard is unwarranted because Ayurvedic biology and therapeutics are fundamentally different than the contemporary sciences, hence routine modern research methods will prove futile. I personally feel that at present there is more a need of research in developing an appropriate research methodology for Ayurvedic research than actual clinical or therapeutic research in Ayurveda."
# stereoblueon 15 Jul 2012 at 4:24 pm
Hi Steve,
I'd love to hear your take on various alt therapies for ADHD/ADD.
For instance, there is:
Timing Therapy: http://www.trainthebraintofocus.net/Attention,_Focus,_and_ADHD/
Balance/Motor Skills Therapy: http://www.learningbreakthrough.com/#
Sleep Therapy: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/nurture-shock/2009/11/12/a-cure-for-adhd.html
No doubt there's a lot more out there
# elmer mccurdyon 16 Jul 2012 at 2:13 pm
Melanie Thernstrom's book The Pain Chronicles ends with an anecdote comparing the difficulty of locating pain in the brain to that of locating beauty. I sense that Dr. Novella tends to be optimistic about this sort of thing, so I wonder if he might have a guess at how long it might be before we can have an objective measure for pain.
It seems to me that the benefits of this would be enormous, both fto clarify certain aspects of the placebo effects, and to avoid unwonted suspicions that suffers might be faking.
(bearing in mind that the pain experience is complicated, and pain intensity, even if could be measured objectively, is not the be-all and end-all, blah, blah blah)
# elmer mccurdyon 17 Jul 2012 at 12:22 pm
And while I'm on the subject of stuff I wish scientists would hurry up with, when is somebody going to figure out how to control scar tissue from surgery? I read something about some sort of experimental saran wrap that supposedly might be useful for this.
Also, it seems that word, "unwonted," does not mean what I think it means. Try "unwarranted."
# PharmD28on 20 Jul 2012 at 12:16 pm
Atheism cause of military suicides….???
What is this study he is citing? This has to be mis-represented by this tea party moron?
# Minon 22 Jul 2012 at 2:32 pm
How legit is this?
I can't help but think that copying my brain won't help me. I'll still die. My copy will live on but that will be no comfort as I slip away.
# BillyJoe7on 23 Jul 2012 at 7:31 am
The conscious self called Min is an illusion produced by the brain in which it is contained.
If an identical copy is made of a brain which includes in its repertoire a conscious self called Min, the identical copy will include an identical copy of the conscious self called Min. The two Mins will be completely indistinguishable. Each Min will feel itself to be the one true Min. And neither Min can be so to the exclusion of the other. But only for an instant. After that the two conscious selves will have different experiences and will progressively diverge.
But that is true also of an uncopied conscious self travelling through time. The conscious self called Min is different now from the conscious self called Min of a second ago, and the conscious self called Min a second later will be different again . If you don't think so, think again. Is the Min of today the same Min aged seven years? Aged one year? One hour? There was a time Min hated the taste if beer/boys/sex. Now Min loves beer/boys/sex.
However, most physicists think that it will not be possible to produce an identical copy of a brain. It has to do with the impossibility of duplicating quantum states.
# CoolandGroovyon 23 Jul 2012 at 3:40 pm
I was wondering about this and how is it supposed to work?
# Draalon 24 Jul 2012 at 11:02 am
"There's new research on how marketers, managers and public radio pledge drives can better use the "foot in the door" technique to make pitches. New research shows people comply with demands when you start by asking for something unusual."
# DOYLEon 25 Jul 2012 at 5:56 pm
Is it possible that we can get around or escape the mechanism of natural selection.What I mean is,can humans with their command of science and medicine out pace the slower temporal action of natural selection.With the advances in stem cell science,immunology and medication,does external biological selection get tempered or superseded by cultural forces.
# Myk Dowlingon 30 Jul 2012 at 1:49 am
I was listening to a Weekly Wienersmith Podcast recently where they were talking to a neurobiology researcher about recent work done on glia signalling and the signalling connections between glia and neurons.
From what they were saying, it seems there's a whole "slow brain" system based on chemistry that our current functional neuroimaging technology can't even begin to see. This would seem to make a lot of sense out of the fairly common experience we have of "sleeping on it", and suddenly remembering things a few minutes after we stop trying.
This would also answer those dualists who are saying that the inability to directly correlate functional MRI results to thought patterns implies a separate "mind". In a way, it makes them somewhat correct, although wrong if they are determined to say the other "mind" is not biologically based.
Anyway, I'd like to hear/see what you have to say about this. Is this good science, or is this a quack fringe? Google Scholar finds me a few articles that seem fairly widely cited, but I'm not qualified to judge the quality of this kind of work. It does sound absolutely fascinating, though.
# saburaion 31 Jul 2012 at 12:52 am
Any interest in writing about Richard Muller's NYT piece on his skeptical reassessment of climate change?
# tmac57on 05 Aug 2012 at 8:26 pm
This may seem totally trivial,(filed under who gives a crap),but it is really bugging me for some reason
Today,on the Yahoo headlines:
(yeah I know) they had this story about a woman in Houston who is supposed to be the Guinness Book record holder for solving (helping) the most crimes at about 1300.
Her name is Lois Gibson,and according to the story,she has worked for 30 years as a forensic artist for the Houston Police Dept. where using her talents she has at least contributed to somewhat under 1300 crimes solved. She also claims that forensic artists have a 30% success rate for helping solve crimes.
Now I have no idea if any of this holds up to scrutiny,but on the face of it,it seems to fly in the face of everything that I have learned in the skeptic movement concerning people's ability to accurately record and play back memories in eyewitness testimony,especially in trying circumstances such as a crime.
Not only is the witness usually unreliable,there is the added element of a non-witness trying (maybe influencing?) said witness into recalling and recording the facial details of the suspect.The whole exercise seems fraught with potential biases and cognitive errors to the point that even if they did get a reasonable likeness in some instances,that the many other instances that were wrong would severely compromise the process.
Also,the small amount of research that I did do,turns up success rates of much less than 30%,but if you Google the subject you will see many instances of very close matches of sketches supposedly made by an artist,and the eventual perpetrator.Some of these just look too good to be true,almost as if the person doing the sketch were looking right at the suspect,but some are more plausibly close,with minor errors of scale and such,but I can't help thinking that these 'matches' were cherry picked from 1000′s of sketches,most of which were not even close.
Going back to Lois Gibson,there is something in the way that she presents herself that seems very much like what I have seen with psychics,and other wooish presenters.It very much had my skeptical senses tingling. (see also : http://vimeo.com/37703927)
# mcbuckon 08 Aug 2012 at 7:37 pm
Dr Novella,
I would be interested in hearing your opinion on PANS (Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, formerly PANDAS). After my daughter experienced an acute episode of obsessive – compulsive behavior shortly after recovering from a strep infection, there was some discussion by her psychiatrist that a diagnosis of PANS (diagnosis being a strong word given that PANS is not a currently accepted medical diagnosis) might be appropriate.
I teach AP Statistics and use the vaccine/autism cultural controversy (scientific non controversy) as a case study in my class to teach critical thinking and the basic concept of epidemiological studies. This familiarity and some of the surface similarities between PANS and vaccine/autism theories lead me to be very skeptical of PANS. It seems to me that it is possible that PANS can be seen as a small scale, parallel version of vaccine/autism debate, but one that is still evolving and doing so without the contributions of a vocal fringe element and criminal actors (Wakefield,et al).
Either way, I would like to thank you for all the valuable information I have gleaned from you over the years and assure you that it has made a positive impact on my students.
# cremnomaniacon 15 Aug 2012 at 12:38 am
Dr. Novella,
I am a recent visitor to your site, and I thank you for the great work on behalf of critical thinkers.
I have recently run into several pseudoscientific devices. For example, the "Activated Air" device made by http://www.eng3corp.com , the same people that brought us "activated water"! All very sciencey sounding with terms like "Reactive oxygen species", "oxidative stress".
But, enough of that. The real reason I'm commenting is to ask you to look at "Heartmath technology", or so its called.
"The core of the HeartMath philosophy is that the heart, physically and metaphorically, is the key to tapping into an intelligence that can provide us with fulfillment. Science has shown that the heart communicates with the body and brain on various different levels. "
They suggest,
"The latest research in neuroscience confirms that emotion and cognition can best be thought of as separate but interacting functions or systems, each with its unique intelligence. Our research is showing that the key to the successful integration of the mind and emotions lies in increasing the coherence (ordered, harmonious function) in both systems and bringing them into phase with one another."
""Since emotional processes can work faster than the mind, it takes a power stronger than the mind to bend perception, override emotional circuitry, and provide us with intuitive feeling instead. It takes the power of the heart."
Link – http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/introduction.html
The topic seems right up your alley as it tries to utilize neurological science to support what appears to be a very well crafted pseudoscience. I was motivated to explore this after having someone in a group I attend suggest that we invite someone from the Heartmath institute to present. I prefer to avoid apparent frauds.
Thank you, I hope you'll consider a review. I would be very interested in what you have to say about the current understanding of the relation between heart function and cognition.
# expblaston 15 Aug 2012 at 12:00 pm
Dr Novella,
I read your blog daily. I saw a new website on Geekosystem that is very interesting. http://www.iamscientist.com/ This might be a new way for people interested in science to get involved on a personal level and support the scientific community.
# Captainsmirkon 15 Aug 2012 at 1:10 pm
Why the warm and fuzzies?
Why do people only have certain spiritual experiences when the circumstances are really dire?
The journey from a mormon counsellor to the bishop to a freethinking atheist with a skeptical bent has been anything but smooth.
When i discuss god with believing mormon friends it always comes down to one moment in their lives. They can without problem see all the logic that i point out to them but still they will cling to their faith because of the one experience that they can't explain away using logic or science.
Almost without fail it is based on a spiritual experience they had when they were in a really tough spot and they turned to god for help. Immediately or shortly after saying a prayer (probably the most sincere prayer of their life) they felt a warm feeling of love and/or peace.
Now I can speculate from what I have learnt about how the mind works what may cause these feelings, but I wonder if you can help me explain what processes are at work here.
Stockholm, Sweden
# DeltaZon 18 Aug 2012 at 10:04 am
WOW: So many comments and suggestionsd how can you respond??:
Last night on ABC's Nightline (aug 18) Ted Carrick, D.C. was headlined: A chiropractic neurologist, perhaps the "MAYO" of CN's.. Well he obviously treats neurological disease with motion of your parts or motion of your total self in the GYROSTIM!!! please go to gyrostim.com for more information .. YES this machine is an ultimate totally enclosed contraption that can be rotated in all axies!! Wow an ultimate nystagmus inducer!!! There are gyrostim's in maybe 33 chiropractic neurological centers here in the US..
I can think of only one possible treatable medical condition that it may be efficacious.. i.e. dislodging otoliths in the semicircular canals.. I was so incensed by this Nightline article that my wife got pissed at my rant that she turned off Nighline and me as well LOL!!!…This nonsense needs debunking.. WHO is neurological science advisor for ABC???
# BillyJoe7on 18 Aug 2012 at 7:50 pm
"I can think of only one possible treatable medical condition that it may be efficacious.. i.e. dislodging otoliths in the semicircular canals."
I have this condition.
It is called BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo)
And I would not go into one of those machines if you paid me to do so.
When the condition is active, I suffer from vertigo whenever I extend my neck. After a bit of educated googling, I came to the conclusion that it was caused either by a brain tumour in the cerebellum or, more optimistically, a malfunction in the labryinth of the inner ear. I was about to see a doctor for the first time in about two decades. Drat! But I was saved by my audiologist niece who made the diagnosis and suggested the Epley Manoeuvre. I found a demonstration by a physiotherapist on youtube. The symtoms resolved within about six minutes. And I'd been putting up with it for six months.
My gut feeling is that the machine would be an expensive aggravator of this condition.
And I mean 'gut feeling'.
# bluedevilRAon 23 Aug 2012 at 2:51 pm
I've posted about this doc before. She has a small empire going: 7 books, appearances on Montel, her own ridiculous website, and now to cap it all off, an article on the HuffPo…
Pretty typical altmed stuff. Her mom got cancer, given a death sentence, cancer was treated convetionally *and* alternatively. Patient went into remission. Must be the alt meds that cured her!
I'm very happy that her mom got to live longer than expected. I think that is wonderful. I just can't stand this woman because her argument is that mainstream doctors are too arrogant when in fact she is the one that's being arrogant.
# locutusbrgon 24 Aug 2012 at 11:03 am
Lance Armstrong
I would like to know if there is any science related to the benefit of epogen doping? for professional athletes?
# sonicon 25 Aug 2012 at 3:14 pm
Dr. N.-
Massimo Pagliucci names you in a very nice way at point C) below.
Pretty good company there too.
# BillyJoe7on 26 Aug 2012 at 8:14 am
"Massimo Pagliucci (sic) names you in a very nice way"
And so do you name Pagliucci in a very nice way. However, there's no getting around it. It's "PIG" not "Pag". (;
Well, wouldn't the world would be a dull place if we all approached scepticism in exactly the same way, especially the way Pigliucci wants it done.
I reject Pigliucci's censorship.
Skepticism is a horse of many colours, and thank god for that.
For what it's worth, two of the unmentionables are PZ Myers and Jerry Coyne.
Check them out.
# GCon 27 Aug 2012 at 12:18 pm
Dear Steve,
I am a 2nd year PhD student at Purdue's management school. During this weeks seminar series I am assigned to present and critique a paper in the Entrepreneurship literature co-authored by a renowned management scholar – Scott Shane.
The title of the paper is "Is the Tendency to Engage in Entrepreneurship Genetic?"
The major premise of the paper is that genetics play an important explanatory role in determining propensity of individuals to become entrepreneurs. The authors use a behavioral genetics method of twin-studies to explore this claim.
In their theory development, they use the following four mechanisms to support their hypothesis (recall:"Genetic factors have a statistically significant and substantive effect on the propensity of people to engage in entrepreneurship"):
1)Genetic differences have chemical impact on the brain, which predisposes people to engage in entrepreneurial activity. The example of the Taq A1 allele of the DRD2 gene is used as an example of the "gambling gene". If there is a gambling gene, why not an entrepreneurship gene?
2) "Genes might predispose people to develop individual attributes that affect tendency of people to engage in entrepreneurship." Example used: Since extraversion is heritable, and entrepreneurs are extroverted, entrepreneurship is heritable.
3) rGE or gene-environment correlation is used by the authors to argue that since genes (i.e. intelligence gene) lead people to select their environments (i.e. a higher level of education) and environments shapes behavior (i.e. entrepreneurial success), entrepreneurship is heritable.
4) G X E or gene-environment interaction is used similarly to the example above. If certain individual characteristics (i.e. greater level of awareness) are heritable and they manifest in some environments (i.e. the business environment), individuals with these genes are more likely to become entrepreneurs. Here the authors use the example of the dopamine D4 receptor gene, which has apparently been shown to increase the salience of information.
Without summarizing the rest of the study and the twin-study methodolgy, the authors do find a very significant genetic explanation for the propensity to become an entrepreneur. They find that 42% of the genetic and environmental variance in the propensity to become self-employed is explained by genetic factors. None of the variance can be attributed to shared-environmental effects, while 52% can be attributed to nonshared environmental factors plus measurement error.
I have two fundamental problems with the article:
1) My skeptical alarm went off immediately after I read the title. I asked myself, "is it really that simple?"
2) I am not familiar with behavioral genetics and a number of cited articles.
To rectify problem one, I had to do some significant additional research (first solve problem 2). Unfortunately, Wikipedia was not very helpful in this case. Behavioral genetics and twin-study articles were very neutral and brief. An article in Scientific American seems to be very skeptical about behavioral genetics studies that perpetrate any attribution of cause and effect between genetic factors and "squishy" behavioral traits – like entrepreneurship. Your blog seems to be fairly silent on the issue as well. I read an article in Nature titled "Gene-environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness", but that was of only limited help.
I hope that you can, at the very least, help shed some light on this issue for me – specifically the validity of behavioral genetics and the four mechanisms the authors use to generate their hypothesis. I will do my best to present the article fairly, given my limited knowledge of the topic. My only fear is that I am so skeptical about these findings, and behavioral genetics in general, that it will cloud my objectivity – the overly skeptical problem, I guess.
Thanks Steve. My wife and I love your show more than I can express in words. Say hi to the entire gang and good luck with Occ the Skeptical Caveman!
Take care,
# Ufoon 28 Aug 2012 at 4:51 am
Valkee earlights for depression are again in headlines:
The Effect of bright light treatment via ear canals on attention as measure of neurophysiology – a Randomized Controlled Study
# Gallenodon 28 Aug 2012 at 12:01 pm
Interesting opinion article in the New York Times on a possible cause of autism:
Is ths a reasonable case for a potential root cause of autism and, if so, is there any relationship between the mother's immune reation affecting fetuses during pregnancy and subsequent vaccination of those children compared to a group where the mother had no infection during pregnancy?
Because if the first factor is true, the the anti-vax community will likely try to claim the second as a "triggering effect" because they both involve the immune system. It might be useful to sort that out as early as possible.
Thanks. Love the blog and the SGU podcast (I'll be catching up on Ep. 371 this afternoon).
# Mlemaon 29 Aug 2012 at 1:26 am
I'd like to see the skeptical movement make a statement of support for President Obama in the US 2012 presidential election. I see a clear delineation between the republican party's disdain for science, and the democrat's support. I also see greater tolerance in the democratic party for non-religious faith or lack of faith (or whatever), and policies that support human rights (as opposed to simply giving them lip service) We have a lot of problems with our government no matter who's elected. But if we really want science to flourish, we need to take a side in this election, and not be afraid to say where we stand. Otherwise we're just talking heads postulating and posturing about the importance of science from high atop our ivory towers.
# ccbowerson 30 Aug 2012 at 9:40 am
Perhaps you could revisit calorie restriction and longevity, in light of the 23 year study in rhesus monkey just published in Nature.
# Phil Smithon 06 Sep 2012 at 6:41 am
I'd be interested in hearing you weigh in on on Nootropics
They seem to be greatly gaining in popularity
For example, Alpha Brain:
I'm a philosopher of science and am amazed at some of the medical advice I've heard from professionals.
This week: a pediatrician recommended the supplement Algin by Nature's Sunshine to treat high blood lead levels in an infant. "Well," she says, "some of my patients report a benefit, and at any rate, it can't hurt!"
Can you confirm my suspicion that iron supplements compete with lead for absorption and so are supported by medical evidence but that "detox" supplements are successful only at calming nervous but gullible parents (while increasing their out of pocket costs)?
# tmac57on 10 Sep 2012 at 5:08 pm
Here we go again:
From the always respectable Mail Online
Are wind farms saving or killing us? A provocative investigation claims thousands of people are falling sick because they live near them
Wind Turbine Syndrome. Until you've seen for yourself what it can do to a community, you might be tempted to dismiss it as a hypochondriac's charter or an urban myth.
But the suffering I witnessed earlier this year in Waterloo, a hamlet outside Adelaide in southern Australia, was all too real.
The symptoms they claim to have suffered may vary – dizziness; balance problems; memory loss; inability to concentrate; insomnia; tachycardia; increased blood pressure; raised cortisol levels; headaches; nausea; mood swings; anxiety; tinnitus; palpitations; depression – but the theme remains the same.
According to a study by U.S. noise control engineer Rick James, wind farms generate the same symptoms as Sick Building Syndrome – the condition that plagued office workers in the Eighties and Nineties as a result of what was eventually discovered to be the Low Frequency Noise (LFN), caused by misaligned air conditioning systems.
The combination of LFN and 'amplitude modulation' (loudness that goes up and down) leads to fatigue, poor concentration and dizziness.
Sounds like Wi-Fi madness all over again.
# Ufoon 11 Sep 2012 at 2:55 am
A new acupuncture study:
"Acupuncture for Chronic Pain – Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain and is therefore a reasonable referral option. Significant differences between true and sham acupuncture indicate that acupuncture is more than a placebo. However, these differences are relatively modest, suggesting that factors in addition to the specific effects of needling are important contributors to the therapeutic effects of acupuncture."
# managementboyon 11 Sep 2012 at 10:17 am
Please, the new Acupuncture Study is already in the media in Germany… http://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/diagnose/akupunktur-aerzte-streiten-ueber-wirksamkeit-a-854858.html
# sciberdogon 11 Sep 2012 at 6:47 pm
Another link related to the new acupuncture "meta analysis". It sounds very fishy. This didn't stop CNN from jumping all over it and claiming unequivocally that acupuncture works. Sheesh.
# protowilsonon 11 Sep 2012 at 8:03 pm
The alleged link between junk food and diabetes and Alzheimer's?
# Gallenodon 12 Sep 2012 at 2:37 pm
Is fish oil the new snake oil?
My BS alarm went off as soon I saw the reference to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Thanks almost entirely to reading this blog and listening to the SGU poscast.)
# Tsullivanon 12 Sep 2012 at 5:05 pm
In the September catalog for Great Courses I was alarmed to see a new course: The Science of Natural Healing. It includes lectures on all the basic altmed topics with the exception of outright quackery like acupunture and homeopathy. Most alarming lecture title: Biofield Therapy. I think this course needs a takedown either here or on Science Based Medicine. Perhaps you have enough influence to convince them to reconsider the offering. I am a recorded lecture junkie, I bought one of your courses, and would prefer to see them retain the high standards they have so far met. Note: I lvery much enjoyed your course of neurology and critcal thinking. I intend to relisten to them soon.
# esselteon 21 Sep 2012 at 9:29 am
Hi Steve,
Love your blog!
I'm wondering if you have any comment on a recent IgNoble Prize winner,
NEUROSCIENCE PRIZE: Craig Bennett, Abigail Baird, Michael Miller, and George Wolford [USA], for demonstrating that brain researchers, by using complicated instruments and simple statistics, can see meaningful brain activity anywhere — even in a dead salmon.
REFERENCE: "Neural correlates of interspecies perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic Salmon: An argument for multiple comparisons correction," Craig M. Bennett, Abigail A. Baird, Michael B. Miller, and George L. Wolford, 2009.
Just learned about this guy, Dr Eli Lipov, who apparently has a miracle cure for PTSD.
It revolves around performing a Stellate ganglion block.
This approach is being promoted at chicagomedicalinnovations.org and a person in where I am in New Zealand is apparently trying to get Dr Lipov to come here to train people in the technique.
Does this technique have any validity? and should it be getting promoted before proper trials have been done?
Seems fairly safe.
ps. The person trying to get NZ training set up apparently travelled to the US to get the treatment and has come back enamoured of it.
# sciberdogon 04 Oct 2012 at 9:01 pm
I've enjoyed your articles on GMO foods, and I've used some of that ammo to combat hysteria from otherwise rational friends who argue that GMO is destroying the planet and our bodies.
I saw this article in (please forgive me!) the HuffPo, railing on Monsanto as many of these articles do.
The article took an angle I hadn't heard before — farmers are supposedly claiming that Monsanto's GMO corn and herbicide has triggered a little natural selection in the corn fields. Weeds that couldn't stand the heat died off, and "superweeds" that are resistant became prevalent and are now a big problem. And hence the new round of Monsanto bashing. Or at least a round of "don't genetically mess with nature".
In the comments section, I noticed someone who wrote: "A small California biotech company, Epicyte, in 2001 announced the development of genetically engineered corn which contained a spermicide which made the semen of men who ate it sterile. At the time Epicyte had a joint venture agreement to spread its technology with DuPont and Syngenta, two of the sponsors of the Svalbard Doomsday Seed Vault. Epicyte was since acquired by a North Carolina biotech company. Astonishing to learn was that Epicyte had developed its spermicidal GMO corn with research funds from the US Department of Agriculture, the same USDA which, despite worldwide opposition, continued to finance the development of Terminator technology, now held by Monsanto. "
That seemed like a tall tale. I googled it, and found a lot of articles claiming that this was indeed true, although I've yet to find it at a known reliable news source. On the other hand, simple googling couldn't turn up a rebuttal to it either.
Do you know anything about these items? And, more generally, should there be concerns about GMO crops from the perspective of (1) unintended consequences like super weeds and (2) companies genetically engineering contraception into the food supply, or other unintended side effects?
Healing touch therapy and guided imagery for PTSD!
From a description of the "Intervention," describing healing touch therapy: "HT is a type of biofield therapy that involves gentle, noninvasive touch by trained practitioners, who utilize specific techniques with the intention of working with the body's vital energy system to stimulate a healing response." …. and so on.
# tefedyon 08 Oct 2012 at 4:29 pm
Dr. Novella,
I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this article:
Holding the science quite apart for the moment, I find it fascinating that Dr. Alexander automatically frames his near-death experience as proof of a Christian god. Even if we believe his account (which is similar to thousands of such recollections), why is this proof of a 'God even more grand and unfathomably glorious than the one I'd learned of as a child in Sunday school'?!
# Daniel Murphyon 09 Oct 2012 at 3:11 am
Have at it!
I wonder what your thoughts are on the debate on lab altered bird flu.
Steve, there is a PANDAS kerfuffle becoming a media event in Boston right now:
I am pretty sure I can guess the New York DAN doctors involved.
Anyway, don't think I've seen you comment on Sydenham's chorea before, so this might be fun.
# livewareproblemon 17 Oct 2012 at 7:36 am
I am being followed on twitter by a gentleman named Dr Peter May who claims to be a
LENS Neurofeedback practitioner.
Here is the website:
I would love it if you could look at this topic.
There are several studies listed on the website that are supposed to prove the efficacy of this intervention.
I would love to sit and search through the studies myself but I am incredibly busy at the moment and you are the expert!
Thank you again for the fantastic work – the SGU, the blog, all the outreach. Great stuff.
# livewareproblemon 17 Oct 2012 at 10:02 am
Sorry Steve, just found a load of stuff about neurofeedback under 'neuroscience' .
Oops – next time I will search more efficiently before I open my mouth.
# Ufoon 18 Oct 2012 at 4:46 am
"Research shows how a child's type 1 diabetes was cured with only a gluten-free diet – insulin was never needed. Learn the implications this has from a doctor and author."
# CoolandGroovyon 22 Oct 2012 at 3:55 pm
I know this isn't medicine but it sure is related to science.
# Ufoon 23 Oct 2012 at 6:01 am
If this is even remotely accurate it should be promoted and repeated on every science blog and website:
"Undertaking regular jogging increases the life expectancy of men by 6.2 years and women by 5.6 years, reveals the latest data from the Copenhagen City Heart study presented at the EuroPRevent2012 meeting."
# Ufoon 24 Oct 2012 at 7:15 pm
Can Your Body Sense Future Events Without Any External Clue?
"Presentiment without any external clues may, in fact, exist, according to new Northwestern University research that analyzes the results of 26 studies published between 1978 and 2010."
""But our analysis suggests that if you were tuned into your body, you might be able to detect these anticipatory changes between two and 10 seconds beforehand and close your video game," Mossbridge said. "You might even have a chance to open that spreadsheet you were supposed to be working on. And if you were lucky, you could do all this before your boss entered the room."
This phenomenon is sometimes called "presentiment," as in "sensing the future," but Mossbridge said she and other researchers are not sure whether people are really sensing the future.
"I like to call the phenomenon 'anomalous anticipatory activity,'" she said. "The phenomenon is anomalous, some scientists argue, because we can't explain it using present-day understanding about how biology works; though explanations related to recent quantum biological findings could potentially make sense. It's anticipatory because it seems to predict future physiological changes in response to an important event without any known clues, and it's an activity because it consists of changes in the cardiopulmonary, skin and nervous systems.""
# CoolandGroovyon 25 Oct 2012 at 4:18 pm
I do like your blogs on science and the media:
The news here seems, in part, to be the story about "almost reported" situation and not just the stuff in the paper.
# ferrousbuelleron 30 Oct 2012 at 2:37 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I just happened across a new documentary on Canadian Netflix called "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution". In this AFA-funded three-volume series, a former dentist named Dr. Jobe Martin makes some horribly inaccurate claims about radiometric dating, evolutionary biology and cosmology.
I was shocked to see such a wreck of a documentary being promoted on Netflix, especially in Canada where the number of available titles is rather limited. I shudder to think how many people with a superficial understanding of evolutionary biology will be sucked in by his outrageous claims. I think this documentary would make excellent fodder for your blog.
# stonehamskepticon 01 Nov 2012 at 9:35 pm
I received this today from a friend. It was dated Nov. 1 and was entitled:
Casey Daily Dispatch: Is GM food killing us?"
From: Casey Research
What I read was, to put it mildly, a little one sided.
" Franken-Wheat?
What's really different this time – and what has Professor Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury, NZ, and Associate Professor Judy Carman, a biochemist at Flinders University in Australia, holding press conferences to garner attention to the subject – is the technique employed to effectuate the genetic change. It doesn't modify the genes of the wheat plants in question; instead, a specialized gene blocker interferes with the natural action of the genes."
And there's a whole lot more.
I Googled Prof. Heinemann and all that came up was these rabin anti-GM sites, all with "official" sounding sites. Most ended in .org, which I'm learning seems to mean less and less
Care to comment?
# martlauon 02 Nov 2012 at 2:35 pm
Hi Steve,
Have you seen this site about developments in prostate cancer? http://www.psp94.com . It seems interesting.
# rezistnzisfutlon 05 Nov 2012 at 6:14 pm
Hi Steve,
I'm sure you probably have already seen the news about a heart study that supposedly confirms positive effects of chelation therapy. When I looked at it, it seemed the study had a number of flaws, one of which was some statistical fudging.
Anyway, I thought it would be interesting for you to take a stab at it, seeing this kind of thing falls directly under what you're trying to fight against.
# ChrisHon 05 Nov 2012 at 7:06 pm
rezistnzisfutl, check out the two articles on the website founded and edited by Dr. Novella:
# tonkin72on 08 Nov 2012 at 12:25 pm
Publishing memoirs, esp of significant events, is heavily dependent on fallible memory. We are capturing memories of vets of previous wars before they (sadly) die off. A grounding in skeptical thinking and understanding of neuroscience is very helpful in reviewing and contextualizing ones memories of traumatic events.
I recently published an article in a history magazine of events in which I was a participant during the Vietnam war. I discovered that 2 significant events had been reversed in the timeline of my memory. Other folk's memories did not, and could not, match mine. In the end I had to sift through the documentary evidence, and sort the sometimes irreconcilable memories of other participants. The result can only be "most likely" scenario. Once something is done, it can never be completely recaptured.
Exposure to fact based thinking from communities such as this were most helpful in allowing me to create a most likely scenario, and kept me from clinging to certain narratives regardless of evidence. Thanks for that.
That being said, if I am listening to the reminisces of a 90 year old WWII vet, I WILL respect his memory. I may just not buy it. But neither will I challenge him at this stage of his life.
Dr. Novella,
This past summer, tragically a little girl in my area fell in a pool and almost drowned, but pulled out and put on life support. She still is alive today, months later, with some progress but unknown outcome. The family has set up a facebook support page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Please-Pray-for-Rosalie/113775598763720) and if you look at the "sept 9″ post, it states that the little girl received a "gentle adjustment" from her favorite chiropractor, Matt. This is a little girl who has had severe brain damage; should a chiropractor really be touching her? I was wondering if you would write about the safety of this, and if you think that was a very dangerous decision for the chiropractor to accept such a vulnerable patient?
Thanks for all you do.
# Papageno89on 12 Nov 2012 at 1:39 pm
Dr. Novella,
Would love to see a review here or on SBM of recent research conducted by Yale scientists led by Dr. Hugh Taylor on the effect of microwaves on fetal development and ADHD in mice. Press release at http://www.yalemedicalgroup.org/cellphonestudy2012
Rob Q
# raylideron 13 Nov 2012 at 12:28 am
Dr. Novella,
There was a private research scientist named William Dobelle that developed an artificial vision system that incorporated implanting an electrode array into the visual cortex that was connected to a wearable video camera. According to the press, he was able to restore, at least partially, some vision to one or two patients. His story is fascinating as he did not take a traditional career route and rather self-funded his own experiments and technology. He died in 2004, and his invention was transferred to a nearby university, but I don't believe any further progress has been reported.
I'm surprised this did not make a bigger splash, so I'm wondering if this was a hoax. Please take a lot into this, I think you'd find this interesting.
# Emma Pootson 13 Nov 2012 at 11:14 am
Dr. Novella,
Here's an article that claims that the scientists involved in the search for the Higgs boson only found a positive result because that was the outcome they were looking for. "They wished for it intently, obsessively, and incessantly. They visualized it, spoke about it, and many even put their careers on the line in the hopes of finding it." In other words, their expectations altered the physical results of their experiments.
I would love to see you analyze this argument in your blog.
# locutusbrgon 14 Nov 2012 at 3:30 pm
This meditation BS seems right up your alley.
The examiner model.
If you are too busy I may post about it.
# PATRICIAPAZon 16 Nov 2012 at 5:36 am
Dear DR. Novella,
I suggest talking about ORCH OR THEORY as Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience published an article written by Stuart Hameroff and I would like to know your opinion about this pseudoscience.
Thanks in advance
# TuringTeston 16 Nov 2012 at 6:36 pm
Dr. Novella,
I am curious as to your opinion of the hypothesis that assortative mating is playing a role in the occurrence of autism spectrum disorder. Here is a link to the earliest study I've found mentioning the topic.
Is this idea as naive and simplistic as it seems? I ask this as a software engineer/mathematician with no ability to judge the issue myself.
If you can fit it into your blog I'd love to hear your evaluation.
# Bo Gardineron 19 Nov 2012 at 6:53 am
Science News
Brazilian Mediums Shed Light On Brain Activity During a Trance State
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2012) —Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil analyzed the cerebral blood flow (CBF) of Brazilian mediums during the practice of psychography, described as a form of writing whereby a deceased person or spirit is believed to write through the medium's hand. The new research revealed intriguing findings of decreased brain activity during the mediums' dissociative state which generated complex written content. Their findings will appear in the November 16th edition of the online journal PLOS ONE.
# janeon 23 Nov 2012 at 11:34 pm
Dr. Novella,
Here's another "scientific" paper trying to link autism and vaccines: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/14/11/2227
Any chance you have time to provide some perspective about this (again)?
Thank you!
# rob23daon 25 Nov 2012 at 3:08 pm
Hi- I did a search and found nothing regarding NLD. I am a 51 year old male who just was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder. My verbal IQ was tested at 130 and my nonverbal was 85. I was not listed as having an actual disability, however, even though I had to leave a job because of the NLD. This disorder has been beyond problematic in schools. Math is extremely difficult. Is the difference between the verbal IQ and nonverbal an actual disability?
# ferrousbuelleron 25 Nov 2012 at 3:12 pm
(CBS News) Modern wheat is a "perfect, chronic poison," according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published a book all about the world's most popular grain.
Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning." "This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year."
# theanomalyon 27 Nov 2012 at 12:03 pm
Traffic-Related Air Pollution, Particulate Matter, and Autism
It will be interesting to see how the media interprets these results with all the inherent limitations of a retrospective case-control study.
# leepavelichon 02 Dec 2012 at 1:58 pm
Hi Steve,
You've talked about the Blue Brain project before, and the Year Three documentary recently came out
What's interesting about this one is they get critics of the project on, and genuine scientific controversies are always ace.
# Lukeon 04 Dec 2012 at 6:37 pm
I have heard the "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" argument when discussing, with others, personal privacy and information sharing among government agencies. I really have no problem with the argument itself, but I do feel the need to test its validity. Most of the arguments against it involve what I believe to be slippery slope arguments, i.e. "IF there are information leaks/pirating, then this could happen." But maybe I'm missing something. Additionally, the Constitution does not explicitly express any right to privacy and the Bill of Rights only mentions it in the context of home privacy. I really enjoy your clear-cut analyses and I would greatly appreciate some clarification here. Thank you.
# szervalon 07 Dec 2012 at 8:36 am
Hi Steven!
I am very curious what you think about this video!
Szilvia (Hungary)
# a.lokinon 10 Dec 2012 at 10:53 am
Where's the beef?
A recent article in the Kansas City Star states that the anitbiotics used in beef production have led to antibiotic-resistant bacterial disease in humans. The article cites lots of anecdotes and correlations, but fails to clearly establish cause and effect.
The tone of the article is anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, with a bit of animal rights sentiment thrown in for good measure. I would think that such a lengthy exposé on the subject should have included references to research and objective data on the subject, but I am suspicious of the author's motives because it does not.
Assuming there is one, what is the scientific consensus on the subject? Does the data exist to support a connection between anitbiotics used in beef production and antibiotic-resistant bacterial disease in humans?
# Ufoon 14 Dec 2012 at 8:27 am
Gary Taubes on obesity, this time in Nature:
"There is compelling reason to believe that the overeating hypothesis has failed."
# tmac57on 24 Dec 2012 at 7:25 pm
Thought you might find this interesting:
The objective of nutrigenomics medicine is to provide the nutrients that each person requires for optimal health. An individual's ideal nutrients are established by evaluating their genetic blueprint, or DNA. For the sake of simplicity, it may help to think of your genes as a series of piano keys. Each key is unique and makes a different sound, yet they are all necessary for making music. Even when several keys are broken you may still be able to play music, though the melody won't sound the same and depending upon the song, these failings may or may not make a difference. However, if you are to play in a symphony, you will have three options:
1. You can ignore the differences, playing music that is off key,
2. You can try to use the black keys instead, to bypass the changes, or
3. You can address the problems and call a service person to repair them.
In treating genetic vulnerabilities we have similar options:
1. You can ignore the problem, living with poor health,
2. You can change your diet to eliminate some of the toxic triggers, thereby circumventing some of the damaged genes, or
3. You can address the faulty genes at their root cause, applying specific nutrients, RNA, nucleotides, and other genetic reinforcements.
In choosing the last two options, you achieve a balance that allows your body chemistry to work more efficiently. This also targets the root cause rather than simply applying Band-Aids with various therapies and medications. We welcome you to personalized medicine of the 21st Century!
# JMoon 05 Jan 2013 at 8:57 pm
Steven, is there any veracity to this?:
# mcphadenmikeon 06 Jan 2013 at 5:02 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I wonder if you can shed some light on an everyday occurrence that always strikes me as odd and interesting. Many times after using my cellphone, I put it aside on my desk and focus my attention on my computer or some reading. My phone's touch screen remains lit for a few minutes before shutting off to save battery life.
Here's what's weird: when I notice the screen turning off out of the corner of my eye, it actually feels like noticing a light TURNING ON. I used to think I had just received a new text, and was bewildered to see a dark screen when I looked at the phone directly, but in time I've learned not to be fooled by this weird illusion.
Why would my brain perceive a light turning off as a light turning on? I'd expect to sense a "darkening" out of the corner of my eye, not a brightening and then a darkening. Is one level of my brain aware of the dimming screen before "I" am, and messing with the order I'm perceiving this? If so, that's kind of spooky.
Many thanks,
# rezistnzisfutlon 06 Jan 2013 at 8:36 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I was wondering if you had any thought about an August 2012 study published in Nature ,"Antibiotics in early life alter the murine colonic microbiome and adiposity":
It seems that a lot of alarmist naturalistic/organic-leaning websites and media outlets have been running with this study, obviously concluding that antibiotics are likely a cause of obesity in today's society, as well as making several other reaching claims (with a healthy dose of conspiracy theorizing).
# tmac57on 06 Jan 2013 at 1:25 pm
I don't know if this is even worth bothering with,but apparently there has arisen a 'Sandy Hook is a hoax' community out there that is a conspiracy mongering bunch that link the "hoax" to government seizure of guns and other nefarious goings on.There is even a site dedicated to it…I won't promote them by linking to it. See YouTube for some crazy ramblings.Oh,and I think Alex Jones may be fueling this as well…big surprise!
# Ufoon 07 Jan 2013 at 7:11 am
"Main outcome of study (according to author)
Individuals with IEI-EMF were able to detect the presence of the 50 Hz magnetic field of 0.5 mT to a small extent while control groups' performance did not differ from chance."
# Ufoon 07 Jan 2013 at 9:19 pm
Autistic Carly typing:
ABC piece on Carly:
The book that his father wrote with her:
Clearly there's no hand holding aka FC going on here, but many of the sentences in the ABC clip seem suspicious. Would like to know more about this.
# aabrown1971on 08 Jan 2013 at 1:33 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
There was a story about lead paint as a great cause of juvenile delinquency making the rounds today. They all seem to point back to this article in The Guardian. As a neuroscientist and skeptic, what do you make of it? To me it seems fishy (correlation/causation). He has a lot of sources, but I couldn't make heads or tails of many of them.
# Thadiuson 08 Jan 2013 at 2:14 am
I have seen many "cancer cures" chain posts on Face Book but one that seems to be coming up more recently touts marijuana concentrate as a new cure for cancer. It usually involves motions of some new study or personal anecdote and oddly shows large syringes filled w/dark brown tar that is supposed to be injected into the patient. It might be that i live in and am FB friends with mostly people in Colorado and MJ is a hot topic lately. Sorry i cont have a link but i don't have access to FB from here.
# milkybar251on 08 Jan 2013 at 7:48 am
Hi Steve,
I saw this article today. It claims that levels of lead exposure in populations not only correlates with but is causative of violence in populations. He's citing a meta-analysis and a lot of studies. He's claiming the only dissenting study was run by manufacturer of products containing lead…
Fancy a look?
Loving all your work!
# Ufoon 08 Jan 2013 at 12:36 pm
Agreed, was just about to post a link to that Monbiot article, amazing and very important if true, in any case a worthwhile exercise of scientific skepticism. I hope to see a thorough post on this
Jack Krasuski MD runs something called the American Physician Institute for Advanced Professional Studies, which offers specialty board prep courses and an ezine called "GeniusBrief." The link above has a blurb about a study showing vitamin D is good for autism. But it's a bit of a leap, as you might expect.
Here's the blurb:
"Vitamin D Reduces Risk of Autism
A study conducted by Vitamin D Council Executive Director Dr. John Cannell and Dr. William B. Grant—a former NASA atmospheric research scientist and founder of Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center in San Francisco, California—found additional evidence that vitamin D reduces the risk of developing autism. Researchers assessed the variation of autism prevalence by state for individuals who were 6 to 17 years of age. Results showed states with higher solar ultraviolet-B doses in summer or autumn had half the rate of autism compared to states with lower doses. Vitamin D is thought to reduce the risk of autism by strengthening the body's immune system and reducing inflammation. Recent findings also indicate that vitamin D increases neurotrophins, regulates glutathione levels, increases DNA repair enzymes, and protects against mitochondrial damage. To learn more about vitamin D and its beneficial effects in deterring the development of autism, click here."
Jeez, that vitamin D paper stinks. It's here: http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/dermatoendocrinology/article/22942/?show_full_text=true#
William B. Grant
Corresponding author: email@example.com
Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center; San Francisco, CA USA
John J. Cannell
Vitamin D Council; San Luis Obispo, CA USA
Right there, you know you have scrutinize everything, which is annoying.
First sentence from the abstract: "Evidence is mounting that vitamin D deficiency is intimately involved in autism."
Evidence is mounting? Evidence is mounting? Oh, please. These guys are killing me already.
First reference:
1. Cannell JJ. Autism and vitamin D. Med Hypotheses 2008; 70:750-9; PMID: 17920208; DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2007.08.016.
Yes, Medical F*cking Hypotheses.
Ok, just another crap vitamin paper to add to the pile. No big deal. However, Jack Krasuski MD, prepares people for the ABPN exam. Yet he can't read the medical literature. Embarrassing.
# Cow_Cookieon 09 Jan 2013 at 1:25 pm
I'd love to hear Dr. Novella's take on this video at Penny Arcade:
The gist of the argument is that since science ultimately relies on (at least some) postulates that can't be proven, then it, too, relies on faith.
# MWSlettenon 09 Jan 2013 at 8:44 pm
How about "Biological Dentistry?" Apparently it can cure tinnitus!
# Xplodyncowon 11 Jan 2013 at 11:25 am
Concussions, degenerative brain disease, and the NFL:
# Xplodyncowon 11 Jan 2013 at 11:44 am
And/or concussions, degenerative brain disease, the NFL, and bullshit treatment strategies:
"[Former Miami Dolphins QB Bernie] Kosar contacted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and told him about [Dr. Rick] Sponaugle, whose complex treatments to improve blood flow in the brain include intravenous therapies along with dietary supplements."
Academic neurologist, Charles Tegeler MD, is studying Brainwave Optimization™ as a treatment for insomnia, migraine, and TBI.
Did you know that Brainwave Optimization™ can enhance your performance in every area of life? Mark your calendar now for the upcoming webinar on 1-23-13 at 3:45pm EST.
Heheh I am kind of spamming you, Steve, sorry. But I figure lots of blog ideas isn't so bad.
1-11-13 Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit, dead at 26
While at MIT Swartz downloaded a ton of scientific papers from JSTOR to make them publicly available. I sympathize because I think I could figure out a lot of stuff with access to the scientific literature over the Internet. Multiply me by millions of educated people and you potentially have a world of individuals doing better work daily. Surely the public benefit in that trumps the public benefit of the intellectual property to the publishers.
Maybe the public can automatically buy the rights to papers which pass a period of post-publication review –e.g., a year goes by with no one pointing out serious flaws in a paper from a worthy journal and it gets uploaded to a national library.
# Marshallon 17 Jan 2013 at 12:52 pm
Would you consider doing a blog post going into further detail on your "Lie to Me" comment in the recent Sandy Hook conspiracy theory post? In other words–how well can we detect whether someone is lying? This includes not only body language, but things like polygraphs. I'll post this in the suggestions.
# oranmikoon 21 Jan 2013 at 10:34 am
Hi Steve,
During a recent conversation about pregnancy a co-worker of mine claimed that use of epidural analgesia during child birth caused breast-feeding issues. I hadn't heard of this before and my skeptical alarm bell went off so I did a bit of research into it.
From what I can tell it seems that this is a genuine controversy. I don't have access to the journal articles involved (behind pay-walls) and have only been able to read a few summaries of the evidence. My reading of these is that the evidence is mixed and the studies to date have a host of methodological flaws with correlation/causation issues.
It might be topical at the moment with certain of the Rogues so I thought it would be a good topic for research/discussion.
Mike Mulhall
Dublin, Ireland
# oranmikoon 21 Jan 2013 at 10:35 am
Hi Steve,
During a recent conversation about pregnancy a co-worker of mine claimed that use of epidural analgesia during child birth caused breast-feeding issues. I hadn't heard of this before and my skeptical alarm bell went off so I did a bit of research into it.
From what I can tell it seems that this is a genuine controversy. I don't have access to the journal articles involved (behind pay-walls) and have only been able to read a few summaries of the evidence. My reading of these is that the evidence is mixed and the studies to date have a host of methodological flaws with correlation/causation issues.
It might be topical at the moment with certain of the Rogues so I thought it would be a good topic for research/discussion.
Mike Mulhall
# locutusbrgon 22 Jan 2013 at 2:38 pm
Very concerned about this article and the press it will get. I am not very versed in narcolepsy and causes. Vaccine's always get the shaft in every crazy health issue. Correlation ? causation.
# aabrown1971on 23 Jan 2013 at 2:43 am
Steve: this might serve as a topic, or it might not. I just thought this was interesting.
It appears that "The Great Courses" offers what I would call a "Bizzaro Dr. Novella course": http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1986
# tmac57on 23 Jan 2013 at 10:25 am
Steve-I thought that you might be interested in this article from the University of Buffalo about creating hydrogen on demand from silicon nano particles:
# rbaron 24 Jan 2013 at 1:38 pm
I am wondering about the surge in FDA indications for botox. It has been approved for chronic migraines, and its use is widely accepted (although there are very prominent skeptics, suggesting that the small significant differences between placebo and verum could be due to partial unblinding). Indication for neuropathic pain is pending (there seems to be very little literature, few studies with small N), spastic bladder just approved. Is botox becoming an FDA approved snake oil, or are all current and future approvals rock solid?
real-time fMRI – how soon before it is usable on a regular basis, or will it ever be all that effective in self controlling pain or emotion.
# ovonon 25 Jan 2013 at 3:23 pm
Hi Steven,
I wondered if you could take the time to write a post on the use of Iberogast to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
My gastroenterologist has recommended I try taking Iberogast (I have mild IBS). I find that it seems to help a bit, but I'm not sure why it is helping. I could be experiencing a placebo effect. I have skimmed through what studies the university I work at has access to, but there isn't that much literature, and although I work in the life sciences, I don't know much about clinical medicine. This study seems the most convincing of the ones I have read: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14984373
I also noticed that Iberogast was recently featured on the Dr. OZ show, which makes me extremely wary of its effectiveness. I would feel a lot better and it would mean a lot to me if you could weigh in on this.
# rhimarieon 27 Jan 2013 at 11:16 pm
I have looked through the site, and I'm pretty sure you haven't posted anything on how to talk to a CAM believer. I work at a local (I'll say it, natural) grocery store where many of my friends and co-workers believe strongly in detox, cleansing, herbs and special diets. This wouldn't bother me so much but one friend in particular is using the alkaline diet to help push her cancer into remission. She is hoping to stop chemo all together, and just rely on the alkaline diet. It's getting harder to bite my tongue.
My question is this, how do I talk to these people with out sounding like an a-hole? I feel like every time I try to have a conversation about these things I just get angrier and angrier with their lack of knowledge, and just plain ol' distrust of medicine and science all together. What do you say to hopefully make someone listen? How do you talk to a CAM believer?
Thanks! -RhiMarie
# rezistnzisfutlon 28 Jan 2013 at 3:18 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I'm not sure if you already saw this article about compensation to vaccine "victims", but you can imagine the implications:
I realize this is Huffington Post we're talking about here, but the activists and SCAM proponents are already screaming bloody murder and claiming victory. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on it.
What may be worthwhile to address is that individual cases of compensation do not necessarily reflect actual wrongdoing, and definitely do not impugn the whole of vaccination medicine. I have been having a discussion with a worried mom who wants to do the right thing for her kids, but has been getting an earful from anti-vax activists and natural alt-med types. This kind of article just scares her some more.
# ChrisHon 28 Jan 2013 at 5:10 pm
You'll see that Kirby article addressed here:
There are lots of things wrong with it, from the fact it is two out several millions of vaccine doses given each year in the USA, and the testimony from the parents was often not precise. The level of evidence in the Vaccine Court is very small, especially for table injuries. Here are the statistics:
Remind your friend that about four million children are born in the USA each year. If just 90% get the two doses of MMR at age one and four, then there are several millions of MMR given each year. And two cases out of that is a probability of what? Then compare to the one in a thousand chance of a child getting encephalitis, a much much higher chance of pneumonia from actually getting measles.
# rezistnzisfutlon 28 Jan 2013 at 5:19 pm
Thanks Chris!
# theanomalyon 31 Jan 2013 at 4:30 pm
Harvard Study Confirms Fluoride Reduces Children's IQ
A recently-published Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have "significantly lower" IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas.
In a 32-page report that can be downloaded free of charge from Environmental Health Perspectives, the researchers said:
# aabrown1971on 03 Feb 2013 at 12:54 am
Another NYT "pro alternative medicine" story. I really hope you'll pick this up. As someone who actually has rheumatoid arthritis (that's been thankfully stopped/slowed in it's tracks by Methotrexate and Humira), this article made me extremely angry.
While responding to a pro-acupuncture commenter on my blog about the lack of positive double-blind trials for acupuncture, I came across this recent study on PubMed (Feb/2013)
"Acupuncture improves sleep in postmenopause in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study."
Conclusion: "Acupuncture was effective in improving reported sleep quality and quality of life in postmenopausal women with insomnia."
Judging from the abstract, it seems to me that the conclusion is not reasonable. They found an improvement in ONE metric, in a small study of 18 patients overall.
And also they say:
"Comparison of baseline and post-treatment data of the acupuncture group showed that treatment resulted in significantly lower scores on the Pittsburgh Questionnaire and an improvement in psychological WHOQOL."
Meaning the test subjects "improved" after treatment – that's really astounding. And no word on comparing the improvement to the control group.
Maybe this is worth a mention on SGU/SBM/Neurologica?
# Rikki-Tikki-Tavion 07 Feb 2013 at 4:01 pm
focus@will is a new service where users hear music that is supposed to help with procrastination, by manipulating the limbic system.
Having used it for a day I found it helpful, but that is possibly because I really want it to help and therefore have get a placebo effect from it. Is the idea plausible? Is there relevant research to this, and what does it say?
# Bill Openthalton 08 Feb 2013 at 8:25 am
I don't think we know enough about neural correlates of both procrastination and music to be able to design music that would reliably reduce procrastination in all people. Music can have a powerful emotional impact, but individual reactions are very diverse.
I had a look at the website and I didn't see where they promised to help with procrastination — they pretend to be able to help you keep focussed by playing a sequence of 20-minute tracks from:
"Our exclusive instrumental music library is scientifically and artistically curated, and includes a significant number of newly commissioned works from well known music producers and composers that you won't hear anywhere else."
After such drivel, count me skeptical.
# Bill Openthalton 08 Feb 2013 at 8:32 am
I don't know if it has already been covered, but the folks at Sacred Scalar Energy Empowerment serve some very potent woo:
"The IQ session is designed to assist EVERYONE interested in achieving optimal health. We utilize a non-invasive brain entrainment Scalar IQube technology for stress reduction and relaxation training while enhancing left and right hemisphere coordination to promote whole brain thinking. Sessions provide a deeply relaxing experience bringing greater coherence in brain function, cellular communication and hydration."
The whole site is full of it.
# BuckarooSamuraion 13 Feb 2013 at 7:06 am
Hi Steve,
Was listening to a City Arts and Lectures piece with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor discussing her book Stroke of Insight about her recovery from stroke. She seemed pretty up and up on her science and her credentials are pretty impeccable however I found the talk and her conclusions to be full of woo like language and pseudoscientific sounding assertions. Like Left brain=masculine male, Right Brain=Female, feminine. A lot of what she was saying sounded a lot like something found in The Secret, or even Voltaire's Candide. Just wanted to get a neurologists view on her work and its
legitimacy. She even made quite a view arguments from personal experience, basically I got better from my stroke so you should follow what I did if you want to get better.
-Justin (Aka BuckarooSamurai)
# BuckarooSamuraion 13 Feb 2013 at 7:07 am
Here is the link for the lecture by the way:
# AndrewTysonon 21 Feb 2013 at 5:35 pm
Hello, love the blog. Its a daily visit for me. This may not be your cup of tea, but I was wondering if there is any good information out there for the "Keto" diet. The following is the very quick overview from http://www.reddit.com/r/keto FAQ:
"The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. It has a lot of health advantages compared to the standard western diet. Most people do keto because of the weight loss, but it also has other health advantages like lowering risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and much more. Just follow these simple rules:
1.Low in Carbs
•Less than 50g/day for most people, better below 20g
2.Moderate Protein
3.Enough Fat
•Majority of energy
•Variable depending on goals of weight loss or maintenance
4.The Right Kinds of Fat
•Eat monos and saturates for fuel (butter, olive oil, coconut oil)
•Limit high polyunsaturated sources (soy, corn, cottonseed)
5.Keto Flu
•Supplement sodium 2g/day (e.g. drink 1-2 cups of broth per day)
•Replace magnesium to stop muscle cramps
•Drink lots of water
6.When in Doubt, Eat Less Carbs
7.When in Doubt, Eat More Fat"
It is quite apparent through the success threads on the site that it does succeed at weight loss (As would any low/no carb diet), but what I would love to find out is the professional opinion on the health risks of such a diet. Thanks for any help!
# Mlemaon 22 Feb 2013 at 6:35 am
happened upon an article about scientists serving to defend bad products, and a little bit about the role the media plays
and thought it might pertain to this blog
# tmac57on 25 Feb 2013 at 9:28 am
This new approach to treating Flu sounds really interesting and promising.See what you think:
Apparently it was also covered in Science (AAAS)
# champenoiseon 27 Feb 2013 at 2:31 pm
Facilitated Communication in the Netherlands: The Dutch documentary 'Een Dansend Hart' shows how severely disabled Niek Zervaas appears to communicate via a facilitator. At some point Niek 'says' he wants to stop taking his anti-epileptic medicines. He 'says' he is aware of the risks. The doctor agrees. Some time later Niek dies. Not a word that the method is bunk. The doctor, either very poorly informed or afraid of hurting the feelings of Niek's parents. Not a word about it in an interview on national television with the parents either. http://dewerelddraaitdoor.vara.nl/media/213667 (in Dutch).
The documentary (in Dutch)
# neuromanon 27 Feb 2013 at 5:40 pm
How about discussing the most important part of a stethoscope ie. the part between the ear pieces. As a fellow Neurologist, I am confronted with medical students and residents who fail to take a comprehensive history and exam. This leads to deficiecies in neurologic localization and diagnostic formulation. In this day and age we rely so heavily on diagnostic testing (eg. MRI, EMG, etc…) that the art and science of the 19th century Neurologist is thrown by the wayside. Is it any wonder that the recent Medicare cuts are hurting our profession. Your thoughts?
# Rocket man 36on 28 Feb 2013 at 12:09 am
I've recently come across this site http://www.dietdoctor.com/ and am not sure how credible all of his claims are since many of them seem to contradict what has been said though other sources but I'm not familiar with most studies. They have studies supporting their claims here http://www.dietdoctor.com/science however I could always use another person to look at this.
# BuckarooSamuraion 28 Feb 2013 at 2:14 am
Hi Steve,
I was thinking/noticing this on a bike ride the other day and its probably most likely overactive pattern recognition, but is there any link to the age of parents and the rates of autism. I mean I hear that people are tending to have kids later and later, but also that after a certain age the likelyhood of a "bad", "mutated", or whatever the word is, egg being fertilized increases quite a bit. Has any research been done on the age of parents vs autism incidence.
# Jose Alvarezon 28 Feb 2013 at 9:50 am
Hi, Steve,
I've been reading the blog for a couple of years, but never posted before. My wife says aspartame makes her feel ill, and that when consumed, it breaks down into formaldehyde, which is actually embalming fluid.
I've been looking around for something on this, but all I can find are places that say the same thing over and over without any evidence, studies, or research. Not even Snopes has anything on it. Do you know anything about this?
Thank you,
# tomdmeyeron 28 Feb 2013 at 2:26 pm
Hi Steve,
Regular SGU listener and fan.
I recently got into a debate about the efficacy of bicycle helmets and — as someone who wears a helmet religiously and credits one with once saving me from serious injury — I was amazed to find that the research into this subject is… well, I'm not sure if "messy" or "inconclusive" is the right word:
Any insight you could provide into this would be much appreciated.
Best regards,
Tom Meyer
Quincy, MA
# BuckarooSamuraion 28 Feb 2013 at 9:55 pm
Hi Jose,
There are numerous articles on Science Based Medecine, Snopes, and if you check Harriet Halls blog I believe she does a good take down of this myth. However, her is some food for thought, formaldehyde is generated by the body in many digestive processes, when she eats a salad full of tomatoes here body generates far more formaldehyde then the miniscule amount that is generated from the miniscule amount of aspartame in a soda.
As an anecdote I switched from regular soda/juices or any high caloric sugary drink to diet only and not only did it facilitate loosing weight but I've never felt better, and have had consistent good health reports from my doctor. Take it with a grain of salt.
There is a subgroup of people have a reaction phenylalanine that can have adverse reactions but its a fairly rare condition that would result in hospital visits and not just feeling ill.
Hi! I have a question/topic. This might have been covered elsewhere and my google-fu is just failing me, but a search of several science-based/skeptical medical blogs/sites has left me empty-handed.
Is there any evidence that GABA supplementation works? I have had some pretty severe health problems over the years, the last couple years since Dec. 2010 especially (15 abdominal surgeries, loss of all but 75 cm of small intestine and much of my stomach, other stuff). Because of this, I have been on quite a lot of pain medication, IV for much of the time when I was NPO (I am allergic to fentynal so patches–the obvious, easy solution–are out). Right now, I'm on a lot of oral methadone and morphine–more than the usual dose because I have severe absorbtion issues–but I want to start moving off of the heavy duty narcotics, for a lot of reasons. I'm working with a pain specialist. I know from past experience that this process will be very Not Fun, even if I go slow. In the past, I used Suboxone to get off narcotics (the IV dilaudid, mostly), but the doctor doesn't want to use suboxone unless I really can't handle the withdrawls, because suboxone blocks the receptors he wants to have open if I have an emergency medical situation.
So, my pain specialist recommended that I use GABA supplementation as I go through this process. He gave me an article in the NYT that said GABA is an "anti-addiction" pill. I know that your brain chemistry goes through a lot when you stop using narcotics, and I can expect dips in my dopomine and other happy-making chemicals (like I said, been there, got the t-shirt). If it helps with all that, I don't mind spending the 30$ a month or so, but I'm skeptical. And I'm having a hard time finding information, either pro or con, online. And because my pain doctor has also recommended some rather woo-ish treatments in the past (like acupuncture and TCM), I'm really hesitant to just go with his opinion.
What do you think? Are GABA supplements a good idea?
# eiskrystalon 08 Mar 2013 at 6:03 am
I've just found out about the "Bowen" technique which set off several red flags and I don't remember you or the rogues covering it before.
It seems to be trying to fill the niche between massage and therapeutic touch.
# PharmD28on 08 Mar 2013 at 3:24 pm
well, the VA hospital in my area now have and offer for pain management in veterans acupuncture…..
For any form of drug product, herbal, supplement – if there is no evidence for it, we do not provide it…including most all multivitamins….no herbals….almost no supplements…
But for pain, placebo medicine is the norm.
The MD doing it is a believer….although I have never really debated it with him at this point so I am not sure what his point of view about it (ie, does he think it is a "super placebo" vs. he thinks "true acupuncture" is truly better than sham?
I know that one limited encounter I had 3-4 years ago with this doctor, I distinctly recall in our conversation about a subject of research about a drug…."well, 90% of what we do is not truly evidence based"….well, you know where I am going with that I think.
Is it right that the VA hospital is paying for what is increasingly appearing to be placebo medicine? I am not sure how many other VA's offer it…perhaps it is rare? I really do not know.
# Gallenodon 12 Mar 2013 at 4:24 pm
Are you familiar with this story?
Is there any way to tell what's actually going on with this or do we wait for Nature and Johns Hopkins to sort it out?
# PharmD28on 13 Mar 2013 at 9:10 am
oh yeah, and tinking with acupuncture now for PTSD patients as well within the VA…
# The Other John Mcon 20 Mar 2013 at 1:30 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
A relative of mine (medical Dr.) mentioned his hospital doing some experimental/trial technique in the Cardiac Unit in which a heart attack or maybe stroke patient is resuscitated outside of hospital, brought into the hospital, then basically frozen for a night, then thawed back out. Kind of like putting them into suspended animation or hibernation. "Induced" or "therapeutic hypothermia" or something along those lines. He said they were having amazing success doing this, particularly since it seems to avoid damaging.
He sent a link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574455011023363866.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
But I don't necessarily like getting my science from WSJ. Have you heard of this technique? Interesting that this would actually lessen brain damage, very surprising concept.
P.S. love the blog and thanks for your seemingly tireless intellect and sharing your wisdom, it's greatly appreciated.
# Scotsman_Ianon 21 Mar 2013 at 12:33 am
Hi Steve,
Have you done a blog post about medical screening? I think it's an interesting topic and I'd be interested to hear your opinion on the subject. I bring this up because there was a Science or Fiction question last week on CRC screening. Many people in the public and a sizeable proportion of residents and medical students seem confused about what screening is.
As for acceptable numbers needed to screen and so forth, I recall reading a Cochrane review about both FOBT screening and mammography. The numbers needed to screen were shockingly high (to me at least); the numbers were 671 and ~2000 respectively (I can provide references). The cost per life year gained for both translates to between 8000.00 and 16000.00.
I am in first year of family medicine residency at U of A in Canada and find these screening things interesting. What do you think?
Ian Taylor
# neogardenon 24 Mar 2013 at 4:11 pm
Dr. Novella,
Dr. Oz and many other physicians seem to be losely endorsing the ideas of "reactive nutrition". I have done some preliminary searches and found very little concrete information about the proposed mechanim which seem to be as follows:
subject A eats a "reactive food" –> gets inflammatory response —> results in immediate weight gain
I cannot find any research supporting this hypothesis. I can find plenty on three types of histamine receptors variably mediating weight loss, diurnal rhythm, etc.. and when specifically targeted, these can have adverse effects on diet from initial weight loss to overstimulating appetite via Leptin (the net result being obesity in mice, for example).
In short, I smell a gigantic pile of bullshit.
Additonally, what sets off my bullshit detectors in this are the players..
Dr. Oz needs no introduction.
Dr. Leo Galliland, to quote, "nternationally recognized as a leader in integrated medicine."
Lyn-Genet Recitas — a nutritionist, naturopath, herbalist etc.. with not one qualified physician on her entire staff. (she gets her props from Dr. Oz, though). Lately, she's best known as they author of The Plan, which advocates low-calorie eating (though it claims low calories have nothing to do with weight loss) and then says that any weight gain must be due to these reactions as you test foods. The idea of variant weight as a daily norm is apparently fairly lost on these folks in general.
The rest of the supporting cast varies.. but they share some common traits in general–no real science background, lots of nutritionists, even one PhD in "reactive nutrition" from a for-profit university.. the only degree of its kind in the nation.
I'm smelling the bull. But I'm having trouble understanding a. what parts of this picture are valid, if any, b. what the takehome is for the consumer. It feels like a great way to sell books, and another completely oversimplified answer to a more complex problem. Can you tell me where, if anywhere, this can be verified as "science based"?
With thanks and respect.
# BuckarooSamuraion 30 Mar 2013 at 7:20 pm
Hi Steve,
I'm currently a mod of the subreddit http://www.reddit.com/r/GMOFacts and we had a poster Saijanai who blasted several peer-reviewed GMO Studies with statistical analysis. Here is the link:
In another thread several posters responded to the accusation better than I could:
I know this is not your field, just wanted a little insight on p-values and standard deviations and study practices.
Also, feel free to join us at r/GMOFacts we try to moderate as best we can to keep the discussions on topic. We have low patience for accusations of shills, sheeple, and hippies and try to keep the discussion based on facts.
Hope to hear your opinion
# BuckarooSamuraion 31 Mar 2013 at 8:51 pm
Hi again,
On a recent boardgaming night I had I got into a debate with some friends on the topic of are we getting smarter or dumber. I was on the smarter side both of them on the dumber side. They sited the Flynn Effect and the "G" Factor.
After doing some research on the Flynn Effect it appears it actually supports my stance rather than theirs as they believed. However, I couldn't find much on the "G" Factor other than its Author is Arthur Jensen who has been touted as a "raciologist", not sure if thats the right word. He has been criticized pretty heavily in his work but I couldn't find much specifically on the "G" Factor. You or the rogues have any info?
# DOYLEon 01 Apr 2013 at 11:36 am
Can stem cells be engineered to assist in greater neurologic function ie: proliferation of mirror neurons.
# tmac57on 02 Apr 2013 at 11:15 am
"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing a new investment into research to map the human brain in hopes of unlocking some of its mysteries."
Note: Conspiracy theories to follow (only half kidding here)
# BuckarooSamuraion 03 Apr 2013 at 10:39 am
Hello again, again,
In regards to my topic suggestion above about G Factor and the Flynn effect, I think I've mostly concluded the Flynn Effect supports the theory that humans are getting smarter. However, in my reading about G Factor I've found out about psychometrics and to my laymans eyes it appears to be just the other side of science and bordering on outright pseudoscience and is heavily used in psychiatric evaluations of intelligence.
After doing research I've found that psychometrics arose around the turn of the century and was used by Arthur Jensen to develop his theory of the G Effect. There appears to be a lot of circular reasoning in its testing and very little attempts to falsify it. I could be wrong though.
I found this quote interesting coming from people suggesting a multi-faceted view of intelligence that does not hinge on G-Factor, IQ Tests, and psychometrics.
"In 2004 Sternberg and Grigerenko stated that there were no validating studies for multiple intelligences, and in 2004 Gardner asserted that he would be "delighted were such evidence to accrue",[30] and admitted that "MI theory has few enthusiasts among psychometricians or others of a traditional psychological background" because they require "psychometric or experimental evidence that allows one to prove the existence of the several intelligences."
G Factor and Psychometric appear to be a sort of paradigm among psychologists but there are alternate theories such as the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. I know sound statistical analysis has been done on the former with conclusions being drawn on strong correlative data. That raises some skeptical flags for me though.
The Multiple Intelligence Theory seems like it has more biological and neurological plausibility to it and sounds a lot like it is an example of Brain Plasticity.
I think the topic of psychometrics would be a great subject for this blog or for the SGU as it is the basis for much of the personality tests that exist in the corporate world today.
Here are some quick links:
Also Stephen J Gould wrote a book on the G Factor called The Mismeasure of Man, however it has been pretty thoroughly criticized by psychometric and G Factor proponents and with good reason it appears in some cases.
One interesting thing I noted was you had a blog post about video games and psychometrics
which I think inadvertently seemed to be evidence against G Factor. Seeing as G Factor concludes that intelligence is partially inherited, contradicts the plasticity of the brain for adapting to new things.
As a neurologist it would be illuminating to know whether psychometrics and G Factor have more biological plausibility or the theory of multiple intelligences.
Either way I think this would make a great discussion topic.
# AndrewTysonon 04 Apr 2013 at 1:11 am
A study on a drug having to do with cd47 that causes cancer remissions in mice. First I heard of it was tonight on facebook. I followed the trail of sources back to this study. Anything promising?
# Xanokoreon 05 Apr 2013 at 9:50 am
The legitimacy of the claims that porn can cause erectile dysfunction and numerous other psychological symptoms as claimed on the following website:
# aabrown1971on 06 Apr 2013 at 2:10 am
Dr. Novella,
Can you discuss Ben Goldacre a little bit? His book "Bad Science" is excellent, but he seems to be developing a cult following of Huffpost crazies, and SCAM pushers. His latest TED talk even has an ominous title, akin to some of the scare talk you see on SCAM sites, "What Doctors Don't Know About the Drugs They Prescribe". One of the posts in the comment section pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about this:
"Yes, drugs have negative aspects to them and are controlled by greedy wealthy pigs. However, drugs also save lives and make lives more manageable. This whole paranoia regarding the pharmaceuticals is getting old. "
What do you think?
# 1RickDon 09 Apr 2013 at 3:29 pm
Dr. Novella,
I have a friend who's pouring money into this micro-current technology myopulse thingy: http://www.microcurrentinstruments.com/myopulse.php
Recovering from a pretty serious illness, I can't find anything debunking it, but it's setting off every alarm I have.
Any controlled trial lit on this contraption?
# tmac57on 17 Apr 2013 at 8:57 pm
I suspected this would happen the instant that I heard about the Boston marathon bombing tragedy:
To get a real feel for what this is all about you need to read the comments section. So disturbing,and so discouraging
# taobethon 18 Apr 2013 at 8:17 pm
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the recent Carnitine->Meat->CHD study. Some others have torn it apart too.
# daedalus2uon 22 Apr 2013 at 9:50 pm
The older Boston Marathon bomber was reportedly a boxer and also developed extreme rage. Isn't rage sometimes a side effect of traumatic brain injury? Is that something they should look for in the autopsy? Not to excuse his behavior, but perhaps to increase regulations on boxing to prevent TBI.
# daedalus2uon 22 Apr 2013 at 10:57 pm
There are some other cases of TBI preceding murder-suicides in football players and it is also a well known symptom of PTSD.
# kvsherryon 23 Apr 2013 at 3:23 pm
Saw this in the news today and thought it might lead to a nice discussion on faith healing. Also, how far does the parents' right of religion extend?
# Dave McGinnon 25 Apr 2013 at 7:17 pm
Hey Steve,
I'd be interested in your thoughts on the rather sensitive, and loaded, topic of rape/sexual abuse – specifically the role that "power" plays as a motivation for the abuser.
I haven't researched it at all, but it's clear that the established theory is that rape is almost entirely driven by the desire to have power/control over the victim, and the fact that the act also involves sexual gratification for the perpetrator is incidental.
My gut feeling is that this is a bit of a myth and a simplification of the topic, possibly driven by politically correctness, sensitivity, and political agendas. Admittedly I haven't looked into it at all, but my impression is that it is a bit taboo to challenge this received wisdom; certainly, media coverage of rape begins from the premise that rape is about power, and that is never challenged. I wonder if this has influenced the research at all, because I gather the literature tends to support the "power" theory.
What comes to mind about this is what Michael Shermer has said about conspiracy theories: people find it so hard to believe that someone so important and significant as JFK, or so powerful as the United States, could be killed by something as petty as a disgruntled Communist sympathiser with a rifle.
Would there be a similar motivation to deflect from the notion that rape could be a purely carnal act, that feminist researchers are not willing to let themselves be objectified in such a manner, so they seek deeper explanations?
That's my "back of a beer mat" theory, anyway!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. It might be better suited for Neurologica, because I fear the eggshell-walking around feminist issues that the skeptical community has to engage in these days might dilute the discussion if it were to come up on the SGU!
# FullMetalMarmotteon 26 Apr 2013 at 5:19 am
Dear Dr Novella,
Did you heard of this study ?
As a geek, addict to computer gaming and with a bad case of amblyopia (not discovered for a long time and then a wrong correction for a few years…), this study is really interessting.
I always heard that it was way to late for me to train my right eye (it's supposed to be useless after 12). Do you have any idea if this is really something promising for the treatment of adult amblyopia ?
# BuckarooSamuraion 04 May 2013 at 7:52 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
This came up in The Guardian and I couldn't parse a lot of the jargon in it but it seems Raymond Tallis is criticizing a lot of research in the field of fMRI and neuroscience disciplines. In trying to dissect the jargon it seems like he thinks there is more to emotion and human's than what is in the brain. I don't understand why the brain is not enough as it is a marvelous and unique adaptation that has made mankind the dominant species on the planet. He seems to be afraid that in describing how emotions are generated in the brain we are some how diminishing human experience to mere mechanics, which I disagree and think it adds to our understanding of how we work. What do you think?
# lancemoodyon 06 May 2013 at 1:00 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I was hoping that you might look into the recent claims of UFO believers that a mysterious small creature found in Chile indicates well…something.
The motion picture that features this claim also makes tons of other dubious claims but this one is the most prominent.
Here is a synopsis:
Lance Moody
# eirikon 07 May 2013 at 2:40 pm
Dr. Novella,
I suspect that you've already heard about the kidnapping case in Cleveland where three young women have been held for a decade or so and escaped yesterday. Apparently there is a Sylvia Brown connection to this case.
The mother of Amanda Berry went on Montel Williams show to ask Brown about the fate of her daughter about a year and a half after she disappeared. Brown told her that she was dead and gave a vauge description of her killer.
Her mother died a year or so later, having said that she had nearly complete faith in Brown.
You should really do a segment on this on your next show and on the blog. Maybe after so many times being publically wrong it'll finally start to sink in.
# raylideron 18 May 2013 at 1:02 pm
Here is a quack and master charlatan from the Russian Federation: Ernst Mudlashev and his Alloplant. He has claimed that he has regenerated an eye using processed tissues from a cadaver donor. He's also a mystic and has written several books describing theories of origins of human race as descendants of some previous god-like races of giants or Atlanteans.
He's pretty famous in Russia, unfortunately.
His website:
# DOYLEon 24 May 2013 at 1:18 pm
Dr. Novella,has your blog ever discussed any relationship between thalamacortical dysrhythmias and neurological disease.
# researchtobedoneon 27 May 2013 at 3:59 pm
Dr. Novella,
Would be interested to hear your take on somatic experiencing and/or poly-vagal theory. Emily Nagoski talks frequently about a cyclical process model for the human stress response system that incorporates elements of both, and while she is generally a very good thinker and studious reader of the scientific literature, I'm not sure whether or not it makes sense to take this particular model too seriously – it's hard to tell whether either somatic experiencing or poly-vagal theory have much to them.
Hi Steven!
I spend about sixteen hours a week in my car. I listen to 'Skeptics Guide' and several other podcasts to better spend my drive time. I would LOVE to see your blog posts in a digital audio format and available via rss.
# MKandeferon 05 Jun 2013 at 1:41 pm
I saw this suggested up thread and thought I'd add to the support for a survey of medical marijuana. I feel that the research gets over stated on both sides and I leave confused. At the moment I turn to general medical associations for their statements on the issue, as they seem to have a fairly balanced take (e.g., cancer.org). In particular, I'm curious if smoking it is as safe as proponents claim (in particular claims to not increasing the risk of lung cancer), if it is addictive, what benefits would outweigh these risks, and if the more controlled drug formulations are effective and safer.
# Ori Vandewalleon 07 Jun 2013 at 3:25 pm
Dr. Novella,
I'd be curious to know if there is any research or data on what parts of the brain are involved with the myriad cognitive biases that afflict us. For example, do we know what regions light up on an fMRI when we exhibit confirmation bias? (Of course, that brings up the question of how we can detect confirmation bias in real-time.) Alternatively, are there theories about the mechanism by which confirmation bias occurs?
Ori Vandewalle
# carassiuson 23 Jun 2013 at 9:38 pm
The study I'm linking seems fairly realistic in its conclusion, personal experience with one of the authors makes me skeptical about some of the content.
I'm seeing more research regarding Bartonella as a cause of, a seemingly, nebulous broad range of symptoms. It reminds me of chronic lyme disease.
Any perspective is appreciated.
# Pintelekkeron 28 Jun 2013 at 8:46 pm
Hi Steve,
I noticed a link on your page to http://healthlifeandstuff.com/category/adhd.
I'm a Belgian and in Belgium among skeptics adhd isn't considered a disease at all. A prominent medical doctor states that adhd is just one end of a spectrum of activity. Some children are more active then others and the most energetic are called adhd-children.
The author Tom Hartmann has a radical new approach to this subject. I also read a book "driven to distraction", written by two psychiatrists.
The thing is, I can recognize myself strongly in the descriptions that Hartman give's.
I'm 36 of age and will never be diagnosed with adhd by a Belgian psychiatrist because they consider adhd a childrens thing.
Hartman talks about fundamental differences between adhd-people and "normal" people.
Could there be a fundamental neurological difference between adhd-people and normal people?
I have troubles accepting the idea about adhd as it is discussed in my country.
To me it's a real problem. I consider myself a skeptic but I feel myself to be different to pretty much everyone I now.
I'm a musician. I graduated in double bass and music theory (harmony, counterpoint, fuga). I'm very much not successful and I have problems with connecting to people.
I cant do small talk, it's to boring to me.
I can only talk about subjects that I find exiting. That would be history, music or science. I can't find a job outside my interests because I can't concentrate on it.
I would like to know. Is adhd like Hartman puts it a real thing? Am I suffering from it or am I just weird.
# sgmarshallon 01 Jul 2013 at 12:35 am
Links to an image repeated here: http://media-cache-ec4.pinimg.com/192x/0a/48/b4/0a48b452cad5b738f3b1b386cc22736f.jpg
Text comment (pardon any typos).
"Our gut bacteria contains the same metabolic pathway found in plants that is targeted and disrupted by RoundUp. Is it any wonder that leaky gut syndrome, IBD, colitis and other gastrointestinal diseases have spiked since the onset of RoundUp Ready GMO crops? — Dr. Stephanie Seneff, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at MIT."
I couldn't find any readily available counter to this claim.
# Bruce Woodwardon 01 Jul 2013 at 11:30 am
I was listening to a weekly comedy podcast and they mentioned this article:
I can't seem to find the actual study anywhere on my limited internet access, and the comments to the article itself is a mixed bag, and I am tempted to call it outright pseudo-science as they reference the left and right sides of the brain.
The podcast referenced not being able to remember telephone numbers but is that really something we should be concerned about? I would rather use my limited brain capacity to remember and process much higher functions than remembering 8 or 9 digits in a sequence. I feel articles like this hinder progress more than help it, but a I missing something in my lay view of the world?
On a more serious note is there any evidence whatsoever that digital media has any impact on dementia prevalence? I suspect the higher prevalence has a lot to do with us living longer and much better diagnositics… is this a fair stance to have?
# DOYLEon 01 Jul 2013 at 12:27 pm
Dear Pintelekker
Welcome to the club bro.
# rezistnzisfutlon 03 Jul 2013 at 4:07 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Today in the news, a group called The Center of Environmental Health issued a warning about alleged carcinogens in sodas, claiming that the chemical 4-methylimidazole present in Pepsi and Coke causes cancer. This conclusion is apparently based off of a mouse study wherein the mice were fed high levels of the chemical and cancerous tumors developed. This led to California limiting the amount of the substance in foods to contain less than 29 micrograms or be required to carry a cancer warning label.
My take on this is that it's a lot of fear-mongering by an ideologically-driven environmental group – the science simply does not support the assertion that the levels of the chemical present in sodas are sufficient to be considered a cancer risk, even if consumed at consistently high daily volumes. I was wondering what your take was on this as it appears to be an ongoing issue.
# rocken1844on 03 Jul 2013 at 10:19 pm
Hello Dr. Novella. The August issue of Psychology Today(p23) lists two books with disturbing titles :
"Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience" and "The Science Delusion: Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy Answers" – I can only imagine how much information you have to read through – are you familiar with these – how do you rate them – thank you so much.
# Tomislavon 13 Jul 2013 at 11:27 am
Dear dr. Novella,
it is very interesting to read Your blog, it is both fun and educational. If interested, could You please write a text on 'miracle' healings. Recently media reported on the alleged miracle that happened in Nicaragua (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/10162202/The-miracle-of-Costa-Rica-that-brings-Pope-John-Paul-II-a-step-closer-to-sainthood.html). I've read that spontaneous remission do happen even in cases of brain aneurysm. To me it seems that 'miracles' are in fact events that happen naturally, however I am surprised that many doctors claim that some cases unexplainable. I would be great to read Your comment.
Thank You very much,
Tomislav, Zagreb, Croatia.
# titmouseon 15 Jul 2013 at 10:40 pm
The Nexerciser, just because I love all Ted Carrick gizmos, especially the pictures.
Only one joke in it, though: $155 for a ball you can push your head against. Probably not enough for a blog post.
# Jared Olsenon 17 Jul 2013 at 6:17 am
Steve; Quick question: Bacteria are animals and not plants correct? If so, why are they referred to as flora and not fauna?
# Jared Olsenon 17 Jul 2013 at 6:19 am
To Pintelekker. I second Doyle!
# tmac57on 26 Jul 2013 at 10:02 am
Steve, this research in Science seems to fall right in your 'sweet spot' :
Creating a False Memory in the Hippocampus
Can You Trust Your Memory?
Being highly imaginative animals, humans constantly recall past experiences. These internally generated stimuli sometimes get associated with concurrent external stimuli, which can lead to the formation of false memories. Ramirez et al. (p. 387; see the cover) identified a population of cells in the dentate gyrus of the mouse hippocampus that encoded a particular context and were able to generate a false memory and study its neural and behavioral interactions with true memories. Optogenetic reactivation of memory engram–bearing cells was not only sufficient for the behavioral recall of that memory, but could also serve as a conditioned stimulus for the formation of an associative memory.
# tmac57on 03 Aug 2013 at 4:43 pm
Just ran across a news item that's making the rounds about a mosquito repellent patch called Kite being promoted by a venture capital group called ieCrowd.
The basic claim is that it makes you "practically invisible to mosquitoes" via blocking of CO2 receptors by the substances contained on the 1.5 inch square that attaches to clothing.
They are not selling any product currently,and seem to be raising funds for research,and for a project in Uganda as a test bed.
The idea seems plausible,and they cite research at U.C. Riverside by associate professor Anandasankar Ray (Yale grad) at UCR. But something about the whole thing seems a bit off.
See what you think:
# bluedevilRAon 14 Aug 2013 at 8:51 am
I'd be curious to know your thoughts about Sanjay Gupta's new report on medical marijuana. Especially this case:
I know it's more pedi neuro than adult neuro, but still seems strange to me and I worry that child neurologists are gonna get lots of phone calls about marijuana for their Dravet patients (or other intractable epilepsy patients). If CBD/marijuana is that potent at controlling seizures, then why don't we isolate the compound and use it as a medication like we did with THC/marinol. There is a huge naturalistic fallacy at work here. I caught some of the hour-long special that Dr. Gupta did and it was riddled with anecdotes like this one. Very little science.
# ohreallyon 19 Aug 2013 at 9:45 pm
As the school year begins, we are yet again being trained in a "brain-based" system of student engagement called "Conscious Discipline". It claims to offer a "neurodevelopmental model of the brain" that helps us "understand the internal brain-body states that are most likely to produce certain behaviors in children and in ourselves."
Is there a way that you might review some of the components of this program, particularly the assertions made about brain functioning? Sometimes, when I in these trainings, I feel like I'm going through some weird, cultish rituals.
This is all being shoved down out throats fairly aggressively, ironically enough.
Please help me sort this out.
# MKandeferon 20 Aug 2013 at 12:19 pm
I'd be interested in a discussion on polyphasic sleep. The school year is starting and some students are turning to alternative sleep styles to get more hours of activity. It also appears to be gaining ground in some skeptic/transhumanist circles, with the idea being we can be more effective humans by adopting these sleep schedules Two popular ones appear to be "uberman" and "everyman". Uberman is typically 6 20 minute naps spaced out equally during the day. Everyman is one "core" block of sleeping (about 3 to 4 hours), with three 20 minute naps during the day that have some flexibility to them.
# tmac57on 21 Aug 2013 at 9:58 am
Just saw this article about yet another 'culprit' for alzheimer's disease being found.
The research seems legit,but there have been so many false starts and blind alleys that I now view these things with a wary eye:
"Copper Identified as Culprit in Alzheimer's Disease"
Copper appears to be one of the main environmental factors that trigger the onset and enhance the progression of Alzheimer's disease by preventing the clearance and accelerating the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain. That is the conclusion of a study appearing today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
# beriukayon 26 Aug 2013 at 11:07 am
This is a bit of a personal issue. I have a friend who is suicidally depressed, who is really smart, and who strongly believes that there's no evidence that antidepressants work better than placebos. Is he right about this? Despite his beliefs, we have convinced him to seek counseling, and he's been taking Celexa for a couple weeks now. Reading the wiki, under efficacy, seems to support that SSRIs don't work.
What makes matters worse is that counseling doesn't seem to work, either, because he treats it as a cleverness competition instead of a collaborative process. I have no real idea how to improve that situation.
# 74 or moreon 26 Aug 2013 at 6:09 pm
I just saw a commercial for this on TV. A chiropractor that uses a laser to treat pain and claims is FDA approved. Does this have any merit?
New FDA approved laser treatment in Woodbridge, VA:
# Andyon 31 Aug 2013 at 8:24 am
Hello Steve,
I was recently recommended the works of a guy called Joe Dispenza who claims to be a Neuroscientist. After looking at some of his offerings on the internet I can only conclude that he is a snake oil salesman, who is glib and arrogant and whose knowledge of Neuroscience is way off the mark, even his knowledge of basic anatomy such as confusing the Midbrain with the Limbic System
Would you concur?
Here's a link to the "Brain Quiz" section of his website you may like to attempt the questions.
His errors are far too numerous to list, but I would be keen to read your professional opinion to give me a bit of an edge when I confront the person who recommended him in the first place!
# Schroederon 31 Aug 2013 at 11:45 am
There has been a recent buzz in news articles about the radiation levels spread to north America from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. Some are obviously grossly overreacting and fear-mongering such as http://nodisinfo.com/Home/holy-fukushima-radiation-from-japan-is-already-killing-north-americans/ this article. However, reading into other literature, it has been hard for me to come to a conclusion on just how much north America is expected to be affected by the radiation spread across the ocean. If you could give your input on the subject that would be excellent!
Here are some other articles and a paper I attempted to parce on my journey through the mass amount of blogs and completely unreliable information.
# rezistnzisfutlon 01 Sep 2013 at 5:06 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
What's your take on this, cause for concern or fear-mongering?
I am skeptical of this due to the clear agenda of the organization as well as their history of overblowing issues. Plus, there is no independent corroboration of their analyses (no peer-review). Do you feel this any cause for concern?
# johnsomanskion 02 Sep 2013 at 10:15 am
This life is a tasking, enduring, teasing and a torturous pastime. A place basked in displeasure and enduring pain. One minute you are in extreme distress, then peppered with specs of gold promising to guild you enduring happiness, which are only and quickly blown away by the winds of reality.
The wedding day, your childhood Christmas, that promotion and a good grade are pleasures that you endure pain to achieve and are whisked away in to the darkness of maybe a non-exact expectation but most certainly by the coming day.
You have your moment to shine and they'll say well done for your moment to then bathe in boredom, be king hit by your next Monday and be bathed in the sodden saliva by the next retred human.
They say that suicide is so bad and not to be done. But why should one ask? The fear of eternal damnation, the fear of the unknown, the hope of a better gold glitter day, or your responsibility mistakenly bestown? It's true or even possibly not that this is the only one that you will ever be given, but it's so crap, why keep it?
I don't think that it is fair to be given a sentence of such a nature, to be placed in such a cannibalistic place, human eating human, pleasure from pain and nothing to learn, nothing to pass on and nothing to gain. And an eject button, suicide, making an educated and logical decision is cause for self-blame and the most costly, most painful hesitation for a right that is most certainly yours.
There are answers that may never be known, a torture more putrid than the spiteful hand of 'Mother' Nature. Why is the survival instinct so strong to overcome logic, if there were a purpose to it all it would be called a scam. When will the moronic species look and see that your achievement today will be paid tenfold in misery tomorrow.
When will the moronic understand that your discovery today only leads to your discovery for tomorrow? Your self propelling procreation of discovery, your cumulative procreation of your species, your self wanting destruction of yourself, your surroundings only propagates your misery, the misery from which I was born into and the misery from which I was born. What is the purpose…….?
Why are we here? What is the purpose? What is the meaning of life? A simple question that cannot be answered in this 'place', I put this to you, you who reads this message and all that have asked the question. If this were a pleasurable place, if this were a pleasurable experience, if this were an existence without ANY pain… I doubt the question would often be asked, and if it were it would be simple. "so that we may experience this wonderful existence and bring as many as possible to share it so that as many as possible may enjoy this wonderful experience that we call life, that is why we are here, the meaning of life is simply happiness". This life however is not as such, so with torture, the 'human' endures its pointless, psychopathic mission into the darkness of the future with hope, a short memory and in slavery.
# PharmD28on 05 Sep 2013 at 4:41 pm
So, I was was a couple weeks ago working with my treatment team (primary care team, me a PharmD, an LPN, an RN, dietician, and our physician) doing a "shared medical appointment"…we do these for veterans (VA hospital) here once per week – the focus of the group clinic is to discuss cardioscular health and cardiovascular risk….it great fun and we enjoy this format…..we focus much more on lifestyl changes, motivational interviewing, education, and if needed med adjustments/changes.
Anyway, I do a discussion about medication…..during this discussion a patient asked me about late nigh infomercials and various treatments that were being advertised and asked us about a particular product.
The PCP in this case was quick to want to sort of get past this by giving what he always says is his "simple answer"…"I cannot comment on that, it is uncertain."
It was my talk so I took a couple minutes to go a bit further about how he as a patient/consumer should be significantly skeptical about such products advertised in such formats and discussed a couple of reasons why that is.
I have found it very effective to bring up the snippet from the movie "the outlaw josey wales" where he spits on the carpet bagger's white clean coat and asks him "how's it do for stains"….
I told the patient to be as skeptical as josey wales and if you want come and ask us about it and we will research it for you if interested.
I think reflecting on the doctor's comment kinda highlights a problem as I see it for how we are collectively responding to such questions. Pharmacy schools, medical schools, doctors, nurses, etc….so many seem to have the total "shruggies" (to use your term) on this topic….
I am not asking them to spend a great deal of time…but instead of saying "cant comment"…perhaps say "very very unlikely, would not risk it or waste your money without discussing it with me and we can review the evidence together".
That does not take that much more time and effort.
I briefly discussed this point with the team afterwards, but it did not get a heck of alot of traction.
I very often discuss these ads and SCAM therapies with patients…they get weird newsletters in the mail…hear the ads on the radio…hear about various thing via word of mouth and I have seen people drop off of their coumadin, blood pressure pills, and other treatments with the idea that they may no longer need those treatments with the use of the new "wonder drug".
How can I get my team to see it more my way? In particular the physician?
# titmouseon 06 Sep 2013 at 2:51 pm
Hey look yet another neurological sounding sub-specialty for the chiropractors: "Chiropractic Certification in Spinal Trauma."
This guy has a slick operation designed to rope in wounded veterans and professional athletes:
# pboxxon 09 Sep 2013 at 9:01 am
Dear Dr. Novella,
I came across this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette siting a study conducted in the UK by the University of Southern Denmark that is claiming a huge percentage of chronic lower back pain can be treated with antibiotics. It made me think of your blogs. Have you seen this? What do you think?
# Jaykwonon 23 Sep 2013 at 2:56 pm
Hi Steven, I was talking to a friend who's just started studying anthropology, and we got into the the topic of people doing stupid things. She bursted out "Well, sometimes when people do stupid things I try to look at the size of their forehead to see if it's noticeably smaller. Since the frontal lobe is the centre of logical reasoning and planning, you can sometimes see that their frontal lobe is smaller".
Luckily we had recently seen "Django unchained", so I tried to jokingly dismiss it with some analogies from the movie, but I'm not sure if the point got completely across to our friends who were in the same conversation. I must admit I see the appeal of the argument that since logical planning and reasoning resides in the frontal lobe, a small frontal lobe could have a diminishing effect on those very features.
Of course I went to google afterwards to look it up, but the top results were actually somewhat mixed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_and_intelligence The wiki article cites some research showing varying correlation.
I remember reading somewhere that first of all, intelligence seems to be more correlated to ease of forming new synapses and brain plasticity, as opposed to sheer size. The same source (which I'm afraid I lost) mentions that the shape of the cranium correlates pretty poorly with actual brain size, which by itself would render her argument invalid. Be that as it may, I'm still very interested in hearing what you have to say about the topic being a neurologist. For example, I'm sure a _pathologic_ change in brain size could be very detrimental to a persons intellect.
Thank you,
# Beerceon 25 Sep 2013 at 12:01 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Have not read into this much but seemed at least amusing on first pass if nothing else. Thought it could make for possibly and entertaining yet interesting post:
# balksboxon 27 Sep 2013 at 11:45 am
Hi Dr. N.,
As you may know we have a bit of a CCSVI problem up here in Canada – there is a huge push for the treatment from different interest groups and it has received legitimization through some government funding (for treatment and for study). I was wondering if you could address the latest article from a CCSVI-cheerleading journalist, here:
I think it's interesting that she, and other stakeholders connected to CCSVI seem to be changing their tact a bit – this is no longer about MS specifically, but about liberation therapy itself – her article basically assumes the treatment works (I mean, look at all the anecdotes she sights!) and now just needs to find the right disease to treat… which is sort of backwards way of doing medicine, I think…
Also her casual throwing of science under the bus (in the paragraph where she states 'clinical trials have come under scrutiny of late') is especially rich (doubly so considering she quotes extensively and uncritically from people performing the treatment, as if they are experts not to be questioned….).
Anyway – this is getting a lot of play here in Canada, and governments are now forking over money to fund it, sadly… so a nice exploration of the treatment, of Ms. Kingston's 'journalism' or of the stakeholders new non-MS tact would be appreciated…
# Jaykwonon 29 Sep 2013 at 5:12 pm
Hello again Steven, this one has just started circulating my news feed and I figure it's right up your alley:
(Or rather several news reports that link to this source, a study claiming to show that unvaccinated children are a lot more healthy than vaccinated ones. )
Thank you for a great blog and a great podcast.
# ChrisHon 29 Sep 2013 at 8:15 pm
Jaykwon, that was a self-selected internet survey conducted by a homeopath. It was very silly and covered a couple of years ago here:
Also, at least one person has admitted to putting in a fake kid:
Which is a major problem with self-selfected surveys.
# Marshallon 09 Oct 2013 at 2:13 pm
Hi Steve–
Can you comment on the apparent increase in fetal toxicity to the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccine from 2009-2010, as reported by VAERS? I've seen a lot of anti-vaxxers peddling articles claiming the increase in deaths is due to the vaccine.
# PharmD28on 27 Oct 2013 at 10:20 am
Have been in a debate with some fellow skeptics about aspartame safety. The rub has been my confusion about why CSPI (center for science in the public interest) position on aspartame…they give it a "red X"
I provide a snippet from their analysis on their website:
"Those new studies may have found problems that earlier company-sponsored studies did not because the newer cancer studies used far more animals and thus were more capable of detecting adverse effects. Also, the Italian researchers monitored the animals for their lifetimes: as long as three years for the rats and two and one-half years for the mice, instead of just two years in the company-sponsored studies. (Most chemicals are tested for two years.) Two-year-old rats are roughly equivalent to 65-year-old people. The many tumors that occurred after two years would never have been seen in industry's studies. Furthermore, two of the new studies included exposure before birth, a highly sensitive time, which increased their ability to detect cancer (only one of the industry studies did).
The food industry and the European Food Safety Authority contest the Italian findings, pointing to what they consider serious flaws in the design and conduct of the study and evaluation of the results. However, scientists at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and others, citing evaluations sponsored by the National Toxicology Program and the Environmental Protection Agency, found industry's and EFSA's allegations to be without merit. For its part, the FDA has not accepted the validity of the Italian studies."
Why shouldn't systematic reviews trump this? It seems they are trying to justify cherry picking? Special Pleading of sorts?
It seems their analysis is heavily anchored to those 3 studies (and as I recall ERF did a 4th study that contradicted the first 3)….are they right in doing so?
Am I missing something in my own review?
# wpellison 28 Oct 2013 at 7:59 pm
I'd be very interested in your comments, or if the SGU podcast would discuss this recent article. Thanks
Science has lost its way, at a big cost to humanity
Researchers are rewarded for splashy findings, not for double-checking accuracy. So many scientists looking for cures to diseases have been building on ideas that aren't even true.
# jugaon 07 Nov 2013 at 12:05 pm
Why does eating cheese before you go to bed make you dream or change the type of dream you have in significant ways, when cheese seems to have no psychoactive effect on the conscious brain?
# Lukeon 13 Nov 2013 at 3:50 pm
Hi Steve, I'm looking up information about gluten sensitivity, which I know you have discussed before.
I came across this article that seems to bring up some (seemingly) valid points and I thought I'd get your input. Thanks.
# Ufoon 14 Nov 2013 at 3:09 am
"New peer-reviewed research finds that 30 minutes' exposure to LTE [4G] cellphone radiation affects brain activity on both sides of the brain."
"The researchers employed a double-blind, crossover, randomized and counter-balanced design to eliminate any possible study biases.The resting state brain activity of each participant was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at two times — after exposure to LTE microwave radiation, and after a sham exposure."
"The current study establishes that short-term exposure to LTE microwave radiation affects the users' brain activity. Although LTE is too new for the long-term health consequences to have been studied, we have considerable evidence that long-term cell phone use is associated with various health risks including increased risk of head and neck cancers, sperm damage, and reproductive health consequences for offspring (i.e., ADHD)."
# rezistnzisfutlon 25 Nov 2013 at 6:44 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Tonight, the "documentary" titled "Toxic Hot Seat" airs on HBO, regarding the supposed toxic time-bomb of fire retardant chemicals found in most modern home furnishings. In it, they claims that fire retardant chemicals are host to a number of health related issues, including numerous cancers in firefighters as well as health issues to children and families that use furniture.
There have been some rebuttals to this so far, but it's been pretty limited. This show, to me, represents fear-based activism with little actual science to support it that represents a real threat to fire safety if fire retardant chemicals were banned. In California, for example, labels are already mandated indicating the presence of these chemicals, and there are no longer requirements to include fire retardant properties in furniture, etc. Obviously, they use emotional pleas from concerned parents, organizations, and firefighters, correlation-causation fallacy with case studies, pseudoscience, and a lot of fear-instilling anecdotes, with little or no science involved.
I thought this might be a good subject to dig into.
# Lukas1986on 26 Nov 2013 at 5:33 am
It would be great if there would be a topic about this journal called Neuroquantology:
They post strange things:
# H.E. Pennypackeron 28 Nov 2013 at 6:58 am
Hi Steve
I was wondering if you could comment on the theories of Stuart Hameroff and his 'conscienceness in microtubules' hypothesis.
This seems to be the usual quantum babble but also seems to be taken relatively more seriously in academic circles than the usual quantum-consciousness stuff. He's published papers in peer reviewed journals and it seems like this would be a little more challenging for you to debunk due to the fact that it seems like his arguments are partially based in facts and he refers to real experiments and data. Maybe a bit too technical to discuss on the blog?
# Lukas1986on 01 Dec 2013 at 11:28 am
The Quantum Mind theory has got a upgrade but all informations that its upgrade is coming from its from one person:
Anirban Bandhyopadhyay.
Here is a whole thread on the Skeptic Society Forum about it:
Stuart Hameroff defends Quantum Healing:
People like Dawkins must be confronted head-on. To defend 'quantum healing',
attack Dawkins' so-called strength, put him on the defensive. Be as biological as
possible. He really doesn't know much about it.
Its from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/scientists-and-scholars-i_b_3543037.html
Or just take a look here: http://www.skepticforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21877
Also this whole Quantum Mind thing has one goal:
According to Stenger, there is an ideological- religious dimension to the ideas of those who say they are trying to insert quantum mechanics into the question of consciousness and the brain. He maintains
that holistic philosophy is an obsession with New Age gurus, who are trying to solve the world's problems with love. In fact, classical reductionist physics (materialists and atheists) does not make people selfish; they were selfish long before that. The new quantum holism feeds our obsessions and tells us we are a part of the non-living cosmic mind. In this way, traditional religions are being modernized. A mystical physics is basically a wrong understanding of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Another reason for this approach is that it brings Man back to the centre of the universe. Four hundred years ago, Copernicus provided strong proof that we were not at the centre of the universe, and as time has passed, we have had even stronger proof. This feeling of being nothing special has created a great feeling of disillusionment. Therefore, being able to contribute human consciousness to the solution of the problem of measurement in quantum mechanics is part of the effort to return man to his privileged place at the centre of the universe (Chalmers, 1995).
From: http://www.neuroquantology.com/index.php/journal/article/view/278/276
Page 134 in the pdf
It is also here:
So again. This would be a great topic for Dr. Steven Novella to write. There is even a lot of information on the Internet to show that this is woo..
# rezistnzisfutlon 02 Dec 2013 at 3:46 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I ran across this story today in Motley Fool about how Coca-Cola is now the new Philip-Morris and that their drinks are responsible for 180,000 deaths worldwide a year.
This is based on a study released by the American Heart Association, notably which was not peer-reviewed and made some pretty dubious conclusions.
While it's no doubt that over-consumption of sugary beverages can contribute to health issues, so can a myriad other foods and substances when consumed in very high amounts. For instance, if people consumed five pounds of white rice a day, most of them would be exhibiting the same conditions. It seems to me that over-consumption of pretty much any food will lead to health issues.
While I think it's good to form recommendations about limiting simple sugars in the diet, it seems little more than fear mongering to demonize Coca Cola, soft drinks, etc., and to claim conspiracy when they defend themselves against shoddy science and the fallacious conclusions they form.
Case in point: one can also form the same conclusions about bad diet choices and sedentary lifestyle contributing to the same health issues.
While few can expect a financial rag to be a source of sound science reporting, it's surprising when a venerable institution like the AHA can form such conclusions, especially based on a study that never received peer-review.
# ChrisHon 05 Dec 2013 at 6:26 pm
On a recent Seth Mnookin article, someone was promoting Russell Blaylock.
She claimed he was legit because he published in this journal in Surgical Neurology International..
Well, it looks "interesting." Especially this article: HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI). What!?
# ChrisHon 05 Dec 2013 at 6:30 pm
Oops, you already covered that last summer.
I think perhaps something about how to determine if an article in a journal like that is relevant, or even reliable. Apparently Russell Blaylock has recently published several papers in it, and I am having my doubts about that journal's review process.
# TechTalk WRLR 98.3FMon 07 Dec 2013 at 7:02 pm
Hi! Just ran across this article on CNN, and despite furious googling couldn't find a counter or more detail:
The description sounds like your typical woo recital; a cancer patient that has been failed by all standard treatments (described as "poisons") is given a new, experimental treatment that somehow "trains" the body to fight cancer (with simplistic analogues to fighting the common cold), and of course at the end of it he's "cancer free!"
The article is replete with overly-credulous reporting, headings like "A Whole New Realm of Medicine" etc., so my woo and BS detector is flashing like crazy.
But … but … they claim they've repeated this study, it comes from some reputable sites (U Penn and Sloan Kettering), is on CNN of all places, and the exceptionally vague description of how they genetically modified T cells doesn't sound completely bogus. And no one named Burzinsky is mentioned anywhere!
Any thoughts? Have you seen/heard of this?
# cloudskimmeron 22 Dec 2013 at 4:47 pm
Today's Los Angeles Times has an article about a severely autistic 17-year-old who has written a book. The "quotes" from him are well written, but it appears to be facilitated communication (FC), since he "types" far more quickly on a cardboard letter board than on his iPad. In addition, it seems rather odd that a teenager who says, "osha, osha, osha," when he's hot and wants to go to the beach can write, "My dogs bark like shotguns. The gardeners mow with tanks and blow leaves with hurricanes."
And–get this–he sees auras, which allows him to gauge peoples' temperaments. Purple is the most open-minded color; brown the most closed off. I guess skeptics must all have brown auras.
All of this was written in the most credulous manner. Lots of prominent people seem to buy into the family's narrative; he was invited to speak at the Cal State Northridge department of special education commencement–speaking by the iPad reading what he had 'written' earlier.
This would seem to be the latest example of someone remarkably eloquent trapped inside an autistic body. I've written to the Times asking them to be more skeptical in the future, because this is remarkably cruel to other parents of autistic children who may question whether they have a genius hidden inside their damaged child.
Here's the link. I'd really like to know what you make of this. So far the comments are all credulous, but I wrote one questioning whether or not this was FC and expect some negative responses.
Thanks for your blog.
# lindyblueon 26 Dec 2013 at 12:55 am
I just saw an article and video about Peter Gøtzsche, MD on the site Mad in America that piqued my interest. He has a new book out called Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Health Care. Normally, I wouldn't trust this type of thing, but because this doctor is listed as a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration (and due to that organization's focus on evidence-based medicine), I hesitate to discount it completely. While I don't fully trust the pharma industry, I have far more trust in pharma than I do in alternative healthcare and the like; and I tend to equate anti-pharma sentiments with those coming from that perspective, even though not all anti pharma folks are into alt med. The Mad in America site also has that anti-pharma/anti-psych feel to it.
In the video, he does bring up an oft-repeated and over-simplified rebuttal to the (also over-simplified) argument that giving antidepressants to someone with depression is akin to giving insulin to somebody with diabetes due to the serotonin model of depression. Despite this, and despite the anti-pharma/anti-psych tone of that site and his arguments, I'm still curious if there is anything to this. For instance, I know I've read that antidepressants (as well as stimulants for ADHD) work short term but not long term. I'm curious what the research really says on this, and as a nonscientist, I've had difficulty finding answers I can trust; and it is difficult for me to understand results that may turn up in a PubMed search without a solid grounding in either the science or in statistical analysis. (I've had a particularly difficult time trying to find longitudinal studies of stimulants for ADHD hat I can comprehend.) [I'd put my level of understanding a little above requiring "plain English" explanations but way, way below being able to understand the scientific literature without any translation at all - with a big healthy dose of not understanding what it is I don't understand.]
As an adult with depression and ADHD, I'm very interested in this topic, especially since I am on long-term maintenance therapy (though with a class of drug unrelated to the SSRIs). My main question is in regards to Peter Gøtzsche's statements, with a secondary question about long-term efficacy and safety of antidepressants (and stimulants) in general.
Thank you for this very informative, trustworthy blog. I really appreciate your work.
# Ufoon 26 Dec 2013 at 9:08 am
I think this is worth a post (I remember hearing about similar studies before, so maybe this is a good replication):
Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy versus Sham Surgery for a Degenerative Meniscal Tear
Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is one of the most common orthopedic procedures, yet rigorous evidence of its efficacy is lacking.
In this trial involving patients without knee osteoarthritis but with symptoms of a degenerative medial meniscus tear, the outcomes after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy were no better than those after a sham surgical procedure."
# stereoblueon 27 Dec 2013 at 3:23 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I'm curious if you've looked into the latest research based upon having a variation of the MTHFR gene?
From what I've been reading it seems that it limits a person's ability to process folate and B12, so compensating the condition with methyl based supplements should greatly help treat the condition. But many of the sites list a variety of ailments that this might cure… everything from Chronic Fatigue to IBS to hypertension to insomnia to autism and the list goes on. Well, that seems like a red flag from the start.
Other red flags are that a lot of the proponents tend to start talking about candida, environmental toxins, GMOs, etc.
Anyway, I was hoping that you might be able to provide some clarity on the issue.
# tmac57on 28 Dec 2013 at 6:36 pm
Science Friday replayed a 1996 interview with Carl Sagan this week,and I was really struck by how well it held up in terms of relevance to the exact same issues that skeptics deal with today. It is really worth a listen for those who missed it.
He discussed what was then his recent book 'The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle In the Dark' which is of course a skeptical classic,and I was a bit surprised by Ira Flatow's somewhat confrontational tone at times during the interview.It may have been nothing more than a devil's advocate approach that anticipated listener's possible objections,but it didn't feel right at times.
There was also the moment when a caller to the show asked Dr. Sagan about his view on spiritual beliefs,and secondly about what he thought about the Roswell crash and UFOs,and Ira quickly chimed in and said well let's take the second question first,as if to avoid talking about religion (at least that was my take on it).To Carl Sagan's credit though,he said I'll answer the second question,but I don't want to shy away from the first,and then spoke unflinchingly about both issues in a clear headed manner.
There is a good reason why Sagan is still held up as one of the heroes of the skeptical movement.The man had a clear and cogent message about the importance of science and critical thinking and appropriate skepticism about things that people believe without good evidence.
# rezistnzisfutlon 29 Dec 2013 at 10:07 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
I was recently forwarded this information in a discussion regarding Aspartame, where apparently the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has taken a stance against the substance, citing the Italian studies (and seemingly ignoring the hundreds of other safety studies). In effect, they have placed Aspartame on their "avoid" list.
This is confusing since they typically are well-balanced and science-based. I'm curious why they would go against the consensus. They do acknowledge some of the criticisms, but seem to shrug them off and continue to accept the minority opinion. Hopefully, they aren't going the way of the UCS.
I realize that Aspartame has been done a lot already, but this seems more related to CSPI and how "even good advisers can sometimes go bad". Would you happen to have any insight on this?
# kwilliams1on 29 Dec 2013 at 12:19 pm
Hi Dr Novella,
Liposomal vitamin C; genuine thing or scientific-ish woo?
Recently browsing for an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner I began to notice a lot of the reviews suggested that people used these devices for making Liposomal vitamin C. I'd never heard of this particular form of vitamin C, but the tone of these reviews immediately set my woo senses tingling.
Armed with a glass (or two) of wine I decided to disappear down this particular rabbit hole and see what I could find out.
My usual Google-fu starting moves pointed me in the direction of Neurologica/SBM entries on general vitamin intake and the dubious/non-existent benefits but I could find very little on Liposomal vit C.
What I did find was the usual kind of hits from the peddlers of nonsense;
Claims that Drs don't want you to know about this;
Attempts to claim the term Skeptic (ie, I was a skeptic until I tried it, now I am a believer);
Claims that Big Pharma weren't interested because it can't be monetised – directly alongside recommendations for expensive "natural" supplements for sale on sites such as Mercola.com
Perhaps the biggest red flag though were the lists of benefits this panacea seemingly provides, ranging from clarity of thought, better skin and hair all the way through to curing cancer.
The biggest realisation I gained was this:
Surely if such a wonder-drug/natural cure-all existed, Big Pharma, with all its money and resources would notice and would pounce on it. Even if they could not copyright a certain product, surely the first company to industrialise (and probably patent) the mass production/distribution process could make a fortune and save lives at the same time.
Or am I being hopelessly naive?
# Reeddavion 30 Dec 2013 at 4:57 pm
Hi Steve,
I often hear the argument (in support of vitamin use) that our food now is nutritionally deficient. That between picking the food and shipping it to the local grocer, the nutritional value of, for example, a tomato, approaches nil. This smells like bullshit to me but I'm unfamiliar with the processes that could possibly drive this claim so I am trying to reserve judgement. What are your thoughts on this argument?
# BBBlueon 31 Dec 2013 at 11:30 am
"A total of 51 tons of antibiotics are consumed daily in the United States alone, so the selective pressure in favor of resistant pathogens is strong." Preserving Antibiotics, Rationally, The New England Journal of Medicine, Hollis & Ahmed. http://bit.ly/JHHPdX
Will the continued use of antibiotics in plant and animal agriculture cause antibiotic resistance to occur in human bacterial pathogens?
# tmac57on 05 Jan 2014 at 12:21 pm
Heard this story on NPR's weekend edition Sunday show…ugh!!!
Say a child has memories of being a Hollywood extra in the 1930s. Is it just an active imagination, or actual evidence of reincarnation? Jim Tucker, a psychologist at the University of Virginia studies hundreds of cases like this and joins NPR's Rachel Martin to share his research on the science behind reincarnation.
The possible mechanism for how a consciousness can be reincarnated into another being?…Quantum mechanics of course,complete with a Max Planck quote. Sigh
Jim Tucker is making the rounds promoting his new book about this released last December. Amazon had mostly positive reviews on it,but even among the negative ones there was not one skeptical of the 'fact' of reincarnation.
# esquaredon 05 Jan 2014 at 12:44 pm
I had the same exact reaction as tmac57 listening to NPR this morning…triple ugh!!
I kept waiting for some rebuttal from the host – something, anything – other than, (a paraphrase), "Well, you know some scientists will disagree."
My second thought was, "I'd love to hear Steve Novella's takedown of this. Maybe I should write in and post it as a suggestion for a new topic." So, thanks tmac57.
Maybe Joe Nickell could do one of his great investigations into this as well.
Do you think NPR would air a rebuttal??
# elmer mccurdyon 05 Jan 2014 at 2:36 pm
Dr. Novella, do you thinking you could write a shocking expose of Nigerian spammers?
Here, I'll get the comments thread started in advance:
Nigerian SCAMMERS, you mean, heheh.
etc. ad nauseum.
# DaveEon 05 Jan 2014 at 11:05 pm
Hi Steven. I'd love to see your take on the Jahi McMath case that has been in the news. This is the 13 yr old girl in Oakland CA that was declared brain dead on 12/12/13, and has been kept on a ventilator by her family who refuse to believe she is dead. I wonder how common these cases are, and whether the hospital could have handled it differently? I also wonder how long she can be kept on a ventilator without special care/drugs, etc., i.e., outside an ICU. I also wonder whether any "medical team" could be found that would supervise her, esp. during transport, and during an extended period on the vent? Are there docs that would do this? Anyway, a lot of interesting questions here, at least for a layman like me.
Dave Erickson
# alion 06 Jan 2014 at 12:14 pm
Dear Dr. Novella,
I would like to ask you to comment on the claims and the contents of this TEDx Talk by Gary Wilson about neurological effects of pornography on human brain: http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/great-porn-experiment-given-tedx
I did apply some basic skepticism to the subject, and I see his argument is not very well backed with evidence as he suggests, although it looks very much like a true scientific experiment, with control groups and all! Since neurology and scientific skepticism are both your specialty, I would like to have your opinion on such semi-scientific claims.
Here is a review of another documentary done by the same author: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2013/10/03/hardcore-fmri/
# daedalus2uon 06 Jan 2014 at 2:59 pm
Here is a topic that could use some neurologica-brand skepticism and analysis.
# nybgruson 07 Jan 2014 at 8:13 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Not a topic suggestion per se, but thought you might find this interesting and useful to at least reference in future posts. An excellent TED talk about how our attention is both limited and shapes our ability to perceive as well as our reality. Essentially, why magicians make the best skeptics but not from that slant.
# HiEvon 09 Jan 2014 at 5:49 am
I was curious about your take on the recent (Dec. 2013) study that suggests that fear of a particular smell may be able to be transmitted to offspring:
"Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations"
by Brian G Dias & Kerry J Ressler
Nature Neuroscience 17, 89–96 (2014) doi:10.1038/nn.3594
and here's a Nature article on it:
"Fearful memories haunt mouse descendants" (12/1/'13)
I don't think this is well enough confirmed or explained to be accepted yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if another explanation was found, such as contamination of the testing area with stress odors or something.
I'd like to hear your opinion on it.
# Autumnon 17 Jan 2014 at 11:04 pm
Orch OR theory – quantum consciousness.
This thing has bullshit written all over it, but it's hard to piece apart the spin of this article from any potential actual science. I mean, sure, studying microtubules as a part of synaptic transmission is totally a thing. But… I don't know. Just read it for yourself.
"Discovery of quantum vibrations in "microtubules" in side brain neurons corroborates controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness"
# rezistnzisfutlon 22 Jan 2014 at 4:12 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
Recently I've been seeing a lot of talk about alkaline diets, as well as a lot of pseudoscience regarding it. I've seen articles here and SBM on claims made about alkaline water and such, but nothing so far on alkaline diet other than tangentially when discussing other topics. I was wondering what your take on it was and if we could get a cogent article directly addressing the claims made by alkaline diet proponents. It would be nice to have something to refer to here.
# pdeboeron 23 Jan 2014 at 2:03 pm
Hey Steve,
I was wondering what your take on the polio eradication program in Pakistan. The program has been under attack in last few years, with 6 security police killed and a child killed in the process just yesterday.
What is the cause of this resistance and do western antivaxxers play a role?
Seems that the Pakistani resistance is based mostly on the CIA using a vaccine program to find Osama Bin Laden.
At what point should they win and the program be abandoned, if at all?
198 polio cases seems trivial to 33 dieing in violence. Of course I am ignoring the consequences.
What hope is there to change minds, when the staggering statistics don't work?
25,000 cases in 1994 and 198 cases in 2011.
# The Other John Mcon 24 Jan 2014 at 10:51 am
Dr. N, would love to hear your thoughts (and others in the skeptical community) on this post about Occam's Razor versus Hickam's Dictum…specifically whether this issue applies inside and/or outside medicine, and what it might mean for the use of Occam's razor in today's world:
# Ufoon 27 Jan 2014 at 6:07 am
Latest on acupuncture:
"In this study published in the Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, researchers used in-line phase contrast CT imaging with synchrotron radiation on both non-acupuncture points and acupuncture points. The CT scans revealed clear distinctions between the non-acupuncture point and acupuncture point anatomical structures."
# aabrown1971on 27 Jan 2014 at 8:49 pm
Some good news, Dr. Novella. I know you always fret things are getting worse. Maybe not…
# Insomniacon 28 Jan 2014 at 2:12 pm
Dr. Novella,
You wrote about aspartame in 2010 on sciencebasedmedicine.org, as you reminded in yesterday's post. I had a fierce debate with my partner on this issue. Because of the recent EFSA statement that aspartame is safe for human consumption I changed my mind, I used to think it was dangerous (in Europe this idea may be even more widespread among the general public, like with GMOs). She told me about the 2005 ERF study, and I replied it had been debunked a year later by an EFSA report I also read in its entirety.
I have to say first that I am absolutely no fan of conspiracy thinking. I agree with you that companies aren't always (if not rarely) eager to sacrifice profit for absolute transparency though. I learnt that apparently the EFSA had had some conflict of interests in the past because of close ties with the industry, including for the debate on Bisphenol A. For instance, it turned out that the president Diana Banati belonged to the board of the ILSI, which is considered as an international lobby whose members are from the food and beverage industry. Therefore I don't know if I can trust the paper I read (http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/Scientific_Opinion/afc_op_ej356_aspartame_en1,2.pdf), as I'm not particularly familiar with medicine jargon. I don't know if the objections they find to the method carried out in the study are relevant and they could easily make me believe one thing and its opposite because it would probably make sense to me anyway.
There's also a recent paper you cited (Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies.) that I can't download because of its limited access, but I would like to see if they were biased in any way (maybe in the Acknowledgements section…). Basically I don't know to what extent the research is independant and what does indepenant reseachers say. Being part of a large European or international institution does not prevent you from being completely trustworthy (cf the infamous WHO report on acupuntcture led by Chinese medicine enthusiasts). And in your post it seemed that you referred to the EFSA as an ultimate source of evidence.
As a conclusion, I really don't know what to say on this issue. I came to think that I couldn't (and shouldn't ?) have any clear stance on this particular debate, because of a divide in the litterature and possible biased studies. I guess you have a better understanding of both the technical details and the litterature, how can you be so sure the EFSA is right ?
Many thanks,
# BBBlueon 28 Jan 2014 at 2:37 pm
Another case-control study on pesticides published online recently at Journal of the American Medical Association, Neurology and getting lots of media attention: "Elevated Serum Pesticide Levels and Risk for Alzheimer Disease", Jason R. Richardson, et al. (http://bit.ly/1neaGGW)
Many cases are without elevated serum pesticide (DDE) levels and outliers among cases makes me wonder about variables that were not addressed. Furthermore, what do levels of serum DDE of around 10 ng/mg or less say about lifetime exposures? Any clinical significance expected between 2-3 ng/mg and 10 ng/mg? I also found it odd that a study cited by the author, "Levels of DDT, HCH, and HCB Residues in Human Blood in Ahmedabad, India", V. K. Bhatnagar, et al. (http://bit.ly/1neaVBV), reported serum DDE concentrations in the range of only 20 ng/mg for a country where DDT was still in use. Why isn't there already a definitive study on this subject since there are clearly opportunities for comparing populations with very low levels of exposure to those with very high levels of exposure?
Perhaps enough has already been written on this general topic, but would be interested in your thoughts on the strength of this particular study.
# cbeckeon 29 Jan 2014 at 8:26 am
Dr. Novella,
There is a push in my school district to explore later start times for high schools (where I teach) and the proponents often state that research on teen brains supports this shift:
"Past research has shown teenagers excel when they are allowed to sleep later in the day since it accommodates their natural teenage physiological needs. Researchers have found if teenagers are allowed to sleep later in the day, they perform better at school."
I can't discern if this is quality research or hand-picked studies, but the push for later start times seems to come up again and again.
Here's the latest article in my local Williamsburg, VA paper about our school board's recent discussion on the topic: http://feedly.com/k/1hMCVsf
Any insight you have would be appreciated.
# 74 or moreon 05 Feb 2014 at 8:38 am
Please tell us your thoughts on the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate
# elmer mccurdyon 05 Feb 2014 at 11:50 am
Yesterday I noticed a sign in Alhambra that said 負離子燙髮, and I did some googling when I got home, and what I learned is that there are "negative ion hair curlers" and also that there is "ionic hair straightening" using negative ions. This is so confusing! OK, I lied. It's not actually confusing. Anyway I know you never take any of these topic suggestions but I thought it was funny.
# BuckarooSamuraion 06 Feb 2014 at 9:55 am
Hi Steve,
Myles Power who has been making excellent Skeptical Youtube vids as well has do it yourself science and outreach. It is really an amazing channel and Myles is doing great work, it would be great if you guys could have him on your show.
Sadly though his recent debunking of AIDS Denialism has landed him with a DMCA by the originators of the film he is trying to expose, effectively silencing that video. Mirrors have already been put up, but it would be nice to get a good Streisand effect going. If you could give it a mention either on the podcast or on the blog that would be awesome.
Here is Myles's website
and here is the link to all his videos
I understand you are very busy, but this seems very important and right in the SGU's and Science Based Medicine's wheel house.
Justin Couron
# tmac57on 06 Feb 2014 at 10:15 am
More "chemicals are evil" stuff in the news:
Subway, one of the world's biggest bread bakers, is about to remove a chemical from its breads that raised the ire of an influential health activist and food blogger.
The world's biggest sandwich chain says it's in the process of removing the chemical known as Azodiacarbonamide from its sandwich breads — a chemical that Vani Hari, who runs the site FoodBabe.com, says is commonly used to increase elasticity in everything from yoga mats to shoe rubber to synthetic leather. It's used for the same reason in bread, she says, as a dough condition
I really don't know anything about this ingredient,but I suspect that it has been found to be GRAS and Subway is just succumbing to social media lynching pressure.
What do you think Steve?
# etatroon 06 Feb 2014 at 8:26 pm
I wonder whether you've had a chance to read Michael Graziano's Consciousness and the Social Brain where he describes and attention schema theory of consciousness. I just read the first part of the book and the theory is interesting, if a bit confusing (maybe circular?). Just wondering what your thoughts were.
# Kestrelon 07 Feb 2014 at 6:03 pm
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the exorcism "boy walked up the wall" hooplah from the past week or so. Quite silly stuff. Would really like Steve's take on it.
# Mel Deltaon 08 Feb 2014 at 12:46 am
While out shopping today I came upon a stall in the center of the mall. It was selling HiDow home pain relief. I immediately smelled woo. The blurb on the stall said:
THE HIDOW MASSAGE IS A PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL DEVICE that combines traditional chinese acupuncture with deep with deep tissue massage sensations to relieve tension without medication or side-effects. It sends bio-electrical signals directly to the muscle to relieve stress.
I bit down the urge to yell at the elderly couple who were sitting having the electrodes placed on them to "Run for your lives, escape while your wallets are still in tact" and instead opted to see what was available online about the device.
Unlike the sign in the mall the website http://hidow.com.au/ claims the device uses a process called TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation ) to relieve pain. A search on google determined that TENS is actually a scientific thing, although there are questions about its long-term utility: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746624/
So my question; is TENS a scientifically valid mode of pain treatment? If it is, it is interesting that HiDOW do no not promote this on the marketing material at their stall, even though they do promote it on their website. This seems to further blur the line between woo and medicine.
Thanks for the time and effort you put into Neurologica, I have found your site fascinating and an invaluable resource in navigating the lies and misinformation that bombard a health consumer trying to look out for the best outcomes for myself and my family.
# TheFlyingPigon 11 Feb 2014 at 6:36 pm
This isn't a topic suggestion, but the link to "Your Deceptive Mind" on the front page is broken (who links to Barnes & Noble over Amazon?).
Also, is there a way to send feedback to the site except through comments? It'd be nice to be able to send general feedback or specific corrections (eg, pointing out typos in posts) outside of comments sections (not everyone needs to see grammar corrections).
# aabrown1971on 12 Feb 2014 at 11:55 pm
Hi Steve,
I can't make heads or tails of this article about P values, but I thought it might be of blogging/podcast interest for you.
# elmer mccurdyon 13 Feb 2014 at 12:48 am
# BBBlueon 14 Feb 2014 at 11:12 am
Anything in Krauthammer's column of Feb 6 you'd care to comment on?
# young_Dron 17 Feb 2014 at 1:15 pm
Hi Dr Novella,
Haven't read this review yet but it's been reported in general media as presenting serious data against the use of fluoride:
# Consulting Librarianon 17 Feb 2014 at 6:12 pm
Dear Dr. Novella,
I'd be interested to hear your take on sensory integrative issues. There is a smattering of material in the literature that has arisen from the occupational therapy field, mainly from the work of Jean Ayres in the 1970s. Some of this dovetails with the sensory issues that have been noted in people on the autism spectrum.
Some parties, however, have declared for a definition of dysfunction, or syndrome or disorder (http://www.spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html), perhaps without a solid enough grounding in data or research. I've always been curious to know how much consensus is necessary for a syndrome to be recognized (I don't think sensory processing disorder has any recognition, but I'm not even sure who would do the recognizing. the AMA? the APA?)
I ran into the same question while looking at benign fasciculation. It seems to be a syndrome mainly because someone defined it as such in a paper, and a few other specialists took up the label. Then it begins to proliferate on Web sites, and people start forming special interest groups. I suppose fibromyalgia is the paramount example of this.
While personal experience inclines me to agree with the possibility of a sensory processing disorder and a collection of tactile prejudices and aversions, I don't find the evidence particularly compelling either way. There could for example be other explanations than Ayres's. How does a layperson navigate this sort of thing?
# David Haddadon 20 Feb 2014 at 2:18 am
Hello Steven,
I would enjoy seeing your blog here or at SBM discuss the latest scare word among the "natural" crowd – "nano-technology". I am seeing posts all over about this by the anti-GMO folk, and evidently we are supposed to be VERY afraid of "nano technology", it "makes pesticides look like a day in the park". I've now read a couple of articles about it, and other than the fact that it's "any food using nano materials", and that nano materials have "special properties", I still can't figure out why we are supposed to be terrified.
Thank You for all your wonderful writing.
# rezistnzisfutlon 20 Feb 2014 at 2:42 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
Here is an interesting article on the retraction of a couple of studies by Dr. Pamela Ronald, a researcher in the area of genetic engineering of food crops. Activists are claiming a victory for their movement, as evidenced by the article, without understanding how peer review works. I thought this would offer up a good opportunity on the peer review process, intellectual honesty, and how science is self-correcting.
# CJ Klokon 21 Feb 2014 at 6:39 pm
Dear Dr Novella
Long time SGU listener and even longer time skeptic.
My wife and I attended a free lactation/breastfeeding 'class' at a local Babies'R'Us branch here in North Scottsdale, AZ. The speaker was "International Board Certified" Lactation Consultant Rene Moore. I place the certified bit in scare quotes because the consultant made several pointed references to being certified and emphasized how authoritative that would make her.
What followed was a series of mostly reliable factoids regarding breastfeeding presented in a fairly haphazard manner. And then when the class became a bit more interactive the wheels rapidly came off.
First the magical healing qualities of breast milk were touted – from 'drip some in baby's eyes for eye infections', to going all the way '…drops of breast milk kill cancer cells in petri-dishes… Oh yes…' This was interspersed a few times with advice to mothers to ignore what your paediatrician tells you if it conflicts with your lactation consultant's assertions or your own 'instincts'. Where have I heard that before…?
Then someone asked what to do if a baby tends to favour only one breast. The answer was that the baby may have some neck discomfort and Ms Moore recommended taking the baby to a chiropractor or a cranio-sacral therapist to have the problem sorted. By now, in my turbulent mind, the cart's wheels were long gone and it was skidding bouncily on its undercarriage over some pretty rocky terrain.
Then, in final remarks, upon a request for recommended literature, Ms Moore gushed on about the wonderful series of books by Dr Sears, including a strong emphasis for every one to also invest in "The Vaccine Book" – scare quotes intensely intended.
Having read previous contributions about 'Dr' Sears' shenanigans on Science Based Medicine, and also in the primary literature (the Pediatrics paper by Offit and Moser and Mnookin's commentary on PLoS Blogs), the cart was now happily doing cartwheels of carnage through my mind. …And the intro notes of Maestro Minchin's 'Storm' became audible…, but I behaved myself and did not make a stink. On the ride home my wife voiced almost identical concerns.
Finding the emphasis on being board certified a bit odd, I looked into the IBLCE (www.iblce.org) but it just looks like a group promoting mostly healthy attitudes toward breastfeeding. If you have more info on this group that might be of concern I would appreciate some info.
Furthermore, seeing that Babies'R'Us is one of the major product resources for new parents, and by extension also an information resource, would it not be in their best interest to better vet the speakers they present for the accuracy and validity of opinions expressed in classes they sponsor? I know, from SGU that your aim is to use Science Based Medicine to strongly promote sound medical advice and combat dangerous misinformation. Does your organization already have the gravity to influence big retailers such as Babies'R'us to be more circumspect in their choices of speakers? If not yet, how can I help to add said gravity?
I will be writing to he specific branch voicing my concerns as an about-to-be-father of twins.
In closing, I'm always delighted to get my weekly mental SGU fix.
An email/forum response back would be fantastic but is not required at all. A brief discussion of retailers peddling dangerous pseudoscience on a future SGU show, and also, advice on how to strongarm these retailers in favour of sound science based advice to customers added to such a discussion would be a delightful bonus.
Some biographical background about me:
I'm a South African born entomologist, specializing in insect ecological and evolutionary physiology, and research faculty at Arizona State University. I've been a skeptic since my late teens, took a postdoc position in AZ in 2004 and have been listening to SGU since its inception.
I also have the distinct honour (or honourable distinction) of having a paper I was co-author on to be the topic of a "Science or Fiction" installment in 2007. We did the work on insect tracheal dimensions and the limitations on body size.
PS. Is the Science Based Medicine site down for a reason?
# Bruceon 22 Feb 2014 at 3:57 pm
Just saw this:
I was really shocked to see this kind of retrograde legislation being introduced in the name of religion.
# BillyJoe7on 23 Feb 2014 at 2:54 am
Yeah, they call it "freedom of religion". They forgot to add "provided it doesn't interfere with anyone else's freedom".
# bluedevilRAon 24 Feb 2014 at 11:02 am
I'd be curious to hear your take on James Fallon's "discovery" that he is a "psychopath." He seems to be a reasonably well respected neuroscientist and neuroimaging researcher at UC-Irvine. However, I think he goes a bit off the deep end to promote his book "The Psychopath Within." Lots of media coverage (CNN, NPR, etc) with very little skepticism:
He apparently diagnosed himself by using genetic markers that lend themselves to violent/psychopathic traits and PET imaging. From what I understand about fMRI, PET, SPECT, etc you should always be extremely cautious when drawing conclusions from these studies when used in such a manner as this. It also bugs me that for a neuroscientist working in the department of psychiatry, he makes no attempt to use the right nomenclature. I might be wrong, but I thought psychopath and sociopath were outdated terms.
# David Haddadon 25 Feb 2014 at 12:05 am
bluedevilRA, great suggestion, I saw the link bait for that on news organizations all over the Internet – "doctor discovers he's a psychopath".
# Jerry in Coloradoon 25 Feb 2014 at 9:17 am
Science News Magazine (Society for Science and the Public) carries advertisements for alternative medicines such as AloeCure for acid-reflux problems(2/22/2014). This pseudoscience ad has no place in SN. We should expect better.
# Lukeon 26 Feb 2014 at 5:51 pm
Hi Steve,
All this discussion about improving research standards and peer review criteria has me wondering about all the not-so-successful research (in terms of hypothesis testing). I wanted to know if there are any journals/databases that solely collect research BECAUSE the results are negative. In doing literature reviews, or just looking stuff up out of curiosity, it seems that one can find papers that are substantial and impressive in their implications, but it seems that a lot can be missed by not taking notice of the more mediocre (with respect to results, not methodology) information that is found. Is it possible that there are large volumes of good information not being utilized because it is being overshadowed by the few sources presenting more impressive results, or is this accounted for as well? Thanks.
# titmouseon 27 Feb 2014 at 11:15 am
Another Boston Children's Hospital media circus much like the PANDAS kerfuffle a year ago. This time a family have been told their child has a mitochondrial disorder by outside MDs while the doctors at BCH feel the child's symptoms are better described as a somatoform disorder.
Interestingly some of the same patient advocates involved in the PANDAS struggle are involved in this one as well. I wonder if BCH doctors have pissed off DAN! doctors and other quacks so much that they've become the focus of a black PR campaign intent on breaking their resolve. Plenty of the other Boston programs quietly tolerate a certain amount of "integrative" stuff.
I feel sorry for the family. They're probably being encouraged to take sides in what ought to be a non-political process of weighing evidence. The real fight ought to be happening within the medical literature, not at the bedside.
So add "patients getting caught in the middle" to the list of "what's the harms."
# titmouseon 27 Feb 2014 at 12:10 pm
Found a link to a great background article on the Pelletier family.
As was common in mitochondrial disease cases, Justina was taking a long list of pills, prescribed by various specialists, including Tegretol for neurological problems, Metoprolol for a rapid heart rate, and Midodrine for boosting blood pressure. In addition, she was taking a vitamin cocktail prescribed by Korson to help with her weakness and fatigue.
Lou insisted that Justina not be taken off any of her medications until the Children's team had consulted with Korson and Justina's cardiologist from Tufts. He trusted the Tufts doctors and said he worried that if Justina were taken off her drugs, she could die.
Vitamin cocktail for mitochondrial disease? Mark Korson is Chief of the Metabolism Service at Tufts so I assume he knows what he is doing. Just wasn't aware vitamins did much.
Anyway imagine doctors at Tufts saying your child might die if meds are stopped, then doctors at BCH saying that the meds are gonna be stopped. Obviously patients should not be placed in such positions. The doctors need to hash out their differences without the parents in the room. Then they should outline the pros and cons to the family, being clear about which part of the info is evidence and which is personal opinion. Really awkward though if the current treatment team thinks the prior treatment team performed unnecessary surgery. But hey, thick skin and put the patient first regardless, right?
# banyanon 27 Feb 2014 at 2:52 pm
This was a new one to me: a book suggesting that the vaccination schedule may cause peanut allergies. I hadn't heard that before, and Googling around isn't giving me much information.
# pmb6465on 28 Feb 2014 at 1:29 pm
The WSJ had this article today (2/28) discussing the idea of the "hot hand." I've heard Dr. Novella talk about this before and thought it might be interesting.
# MaoJinon 01 Mar 2014 at 3:22 am
Now I myself promote a plant based diet for both health, environmental, and ethical issues and I think this speech is very entertaining and informative. However as a skeptic I must also of course look beyond the quite evident agenda that Dr. Michael Greger M.D here has:
Given that I'm not a physician it would be really interesting to see what Dr. Steven Novella's take on this would be given that I have an emotional bias and lack of education on the subject. Although I do find much of it consistent, yet perhaps a tad bit over-hyped.
So far I've only noticed one minor insignificant mislabeling in the video though compared to the original study but that's easily overlooked. And as convincing as it is to me I assume that not everything else is correct either.
# littleumson 01 Mar 2014 at 9:35 am
I would be very curious to see a review of the first publication of Terry Wahl's clinical trials for her nutritional protocol for treating MS: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2013.0188
Thus far I have only seen a review in the paleo community, who have of course been waiting for the first publications of these trials with bated breath. Eg: http://www.thepaleomom.com/2014/02/first-clinical-trial-using-paleo-diet-autoimmune-disease.html
# tmac57on 04 Mar 2014 at 10:10 am
Heard on NPR's Morning Edition this morning:
'When It Comes To Vaccines, Science Can Run Into A Brick Wall'
# tmac57on 04 Mar 2014 at 11:23 am
Regarding my above suggestion about the Vaccine messaging problem,I tracked down the author and study referenced in the audio piece on NPR:
# DGAon 04 Mar 2014 at 1:52 pm
I have just read about Cannabis killing cancer cells, according to Dr. Christina Sanchez, a molecular biologist at Complutense University in Madrid. I quick Google of her and the topic turned up nothing of great interest, that is in the form of journal articles, and so I suggest it might make an interesting topic for you especially given the current change in attitudes towards and legality of Cannabis.
# Jake Z.on 04 Mar 2014 at 3:25 pm
Could you do a post about the current state of cannabis research? I just listened to this and wondered what all of the studies in aggregate seem to show about cannabis.
# Mlemaon 07 Mar 2014 at 4:52 am
After reading the ingredients in Subway's food, in the wake of the "food babe" baloney, I was reminded of growing sugar/refined carb consumption in the US. Apparently up to 90lbs per person/yr now.
Researchers say there are links to "fatty liver" – insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease and cancer – simply because of the way frustose/glucose is metabolized.
Some respectable people going in this direction it seems.
Are we all, skeptics included, kidding ourselves re: the health of our diets? It sounds like the guy from Sloan Kettering will not eat sugar in any form if he can help it.
"I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can," Thompson (president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) told me, "because I believe ultimately it's something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer."
just looked at the date and realized it's a few years old – maybe you've talked about it already.
# rezistnzisfutlon 08 Mar 2014 at 4:43 am
Here's an article up your alley. I thought it would be a good opportunity to point out the bad science that's occurring not only with the "study" in question, but with science reporting as well. It has to do with charting the brain during an alleged out of body experience:
# nixdorfbron 09 Mar 2014 at 1:14 pm
I was unable to find a good analysis on the Neural Dynamics Research Group study on HPV vaccines that can be seen here:
The study concludes the following:
SUMMARY: Clinical trials on Gardasil have been largely inadequate, the efficacy of the vaccine
in preventing cervical cancer has not been demonstrated, the benefits of vaccination have
been exaggerated and safety concerns downplayed, thus preventing parents from making
informed decisions for their children. Routine immunization against cervical cancer with
Gardasil is not supported by the current data. The benefit of vaccination is uncertain and the
risks of serious adverse effects are substantial
I really think it's BS. But the Neural Dynamics Research seems to be a respectable entity linked to the British Columbia University.
It's a Neurological research institute, not a epidemiological one. So it's kind of odd that it's doing research on HPV vaccines.
Thanks for your time.
# Gallenodon 10 Mar 2014 at 3:25 pm
This article from the Huffington Post presents itself as "good parenting" advice:
However, I see a few skeptical red flags:
1. The author cites her own studies a lot.
2. Lists a lot of correlation without establishing causation.
3. Seems to cherry pick some studies to support pop-science points.
4. Trots out the "cell phones as potential carcinogens" FUD.
And last, but maybe not least:
5. It's a science-ish article on the Huff-Po.
Any chance of a skeptical analysis either here or on the SGU podcast?
# Bruceon 11 Mar 2014 at 7:56 am
Just this morning I received an invitation to an event in our area sent out to the senior management of the Health and Social Care partnership I work in. The following is a blurb taken straight from the invite:
"You may have seen Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) featured in the television coverage of Crufts Dog Show over the last few days. Suitably trained dogs can play a significant role in supporting the lives of people with diabetes. We are planning to support efforts to make them more widely available, including in Moray.
We are extremely fortunate Dr Claire Guest (CEO) and Michael Brander (Chairman) of Medical Detection Dogs are coming to [your area]. They'll be accompanied by Claire Moon, who has Type 1 Diabetic, with her Diabetes Alert dog, Magic."
(yes, the dog is called Magic)
Being a skeptic, I looked this up and found on clinical study that showed dogs were not able to detect diabetes:
And the one study that is cited by the MDD is quite far from perfect (it relies on owners making their own records and answering a questionaire, no blinding etc.):
I have seen some chatter on cancer detection on Science Based Medicine, but cannot find much skeptical literature on diabetes detection.
I would be quite interested to see a deconstruction of the study above.
# Bill Openthalton 11 Mar 2014 at 7:12 pm
Steven, I would be interested in your take on this:
I don't know what kind of organisation "truth-out" is, but a quick glance at their home page suggests the more ideologically motivated left (with an anti-corporation bias).
# ccbowerson 11 Mar 2014 at 11:11 pm
The recent studies describing the creation of "STAP cells" ( stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency) are quite interesting, as they described a fairly simple process that has yet to be replicated. Although the studies seemed initially to be well done (but perhaps too good to be true), some red flags began to be identified, and now it appears that one of the authors has even backed away from the studies… asking others to take a look at their data and and attempt replication. It is looking more and more like this story will continue to grow, and is a good example for the topic of the process of science.
# Gallenodon 17 Mar 2014 at 8:55 pm
I ask for forgiveness in advance, as this isn't a topic suggestion but a plug for a one-day neuroscience conference on March 28th being organized by a former music student of mine currently studying at Boston University:
Music. Neuroscience. Intersections. Connections.
A symposium dedicated to exploring music and the brain featuring renowned
neuroscientists Aniruddh Patel, Gottfried Schlaug, and Robert Zatorre, the
Boston Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, and musicians from the BU School
of Music.
Kameron is double-majoring in neuroscience and music and is quite passionate about both subjects. If any of you are within striking distance of Boston and have an interest in the subject, the conference should be both informative and entertaining.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled neuroscientific, skeptical, critical thinking blog. My apologies for any inconvenience.
# TheFlyingPigon 17 Mar 2014 at 9:47 pm
Dr. Novella,
I'd like to see you write about the idea of paid organ donation. I lean very libertarian, and applying market mechanisms to organ donation makes sense to me. I understand that there are serious risks to allowing people to be paid for organ donation; but if people are dying or suffering for lack of available organs, and paying people for them could help alleviate this problem, it seems like the obvious way to go. Apparently, Iran has had some success in organ markets, especially with kidneys. I haven't deeply researched the topic yet, but as a medical professional with a good understanding of medical ethics, your thoughts on this would be very helpful.
# grabulaon 18 Mar 2014 at 7:15 am
How about Fibromyalgia? I've been seeing alot on this issue for some time now but am having a hard time understanding if it's just a blanket term to cover several unknown issues or if it's become a legitimate diagnoses?
# LittleBoyBrewon 18 Mar 2014 at 5:21 pm
# Draalon 20 Mar 2014 at 5:41 pm
Star stem cell researcher under investigation and may lose doctorate over false research
# TheFlyingPigon 27 Mar 2014 at 9:04 pm
How about taking people who would otherwise quickly bleed to death, replacing their blood with a cold saline solution, performing surgery, and then resuscitating them with warm blood? They're doing a clinical trial in Pittsburgh:
I think there are multiple interesting aspects to this, including it's probability of success, issues it raises for the definition of death – the subjects will be mostly (functionally/totally?) dead, and possible applications to long-term human "hibernation" (e.g., for space travel).
# BBBlueon 29 Mar 2014 at 11:37 am
Organic food consumption and the incidence of cancer in a large prospective study of women in the United Kingdom
In addition to the scientific findings, the Food Standards Agency have previously said that eating organic food does not provide any significant nutritional benefit over non-organic food
# saburaion 07 Apr 2014 at 1:16 am
Sadly, my dad was diagnosed with Type II diabetes.
I took him to the pharmacy to pick up the various medicines prescribed by his doctor and some other items recommended by his new home-visit nurse, who apparently specializes in diabetes treatment. I didn't talk to the nurse for very long… which I now regret.
She sent him to buy something called Cinnatrol, which proclaims itself an all-natural health drink that is "clinically proven to decrease the symptoms that commonly accompany elevated blood sugar and its effects." The ingredients were essentially fruit juice, sugar, herbs, and cinnamon. This got my skeptical spider sense tingling, so I looked the product up.
The website is terrible; a veritable who's-who of woo claims.
It claims its effects are backed up by clinical research. Well:
In order to determine the efficacy of Cinnatrol, recently, a randomized double blind clinical study was undertaken, the summary of the results are as follows:
… Cinnatrol has been shown to have a positive impact on Type I and II Diabetes (can be used with insulin and oral hypoglycemics) in reducing blood sugar levels. Also, there are the positive affects on patients suffering from hypercholesterolemia (can be used with cholesterol lowering medications), therefore, the improvement noted in the study would warrant Cinnatrol as a first line product, as an all natural agent. Cinnatrol enhances the body's immunity, which demonstrates a whole host of anti-aging benefits, disease fighting and prevention properties. CRP levels are now accepted by mainstream medicine to be the most accurate predictor of cardiovascular disease. Cinnatrol has demonstrated that this inflammatory protein can be managed in a natural manner, thus decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and improving cardiovascular health.
Such encouraging results are the reason that many having tried Cinnatrol are continuing their use and self reporting improvements in their health and well being.
That sounds nothing like the results of a formal trial. It sounds like a sales brochure. And there was no link or reference to follow to the actual "trial."
I confronted my Dad about this, and he literally said "If it makes me feel better, even if it's just a placebo, why would you want to take that away from me?"
Well, for one reason, a one-liter bottle of this stuff is $38. I told him I could bottle placebo-juice for him myself for a small fraction of that. For another thing, it's sugary fruit juice… is it really safe to give to a diabetic? Couldn't it make him WORSE?
Anyway, any thoughts about this? Is diabetes snake oil a big industry? And is it possible I'm being too hard on Cinnatrol?
PS: Cinnatrol "contains Miracle II electronically engineered eloptic energized stabilizer."
# Robon 07 Apr 2014 at 7:58 am
Stephen Fry has recently linked to an article on mental health discussing:
'a new generation of therapies, such as sensorimotor psychotherapy, somatic experiencing and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing).'
'The difference between these and other therapies is that the therapist tries to engage with the mammal part of the brain and biology, not the human thinking or "mind".'
It all sounds a bit dodgy and from a quick wade of the web it may well be. I wonder if it might be worth a reply?
# BBBlueon 08 Apr 2014 at 6:25 pm
French organic winegrower fined for refusing to spray grapes with pesticide.
Interesting dilemma. As with crops like tea, coffee, and Cavendish bananas, wine grapes are vegetatively propagated and are at risk of being wiped out should a lethal pest be introduced to a growing area. One can't just choose to grow a resistant grape variety because resistance and organoleptic qualities of the wines produced by those grapes are not closely linked. It would be like saying: "Can't grow Pinot Noir? Suck it up and grow Concord grapes instead". What if there is no money to be made growing Concord grapes? What if the wine grapes I grow are perfectly suited to my soil and environment and are highly prized by wine makers? What if every alternative returns far less profit or no profit at all?
The usual response by farmers and regional authorities has been to do everything possible to exclude pests that can threaten a highly vulnerable crop to that degree. But what if exclusion fails? The next step is to control the pest by whatever means is responsible and effective. But what if attitudes about pesticides limit one's control options? I guess growers in that area have to accept their misfortune and the fact that one grower will determine the fate of neighboring businesses that have otherwise been able to survive for generations.
Reminds me of the anti-vaccine issue in certain respects. I understand that, in this case, pesticide application (vaccine) will actually cause harm in that the organic grower will no longer be able to represent his product as organic, but sticking to his values will also cause harm to others. Where is the compromise?
If we only had a technology whereby one could insert genes for disease resistance and preserve all the other qualities that make wines from those grapes so special… But I guess that is off-limits too.
# BBBlueon 09 Apr 2014 at 12:18 pm
Brandeis University withdraws planned honorary degree for Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ms. Hirsi Ali first appeared on my radar while watching DVD of the 2007 AAI Convention. What a powerful story and sympathetic character. Looks like at least one secular institutions is giving Islam a pass. Perhaps a discussion of this issue is more appropriate among atheists than among skeptics, but still, if an otherwise respected university sucumbs to bullying by religious interests, I would think that has implications for skeptics as well. Will the former influence of Christian dogma and politics on campus now be replaced by Islamic dogma and politics? I am sure we will see an outpouring of support for Ms. Hirsi Ali from skeptics at academic institutions all over the country, right?
# thinkabiton 12 Apr 2014 at 7:45 am
Thank you for your refreshing blog. I live among a large population of believers, and a member of my extended family posts such nonsense regularly. Rather than engaging her, I just come to your blog!
Anyhow she recently posted this, and it made my head explode. Also thought it would be a good topic…
# Autumnon 14 Apr 2014 at 11:42 am
"Placebo" for weight loss, complete with the worst ever definition of what a placebo effect is (I think better described as expectation): http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/14/299179468/mind-over-milkshake-how-your-thoughts-fool-your-stomach?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=npr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03032014
Basically, is there a physiological basis for expectation effect being able to modulate hunger? And does the ghrelin level change actually have any sort of clinical-level significance?
# Johnnyon 18 Apr 2014 at 8:39 am
You wrote about how our moral sense is reflected in our fiction:
"I think this attitude is reflected in our fiction. Enemy soldiers, who need to be killed in large numbers, are generally faceless automatons. They are uniforms, not people. Think of the Stormtroopers in Star Wars. A general rule of science fiction is that there are certain things the hero(s) can kill with abandon (without moral judgement): robots, insects, undead, monsters, and Nazis. Nazis can be thought of generically as any faceless evil enemy soldier, which is perhaps why so many science fiction enemy armies have a Nazi vibe to them."
(Link: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/mind-and-morality/ )
This is, of course, also the case in LOTR, in which the heroes can kill orcs with abandon (Gimli and Legolas even compete about who can kill the most). If there is any research made on how our moral sense is reflected in fantasy or science fiction, it would be very interesting to read it.
# BBBlueon 22 Apr 2014 at 1:40 pm
Did removing lead from petrol spark a decline in crime? http://bbc.in/1kXHenF
Dovetails with most recent episode of Cosmos.
# pmb6465on 22 Apr 2014 at 4:07 pm
I'm guessing this isn't news for you all but the WSJ has an article about the Cleveland Clinic opening up to alternative medicine.
# bluedevilRAon 24 Apr 2014 at 4:23 pm
Someone else suggested this topic in the past, but I think it's worth a second look (I don't think it's been covered here or on SBM in the past). Dr. Terry Wahls claims to have cured herself of MS with a modified paleo diet. She makes some pretty outrageous claims that are not in line with the current consensus on MS. Her new book his the shelves this week advocating diet as a sole means of controlling MS and other diseases.
Particularly laughable are the results of her preliminary clinical trial. Only 6 of the 10 enrolled subjects actually adhered to the intervention for the full year. No control group. The only finding was the subjective feeling of "improvement in fatigue." I would be curious to hear your thoughts on all of this. Thanks for the awesome blog posts both here and on SBM!
# titmouseon 30 Apr 2014 at 10:35 pm
Ads for the Fisher Wallace Stimulator as a treatment for insomnia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain, etc., etc., are spammed all over the YouTubes lately. I haven't had time to pull up the research but I'm guessing the evidence remains "meh" as when I last looked a year or so ago.
Disturbing amount of anti-pharma memes on their Facebook:
Chiropractor on their medical advisory board:
Kelly Brogan MD, whom y'alls mentioned recently due to some anti-vax thing, recommends the device for post partum depression:
Fun fact: Kelly Brogan's father-in-law is John M. Fink of Santa Barbara, author of "Third Option" which promoted Laetrile clinics, first published in 1960 so a true Founding Father of alt med.
This CBS news report is just ridiculous.
Ads say, "FDA cleared," whatever that means. Probably that the current level stimulates hair follicles but doesn't do anything to the brain.
# titmouseon 30 Apr 2014 at 11:35 pm
Okay I am starting on some CES homework which I will share:
Cochran review of non invasive brain stim out just this month is "meh" like I expected:
Recent study of CES for preop anxiety:
"Female patients undergoing thyroidectomy were randomly assigned to two groups, to receive either no pretreatment (control group) or CES pretreatment. Anxiety score, withdrawal response on rocuronium injection, and pain scores at 1, 4, 12 and 24 h post surgery were evaluated. Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), cortisol and glucose levels were measured. Patients were blinded to the treatment condition."
Wait, how could patients be blinded to wet sponges on their temples versus nothing? Maybe "nothing" means wet sponges hooked up to one of those things with wires that don't work. At least, that would be my control. Nice flashy lights, the allegedly pleasing sponges, but impaired signal.
Aside: measuring ACTH, cortisol, and glucose as proxies for "anxiety" sure is sciency!
Found the Fisher Wallace FDA petition to skip the usual proof of efficacy business. It contains a useful summary of the best evidence, which is hard to pull out of the 500 plus papers at PubMed: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/MedicalDevices/MedicalDevicesAdvisoryCommittee/NeurologicalDevicesPanel/UCM291109.pdf
I wonder what would happen if you stuck electrodes on the inside of an animal skull, put the thing in water for a few minutes, then slapped some ham slices on top of that to simulate dermis, maybe some dry prosciutto on that for for the epidermis, then the sponges and the CES –I wonder how much current or signal or whatever you'd pick up inside the scull. I'm guessing most of the current would be moving along the surface of the ham just below the prosciutto.
I still don't know why this product is suddenly getting a big marketing campaign. In 2012 the FDA said "no." http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/neuropsychiatry/fda-panel-votes-curtail-cranial-electrotherapy-stimulators
# pdeboeron 01 May 2014 at 12:53 pm
Hi Steve, I heard about oxygen in a can. I haven't tried it myself, but it seems kind of plausible that breathing supplemental oxygen may be impactful after you have used it. I'm skeptical though,
Here are some claims from several Oxygen in a can companies:
"Three or four breaths of O+ oxygen help restore your body's oxygen levels to normal, healthy levels, elevating your energy and enhancing cognitive performance."
Additionally claiming that it can help recover from a hangover.
Oxy fit:
A poor supply of oxygen can cause a range of problems including:
Poor Physical Performance
Poor Brain Function
Low Energy
Headaches and Dizziness
Fatigue and Depression
Poor Immune Function
Seems like a bunch of wishy washy conditions of life stuff.
# kevin.odonnellon 01 May 2014 at 5:03 pm
I am curious as of late. Myself a musician, I have come across an article or three that have suggested a recent study has examined the brains of guitarists and noted that they are in fact "different". The article http://www.policymic.com/articles/88357/science-shows-how-guitar-players-brains-are-actually-different-from-everybody-elses Asserts that guitarists brains "link up" or form some sort of connection at or just before the moment of performing a piece.
Here is a link to the study http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00312/full
I contend that the study suggests nothing other than what similar brain functions will occur while two people focus on the same task. Others contend that this is proof of some sort of connection between brains.
Really I was hoping you'd take on the pop-culture aspects of this because I am not equipped enough to discuss brain-science related topics with any efficacy or authority. That and I find the constant reposting of this in my Facebook feed insufferable!
# BBBlueon 07 May 2014 at 3:48 pm
Another crowdfunded scam? http://bit.ly/1njvKO7
I have quite a lot of experience with inline NIR machines used for sorting fruit by soluble solids content and internal defects. Very challenging to achieve consistent results; significant differences among varieties of the same type of fruit require lots of validation runs. Can't imagine that a device like this is accurate enough to make subtle distinctions. May be able to tell the difference between something like fruit and cheese, but differences among closely related food items? I doubt it.
# pdeboeron 07 May 2014 at 5:25 pm
Sorry to do another suggestion so soon, but I see on BBC and even Scientific American that Brominated Vegetable Oil might be able to build up in the system and cause negative symptoms.
Is this another case of food terrorism? Coke and Pepsi have already removed it from their products.
# backgroundNoiseon 12 May 2014 at 10:14 am
This blogger claims that wearing a bike helmet is less safe based on studies.
I'll still wear my helmet, especially on mountain bike trails.
Here's the article: http://www.howiechong.com/journal/2014/2/bike-helmets
Thank you,
# ghulseon 14 May 2014 at 8:09 pm
Lately I've been hearing about psychologist Paul Vitz's "hypothesis" that suggests atheists have "daddy issues." In his book, "Faith of the Fatherless," Vitz cherry-picks famous atheists and compares this set with a "control group" of famous theists, purportedly showing a correlation between atheists and missing or distant fathers.
I know this is junk science and that Vitz's methodology is anything but scientific, and that the conclusions drawn are spurious, but couldn't this "hypothesis" be fairly easy to test using more scientifically valid surveys?
I would dearly love to hear Dr. Novella's assessment of this "hypothesis."
There are numerous reviews of Vitz's book online. Here's a paper he wrote as well:
# pmb6465on 03 Jun 2014 at 2:27 pm
I guess the next time we build we'll have to consider having the structure certified with the WELL Building Standard……
This isn't really interesting enough for Dr. Novella to commit to a blog post but it seems so ridiculous that I wanted to share.
# BuckarooSamuraion 05 Jun 2014 at 8:30 am
Hi Steve,
Not sure if you've heard about this but the NIH appears to be in trouble for some ethical violations regarding research on premature babies. One of the issues seems the lack of informed consent. This seems clear cut and I think is a issue with what these researchers were doing in that the parents weren't adequately informed of the research and were just told to sign (not sure what is actually true here, but if it is its a black mark).
The other thing the press seems to be making a big deal out of is the fact that high or low oxygen doses on premature children has significant risks death being one of the outcomes. However, none of the press are indicating what the "high" and "low" levels in research were and what those levels are within context of the actual dangerous levels.
Any info on this?
-Justin Couron
# weegreenblobbieon 16 Jun 2014 at 3:56 pm
Super GMO Bananas, sounds like a great topic for you Steve!
# Johnnyon 19 Jun 2014 at 6:34 pm
If you are up for a little fight PZ Myers has written a piece called "The difference between skeptical thinking and scientific thinking".
# the devils gummy bearon 19 Jun 2014 at 8:07 pm
PZ does make a compelling case…
# drjoeon 23 Jun 2014 at 11:18 am
nice blog. it's good to see sound critical thinking.
please excuse some shameful self-promotion, but i just started a blog myself and could use some kindred spirits there after already being trolled by antipsychiatrists and antiglutenists!
although i am a skeptic at heart, my interest is a little more on the side of trying to understand why people hold disparate beliefs.
# pmb6465on 23 Jun 2014 at 3:56 pm
The tech site The Verge is reporting on a new study that shows that mothers who live within a mile of farms using particular pesticides are more likely to have children with "autism spectrum" than those that don't.
From the description of the study in the article, this feels like a data mining exercise to me. It takes information from the California Pesticide Use Report and compares it to the addresses of participants of the Childhood Autism Risks from Genes and Environment study and finds some correlation. I'm sure there are any number of factors that would show correlation; and think of all of the data points where there is no correlation.
I would say the headline of "Study further confirms link between autism and pesticide exposure" is a bit pre-mature and disingenuous.
# rezistnzisfutlon 24 Jun 2014 at 11:25 am
Hi Dr. Novella,
It looks like our good friend Seralini is having his infamous rat study republished in a pay to play journal "Environmental Sciences Europe".
A few scientists have already spoken about it.
It seems to me that the peer review process has taken it in the face in the past few years with the advent of self-promoting, so-called "open access", and industry specific journals that try to take on the specter of science without actually being science. It seems like a serious issue as science already suffers from a PR problem and having the scientific process compromised like this only serves to undermine it.
I see this as little different than CAM and woo "journals" promoting their own "studies" to lend themselves an air of legitimacy, profiting off of the ignorance and scientific illiteracy of the general public. Of course, with Seralini this is combined with his anti-GMO activism, which seems to be the impetus of Environmental Sciences Europe.
# zegreson 27 Jun 2014 at 1:39 pm
Hello Dr. Novella,
Radiolab put out a podcast-only episode yesterday about tDCS (trans-cranial direct current stimulation).
I find that they are generally a fantastic and informative show, but they do on occasion wonder a little too close to the woo-o-sphere. This last episode definitely set off some alarm bells.
There were several grandiose claims for tDCS such as instantly learning how to shoot a bunch of bad guys in a simulation. There was a very dubious example of seeing magic-eye stereograms as soon as tDCS was applied. At the end, the show degenerated into promoting tDCS-sets, built at home for $20, as a way to solve every problem from stress to learning difficulties.
It would be interesting to find out the "skinny" on what studies actually show about tDCS.
When I was listening to the episode I couldn't help feeling that this could be a HUGE new arena for CAM quacks to take advantage of.
PS. Love the blogs, the podcast, and "Your Deceptive Mind" which I recently read.
# tmac57on 28 Jun 2014 at 9:24 pm
Steve- Just wondering if you have heard about this: (From Radio Lab Podcast titled '9 Volt Nirvana'
Learn a new language faster than ever! Leave doubt in the dust! Be a better sniper! Could you do all that and more with just a zap to the noggin? Maybe.
Sally Adee, an editor at New Scientist, was at a conference for DARPA – The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – when she heard about a way to speed up learning with something called trans-cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). A couple years later, Sally found herself weilding an M4 assualt rifle, picking off enemy combatants with a battery wired to her temple. Of course, it was a simulation, but Sally's sniper skills made producer Soren Wheeler wonder what we should think of the world of brain stimulation.
Interesting story,but my skeptic senses were tingling the whole time
# Johnnyon 03 Jul 2014 at 4:45 pm
Please consider writing about Asperger's syndrome. Some reasons for why it might be worthwhile:
- It is related (or a sub-category of, depending on whose definitions you use) of autism, which you have touched upon quite a bit (at least indirectly) on this blog.
- It has gained increased attention in recent(ish) years.
- A lot of misconceptions surround it.
- You are a neurologist.
And keep up the good work of skeptical activism!
# Hosson 03 Jul 2014 at 5:30 pm
The Vatican is officially backing exorcism.
# mumadaddon 04 Jul 2014 at 4:23 am
Roger Penrose, Orch OR, and quantum effects in consciousness.
Hi Steve,
This has recently cropped up in the 'Brain is not a Receiver' thread. I know this theory has been kicking around for a long time and historically has had little credibility, but it seems a recent study has provided some evidence in its favour.
As a lay person I find it difficult to put this into context and wonder what your opinion is on this line of enquiry. Do you think it's plausible or likely that there could be some contribution to consciousness from quantum effects?
# JPeezyon 07 Jul 2014 at 5:37 pm
Recent study about sun exposure and cancer.
Yet this site still claiming many of the things mentioned in the above article are still myths.
# Artur Krolon 08 Jul 2014 at 8:38 am
Since it's been nearly a decade since you first tackled the issue and there have now been several new publications on the topic, especially in it's therapeutic use, would revisiting NLP, and especially NLPt (neurolinguistic psychotherapy) be a valid option?
Perhaps in a debate format? I can at least promise a far beter quality of discussion than the recent 9/11 debate, or alternatively can point to someone who had already commented on your blog on the issue, Andrew Bradbury, as a potential qualified discussant on the topic.
Best wishes,
# Bruceon 09 Jul 2014 at 5:46 am
This must have been something that came across your radar in the past day or so, though TAM would have delayed any postings here:
It is preliminary, but the implications could be huge.
# weegreenblobbieon 10 Jul 2014 at 4:36 pm
Hi Steve,
The little girl treated with anti-viral drugs to "cure" her aids unfortunately tested positive for HIV:
# Creeping Malaiseon 15 Jul 2014 at 12:45 am
Hey Doc –
How about doing an article on HAARP? It's been receiving a fair bit of attention in wingnut circles of late, with claims of 'HAARP hurricanes' being directed at America's enemies.
# Ufoon 16 Jul 2014 at 11:23 am
Another "organic is better" study by Leifert, Benbrook and co.:
# cliffon 17 Jul 2014 at 5:14 pm
Hello Steve,
Fox News recently ran a story over a mother's plea to get the school to pay for the handler of a "seizure assistant dog" for her son, however. Little effort went into actually providing evidence the dog can detect seizures before they occur. I'm guessing this topic has came up in your practice, and I think this would be an interesting topic for the show and/or blog. Enjoy!!!!!
# Bruceon 19 Jul 2014 at 5:19 am
After all the serious and long discussions we have had recently you might not want to bring up another controversial subject, but this might be worth looking into:
# Ramshorn Snailon 20 Jul 2014 at 4:45 am
A little bit old but needs much more public attention:
The NYT gives a quick overview. The lawsuit is long but some of the best details are near the front. The hospitals employed a "management by statistics" behavior modification system to whip the doctors into shape. Red, green, yellow color codes for the MD's stats posted for the social shaming and peer pressure effect. Swift termination of any grumpy doctors.
The sad part for me is, why aren't more physicians fighting such an obvious corruption of their profession?
"This is an action against Defendant Health Management Associates, Inc. ("HMA"), a publicly-traded corporation that operates 59 general acute-care hospitals in non-urban communities throughout the United States, Defendant Gary D. Newsome, HMA President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Defendants Emergency Medical Services Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary, EmCare, Inc. (hereinafter "EmCare defendants" or "EmCare"), one of the nation's largest providers of hospital emergency room physician services, for violating the False Claims Acts ("FCAs") of the United States and the States of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas."
I'm still reading about EmCare which has taken over much of Emergency Medicine in the US (exclusive contracts with hundreds of hospitals now). In short: British royal family money –> Canadian rail –>municipal bus services (Laidlaw)–>American Medical Response, which hired leadership from Cancer Treatment Centers of America (e.g, William Sanger)–>EnVision Healthcare. EnVision has a network of companies. Some of those have their own networks of companies. Some get financing from entities based in the Cayman Islands or the Virgin Islands. Probably impossible to figure out the money.
Cancer Treatment Centers of America on a resume is not a good look for any CEO running a physician staffing company, especially one that effectively controls the culture of an entire medical specialty (ER) and is rapidly expanding into anesthesiology. They're now making deals to staff psychiatric units also. I have a feeling those doctors will not be speaking out against quackery.
# tylerblackon 21 Jul 2014 at 5:56 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I was wondering if you could approach the rise in "dysautonomia" diagnoses in youth. I'm seeing a large increase in this population in the patients I see, and it seems to have a very broad scope… there is a real phenomenon of dysautonomia (in fact, a number) seen in brain injuries, neurological illnesses, genetic disorders, etc. However, I'm seeing a rise in diagnosis. It seems like it's becoming a catch-all, and I'm seeing a lot of overlap between CFS, FM, IBS, Chronic Lyme, etc… in that its becoming a new diagnosis that describes a very similar set of patients who struggle with crippling fatigue, difficulties tolerating distress, sensitivity to pain, etc.
Can you comment on the rise of dysautonomia?
# Kestrelon 24 Jul 2014 at 2:34 pm
Hey Steve. Didn't know if you had any intention of talking about the two year anniversary of the Solar Super Storm "Impactor": http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/
It seems to me that if we had a heads up about future solar storms, we could deliberately shut down our power grid until the storm passes, to avoid severe damage to the grid. None of the press I've read seem to explore this idea. Thoughts?
# Johnnyon 27 Jul 2014 at 5:03 pm
Alan Sokal authored a three-part series called "What is science and why should we care?" over at Massimo Pigliucci's Scientia Salon. That might be of interest to you. He outlines what he considers to be the scientific wortldview and its enemies (he lists postmodernism, pseudoscience, and propagandists). He also write (like Carl Sagan did) that the most profound thing about science is its critical and skeptical side rather than its findings. Links below:
Part 1: http://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/what-is-science-and-why-should-we-care-part-i/
Part 2: http://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/what-is-science-and-why-should-we-care-part-ii/
Part 3: http://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/what-is-science-and-why-should-we-care-part-iii/
# Ekkoon 29 Jul 2014 at 3:25 pm
It would be interesting to see your take on "Sluggish Cognitive Tempo". It is being presented by some as a new medical diagnosis different from ADHD and by others as an example of pharmaceutical companies influencing the creation of new diseases and having too close a relationship with the main proponents of SCT.
# Johnnyon 30 Jul 2014 at 4:15 pm
Hir Steve, sorry for spamming this section, but I recently found an old interview with you ( http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/5/1/8/5185c0e4243531e7/16-booksandideas-Novella.pdf?c_id=1520737&expiration=1406751436&hwt=3b5c4f02af70b6e6d6db3d9614448c07 ) with Ginger Campbell where you briefly talk about the beneficial effects of video games for the brain. Would love to learn more about it!
# Mr. Hookeron 02 Aug 2014 at 10:10 pm
So i'm seeing this all over facebook right now especially from my Christian friends and thought I'd do a little investigating on my own to see if this is legit or not. I found a couple of explanations. The most scholarly seemed to be this one
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002808 This seems to have the most detailed with lots of references. Essentially it says modern bacteria that has seeped into the fossil. But it says it's from 2008
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/soft-tissue-dinosaur-fossil2.htm This is a more recent article that seems to say it was preserved somehow.
Do you have any info on this? A number of people are using this as an example that Christians are not welcome in the scientific community or that scientists are covering up truth that the earth is only thousands of years old etc.
Thank you for your time.
# Mr. Hookeron 02 Aug 2014 at 10:18 pm
Gah so sorry I see the first line of my post was cut off and I see no way to edit it. It should read "Scientist fired for soft tissue discovery in dinosaur fossil"
# scott.son 04 Aug 2014 at 4:27 pm
I'd like to hear your take on this kerfuffle in the Social Psychology world, as reported by Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/07/replication_controversy_in_psychology_bullying_file_drawer_effect_blog_posts.single.html
In an online discussion of the matter, someone also pointed out this essay by the head of the Harvard Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab: http://wjh.harvard.edu/~jmitchel/writing/failed_science.htm
Personally, I find the essay dumb-founding, and I anticipate that you will as well. But I'd still like to hear your take on it, particular since it is from a neuroscience lab.
# Bruceon 05 Aug 2014 at 3:51 pm
I don't even know where to start or where to post this…
Apparently EVERYTHING is being used to control our minds… including food, water and air:
# Johnnyon 10 Aug 2014 at 11:27 am
Below are some articles challenging the veracity of scientific skepticism. They are not the usual crop of atheist activists wanting skeptics to promote atheism, but are people with philosophical disagreements with scientific skepticism (though some of these critiques are rather confused). These critiques could benefit from being addressed.
# Daniel Murphyon 15 Aug 2014 at 2:43 am
# JRockon 15 Aug 2014 at 4:37 pm
on second thought this might have been a more appropriate place for suggesting the compilation of a couple lists. I realize this may have been done in the past on your blog and would only require link to the buried info. if it hasn't been done, would you consider pulling your collective knowledge of solid science reporters? by reporters I mean facebook pages, news sites, and television programs that present solid science and reliable information.
maybe you could juxtapose the good list to a naughty list? one containing the facebookers, news sites, and television programs that are toxic to knowledge and science? all the usual suspects as it were?
I know you link to friendly blogs already. the issue is: how can I help direct people who would probably never go to them? I have friends and acquaintances who are engaged with, and I love them dearly, complete horse shit. i could visit the sites and pages they post but every crank out there has got an editor and web designer. i could look for reviews of the site, but this sends me to another site i would also have to verify… its a bloody infinite google-loop. also, having a list to look into can help you with studying the bad sites so you know what your misguided friends are picking up on. i think it would be better to relate to them than speaking skeptic-ese.
this isn't just for me though. i think the lists would help a lot of people for many reasons. not to mention I'm curious to find out what a (not a reference to actual weight) scientific heavyweight could do with that idea. I'm even more curious about what the audience would no doubt add.
# tmac57on 20 Aug 2014 at 9:28 am
Interesting story on NPR's morning edition today,about differences in responses to polls on Common Core standards. This might make a good skeptical blog post:
# Bruceon 21 Aug 2014 at 4:22 am
This article doing the rounds on my facebook is so Troperific!
Here are just a few:
Autism = Rain Man (not said outright, but heavily implied in the lead picture) – As someone who has worked with children with autism this is, for me, the most unforgiveable.
The experiment has a number of convenient caveats, the biggest being "Though the ideal scientific set-up would be to keep the 'sender' and 'receiver' isolated from each other, this case had the complication of the sensitive nature of the girl's condition. "
The sample size is: 1 girl.
Then there is some quasi-skeptic "Are these abilities, and the new research by Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, explainable without recourse to paranormal abilities?" Well… gues what, we are left to decide by ourselves!
"Only time, and further research, will offer a definitive answer." JAQqing off
# MikeSon 26 Aug 2014 at 11:02 am
Hello Dr Novella. Im a big fan of your work on this blog, as well as SBM and SGU. Good work, and keep it up.
Recently a friend has told me he has gone on a strict no bread no rice all protein and vegetable diet, and that it is supposed to be good for the brain. He cites a book called 'Grain Brain' by a Dr Perlmutter as his guide. I could not find anything on SBM or NeuroLogica, so I was hoping you could provide some insight into this notion. I did google Dr Perlmutter, and he does seem to come up on a lot of crank websites. That in of itself though I would think is insufficient to write the notion off, but it does leave me doubtful.
Have you heard of this fellows book(s) or notions? What do you think? Would this be a good topic for this blog or maybe SBM?
# BBBlueon 30 Aug 2014 at 3:55 am
"Scientists Solve Mystery of Death Valley's Moving Rocks"
Now I can die a happy man.
I love it when the solution to such a mystery turns out to have such a simple, easily-explained cause. Serves to remind humans that our first inclination is often to make something complex out of that which is not.
# BillyJoe7on 30 Aug 2014 at 6:16 am
"Scientists Solve Mystery of Death Valley's Moving Rocks"
Here's the original article:
Here's a quick summary:
Here's the relevant quote:
"The pair concluded that on rare occasions when the desert would receive overnight rains, the cold temperatures – which are common during the winter months – would freeze the moisture, creating ice sheets. Those ice sheets would then be melted by the rising desert sun, resulting in a muddy and slippery surface on the flat and ordinarily hard ground. The slippery surface moisture in conjunction with light winds would then propel the rocks forward"
# Inannaon 30 Aug 2014 at 9:23 pm
Recently, a friend claimed that she hypnotized a patient who then underwent major surgery without anesthetic (this friend is a therapist). I've tried researching this claims but most of the info I've found online smacks of snake oil marketing. Any chance you've addressed this claim in a past blog? If not, would love to see it done.
# BBBlueon 01 Sep 2014 at 1:48 pm
"Roundup Weedkiller Linked To Global Epidemic of Fatal Kidney Disease"
Never ceases to amaze me how such dramatic headlines can be generated by an such an absolute lack of evidence.
# BBBlueon 01 Sep 2014 at 2:00 pm
Sorry for blank link. Here it is:
# Johnnyon 01 Sep 2014 at 2:05 pm
Physicist, atheist and skeptic Victor J. Stenger passed away August 27.
# sonicon 02 Sep 2014 at 12:02 am
Apparently they don't know the difference between a 'link' and a hypothesis.
# BBBlueon 08 Sep 2014 at 6:04 pm
After resting the GMO issue a while longer, perhaps this is worth discussing.
Food crop wild relatives endangered: http://bbc.in/1nGM9IA
I think we have far more to fear from ignorance, misogynistic cultures, and religious extremism than we do GE tech. In fact, GE tech may be our best hope for preserving genetic resources considering the reality of "conflict zones" and inefficient land use.
# BBBlueon 08 Sep 2014 at 7:17 pm
Hey Sonic,
Long time no see. How does your garden grow?
# Daniel Murphyon 11 Sep 2014 at 8:33 am
It's another 'person wakes from coma speaking different language' story making the rounds. It's interesting to compare the YouTube video posted Sept 2014 to a newspaper story from July 2013, and see how easy it is to turn not much of a story into something sensational. In the video, the Czech girl who supposedly woke up speaking German, and the American who supposedly woke up speaking Swedish, get another mention:
# Johnnyon 11 Sep 2014 at 5:17 pm
You might find it worthwhile to link to the site of the Skeptical Humanities: http://skepticalhumanities.com
My perception is that there has been some lacking in this regard within organized skepticism. History for example is clearly within the bounds of scientific skepticism (it is empirical), and there are many myths to debunk other than Holocaust denial (which isn't even particularly widespread, at least not in the Western world). I know you have written a few pieces in regard to this (such as your post on Jesus and Mithras), but overall the skeptical movement could benefit from more of this.
# daedalus2uon 13 Sep 2014 at 5:09 pm
Hi, I saw this news report on the potential for Botox to stunt emotional development in young people.
If there is somatic feedback between facial movement and social affect, then blunting the movements could adversely affect the development of the proper feedback.
In other words, if facial expressions are a "language" that needs to be learned (like any other language), blunting the expression is going to degrade the fidelity of learning. Since facial movements are not visible to the person doing them, presumably the "feedback" that allows learning is via another mechanism (haptic feedback?).
There might be correlates in reduced emotional face reading among people who use botox, even as adults because of the haptic feedback. Learning of the reading of facial expression might also be blunted in cultures where children are forced to cover their faces (some Islamic societies require girls and women to cover themselves).
# efdxc1300on 16 Sep 2014 at 1:56 am
I've been reading some interesting articles about Toxoplasma gondii and effects on human populations, and I am very skeptical about many of the claims and correlations suggested.
Apparently studies on rodent populations have concluded that infections make rats attracted to the smell of cat urine, as well as influencing behavior and motor control to make them easier prey for cats.
People have taken this further and suggested (based on some population studies) that the parasites can influence human behavior as well. Infection has been linked to social behaviors, schizophrenia, motor control, attention span, brain size, and plenty of other things.
Some of the interesting features of these theories include behavioral changes along gender lines, possibly including hormonal changes, as well as different reactions to the smell of cat urine (possible also along gender lines).
The Atlantic has published multiple articles about this, but does not provide useful citations.
I am very skeptical of the conclusions reached by those conducting these studies, but I was unable to find a critical reading of the source material. Many people have reported on these proposed phenomena, but none (to my knowledge) have gone to any lengths to examine the viability of such ideas in a public manner suitable for a layperson.
# mumadaddon 17 Sep 2014 at 12:40 pm
Low fat diet and heart disease. I'm reading 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes, and I'm finding it difficult not to come to the conclusion that the evidence for this as a major risk factor has always been thin. I've been trying to look into it myself because a big part of me can't believe that many governments would base public guidance on weak evidence. It seems that a recent Cochrane Review also concluded that there was little evidence of a correlation.
It would be great to get your opinion on this, as I find it impossible to parse the literature.
# Teaseron 17 Sep 2014 at 5:07 pm
A article about the potential of artificial sweeteners disrupting glucose regulation.
"While acknowledging that it is too early for broad or definitive conclusions, Dr. Elinav said he had already changed his own behavior.
"I've consumed very large amounts of coffee, and extensively used sweeteners, thinking like many other people that they are at least not harmful to me and perhaps even beneficial," he said. "Given the surprising results that we got in our study, I made a personal preference to stop using them.
"We don't think the body of evidence that we present in humans is sufficient to change the current recommendations," he continued. "But I would hope it would provoke a healthy discussion."
# MKandeferon 18 Sep 2014 at 6:37 pm
Daily Show just recently did a video on opiates and drug companies, what is your take:
# BBBlueon 22 Sep 2014 at 11:17 am
"Today Moms Across America will be seen on Dr.OZ in connection to our kids getting better when they get off GMOs. It is a groundbreaking episode and not only will millions be watching but they will share it with their friends to watch later off the website."
# jsterritton 26 Sep 2014 at 6:58 pm
I would love to learn more about "herxing" (Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction). There is little in the scientific literature, yet it is used by so-called "Lyme literate" providers and CLD believers to be the main tool used to diagnose the disease and evaluate treatment (such as it is). I think there is interesting cross-pollination to be explored with other fake illnesses and also real ones, like psychogenic illness, conversion illness, and depression. The literature suggests herxing to be a minor footnote of syphilis treatment; CLD believers post videos of themselves in states of near-death that they attribute to this phenomenon (personally, I would rush to a hospital, not set up a tripod — another interesting topic in itself: YouTube medicine).
# zegreson 30 Sep 2014 at 12:37 pm
I was wondering how you would respond to the 10000 hour rule – nature – nurture article that was in Slate yesterday (link below). I was wondering what you generally thought about the propagation of the 10000 hour idea as a result of Malcom Gladwell's book. Also have there been studies that compare the impact of predisposition vs. "deliberate practice" on specific skills.
# daedalus2uon 02 Oct 2014 at 2:26 pm
Article on brain death
That seems to have reversed itself.
If it is correct, then it is a misdiagnosis of brain death. The article reports that the girl went through puberty and has started cycling. If so, that strongly argues against brain death because menstrual cycles are primarily signaled through the CNS.
# eirikon 02 Oct 2014 at 5:44 pm
I'm curious if you plan to address the quote controversy surrounding Neil DeGrasse Tyson? I've been a fan of his for years, but his response to being called out on some of the quotes that he's been using for years has bothered me. I'm not as concerend about a couple of them ("Half of local schools are below average" and a congressperson saying "I've done a complete 360 on this" neither of which are attributed and sources can't be found) The one that really worries me is his response to the George W. Bush quote about the naming of the stars.
He has apparently for years been quoting Bush as saying "Our God named the stars" right after 9/11 as a way to separate Christians and Muslims. When someone tried to dig that quote out, and it turned out to be a biblical quote offered up in a speech following the Columbia disaster, Tyson dug in his heals and claimed that he swore he remembered it, and that his memory was so good that he had to be right and the truth would come out.
Recently, he has finally admitted that he had the quote wrong, but seems to be claiming that it was only recently discovered to have come from a different speech. The problem is that the original article that called this quote into question mentioned this possibility (that Tyson was mixing up the two events) and provided the original context for the Columbia disaster speech. He either never bothered to read the article or has chosen to ignore that this was in there.
What has really bothered me about this is that Tyson, a noted science communicator, didn't seem all that willing to admit that he simply made a mistake. He and his supporters dug in, claimed that it was up to the author of the article to find the quote and not Tyson to supply the context, and have gone so far as to attempt to have the blog that originated the article delisted from Wikipedia.
Now, somewhat bizarrely, now that he admits his error, he plans to continue to use the quote in his speeches, even though the context of the quote is completely different than what he apparently remembered. Having debated against creationists in the past, I was always under the impression that this was a Bad Thing To Do.
I'm curious if you've followed this on any level and if you or your associates have an opinion on it.
# rezistnzisfutlon 04 Oct 2014 at 2:55 pm
Here is an article by Yahoo Health, yet another crank health outlet, from a neurologist who claims that sugar and grains cause brain diseases. While no one would deny that eating too may grains or sugar would cause negative health effects, just like eating too much of pretty much anything, seems this is just another crank who is selling books. Just wondered what your thoughts were on this.
Also, I was wondering what you thought about many of the vegan claims being made, primarily that vegan is healthier than meat diets, that meat is dangerous and unhealthy, and that animal agriculture is worse for the environment than plant agriculture. Personally, I respect anyone's choice to be a vegan or vegetarian, if that is what they feel is the right thing to do for ethical reasons. However, when they attempt to distort science or give evidence that simply isn't there, that's when it's a problem. Since you've gotten more versed with the GMO discussion and often these two conversations overlap, it seems fitting to perhaps address some of the claims being made.
# Polypragmonon 05 Oct 2014 at 5:39 pm
I have recently read a very positive review of Chris Jennings´ book HIV/AIDS: The Facts and the Fiction. Jennings argues that the AIDS epidemic started in New York City. I have not read the book, and even if I did. I do not think my almost non-existent medical knowledge is enough to evaluate the author´s claims properly, but I had the impression that there was a wide scientific consensus about an African origin decades or even centuries earlier than the New York outbreak. It would be nice to know your take on this issue.
The review of Jennings´book, here:
# Insomniacon 06 Oct 2014 at 6:52 am
I really hope you get a chance to look at the following, that appears to be a scam which success is growing with time and spreading around the world.
The product called PowerStrip (marketed by fgxpress) claims to help for a variety of problems and comes as a transdermal patch, targeting most importantly back pain as it is often the case with alternative treatments. It's been a few years since it appeared in the US and has now arrived here in France. I've been confronted to it as I know people close to me who try to sell them, using various well-known marketing techniques. As the claims seemed impressive and the proposed mechanisms were vague and sounded spurious, I got more interested and remained sceptic. I found several websites that praised PowerStrip (including the following site which name is extremely misleading : basedonscience.com, mirroring sciencebasedmedicine in a insulting way), and I spotted multiple usual red flags.
Here is a short video by "Dr." Saucedo who brings his explanations for how this products works :
The explanation about Germanium is ridiculous, and one can almost see his dishonest gaze as he speaks.
Obviously, proponents have tons of anecdotes (and indeed that's all they've got) to back up their products. I personally know people who tried and keep on buying these patches, genuingly saying it works, and seemed to be fooled by this quite sophisticated product.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
# Insomniacon 06 Oct 2014 at 7:00 am
PS : The product is listed as a class 1 medical device by the FDA, a fact that is used in a misleading way to create a false impression of approvement. This argument is made even stronger in French websites as people don't know very well the FDA and its role.
Sorry for the double post.
# Nomen Nescioon 07 Oct 2014 at 6:26 am
You have written about the AWARE Study before: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/more-on-near-death-experiences/
And now the results are finally out:
The case of the 57-year-old social worker is described in detail in Sam Parnia's book "Erasing Death" in chapter 10.
# Teaseron 07 Oct 2014 at 12:02 pm
E- Cigarettes – Interesting collision of competing interests, big money and consumer health.
"With revenue from e-cigarettes expected to double this year to over $1 billion and up to $1.7 billion by some estimates, the makers of these plastic addiction sticks are gradually burning away at the $80 billion sales of tobacco, with e-cigarette sales predicted to pass traditional cigarette sales by 2047, according to Bloomberg Industries.
Although the health effects of e-cigarettes are still to be determined – the Food and Drug Administration is reportedly preparing to regulate the devices – smokers have not been deterred from buying the light-up devices."
"Tobacco companies, long considered public health enemy No. 1, have suddenly positioned themselves as protectors of consumer well-being in the digital age.
They are putting out among the strongest health warnings in the fledgling e-cigarette industry, going further even than the familiar ones on actual cigarettes, a leading cause of death. It has left the industry's critics scratching their heads and deeply skeptical."
# rezistnzisfutlon 11 Oct 2014 at 4:38 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I was wondering if you cared to comment on this item about a meta analysis claiming higher nutritional content and lower pesticide residue of organic foods over conventional foods:
# jsterritton 15 Oct 2014 at 12:18 pm
I'm a lucky guy: I have a place in the city and a place in the country. It is shocking how "red" things can become in a matter of 60 miles! It's also amazing how much my cosmopolitan Big City friends and "Fox Republican" country neighbors have in common. Specifically, the Common Core. What's up with that? My "progressive" friends seem to take an almost smug delight in "opting-out" of everything, presumably because it makes them feel empowered and virtuous to do so (this is why they opt-out of vaccines, are anti-GMO, etc). My "conservative" neighbors are just team-sport, gung-ho, talking-point Republicans — I'm pretty sure they see Common Core as government intrusion. So while their motivations are different, they end up at the same place, offering the same solution to solving problems in public education: "repeal" Common Core. Don't fix, tweak, or change it — just get rid of it.
Here's a link to the Santa Barbara Independent. The author illustrates how Common Core "encourages [children] to formulate evidence-based reasoning." I can see how this would be bad news for parents on both sides of the political divide who clearly lack these skills themselves.
# Bruceon 15 Oct 2014 at 3:59 pm
The BBC has a programme called Trust Me I Am A Doctor that I think is in its second season now and this week they discussed acupuncture and this link pretty much sums it up:
The BBC Doctor seemed to accept the evidence there as something that she would consider and that she might start referring patients for treatment because of this evidence. I was not convinced, but I am not really sure what the reduced blood flow signifies.
# mich.bellon 16 Oct 2014 at 12:40 pm
Dr. Novella, I'd be very interested to know your thoughts on TMD. Mine is getting to the point that I've been inquiring into treatment options, and in researching it, I've been surprised and frustrated to find that it seems like no one can agree on who should treat it (medical doctor vs dentist), and the majority of treatments either do not have enough research to support them, or the research that has been done suggests an ineffectiveness of the treatment.
My dentist suggested a neuromuscular treatment approach which would change my bite over several months, however from what I've read, this approach is not scientifically supported. I went to an orthodontist who suggested changing my bite through orthodontia, which is also not proven to be effective. I'm also going to see an oral/maxillofacial surgeon, but my guess is that he will just suggest surgery, but I'm not in severe pain yet, so that seems too extreme for my current condition.
TMJ.org suggests that since the more irreversible treatments are questionable, the best plan is to go with the most reversible and least invasive option, which is probably a bite guard. But I don't really want a band-aid – I'd like the issue to actually get fixed.
Why is TMD such a gray area? Is it such a complicated joint that no one can figure it out? Or are scientists actually avoiding extensive research because no matter what field they are in, they believe TMD should be addressed in a different field?
I'm exhausted sorting through online info, and since I really respect your opinions and the work you do, I'd very much appreciate getting your take on this. Thanks in advance!
# pmb6465on 29 Oct 2014 at 5:44 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I'm sure you've seen this actual study already but I thought I'd post anyway. I was having trouble finding the publication in Nature but here's the headline from a Pittsburgh paper "CMU, Pitt researchers help identify genes that contribute to autism" and thought it might interest you.
# stereoblueon 31 Oct 2014 at 11:22 am
Hi Steve,
I'd like to hear your take on the latest brain imaging studies and Chronic Fatigue. Its been picked up in most of the major news outlets:
# Johnnyon 31 Oct 2014 at 3:41 pm
There is an overlap between between the skeptic community, and the sci-fi/fantasy community (or more appropriately, fandom). Many skeptics are fans of sci-fi/fantasy, and sci-fi/fantasy has been promoted as a fertile ground for skeptical outreach.
Is there any causal link between the two, or is it just a coincidence? Is there any contradiction between being a skeptic and a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, or do they enhance each other (or maybe there is no connection at all)? There are after all some skeptics (like Richard Dawkins) who loathe fantasy and sci-fi that emphasizes "fiction" rather than "science".
# The Other John Mcon 04 Nov 2014 at 11:23 am
Please briefly cover this paper about seeing Jesus in Toast (Neural and behavioral correlates of face pareidolia):
# BBBlueon 04 Nov 2014 at 1:17 pm
Probably not worthy of a post, but I thought I would pass this along as an example of some produce marketing thoughts on the subject of GMO.
"One of the interesting questions is whether consumer acceptance is actually a very important issue. Our sense is that the problem is not consumer acceptance, but retail acceptance."
"Retailers have a different cost-benefit analysis in looking at GMOs. No produce item accounts for a significant percentage of the retailer's sales. So even if a new GMO pepper would double pepper sales, if the price is pickets outside the store, boycotts or derogatory comments in the press, etc., even a tiny interest group could make a retailer feel it is not worth the hassle."
# rezistnzisfutlon 05 Nov 2014 at 6:30 am
Here's a "pro" GMO publication in PLOS-ONE that looks interesting, a meta-analysis regarding several factors.
# tmac57on 05 Nov 2014 at 11:21 am
This anti-aging study is making the news.What do you think?
# clshon 06 Nov 2014 at 3:18 am
This sounds like potentially fantastic news..?
# Eddieon 06 Nov 2014 at 2:06 pm
Hi Steve
CBC docs recently did an investigation into Organic Foods The New Green Giants
The impression I was left with was Organic is better because it improves the quality of the soil.
An article appeared recently suggesting that conventional grown foods lack nutrient values because the soil conditions are lacking in nutrients.
Again I am sorting thru the muddle of what is valid and what is spin. Could it be just simple crop rotation that improves the quality of the soil?
The New Green Giants on you tube:
The Article
This article describes dirt poor soil depletion.
thank you
# RCon 06 Nov 2014 at 2:29 pm
Eddie, I'm always up for Dr. Novella talking organic, etc. Always learn something.
That being said, there's an awful lot of misdirection, obfuscation, and general dishonesty in those articles – many of the things being discussed – crop rotation, soil health, overcropping, etc, aren't really relevant to the conventional vs. organic discussion – there are organic farms that have terribly depleted soils, and conventional ones that do a fantastic job planting cover crops and nitrogen fixers, etc.
There's also mention of nutrient comparisons, but almost all the pro-organic stuff referenced doesn't qualify for differences in variant – of course if you grow a modern hybrid you're going to get a different nutrient makeup than a 150 year old heirloom – they've been selected for different things. If you want a meaningful comparison of the farming methods, you need to use the same seed – and whenever they do that, they get the same results.
Most of what they're talking about is Sustainable farming, not Organic Farming – they're very different things, despite the Organic media's love of confusing the two.
# Eddieon 06 Nov 2014 at 3:29 pm
I watched a UCTV presentation on threatened species , it was suggested that when you collapse the external enviroment eg deforestation it can lead to an eternal collapse of the microbriome system of the threatened species.
The lates news is there is no healthy Microbriome
It was over year ago I was watching a video on weight loss , weight gain, obesity etc
It was suggested our gut bacteria played a part in this.
Can anyone comment?
This is an example of how this idea gets aired in the public media.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2823912/Obese-people-given-fat-busting-probiotic-bacteria-prevent-weight-gain.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
# BBBlueon 10 Nov 2014 at 12:35 pm
Marin Foods Specialties, Inc. of Byron, CA is voluntarily recalling Organic Raw Almonds (bitter almonds), due to them possibly containing elevated levels of naturally occurring hydrogen cyanide according to laboratory test results. To date, no human illnesses have been associated with these products and they have been pulled from sale. http://1.usa.gov/1xrPcfa
But it's organic!
# yododon 10 Nov 2014 at 3:32 pm
Hi Steve, I'm a long time reader who for some reason has never registered despite listing this blog on my resume along with other things I like reading. I used to teach Theory of Knowledge on the International Baccaluareate syllabus and this website was one of the go-to places to find out about interesting topics.
Something has come to my attention recently and I can't find any real information on it. I wondered if you knew anything about 'Mindfulness'. I'm a teacher in an International School and it's being pushed in schools all over the world with lots of expensive training courses where you can become an accredited teacher. They are linked to the department of Psychiatry at Oxford University and it seems to be some form of CBT used to treat depression.
The tagline of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre (http://oxfordmindfulness.org) rings a few alarms: "Preventing Depression and Enhancing Human Potential by Combining Modern Science with Ancient Wisdom" – reminds me a little of the Brain Gym thing from a few years back.
The linked research for Mindfulness in Schools is very poor quality, with one supporting paper actually admitting in the abstract that their results showed no significance. Cochrane seems to have no mention of it apart from something similar used to treat depression (which it says is no better than previous treatments). The other alarm bell is the self referential linking, you end up getting back to the same places over and over again, oh and the use of the word 'Oxford' to make it seem more important!
I'd love to hear what you make of it and I think it would be a great topic for an blog post.
# Ufoon 13 Nov 2014 at 4:51 pm
Interesting article waiting for a skeptical analysis / viewpoint:
"Companies selling 'probiotic' foods have long claimed that cultivating the right gut bacteria can benefit mental well-being, but neuroscientists have generally been sceptical. Now there is hard evidence linking conditions such as autism and depression to the gut's microbial residents, known as the microbiome. And neuroscientists are taking notice — not just of the clinical implications but also of what the link could mean for experimental design."
# mumadaddon 13 Nov 2014 at 5:30 pm
Mindfulness, seconded.
What's the evidence base?
# rezistnzisfutlon 14 Nov 2014 at 9:23 pm
Here is an interesting new large-scale 3 year study supposedly testing the safety of GE maize and its associated pesticide (most likely glyphosate) on thousands of rats.
It could be an excellent opportunity for good science. I'm VERY dubious, however, considering how much publicity it's getting and some of the claims being made on the website. It really smacks of something Seralini would do.
It lists 3 main scientists, who look legit. Apparently they have a sizable staff as well. There are no specialists in the field of GE technology listed, so hopefully that is covered in the staff.
# Ghiston 17 Nov 2014 at 2:00 pm
This is a link to an article from the VA health administration web site. The article shows a very earnest physician feeling the pulse of a patient with the caption:
"Dr. Robert Friedman uses Chinese pulse diagnosis to determine deficiencies or excesses in a patient's energy in order to guide acupuncture treatment. The technique is well over 2,000 years old. – See more at: http://www.va.gov/HEALTH/NewsFeatures/2014/November/Just-Saying-No-to-Pain-Meds.asp#sthash.F9Qk4MUF.dpuf"
I work in the VA system, and the elements of quack medicine are coming on strong. I would hope you could post some on this. I am just so saddened by the direction of medicine and critical thinking in the medical community today. I continue to speak out from the inside but it is nothing against the building inertia.
# brobinsonon 19 Nov 2014 at 2:49 am
Hi Steve,
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on Halal certification – not Halal in general but the certification itself and its implications. I've been trying to form an opinion on this but it's a complex topic.
Here in Australia most supermarket products are Halal certified. All meat, poultry, bread, milk, cheese, cereals, confectionery etc… and most food companies are Halal certified – Nestle, Cadbury, Santarium, Kraft etc. All of that certification requires fee payments which go to a Halal certification company, often a for-profit business and often associated with a Mosque.
I'm not against people's religious rights (so long as they don't impact on others), but something about this smells wrong (I guess because it does impact others). Here are my concerns:
1. How much does all that certification cost? Often certified companies are prohibited from disclosing these figures and I've seen no information about other costs related to certification eg: required process changes, lost or gained efficiency. How can we decide if there's an issue with certification when we don't know the cost to the food industry and consumers?
2. Where does that money go? Terrorism is the often jumped to conclusion but the links are tenuous at best. Never-the-less I think it's a valid concern.
3. My main concern: who determines what needs certification and what doesn't – and who's monitoring this? Is it really necessary that the transport truck drivers are Muslims? Does milk really need to be certified? Does anything other than meat need certification? Does packaging need certification? How about certified cat food? (so that Muslims don't have to handle Harem food and can pet their cat after it's cleaned itself – yes, you can buy Halal certified cat food). I don't think most certification requirements can be tied back to specific scriptures so it's easy to continue to extend to more and more ridiculous levels.
4. Should Halal Certification require labeling? For most things I don't think this matters but my wife was most upset to discover the chicken we've been purchasing for years was ritually slaughtered to a god she doesn't believe in. There was no labeling on the packet to indicate this and she feels deceived. How many other's might feel the same way but are just unaware? Personally, thinking about the ritual slaughter logically it shouldn't bother me, but at an emotional level it does. (btw: I agree with your comments in the most recent SGU that GMO products shouldn't be labelled but I think this is different).
Anyway, it'd be great to see some thoughtful, rational discussion on this.
# ricroc65on 22 Nov 2014 at 11:21 pm
Hi Steve ,
I would love to hear some feedback on a treatment doing the rounds here in Australia called Mortar Health Systems.B.E.S.T. (Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique)? It seems very bogus to me but seems to be pulling in a great amount of follower and new practitioners.
http://www.morter.com/what_is_best.php, I would love your input.
# Johnnyon 23 Nov 2014 at 4:26 pm
Hi Steve.
When Obama was elected president in 2008, he said he would "restore science to its rightful place" in society. The Science Network asked several scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals (among them Steven Pinker, Neil deGrasse Tyson, AC Grayling, Sean Carroll) just what the rightful place of science is. All available here: http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/the-rightful-place
What do you think the rightful of science is in human society?
Another thing… the validity of methodological naturalism in science (and therefore in skepticism) quite frequently comes up in skeptical circles. I know you are a firm supporter of the concept. But others, like Sean Carroll (the physicist, you interviewed him in a podcast episode once) and Maarten Boudry (Belgian skeptic and philosopher of science who has co-authored a book with Massimo Pigliucci) view the concept as silly. A written exchange on the subject between you and one of those, similar in format to the one you had with Michael Fullerton about 9/11 conspiracy theories, would be interesting and illuminating.
# UNCDaveon 23 Nov 2014 at 9:25 pm
There was a possible woo article in the Toronto Star today. The authors had legit credentials, but it used the word toxins a lot, and there was lots of vague assertions. What do you think?
# Ufoon 02 Dec 2014 at 5:01 am
"Italy has suspended the use of two batches of the Fluad flu vaccine made by Novartis NOVN.VX -0.05% after 13 people died shortly after the treatment was administered."
"Fluad is "often prescribed to patients who suffer from pre-existing, underlying medical conditions and have a weaker immune system. Serious medical events and deaths are, unfortunately, quite common in this patient population and, hence, a coincidental timely association with vaccination is not unusual," the drug maker said. [UPDATE: A Novartis spokesman later wrote us to say that "preliminary results performed by the Italian Authorities have not detected any manufacturing defect."]"
# mumadaddon 04 Dec 2014 at 9:04 am
Quantum determinism: http://www.quantamagazine.org/20140624-fluid-tests-hint-at-concrete-quantum-reality/
This is about six months old but I don't recall you discussing this on the SGU. This proposes a deterministic explanation for quantum wave interference in the double slit experiment. To my untrained eye this source seems pretty legit, and the article has a good amount of background and detail.
Would love to get your thoughts on this – it would be huge if this bears out.
# BBBlueon 04 Dec 2014 at 11:41 am
FYI: Committee on Genetically Engineered Crops: Past Experience and Future Prospects—Public Meeting
# mumadaddon 05 Dec 2014 at 10:34 am
Re my last post, here's an article describing the same phenomenon from 2009:
# Insomniacon 07 Dec 2014 at 4:45 am
ArsTechnica reported on a recent paper about the fact that people tend to resort to unfalsifiable beliefs when confronted with adversarial factual material.
Here's the DOI : 10.1037/pspp0000018
# tmac57on 09 Dec 2014 at 12:28 pm
I've been trying to conceptualize what a critical thinking flow chart for evaluating questionable claims (dodgy emails, sensational viral social media memes/videos/shares etc.) might look like. I did an online search, and saw some that were just OK, but most are too busy and jargon filled to be of much use to those who aren't already critical thinkers.
I would love to be able to post something on FB for example, that the average person could follow and with any luck, start using to keep from being duped all of the time by what seems to be an epidemic of total bulls**t on the net.
# JHFon 12 Dec 2014 at 2:44 pm
Hi Steve,
I take a levodopa/carbidopa combination for dopa responsive dystonia. Now I've heard that this could deplete Serotonin. Wasn't so logical for me in the beginning, but then I found studies about it.
go to: "Monoamine depletion by amino acid precursors"
it also says:
"To achieve optimal efficacy, minimal side effects, and prevent depletion of other amino acids and neurotransmitters, 5-HTP must be administered in proper balance with dopamine amino acid precursors along with proper levels of sulfur amino acids."
Is this legit? After all it links mostly to their own studies, but also to some others.
These guys are selling some test to find your proper dosing of different amino acids.
In another study from one of the guys they claim that levodopa would be effective without carbidopa, while carbidopa brings in a lot of adverse effects.
As the studies are all pretty new, how can I find out if this is true? Just waiting for further studies?
Thank you
- Jens
# BBBlueon 14 Dec 2014 at 3:32 pm
Off-patent GMO soybeans http://bit.ly/1uIPj1D
Now we will see the choices some farmers make when freed from Monsanto's tyranny.
# Ufoon 17 Dec 2014 at 10:07 am
FYI, possible reasons identified for why the Pandemrix vaccine (very likely) increased narcolepsy cases in Finland:
# Ufoon 17 Dec 2014 at 8:26 pm
"Mindfulness-based cancer recovery and supportive-expressive therapy maintain telomere length relative to controls in distressed breast cancer survivors"
"Changing Our DNA through Mind Control?
A study finds meditating cancer patients are able to affect the makeup of their DNA"
# rikiliion 18 Dec 2014 at 12:26 am
Dr. Novella,
I just randomly happened upon a recent-ish (Oct 10) article by Dana Ullman on the Huffie-Puffie Po, criticizing Wikipedia for its nonobjective treatment of….you guessed it…homeopathy.
I know you've probably gone quite a few rounds with this kook, but it would be interesting to see/hear your thoughts on it, either on your blog or on the SGU.
Rick G
# eisenfaust2009on 18 Dec 2014 at 1:01 am
Hey steve!
I've looked into the V2k(voice to skull), Psychotronics, Mind Control, Gang stalking, Electronic Harassment conspiracy theory and was wondering if there was any truth to what they are saying. I've tried searching all the skeptics' sites hoping that it would have been thoroughly covered and debunked, just like any other conspiracy theroy. However, there seems to be no knowledge of such a conspiracy theory by skeptics and it hasn't been covered/debunked. So I think it'd be fascinating if you had a look into this and sort out the facts from the nonsense.
From trustworthy sources
V2K: The Microwave Voice Inside Your Head – Epic Science #98
Microwave ray gun controls crowds with noise – tech – 03 July 2008 – New Scientist
Do you think that subliminally sending voices that your conscious mind can't detect but your unconscious can, can actually affect your decision? (sure, i know that subliminal messaging doesn't work. However, why does sadovnik, the developer, state it could be used for subliminal advertising?)
Things to Read up on (Non Mainstream/Conspiracy Sites)
Non-Lethal Weapons – "Psychotronics" and "Silent Sound" / Armas No-Letales – "Psicotronicos" y "Sonido Silencioso"
StopPsyWar.com–Also StopBeamWeapons.com, StopCOINTELPRO.com, StopMKULTRA.com, etc.
# BBBlueon 19 Dec 2014 at 2:59 pm
"Televised medical talk shows—what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations: a prospective observational study"
# Teaseron 24 Dec 2014 at 5:07 pm
(Phys.org)—A study by Kyle Siler of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and colleagues has found that well respected peer reviewed journals have rejected manuscripts that could discuss outstanding or breakthrough work. The researchers found that some manuscripts rejected by three leading medical journals went on to receive a large number of citations after publication in other journals. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-peer-breakthrough-manuscripts.html#jCp
# rpotter1000on 26 Dec 2014 at 11:23 am
Got anything on studies causing calcification of arteries? I don't know if it's new, but it's spreading around now.
# Johnnyon 30 Dec 2014 at 5:45 pm
What can ordinary people do to further the skeptical cause?
You have your skeptical projects (blogs and the podcast) as well as working within science (which arguably in itself is indirectly advancing skepticism, science it furthers our general knowledge, and in addition the close relationship between science and skepticism).
But those of us with fulltime jobs completely unrelated to skepticism, but would like to see a world in which the skeptical worldview is more prevalent, what can we do?
How do we take skepticism from being a cranky subculture into the mainstream?
# PharmD28on 05 Jan 2015 at 12:45 pm
I have as a clinical pharmacist in the past few years sharpened my tools quite well for discussing the subject of vaccination at large. This includes beefing up on the evidence that supports various vaccines, the logical framework, but also understanding the various counter-arguments, logical fallacies, and mis-information used by opponents.
However, I have struggled relatively in understanding and communicating with the vocal opponents of the flu vaccine.
After reading through various articles and a number of the key studies, I feel I cannot understand well the anti-flu vaccine folks. I do not mean necessarily the ones that are more broadly anti-vaccine, but fellow pharmacists, nurses, and doctors that are for all other vaccines, but not the flu…I'll quote my fellow pharmacy colleague from last week:
"I agree that [healthy] individuals should rely solely on their immune systems to fight the flu (well, if your employer doesn't mandate you to get vaccinated)"
I then pointed out that healthy people often have in the past and will in the future die of the flu…and that surely those peoples' immune systems were not enough, and what those people needed was either a) better supportive care perhaps, b) a flu vaccine at all, or c) a better flu vaccine if they had gotten one that year. Her response:
"I am not anti-vaccine, except for the flu vaccine (for a number of reasons). I don't even want to get into this conversation. Work is stressful enough, and I'm not in the mood to argue on one of my weekends off."
Anyway, in the same facebook thread another colleague reluctantly made an attempt to prove his case that he feels the efficacy is at large unproven, and the risks outweigh the benefits..and he too gave a similarly curious statement about "natural" immunity:
"Our immune systems are biological not manufactured. "
Anyway, he went on to give a few links, one to a fairly recent Cochrane review of the evidence, which pretty much seemed to dump on the flu vaccine, but within the paper still said it works quite well when matched and un-matched. This confused me. Then his other two links simply did not support his suppositions, ironically they said the opposite if you READ THE WHOLE THING.
Anyway, I do not understand the psychology of this…its like so many PROFESSIONALS almost are hoping for the flu vaccine to be of no value to justify their pre-determined notion that we SHOULDN'T need such a vaccine every year.
Where does this come from? What explains the magnetism to this conclusion. Even when rebutted very clearly and cordially, I got only silence.
I read as best I can the best available published articles from folks about the flu vaccine – the Cochrane stuff pushes in that direction it seems, articles written in BMJ I have read vaguely attempt to suggest that its over-blown, but fall short of actually saying who should and should not get it…
I just do not understand these "best champions" and their arguments and I do not understand how my fellow professionals are so dead set on this subject?
Perhaps I am not communicating the lines of evidence well? I explained the artificial challenge studies that I find very compelling, cite a multitude of reviews showing fairly robust results in matching years, and even decent results in unmatching years…and they cite studies that really do not show no benefit, but what they perceive as too anemic.
I need a better strategy, and this is by far right now the most often discussed and most often supported notion by so many on the subject of vaccines: that the flu shot is largely not needed or simply not needed at all.
# Ufoon 06 Jan 2015 at 6:58 am
""In general, the lower the temperature, it seems the lower the innate immune response to viruses," noted Iwasaki. In other words, the research may give credence to the old wives' tale that people should keep warm, and even cover their noses, to avoid catching colds."
# BBBlueon 08 Jan 2015 at 1:44 pm
News item:
Latest measles outbreak highlights a growing problem in California
# Creeping Malaiseon 08 Jan 2015 at 1:49 pm
Hey doc – could you do a piece on the latest alleged cold fusion device being shopped around by known scammer Andrea Rossi? Mr Rossi is claiming that his E-Cat device has been tested and verified by scientists under legitimate laboratory conditions, but the literature is over my head.
# Insomniacon 12 Jan 2015 at 10:27 am
Hi Steve,
You may be interested by this paper entitles "Who Knows Best? Education, Partisanship, and Contested Facts"
Basically, it says the more educated people are, the better equipped they are to reject accurate information.
Here are the keywords :
Citizenship and Democracy; Participation; Education; Informed Citizens; Robust Democracy; Partisanship; Political Sophistication; Global Warming; Climate Change; War with Iraq; Evolution; Democratic Theory; Cognitive Bias
# Johnnyon 13 Jan 2015 at 2:06 pm
Hi Steve.
I don't you if you are familiar with the "A Very Short Introduction" book series, published by the Oxford University Press. The books are short introductions for laymen written by experts on whatever the topic is about. New titles are regularly published, and exist for everything from ancient Egypt to philosophy of science to anarchism.
There is one for atheism, another for humanism. I think there should be one for skepticism too, and I think you are the most qualified person alive to write one. Please consider it for a project!
# Jared Olsenon 17 Jan 2015 at 8:27 am
Dr Novella, just curious about your opinion of Edward De Bono's book 'Lateral Thinking'?
I read it about a decade ago and it seemed reasonable at the time, but I've not heard much about it or him since.
Have you read his work? Is it bunk? Or is it merely insignificant?
Cheers mate.
# tmac57on 17 Jan 2015 at 11:14 am
Steve, I thought that this might be an interesting piece to talk about:
"Evidence from some wrongful-conviction cases suggests that suspects can be questioned in ways that lead them to falsely believe in and confess to committing crimes they didn't actually commit. New research provides lab-based evidence for this phenomenon, showing that innocent adult participants can be convinced, over the course of a few hours, that they had perpetrated crimes as serious as assault with a weapon in their teenage years."
# Bruceon 18 Jan 2015 at 10:10 am
So much woo… don't know where to start. Might there be a teachable moment in here:
# Jared Olsenon 18 Jan 2015 at 12:47 pm
@Bruce. WOW. That's one Helluva laundry list; propaganda,
fear-mongering, conspiracy and hyperbole, and I'm not touching the fallacies. Interesting to note, not a single reference for such bold claims.
Admittedly though, I think Chomsky' and Hermans'
"Manufacturing Consent" paints a pretty convincing picture of
Systemic, but largely uncoordinated, media mis-information, although I wouldn't class that as conspiracy.
# krucz36on 19 Jan 2015 at 4:51 pm
Lyme disease?
# JSeatteron 19 Jan 2015 at 9:45 pm
Regarding the 11 year old Canadian girl who's parents opted for alternative (non-traditional) medicine from a quack in order to treat her (highly treatable) leukemia, she died in the last day or two.
The previous blog posts:
And the inevitable update:
# pmb6465on 21 Jan 2015 at 10:45 am
Who wants to invest in "bigfooting?"
PS: I can't believe this is in The Journal.
# Ufoon 22 Jan 2015 at 5:13 am
Oliver Sacks just posted this on Facebook, worth a skeptical look:
"Residents of a small village in Kazakhstan are falling asleep at random, sometimes for days at a time, and no one knows why."
"Usually patients wake up after a few days, sometimes falling back to sleep soon after. It is not yet clear whether those afflicted can fully recover or will continue to fall asleep at inopportune moments in the future."
"Similar sleeping sicknesses offer no help in diagnosing the Kazakhstani case."
# mumadaddon 23 Jan 2015 at 7:55 am
"Scientists slow the speed of light"
# Eddieon 25 Jan 2015 at 2:38 am
Hi Steve RE Migraines
I was searching your site the last couple of months for information on migraines and rebound headaches as a result of prescribed medication. This came up from an internet search. The information was confirmed by a visit to a physician so I thought I would post it.
# sophhhkion 30 Jan 2015 at 11:57 pm
A topic I've seen popping up a lot–use of talcum powder (on body) increasing risk of ovarian cancer? Thoughts?
# Belgarathon 05 Feb 2015 at 8:20 pm
Dr. Novella,
Can you please make a post on this whole Brian Williams affair. Based on what I'm seeing it looks perfectly in line with how we know memory works.
# Bruceon 09 Feb 2015 at 3:12 am
Carl Sagan being badly misrepresented:
Is there anything we can link or do in the comments of these kinds of posts that would stop these charlatan websites using Carl Sagan in this way?
# Teaseron 12 Feb 2015 at 4:51 pm
Three different takes on Aluminum and Alzheimer's
Aluminum can be shown to be causal using Bradford Hill criteria.
Aluminum can almost be shown to be causal but need a definitive study.
Aluminum Hypothesis is dead. Does not meet Bradford Hill criteria.
# John MacKenzieon 15 Feb 2015 at 12:35 pm
Just ran across this article on Wired with the headline "Infoporn: Proof That the FDA Isn't Protecting Americans' Health." http://www.wired.com/2015/02/infoporn-proof-fda-isnt-protecting-americans-health
The study referenced in the article was published by JAMA Internal Medicine: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2109855#Introduction
I'm hoping the article and study might be something you'd be interested in covering, and thereby providing some clarity on for those us who don't have the technical expertise to determine the study's validity and whether or not the article represents it clearly. Thanks for your time (and your fine and necessary blog).
# jsterritton 18 Feb 2015 at 6:46 pm
Oxitec GE mosquito, yo.
# tmac57on 20 Feb 2015 at 11:55 am
Huh! I just realized that this NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/my-no-soap-no-shampoo-bacteria-rich-hygiene-experiment.html
is about a product that our friend and frequent commentor daedalus2u has been involved (invented I guess) with. I hope it pans out for him.
# ndesouzaon 21 Feb 2015 at 6:11 pm
Climate change denying scientist accepting bribes from fossil-fuel companies.
# rezistnzisfutlon 23 Feb 2015 at 4:45 pm
Have you seen this already, Dr. Novella? Anti-GMO activists attempting to force various GMO researchers at public universities to give up their emails in order to "demonstrate" that they're either on the take, or otherwise being pressured by industry to toe their line. The conspiracy theorizing runs deep with these people.
# Johnnyon 25 Feb 2015 at 5:51 pm
Hi Steve.
In a comment ( http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/bigfoot-skeptics-new-atheists-politics-and-religion/#comment-49498 ) to one of your posts, you wrote:
"What our [the skeptic movement] long terms goals are is the subject of another post. I quickly summarized them as making the world a more rational and skeptical place."
I think that would make for a very interesting blogpost. It would also be a worthwhile blogpost connecting the present dots with the future. How are we doing? Where are we going? Where are we aiming? The skeptical movement has some influence now, even though it is small. It is also global in scope (or at least covering most of the Western world).
It could also be interesting to view the past to present from a skeptical viewpoint. You have done so a little bit here ( http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/a-golden-age-of-quackery-and-antiscience/ ) and it could be a topic worth revisiting.
# MarcinVAon 28 Feb 2015 at 11:33 am
Hi Steve,
Love the blog and can't wait to see you guys at NECSS again this year. I just ran across Dr. David Perlmutter's stuff in a Facebook debate and saw you hadn't taken him on yet. I guess he goes hand-in-hand with the Food Babe for a lot of folks. His hypothesis is about gluten and carbohydrates being the root cause of a lot of neurological issues such as Alzheimer's, ADHD, etc.
Good review in The Atlantic from a little over a year ago: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/this-is-your-brain-on-gluten/282550/
Link to his book: http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar–Your-Killers/dp/031623480X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
# Teaseron 06 Mar 2015 at 1:39 pm
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs
Shrime decided to see how easy it would be to publish an article. So he made one up. Like, he literally made one up. He did it using http://www.randomtextgenerator.com. The article is entitled "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?" and its authors are the venerable Pinkerton A. LeBrain and Orson Welles. The subtitle reads: "The surgical and neoplastic role of cacao extract in breakfast cereals." Shrime submitted it to 37 journals over two weeks and, so far, 17 of them have accepted it. (They have not "published" it, but say they will as soon as Shrime pays the $500. This is often referred to as a "processing fee." Shrime has no plans to pay them.) Several have already typeset it and given him reviews, as you can see at the end of this article. One publication says his methods are "novel and innovative"!. But when Shrime looked up the physical locations of these publications, he discovered that many had very suspicious addresses; one was actually inside a strip club.
# kstepekon 10 Mar 2015 at 8:53 pm
I came across your website while looking for a way to explain to my boyfriend and his family that they are wasting a lot of money on buying "grounding/earthing" products. I knew it didn't make any sense but couldn't explain exactly why.
I would really like to hear your take on Juice Plus. This nutritional product seems to make sense, appears to be well researched and the results sound promising….but I am not an expert. I would love to hear what you have to say about the science behind it. Here is a link: http://www.juiceplus.com/content/JuicePlus/en/clinical-research/published-medical-and-scientific-journals.html#.VP-QP2R4rjc
Thank you.
# zeimet1on 16 Mar 2015 at 3:11 pm
Would love to see a blog post or SGU podcast treatment on fracking. I searched your Neurologica blog for "fraking" "fracking" and "fracturing" but only found mention of the term, not an actual treatment of the topic.
Love the blog!
# The Sparrowon 19 Mar 2015 at 5:31 pm
I would like to second the interest in a fracking article, I've heard a lot about the subject but I'm not sure what is accurate and what is fearmongering.
# tim333on 21 Mar 2015 at 11:56 am
Hello Dr Novella,
Big fan of yours. Here's a recent headline that's been in the news, 10-YEAR-OLD BOY REMEMBERS PAST LIFE AS 1930'S HOLLYWOOD ACTOR [Marty Martyn]. There are some convincing details to this story. Would be great to hear your thoughts.
Thank you!
# Drakeon 21 Mar 2015 at 1:58 pm
Hi Dr. Novella,
I'll second the suggestion above for something on Perlmutter and 'Grain Brain.' Sounds like nonsense, but there are plenty of folks pushing the book on the Parkinson's disease discussion forums I follow.
I was recently diagnosed with young onset PD. While it seems sooner or later almost everyone with PD winds up accepting the need for science-based treatment (e.g., L-Dopa), there's plenty of opportunities to get suckered along the way, by fad diets, supplement regimes, phony stem cell clinics, etc.. I appreciate the work you've done to expose some of these.
I also appreciate your coverage of good science. There's been a couple of recent Phase I clinical trials testing immunotherapy approaches to slow–or even reverse–PD progression, including this one: http://ir.prothena.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=902569 (Yes, it's a press release from the company doing the trial). The Fox Foundation has some more information here: https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/news-detail.php?second-parkinson-vaccine-reports-positive-safety-results
I'd be interested in your take on this research. If it pans out (and obviously this is early days), it would be yet another huge success for vaccines.
# Insomniacon 23 Mar 2015 at 10:02 am
Here is a new WHO report on Round-up carcinogenicity. Glyphosate is now officially considered a level 2 substance on the 4-level scale, which means it is a "probable or possible carcinogenic".
I know skeptics have long been used to say that glyphosate is among the least dangerous industrial herbicide. I wonder how this new report is going to affect the rhetoric, and the consequences for the validity of arguments on both sides.
Best regards
# dw904on 24 Mar 2015 at 1:01 am
I have been hearing Parkinson's patients talk about the "PoNS" or "portable neuromodulation stimulator" which is used to stimulate the tongue as an adjunct to physical therapy to "stimulate neuroplasticity". This was recently popularized by discussion in the book "The brain's way of healing" by psychiatrist Norman Doidge, in which the tongue is described as "the royal road to the brain".
The research on this includes a group from Wisconsin. The senior author on most of the papers is Yuri Danilov who is also on the Board of Directors of the company investing in the device, Helius Medical Technologies. A quote from Danilov in the book:
"When the carnivores started to move on the surface of the earth… the first points of contact with the earth were the tongue and the tip of the nose… a lot of animals, from insects to giraffes, use the tongue extensively, and it is capable of a highly precise movement, so the brain developed a strong connection to it." There is further explanation that after 400 to 600 milliseconds "brain waves are stabilized, and all parts of the brain start to react, firing together." Tongue stimulation "activates the whole brain, so even if I cant see where the damage is, I know the device is turning on the whole brain." AARGH! The suggestion is then that since this "turns on" the whole brain, stimulation while doing essentially any rehabilitative activity enhances the rehabilitative effect of the activity.
The part which bothers me is that the book and news media surrounding describes anecdotes of miraculous improvements in patients with Parkinson's or MS after a few treatments of tongue stimulation, and without high quality evidence, many people now believe this is a miracle cure. I'm open to considering unusual treatments if they can be proven effective in a rigorous way, but I take issue with publicizing a device which is investigational and which patients will assume is available and effective.
Helius: http://www.heliusmedical.com/
TCNL Lab: https://tcnl.bme.wisc.edu/
News article: http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/how-your-brain-heals-itself/
Study in MS by this group: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24885412
# rezistnzisfutlon 24 Mar 2015 at 4:37 pm
As you may have heard by now, the World Health Organization has officially labeled glyphosate a "possible carcinogen" and the media and anti-GMO activists have had a field day with it.
Their determination is extraordinarily bad scholarship and the conclusion seems more ideological than strong science.
# rezistnzisfutlon 24 Mar 2015 at 6:46 pm
Consumer Reports has come up with an article claiming that organic produce is healthier and less "risky" that conventional.
Note the language regarding "natural" versus "synthetic", and how the writer ignores how toxic some organic pesticides can be. They also conflate farmworker risks to exposure when not properly using PPE to consumers eating produce that has trace amounts of pesticides on them. A common naturophile fallacy (that's just one example).
# BillyJoe7on 25 Mar 2015 at 8:31 am
This blogger puts the IARC/WHO report on glyphospate into perspective:
Main point: the IARC made their determination after considering the evidence for one week, whilst agencies that found no evidence that glyphosphate causes cancer, have taken up to five years to reach their conclusion.
Secondary point: IARC does not consider "plausible mechanisms" (there aren't any) or the dose (the dose is the poison and, in sufficient concentration, almost everything is poisonous).
# tmac57on 25 Mar 2015 at 11:39 am
Based on what rezistnzisfutl suggested above, and other things that I have been seeing coming out of Consumer Reports about the dangers of pesticides and GMO's recently, maybe it's time to take a look at CR and their drift into less than skeptical positions on consumer protection, which is after all their stated core mission.
I have been a 40 year subscriber to their publications, and in the past I have found their research to be solid and useful, even on health issues (they were early in cautioning that vitamin supplements were probably not useful for most, and potentially harmful). But in recent years I have seen some dubious information about health related issues coming from them, and I am losing confidence that they are using the best sources for evaluating their positions.
# RyanJLindon 02 Apr 2015 at 2:03 am
Dr. Novella,
Would love to get your thoughts on this article:
# Hoonon 09 Apr 2015 at 3:38 am
Please review this article which alleges a cover up and a deliberate smear campaign.
# steve12on 09 Apr 2015 at 12:09 pm
It is funny how the antivaxxers like Hoon seem to have abandoned scientific inquiry altogether in favor of Alex Jones-style conspiracy BS.
They have the doctor who doesn't understand the problem with endlessly analyzing sub-groups (as many do not), courts in the UK, who Paul Offet has worked for, blah blah blah.
The only thing they lack is science. Imagine that.
# Johnnyon 09 Apr 2015 at 2:57 pm
For blogposts, perhaps you could have an occasional book review of books relevant to skepticism in some way. Suggested books could be The Demon-Haunted World, Why Evolution Is True, Unweaving The Rainbow.
# ChrisHon 09 Apr 2015 at 4:05 pm
Hoon, what was brought up in that three year old article is quite well addressed here by a lawyer:
# Michael Simpsonon 10 Apr 2015 at 5:40 am
The author of that article about Andrew Wakefield was written by Dorit Reiss, who is a professor of law at the University of California, but is not an attorney.
I'm not quite sure what's the distinction, but she has gently reminded me that she is not an attorney and does not play one on the internet.
# ChrisHon 10 Apr 2015 at 1:12 pm
Good to know. Just like Andrew Wakefield has a medical degree, but he is not allowed by law to practice medicine. The same applies to Mark Geier.
# Hoonon 16 Apr 2015 at 3:55 am
Thanks ChrisH for the link. Clearly the article I referred to is biased and it was interesting to read the detailed review and the side by side analysis written by Prof Reis.
Steve12: You made an incorrect assumption by labelling me as an antivaxer simply on the basis of my suggestion that someone review the article.
# Johnnyon 18 Apr 2015 at 6:53 pm
Hi Steve.
In your discussion with PZ Myers some years ago, you posted a list of facets on what you think scientific skepticism includes: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/bigfoot-skeptics-new-atheists-politics-and-religion/
In there, you wrote that "… skepticism has several facets, each of which could be an article unto itself".
I think a blogpost on each of these facets would be very interesting and educating. Would not need to be part of a debate or anything like that, just for educating skeptics on those various facets.
And thank you for writing this blog, doing the podcast and skeptical activism in general.
# tmac57on 25 Apr 2015 at 8:09 pm
Another big company coerced into changing their product for no more of a good reason than pressure from their customers who have been bamboozled by crusaders armed with bad science:
So far Coca Cola is not falling for it. Maybe skeptics who drink diet soft drinks should switch to Coke to send a message?
# Johnnyon 30 Apr 2015 at 7:45 pm
Hi Steve.
As you are almost certainly aware of, the Center for inquiry has now formally merged the Council for Secular Humanism and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. They are no longer separate organizations under one umbrella, but now one organization.
This faced some criticism from skeptics, and the CEO of CFI, Ronald Lindsay, has responded to the critics with the article "The Crucial Connection between Skepticism and Secular Humanism", link: https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/articles/7158
He outlined why he thinks the merger is a good thing, why skepticism and humanism (as philosophies) are connected, and also tried to respond to some skeptical critiques of humanism.
Do you agree with him or not? Do you approve of the merger, or would you have preferred them to be separate? Do you think this will have any consequences for the wider skeptical movement or not?
# Marshallon 11 May 2015 at 11:51 am
Hi Steve–
Saw this recent article about the "benefits of coffee:" http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/more-consensus-on-coffees-benefits-than-you-might-think.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000.
I've always been skeptical of the "great benefits of coffee" because society is a mass consumer of coffee, so there's a lot of incentive for people to find pro-coffee conclusions because it justifies behavior. We know of all of the cognitive biases that can lead to such results.
I think readers might be interested to hear your take on "coffee's benefits," or lack thereof.
# Anjaon 16 May 2015 at 1:55 am
could you write an article about aromatherapy? I used the search box-only one article was about aromatherapy and it focused only on the effect because of pleasent smell. I study cosmetics and in class they told us that aromatherapy works because the essential oils absorb through the skin and that's how they have effect. They also talked about the risks if using essential oil on entire body, because a lot could absorb through skin and even hurt you if not used correctly. Do essential oils (in aromatherapy) possibly have some benefit?
Cosmetics is a field where there is a lot of quackery, and I have my doubts about aromatherapy-but is there possibly some truth to it?
# tmac57on 17 May 2015 at 2:01 pm
Hi Steve, I just read this article about Joe Namath undergoing 120 hyperbaric oxygen treatments for his brain injuries sustained during his football career. I was wondering if it was hyped up a bit, even though there might be some plausibility to the idea. Sounds like this would be right up your alley.
# Teaseron 20 May 2015 at 11:07 am
Canadian government scientists are being silenced by the Harper administration policies.
"This government has no respect whatsoever for Canada's public scientists," said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. Right now our scientists are constrained in their ability to share their research and collaborate with their peers. They're frequently "missing in action" at international conferences. They can't speak freely to the media and the public about their work. These are all essential elements of performing science in the public interest and that's how you protect our country's environment and the health and safety of Canadians."
In addition, federal government science has also faced dramatic cuts. By 2017, over $ 2.6 billion and 7,500 positions will have been eliminated from the top 10 science-based departments and agencies. Departmental science libraries have been shuttered with their contents sometimes ending up in dumpsters."
# Teaseron 20 May 2015 at 11:21 am
I can pay $119.00 to have my urine, tap water or breast milk tested for glyphosate.
Feed the World has set up the first ever validated glyphosate testing (LC/MS/MS) for the general public worldwide, which will be provided in the U.S. with the support of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA).
# BillyJoe7on 20 May 2015 at 5:24 pm
"I can pay $119.00 to have my…breast milk tested for glyphosate"
I would have never picked you as being female, Teaser.
# Teaseron 20 May 2015 at 7:15 pm
@BillyJoe7 – I was referring to my male breast milk. Yes, I lactate on a regular basis. It's all the rage in pseudoscience circles. Under a full moon in a clearing in the woods, we hold a GAIA drum circle. After the drums comes the ceremonial 'prepping of the man boobs' ceremony, and then we all milk each other. We collect the milk and donate it to the local organic dwarf goat farm. That man milk needs to be pure to feed the organically raised baby dwarf goats. With this new testing program we can rest assured that our man milk is glyphosate free.
# Michaelon 20 May 2015 at 7:23 pm
This article was just published by The Atlantic regarding cancer and cell phone use. It refers to a letter signed by almost 200 scientists concerned about a link between the two (or more appropriately; cancer and wireless device use). I thought you might use this as an opportunity to readdress this topic. I am skeptical of the content in the article but am curious about your take.
# BillyJoe7on 21 May 2015 at 6:57 am
A teaser of a different sort.
# kalindon 26 May 2015 at 4:19 am
Sir, It will be really helpul of you clear the following confusions.
1. Dr. Stuart Phillips (https://t.co/KDKShX1qHf) says consumption of saturated fat does not increase the risk of CVD. Dr Freedhoff also confirmed its neutrality. Is it ok to now use ghee instead of the previously defined heart-healthy oils like olive oil, sunflower oil? Is it ok to consume all % of fat from foods with saturated fat in our daily diet?
2. There is a book by Marlene Zuk reviewed in SBM deriding paleo diets. An equally respected researcher Dr. Stephan Guyenet recommends it. http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/1202/paleolithic_diets.html
So what is correct?
3. Dr. Greg Miller while praising whole milk points to the foll link: http://qz.com/405498/the-case-for-drinking-whole-milk/ and http://linkis.com/dairygood.org/rMM1Q. Pharmacist Scott Gavura in SBM has said "Milk isn't magical and it isn't poison.". Wanted to know from you whether consumption of dairy food should be increased or not and whether skimmed milk should be abandoned in favour of whole milk.
4. Dr. Stuart Phillips recommends high intake of protein when on calorie restriction to reduce weight (Vhttp://ylmsportscience.blogspot.in/2014/10/nutrition-importance-of-protein-intake.html). For a vegetarian who does not eat eggs but has milk, would supplementation with whey be required?
5. Dr. Phillips once again praises HIIT while James Fell disses it. Is HIIT worth the exertion?
# adamlevorseon 29 May 2015 at 12:52 pm
I've been trying to learn more about a movement in Chiropractic called functional neurology. It seems to be a transition to evidence based therapy but I would like to get a more learned opinion of it. Also the information listed on this site was recently posted to my FB feed and thought it would be up your alley: http://www.mccoypress.net/i/european_position_statement_subluxation_2015.jpg.
# Marshallon 04 Jun 2015 at 1:12 pm
Hi Steve, with all the news about Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, don't you think a post on sex/gender might be in order? Many people are having debates about the medical community's take on it, with opponents claiming it's a "mental disorder," etc. Is transgenderism officially acknowledged and is there a scientific consensus?
# pmb6465on 09 Jun 2015 at 11:54 am
I thought this might be interesting:
# Banzai Otison 10 Jun 2015 at 12:57 pm
Senior editor at Wired just published an anti-vaxx piece straight out of the Age of Autism playbook.
This is a textbook example of a complete science journalism fail at a high profile outlet. Would be great to bring some heat on Wired. This is especially relevant for those of us in CA who support SB 277. This garbage Wired article is currently at the top of Google news results for SB 277 and vaccines.
Orac also covered it briefly: http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/06/10/sb-277-clears-another-major-legislative-hurdle/
Thanks for everything you do Steve!
# jsterritton 11 Jun 2015 at 6:05 pm
Treatment Action Group (TAG) founders Gregg Gonsalves and Mark Harrington (along with former FDA chief David A. Kessler) write a common sense appeal in the NYT. The "21st Century Cures Act" would weaken FDA standards for drugs and devices and allow things like "consideration of drug approvals based on clinical experience." When AIDS activists from the trenches speak against weakening the FDA's approval standards, we should sit up and listen.
# Karl Withakayon 12 Jun 2015 at 10:15 am
This is the most awesome thing I have heard on the radio in some time. You might find it interesting if you missed it.
The unconscious hypocrisy of the organic industry is delicious: "Their dispute with Whole Foods is over whether the new ratings actually measure all those things very well, and also whether they could ever outweigh what organic certification represents."
# Anjaon 14 Jun 2015 at 1:24 am
"Most scientists call bullshit on the whole horoscope thing, but new research suggests your birth month may count for something after al."…
"Scientists at Columbia University compared the birth dates and medical records of 1.7 million patients treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/CUMC between 1985 and 2013. In sum they looked at 1,688 diseases."
Here is the link to the study: "http://jamia.oxfordjournals.org/content/jaminfo/early/2015/06/01/jamia.ocv046.full.pdf"
Is there some truth to it?
# pmb6465on 17 Jun 2015 at 5:18 pm
More battery stuff….
# pmb6465on 24 Jun 2015 at 5:13 pm
Hmm…."Stanford water splitter produces clean-burning hydrogen fuel 24/7″
# Insomniacon 25 Jun 2015 at 5:57 am
Amazing new research from Google on virtual neural networks and pattern recognition in images :
What comes out of the intermediate neuron layers is mind-boggling. The resemblance with human artistic production is troubling, and the pattern recognition often misfires.
Anyway, it may shed light on how our own visual cortex works, and help explain subjective experiences described when people are on hallucinogens.
# BBBlueon 27 Jun 2015 at 5:41 pm
All I have to say is that this is pretty f-ing impressive: http://bit.ly/1GSTWOZ
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