DECEMBER 2022 NEWS




Featured topic: coronavirus


On Science-Based Medicine,

Eric Burnett and Jonathan Laxton posted:


David Gorski posted:


Frank Han posted:


Jonathan Howard posted:


Clay Jones posted:


Judah Kreinbrook posted:


Benjamin Schmidt posted:


On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted:


Edzard Ernst posted:



Other topics

Best of the blogs, December:


Science-Based Medicine is now 15 years old.


In other posts:


Mark Crislip:


Scott Gavura:


Harriet Hall:


Clay Jones:


On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:


Edzard Ernst:


December – As reported in Consumer Health Digest, “FDA announces enforcement priorities for homeopathic products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a final guidance describing the agency’s approach to prioritizing regulatory actions for homeopathic products marketed in the United States…The FDA has developed a risk-based approach to enforcement that gives priority to homeopathic products that potentially pose a higher risk to public health.” However, “Most homeopathic products fall outside of these categories. No homeopathic products are FDA-approved, and there is no reason to believe they are effective.”


December – Pameijer and others published “What did we learn in 35 years of research on nutrition and supplements for age-related macular degeneration: a systematic review” (Acta Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec;100(8):e1541-e1552 Paper). They concluded “Research in the last 35 years included in our overview supports that a high intake of specific nutrients, the use of antioxidant supplements and adherence to a Mediterranean diet decrease the risk of progression of early to late AMD.”


December – Evans and others reviewed “Exogenous ketone supplements in athletic contexts” (Sports Med. 2022 Dec;52(Suppl 1):25-67 Paper). “Despite the mechanistic bases for potential beneficial effects of EKS, the evidence at present is overwhelmingly against EKS being an ergogenic aid for athletic performance. Yet questions remain about whether there are optimal dosing strategies (especially using ketone esters), specific athletic populations, or specific exercise challenges in which acute ingestion of EKS may provide a performance benefit.”


December 1 – Nick Tiller discussed backward walking or “retro walking.” “Based on the evidence, there may be some validity to backward walking exercises, mainly as an adjunct to a larger program of conventional physiotherapy for people with knee and gait abnormalities. But these potential benefits are at risk of being overshadowed by a slew of baseless claims regarding memory and energy expenditure, and the very rebranding of backward walking exercises as ‘retro walking’ signals the industry’s preference for marketing over science and style over substance.”


December 5 - Harriet Hall discussed “Kailo and other patches for pain.” Other products mentioned are Taopatch, Luminas, and Signal Relief. “The claims for these patches are all meaningless, nonsensical, pseudoscientific, energy-medicine jargon. They are not intended to make sense. They are intended to make you think you would understand if only you knew more about science.”


December 5 – Truth in Advertising posted “Nutrafol needs to shed its deceptive hair growth claims.” Claims to increase hair growth or prevent hair loss require FDA approval, “which Nutrafol acknowledges it does not have.”


December 7 – The FDA posted an article on non-invasive body contouring technology.


December 13 – Another FDA item was entitled “Protect your family from fraudulent flu products.” “There are no legally marketed over-the-counter (OTC, or non-prescription) drugs to prevent, treat, or cure the flu. But there are legally marketed OTC drugs to reduce fever and to relieve muscle aches, congestion, and other symptoms typically associated with the flu. Dietary supplements, conventional foods (such as some herbal teas), or devices (such as certain air filters and light therapies) that fraudulently claim to prevent, mitigate, treat, or cure the flu have not been evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness…At your pharmacy and online, you may see products being sold and advertised as homeopathic. The FDA is not aware of any proven benefits of these products.”


December 16 – A press release from the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that “More than 4 in 10 Republicans and a third of parents now oppose schools requiring children to get vaccinated for measles and other illness, up since the COVID-19 pandemic began.” A related story from NBC News was entitled “Vaccine misinformation one of the biggest public health threats, CDC director says.”


Addition to previous months


September 20 – Hidalgo and others published “Complementary and alternative therapies in skin cancer a literature review of biologically active compounds” (Dermatol Ther. 2022 Nov;35(11):e15842 Paper). “There is emerging evidence for CAM use in skin cancer, but no human clinical trials support the effectiveness of any CAM in the treatment of skin cancer to date.”



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