SEPTEMBER 2022 NEWS
Featured topic: coronavirus
On Science-Based Medicine,
David Gorski posted:
“Peer review fail: Vaccine publishes antivax propaganda disguised as ‘reanalyses’ of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data.”
“'Censorship' and 'thoughtcrime'? Antivaxxers and COVID contrarians attack California AB 2098.” “It’s therefore not surprising that after its passage by the California legislature prominent spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation are labeling AB2098, which seeks clarify and codify the power of the Medical Board of California to discipline physicians for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, as creating ‘thoughtcrimes,’ in a desperate bid to persuade Governor Gavin Newsome not to sign the bill into law.” An update was published on Respectful Insolence.
Jonathan Howard posted:
“Did New Zealand let too few people die of COVID?” “Doctors used to agree mass death was a bad thing. Not anymore.” An article by Jay Bhattacharya was discussed. Eric Kramer also analyzed the article.
“Minimizing COVID via pseudo-profound bullshit.” A tweet by Jeffrey Tucker was analyzed.
On Respectful Insolence, “Orac” posted:
“Mikki Willis has expanded from Plandemic to ivermectin conspiracy theories.” “…he’s flogging conspiracy theories about ivermectin as a ‘suppressed’ cure for COVID-19.”
“Caution over COVID-19 is ‘irrational anxiety’?” “Before the pandemic, antivaxxers likened concern about childhood diseases to mental illness. In the age of COVID-19, Dr. Vinay Prasad accuses medicine of ‘legitimizing’ irrational anxiety and says we should treat COVID like the flu - with one telling omission.”
“Fear mongering about mRNA from COVID-19 vaccines in breast milk.” “Basically, we have copious evidence that the finding of vaccine-derived mRNA in human breast milk is uncommon, transient, and without evidence of harm, as well as evidence that none of the other components of the vaccines cause harm.”
Other topics
Best of the blogs, September – on Science-Based Medicine,
Mark Crislip:
Discussed “Alternative reproduction.” “Are there effective forms of SCAMs [so-called alternative medicines] for birth control or reproduction? Of course not.”
Scott Gavura:
Wrote “Can supplements improve memory and cognition?” Gavura reviewed ingredients in Clear Brain, and concluded, “No dietary supplements, either alone or in combination, have been proven to demonstrate any meaningful benefit to prevent or treat cognitive decline. There is no scientific justification for the sale of these supplements as the marketing claims are unsupported. Those interested in maintaining cognitive function as they age should strive to lead a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet, regular exercise, managing health conditions like diabetes or hypertension, and moderating or minimizing alcohol consumption.”
Discussed “Adverse effects from dietary supplements: a survey of the US military.” “Over 26,000 US Service members completed a survey on the adverse effects associated with dietary supplements. Some categories of supplements are associated with substantial adverse events.”
Harriet Hall:
Posted “Does vitamin D prevent autoimmune disease?” “A new study published in The BMJ suggests vitamin D might prevent autoimmune disease, but there are reasons to be cautious…If vitamin D can help prevent autoimmune disease, we still don’t know who is most likely to benefit (only those with a deficiency of vitamin D?), or what dose they will need. More research will be needed to provide better guidance. Meanwhile, it seems obvious that the evidence doesn’t support giving it to everyone over a certain age. As is all too often the case, media enthusiasm outran the data.”
Clay Jones:
Posted “Impressive new data on the benefit of childhood vacines.” “A new study adds compelling evidence that vaccines given to young children prevents disease and saves the lives of people of all ages. It may not be surprising, but it’s nice to see.”;
Steven Novella:
Posted “But is it real?” “Why we need more science in medicine.”
Wrote “Study of multivitamin use and memory.” “There is no evidence that MVM [multivitamin-mineral] use improved cognition, as many mainstream outlets are reporting. It is far more likely, as the authors acknowledge, that MVM use simply decreased the decline in cognition in this older population. Therefore young healthy people should not expect any cognitive benefit to MVM use. Further, it seems likely that the observed benefit here may be due to simply treating low B-vitamin and/or high homocysteine levels in this population, something which is already fairly well established…Large reviews of hundreds of thousands of subjects have found not only is there no benefit to routine MVM use, some vitamins (like vitamin E) may be harmful in high doses. Routine MVM use, therefore, appears to be a harmful strategy, wasting money for most people and potentially resulting in excess supplementation with harmful effects.” Edzard Ernst also discussed the study. “The study was conducted remotely via mail or telephone which means that compliance was impossible to control. Moreover, the outcome measures were subjective, and blinding was not checked. In addition, I fail to see a plausible mechanism of action.”
Edzard Ernst:
Posted “Kate Moss: sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll … and now a bit of over-priced quackery.” “The supermodel is the latest in the long line of VIPs jumping on the quackery bandwagon by marketing her very own brand of over-priced nonsense…Personally, I am glad to hear that Kate is off cocaine and now into other, less harmful ‘natural substances’. Her customers wellbeing might not improve, but I suspect her bank account might.”
Discussed “aura sprays,” which supposedly “deliver healing gemstone energies to your body, emotions, memory, and mind via your aura.” “Seriously: how can anyone fall for such nonsense???”
Wrote “Cranial osteopathy is based on absurd concepts and does not merit further research.”
Published an article by Ken McLeod on Yoni Stones entitled “INSERTING ASBESTOS INTO VAGINAS: Another bright idea from the alt-med industry.” The stones are dangerous and have no benefits.
Nominated a paper on acupuncture for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction for his “Worst Paper of 2022” competition. “What’s the harm? you might ask; nobody will ever read such rubbish and nobody will have the bizarre idea to use acupuncture for treating FSD. I’m afraid you would be wrong to argue in this way. The paper already got picked up by THE DAILY MAIL in an article entitled ‘Flailing libido? Acupuncture could help boost sex drive, scientists say’ which was as devoid of critical thinking as the original study. Thus we can expect that hundreds of desperate women are already getting needled and ripped off as we speak. And in any case, offensively poor science is always harmful; it undermines public trust in research (and it renders acupuncture research the laughing stock of serious scientists).”
Described his own paper on “Why homeopathy is pseudoscience” (Mukerji N, Ernst E. 2002. Synthese 200:394 Paper). “…We have argued that homoeopathy should be regarded as pseudoscience because its proponents claim scientific standing for it and produce argumentative bullshit to defend it, thus violating important epistemic standards central to science.”
Posted “Does regular tea consumption reduce the risk of diabetes?” “…The question of whether tea drinking might prevent diabetes remains open, in my view. Yet, the paper might teach us two important lessons: Case-control studies must be taken with a pinch of salt. Correlation is not the same as causation.”
Wrote “Biblical Naturopathy, another SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] that is new to me.” He quoted Chad Hayes: “So what is biblical naturopathic medicine? It’s untrained, unqualified, unlicensed practitioners that believe their religion makes them immune from government oversight...”
Posted “Osteopathy for Parkinson's disease?” “The study has many significant limitations. For instance, the hypotheses tested lack plausibility and the outcome measures are of doubtful validity. Most importantly, the observed effects are only short term and their clinical relevance is highly questionable.”
Wrote “Chiropractic manipulations after car accidents: best avoided, if you ask me.” “Why do chiropractors promote their manipulations for whiplash, if there is no compelling evidence that it does more good than harm? Again, there are two possibilities: They erroneously believe it to be effective. They don’t care but are in it purely for the money. Whatever it is – and obviously not all chiropractors would have the same reason – I must point out that, in both cases, they behave unethically. Not being informed about the evidence related to the interventions used clearly violates healthcare ethics, and so does financially not informing and exploiting patients.”
September – Neyestani and Nikooyeh reviewed the effects of green tea on various outcomes (Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2022 Sep;32(9):2026-2040 Abstract). They concluded that “Regular consumption of GT and probably its bioactive constituents as supplements have beneficial effects on different health aspects including weight, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipids. However, these effects might be influenced by several factors such as the amount and frequency of consumption, health/disease condition and life style including dietary habits and physical activity.”
September 2 – Chris Holt discussed shoes marketed to keep you electrically grounded. However, “All shoes, even those with plastic soles, have a degree of conductivity, as those unfortunate people who were wearing shoes when they received electric shocks can confirm. It’s simply not possible to maintain a significant charge imbalance between your body and the rest of the world. All day every day all of us are grounded already.”
September 7 – A Press release was entitled “Center for Inquiry Warns Amazon: Stop promoting prohibited homeopathic drugs as treatments for sick babies and children.”
September 14 – As discussed on Retraction Watch, Stephen Barrett and William London were unsuccessful in persuading the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to retract an article promoting a homeopathic product made by StellaLife. The journal did, however, send a cease-and-desist letter to the company calling for it not to imply endorsement of the product by the journal.
September 15 – Teddy Amenabar published “Is it safe to take a baby to a chiropractor?” on The Washington Post (subscription required). “Practitioners and parents say chiropractic treatment helps colic and constipation, but pediatricians say the ‘adjustments’ aren’t backed by science.”
September 16 – Jonathan Jarry wrote “The Neuro Emotional Technique is a bizarre hybrid of chiropractic, acupuncture, and applied kinesiology.” “Studies into the efficacy of the neuro emotional technique almost always lack a control group or use a poor control group, so that any non-specific effect of the technique (such as talking to a therapist) can make it appear to work.”
September 23 – Nick Tiller wrote “Ten health and wellness fallacies every skeptic should know” for Skeptical Inquirer.
Additions to previous months
July 8 – Joe Schwarcz discussed Sight Care, a dietary supplement alleged to enhance stem cells and cure vision problems. “Leaving all the hype aside, the fundamental question here is whether the claim that this specific composition of ingredients can cure all visual problems is backed by randomized, double-blind studies. There is a simple answer. No!”
August 29 – Courtney Shea reported on “The death cheaters.” “The members of Longevity House are united by two things: a willingness to hand over $100,000 and a burning desire to live forever. Inside the weird world of cryotherapy, biocharging and fecal transplants.” Numerous approaches used by “biohackers” are described. Does any of it work? “Well, in some ways, yes - but mostly no. And not in the ways or to the degrees that many biohackers believe it does…Some of it is immediately treacherous (transplants, untested drugs) and some is dangerous in a more indirect way: cancer patients have died after delaying conventional treatment in favour of alternative remedies.”