JUNE 2022 NEWS
Featured topic: coronavirus
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski posted:
“Justin Bieber, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, SADS, and how to antivaxxers everything is always about vaccines.”
Eric Kramer posted:
“Moral outrage is not a good guide to pandemic policy reform. Vinay Prasad, please take note.” “Vinay Prasad identifies some dubious problems in the government’s efforts to protect public health, and offers some questionable solutions.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted:
“When 'old school' antivaxxers meet the ‘new school’ antivaxxers.” “…the longer these ‘new school’ antivaxxers preach their pseudoscience and intermingle with longtime antivaxxers, the more they start sounding just like the old school antivaxxers they once dismissed.”
“How to identify most antivaxxers with a simple question.” “Which childhood vaccines do you consider safe and effective and therefore recommend for children without a definite medical contraindication?”
“When new school antivaxxer Steve Kirsch met old school antivaxxer Andrew Wakefield.” “Steve Kirsch interviewed Andrew Wakefield, demonstrating that there is no distance between ‘new school’ and ‘old school’ antivaxxers anymore.”
“SADS (Sudden Adult Death Syndrome): It’s always about the vaccines.” “As tragic as it is, a small number of young people do die suddenly every year all over the world, with no apparent anatomic or chemical cause found. SADS is, fortunately, a rare cause of death. It has also been widely studied for decades, making it nothing new, and there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are its cause and not even any evidence that its incidence has even been increasing. It is unsurprising that antivaxxers have decided that it must be due to vaccines, because to them every harm outside of trauma (and even sometimes then!) can be caused by vaccines.”
“Nazis. With the Brownstone Institute it’s always Nazis.” “The Brownstone Institute is once again promoting the tired narrative that public health interventions for COVID-19 are incipient fascism and those supporting them Nazis.”
“Clots and COVID-19 vaccines: Misadventures under the microscope.” “All around quack and conspiracy theorist Mike Adams looked at blood clots under the microscopes and blamed COVID-19 vaccines.”
“Peter Doshi vs. COVID-19 vaccines, the latest round.” “BMJ Senior Editor Peter Doshi published a preprint misleadingly ‘reanalyzing’ phase 3 clinical trials to falsely conclude that mRNA vaccines to cause more harm than good. I sense…p-hacking. That, and comparing apples to oranges.”
Edzard Ernst posted:
“Is aromatherapy the answer to long-COVID? I fear not!”
“Homeopathy in the prophylaxis and symptomatic management of COVID-19.” “The role of homeopathy in the prophylaxis and symptomatic management of COVID-19 or other infections is very easily described; it is: zero, nil, nothing, null, naught, zilch.”
“Politics and mortality in the United States.” “...on the US political level, SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] seems to be a right-wing thing. Am I claiming that SCAM is the cause of the higher mortality in Republican counties? No. Do I feel that both are related to irresponsible attitudes towards healthcare issues? Yes.”
June 25 – Stephen Barrett posted “A skeptical look at Simone Gold and America’s Frontline Doctors.” “Simone Melissa Gold, M.D., J.D., who founded America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), is one of the world’s most arrogant promoters of COVID-19 misinformation.”
Other topics
Best of the blogs, June – on Science-Based Medicine,
Scott Gavura:
Discussed garlic products. “What does seem fair to conclude is that there is no persuasive evidence that garlic or garlic supplements can prevent hay fever attacks or protect against insect bites. Moreover, there is no clear evidence that regularly consuming garlic or garlic supplements provides any meaningful anti-bacterial, anti-viral, or anti-fungal effects.”
Posted “Questions about DNA barcoding.” “The author of a 2013 paper on supplement quality is now facing serious allegations of scientific misconduct... Despite the allegations made against a particular researcher, there may yet be utility in DNA barcoding in the quality assurance of supplement manufacturing. But the larger issues of quality assurance and product quality remain.”
Harriet Hall:
Posted “Swedish blueberries are bluer, but are they better?”
Reviewed Are Electromagnetic Fields Making Me Ill? How Electricity and Magnetism Affect Our Health, by Bradley J. Roth.
Wrote “Diet recommendations based on DNA.” “These companies are mixing half-baked insights from genetic research with standard nutrition and lifestyle guidelines that are available elsewhere for free. The companies charge anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars.”
Steven Novella:
Posted “US Preventive Services Task Force recommends against multivitamins.” “…for healthy non-pregnant adults, there is essentially no convincing evidence that routine supplementation, of individual vitamins or multivitamins, is of any health benefit.” An editorial in JAMA (Jia et al. JAMA. 2022;327(23):2294–2295) was discussed. Edzard Ernst also wrote about the recommendations.
Wrote “Is there a replication crisis?” “The real replication problem, therefore, may be mostly one of perception. The problem with findings that don’t replicate is not that the original study was a false positive, or the new hypothesis was wrong. Again, these are unavoidable and part of the scientific process. The problem is a media culture that presents every new finding as if it is definitely real and we should immediately change our behavior based on the new finding. This is exacerbated by social media, and by an industry of hype and snake oil looking to exploit such findings. A prominent warning about the preliminary nature of such findings may help mitigate this.”
“How safe is CBD?” “CBD, it turns out, has a safety profile that is fairly typical for a prescription drug, and in fact is worse than many drugs on the market…Nearly one-half of CBD users experienced [adverse drug events, ADEs]… CBD also has a relatively high potential for drug-drug interactions (DDI)… My criticism is of the current regulatory framework that creates a false dichotomy between drugs and supplements. CBD should be studied and regulated like any other drug, because that’s what it is.”
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac”:
Posted “SIDS, SADS, death and destruction: Antivaxxers resurrect an old lie to bolster a new lie.” “With antivaxxers blaming sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) on COVID-19 vaccines, of course, they’re citing SIDS now as being caused by MMR.”
Edzard Ernst:
Published “Spinal manipulative therapy for older adults with chronic low back pain fails to generate convincing results.” The “results confirm what I have been saying ad nauseam: we do not currently have a truly effective therapy for back pain, and most options are as good or as bad as the rest. This is most frustrating for everyone concerned, but it is certainly no reason to promote SMT as usually done by chiropractors or osteopaths. The only logical solution, in my view, is to use those options that: are associated with the least risks, are the least expensive, are widely available. However you twist and turn the existing evidence, the application of these criteria does not come up with chiropractic or osteopathy as an optimal solution. The best treatment is therapeutic exercise initially taught by a physiotherapist and subsequently performed as a long-term self-treatment by the patient at home.”
Wrote “Quackery is on the rise, and the placebo effect is part of the problem.” He discussed an article by Benedetti in Genetic Literacy Project. “The scientific advances in understanding placebo are fascinating. But one unfortunate outcome of all this work is that profit-seeking companies and individuals now have a new weapon: It is no longer necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of their proposed therapies; it is enough to assert that these work because of the placebo effect…These marketers often overstate the size of the possible response, claim to provide a ‘cure’” rather than pain relief or incorrectly suggest that only their own expensive products will have this effect. Even worse, they may present the products as an alternative to more effective traditional medications for serious conditions such as cancer…Even if taking a placebo can reduce symptoms such as pain, this isn’t always the best course of action. An apparently trivial pain may, for example, be the first sign of something far more serious. Treating the pain alone may prevent diagnosis by a physician or delay important medical treatments…”
Posted “Quackademia at its most rampant: the ‘Certificate in Holistic Health and Healing Arts’ (HHHA) at the University of New Mexico.” The program includes courses on reiki, homeopathy, and chakras. “I had always assumed that the educational function of universities was about teaching knowledge and facts rather than myths and delusions. Universities must be the guardians of reason, not its destructors!”
Wrote “Bee venom acupuncture: is it safe?” “…the data generated by this paper are next to worthless. All this article does, is confirm that anaphylactic reactions after BVA are a reality. As the treatment has not been proven to be effective for any condition, its risk/benefit balance turns out to be negative. In other words, we should therefore not use BVA.”
Discussed a commentary on “Widespread fraud in natural health products research” (Gaby R. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2022 May; 21(2): 14–18 Paper). Gaby wrote, “Over the past 10 to 15 years, an uncomfortably large and growing number of published papers related to my area of expertise have left me wondering whether the research was fabricated; that is, whether people were writing papers about research that had not actually been conducted.” Gaby lists 10 suspicious characteristics seen in many papers “primarily from Iran and to a lesser extent from Egypt, China, India, Japan, and a few other countries.”
Posted “Another death by homeopathy.” Three cases of acute liver injury, including one death, were caused by a homeopathic remedy containing arsenic.
Asked “Does acupressure help reduce nausea and vomiting in palliative care patients?” “The authors concluded that, in contrast to a previously published feasibility study, active acupressure wristbands were no better than placebo for specialist palliative care in patients with advanced cancer and nausea and vomiting…The message is, I think, clear: poor quality studies have the potential to mislead us for many years. Eventually, however, the self-cleansing ability of science should generate the truth about the value of any treatment.”
Wrote “Walach's new meta-analysis of homeopathy revisited.” Without one of the included studies, which had serious flaws, “the overall findings of the review would at best have turned out to be borderline significant and not clinically relevant.”
Discussed a study of bloodletting for hypertension. “The effect on blood pressure was not ‘minimal’, as the authors pretend, it was non-existent (i.e. not significant and due to chance only)... What is a surprise, however, that such a trial was ever conducted and passed by an ethics committee... running a trial where the result is well-known before the study has started can hardly be called ethical.”
Posted on a study of anthroposophic treatments on toxicity related to intensive-phase chemotherapy treatment in children. “Question: what do we call a treatment that has neither adverse nor beneficial effects? Could it be PLACEBO?”
June 2 – “FDA Launches New Dietary Supplement Education Initiative for Consumers, Educators, and Healthcare Professionals” News release. The new resources “will provide reliable information about the potential benefits and risks associated with dietary supplements, such as vitamins, minerals, and herbs…The FDA advises consumers to talk to their doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional before deciding to purchase or use any dietary supplement. One reason for this recommendation is because some supplements might interact with medicines or other supplements.”
June 9 – An FDA Consumer Update warned that “Products Marketed for Removing Moles and Other Skin Lesions Can Cause Injuries, Scarring.” “...there are potentially dangerous products being sold that claim to help remove these lesions. The products are sold as ointments, gels, sticks, and liquids and may contain high concentrations of salicylic acid (a chemical) or other harmful ingredients. The FDA is advising consumers to avoid these products because of their potentially harmful side effects and serious risks. These risks include skin injuries, infection requiring antibiotics, scarring, and delayed skin cancer diagnosis and treatment... Even products that claim to be ‘all natural,’ herbal, or homeopathic may contain high concentrations of salicylic acid or other ingredients that can cause injury or infection. So even if salicylic acid isn’t listed as an ingredient, that doesn’t mean the product is safe to use.”
June 9 – Jarry wrote “The problems with adaptogens.” “They are claimed to cure everything, even long COVID. But the science on adaptogens is very disappointing... Take-home message: Adaptogens are supposed to be substances, often plants (like ginseng and golden root), that help the body adapt to stress with no side effect. Their long-term safety has not been demonstrated, and consumers should keep in mind that the regulation of this market is poor and some adaptogenic herbs are known to have potentially serious side effects. Evidence for their effectiveness usually comes from animal studies and a few published studies in humans, which tend to be small and lacking in rigour.”
June 23 – Tiller published “When medicines go rogue, part 2: oxygen.” Canned oxygen, oxygenated water, and hyperbaric oxygen were discussed.
June 28 – Stephen Barrett wrote “Be wary of StellaLife homeopathic dental products.” “There is no published scientific evidence or logical reason to believe that the homeopathic ingredients in StellaLife’s Oral Recovery kit produce any medicinal benefit, ‘promote oral health,’ or ‘promote a lifetime of good health or well-being’.”