In the mid-19th century, traveling medicine shows became all the rage. They were basically like small circuses that also peddled phony medicine. Today, we may laugh at how gullible we once were. But charlatans like Dr. Oz are the modern-day equivalent of that traveling con job.
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According to idiotic homeopathy, the more dilute a solution the more powerful it gets. So naturally, it follows that making solutions even *more* dilute -- let's call it "super-homeopathy" -- will make them even stronger. This provides a simple solution for the opioid crisis. But let's be careful. There could be unforeseen consequences (especially from guys with oversized prostate glands).
When pharmaceutical companies jack up prices, it irritates everybody. And when people are irritated, politicians take the opportunity to do some grandstanding to win votes. Just a few days into its term, the House Oversight Committee in the new Congress has already launched an investigation into drug pricing. Is that justified? Not really.
Ideology, not medical reality, has infected much of modern parenting. The most compelling pediatric articles -- centered around misguided activism that still persists -- focused on infant feeding, vaccines and mom-shaming.
Some species of bugs in our intestine may contribute to weight gain more than others. And these may become more prevalent when competitors are reduced by antibiotics.
Should John Oliver decide that he's had enough, there is someone who can slip seamlessly into his seat. Jonathan Jarry - a member of the McGill Office on Science and Society. Jarry, who blames The Boogeyman in different forms, for all of mankind's ailments absolutely obliterates chemophobia and alternative medicine and those who practice it. Brilliant and hilarious. Don't miss.
Screwy medicine is nothing new. Some of what went on 400 years ago makes Joe "Crazy Joe" Mercola seem like Albert Schweitzer. For example, infections were treated (unsuccessfully) with "ointment consisting essentially of the moss on the skull of a man who had died a violent death, combined with boar's and bear's fat, burnt worms, dried boar's brain, red sandal-wood, and mummy." A "real" Joe, Dr. Joe Schwarcz of McGill's OSS, looks at some ancient, and very odd, therapies.
Has the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl created mutant animals? Rich Kozlovich from the
Paradigms and Demographics blog site doesn't think so.
The Florida man who was arrested for synthesizing the "Mother of Satan" claims that he was just making fireworks. Uh-huh. Celebrating the Fourth of July early, we suppose? Here, we explain the chemistry behind the explosive.
The good news is that African swine fever has nothing to do with swine flu and does not infect humans; the bad news is mostly for pig farmers and ranchers who are facing, as Russian scientists claim, "arguably the most dangerous swine disease worldwide."
Dr. Edward Archer believes that nutrition science is not just misguided but actually harmful. That's an extraordinary statement that requires extraordinary evidence. Does he provide it in his latest paper?
Conventional wisdom tells us that 10,000 steps per day is the "magic number" required for health benefits. But is there sound evidence behind this number? Dr. Christopher Labos, from McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, investigates.
Plants can be turned into fuels and chemicals, but much of their stored value is lost in the woody component that's hard to break down. A sea creature, among others, has found a way to get at that additional value. It provides both something we can use – and a reminder about the power of nature and evolution.
There's a phenomenon known as superheating. And in your typical microwave oven, the container is not heated -- only the water is. So to answer this question, we first must understand what boiling is all about. Let's take a look.
The New York Times objectively reports on how the news media, politicians and science were wrong about "crack baby" epidemic. But they never apologize to their readers or accept responsibility.
With women opting for "free birth" or "unassisted birth" the stakes are only getting higher. Dismissing medical advice is also taking the form of a misguided practice of prolonging delivery well beyond due dates.
Using made up numbers, The Lancet reports that surgery is the third greatest burden of global disease, right after cardiovascular disease and stroke. In order to save lives should surgeons actually "put down the knife"?
Treating addiction first requires that we understand it. As it turns out most people know little about what addiction actually is, and even less about what causes it. An expert breaks down the issue, so we can better understand what we're seeing unfold around the country.
There are many misconceptions about strokes that warrant clarification. They range from those who are at greatest risk to be afflicted to their chances of recovery. Let's take a look.
The 29-member Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, led by Dr. Vanila Singh, recently released an important 100-page draft report. The Federal Register docket already shows nearly 2,000 comments, and doubtlessly the HHS email gateway has received many more. Dr. Richard Lawhern, the Director of Research of the Alliance for the Treatment of Intractable Pain, shares his thoughts.
Our Dr. Josh Bloom responded to a March 7th article in the New York Times, titled Good News: Opioid Prescribing Fell. The Bad? Pain Patients Suffer, Doctors Say. Here's his take -- brief and right to the point.
You don’t have to look very far to find wellness facilities touting this or that intravenous infusion for “detoxification” and “revitalization.” And if that's not troubling enough, as fees increase our skepticism is following suit.
So-called "play or pay" was designed as an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to engage, or to continue to be engaged in, antibiotic discovery and development.
Doing so is becoming increasingly problematic these days, as another person was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. One common aspect among imposters is that they know just enough information to be dangerous. Here's how to separate physician fact from fiction.
Can yoga, instead of producing only anecdotal success stories, instead demonstrate that it can deliver quantifiable health benefits? A new study may herald a shift in the Western discussion of an Eastern practice.
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