June 12th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Quackery Exposed
Tags: Aging Skin, As Seen On TV, Chin Area, Chin Slimmer, Cosmetic Surgery, Health Gimmicks, Loose Skin, Medical Gadgets, Neckline, Personal Appearance, Plastic Surgery, Sagging Jowls, Slim The Face, Weight Loss
No Comments »
Here’s a gimmick “As Seen On TV,” on which you should save your hard-earned money.
The neckline slimmer claims to reverse the effects of aging without cosmetic surgery. Simply hold this gadget to the chin area and it will exercise your neck muscles to reduce those jowls or sagging fat under your chin. Just two minutes a day should do the trick, according to the commercial.
Unfortunately the effects of aging and loose skin cannot be reversed by jiggling the head or pressing the fat upward. Weight loss can slim the face, but sagging jowls probably need cosmetic surgery.
Personally, I prefer candlelight and light dimmers.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
June 10th, 2010 by Mark Crislip, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Anti-Vaccine Movement, Autovaccine, Blood Irradiation Therapy, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Children's Vaccinations, Debate, Dr. Robert Rowen, Dr. Wakefield, Encephalitis, High-Dose Vitamin C IV, Immune System, Immunization, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Measles, Medical Voices, MMR, Natural Mumps, New Mumps Outbreak, Orchitis, Ozone Therapy, Pseudoscience, Tear To Shreds, Toxin Gambit, Vaccination
No Comments »
I write this post with a great deal of trepidation. The last time I perused the Medical Voices website I found nine questions that needed answering. So I answered them. One of the consequences of that blog entry was the promise that Medical Voices was poised to “tear my arguments to shreds.” Tear to shreds! Such a painful metaphor.
They specified that the shred tearing would be accomplished during a live debate, rather than a written response. While Dr. Gorski gave excellent reasons why such a debate is counterproductive, I am disinclined for more practical reasons. I am a slow thinker and a lousy debater and have never, ever, won a debate at home. If I cannot win pitted against my wife, what chance would I have against the combined might of the doctors and scientists at Medical Voices? My fragile psyche could not withstand the onslaught.
Still, there is much iron pyrite to be mined at Medical Voices and it may provide me for at least a years worth of entries. Please forgive me if I seem nervous or distracted. I have a Sword of Damocles hanging over my head and it may fall at any time. My writings may, without warning, be torn to pieces by the razor sharp logical sword of Medical Voices. Or maybe not. It is my understanding that Medical Voices will only answer with a debate, so maybe I am safe from total ego destruction.
This month, as I perused Medical Voices, I found it difficult to choose an article. So much opportunity and I have limited time to write. I finally decided on Why the New Mumps Outbreak Puts You At Risk by Robert J. Rowen, M.D. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
June 10th, 2010 by David H. Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Belief-Based Medicine, Belief-Threatening, Certainty, Evidence Based Medicine, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Knowledge, Munro, New Evidence, Pseudoscience, Science Based Medicine, Science-Based Evidence, Scientific Impotence, Scientific Method, Scientific Research, Skepticism, Subject To Change, USPSTF
No Comments »
“I don’t want knowledge. I want certainty!” — David Bowie, from Law (Earthlings on Fire)
If there’s a trait among humans that seems universal, it appears to be an unquenchable thirst for certainty. It is likely to be a major force that drives people into the arms of religion, even radical religions that have clearly irrational views, such as the idea that flying planes into large buildings and killing thousands of people is a one-way ticket to heaven.
However, this craving for certainty isn’t expressed only by religiosity. As anyone who accepts science as the basis of medical therapy knows, there’s a lot of the same psychology going on in medicine as well. This should come as no surprise to those committed to science-based medicine because there is a profound conflict between our human desire for certainty and the uncertainty that is always inherent in so much of our medical knowledge. The reason is that the conclusions of science are always provisional, and those of science-based medicine arguably even more so than many other branches of science. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
June 6th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: H1N1 Flu Virus, Infectious Disease, Japan's Plum-Growing Region, Japanese Dried Plums, Polyphenol, Preventive Medicine, Umeboshi, Wakayama Medical University
No Comments »
Japanese dried plums may suppress H1N1 influenza viruses, report researchers. In Japan, umeboshi (literally, “dried plum”) is thought to convey good digestion and cure hangovers. It’s the Japanese version of “an apple a day.”
Recently, Wakayama Medical University researchers added umeboshi extracts to cells infected with the H1N1 virus and found it inhibited viral growth by 90 percent after seven hours. Researchers think that a polyphenol in the food may suppress H1N1. By the way, Wakayama prefecture is the heart of Japan’s plum-growing region. (Hindustan Times, Wikipedia)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
June 3rd, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Acupuncture, Adenosine Triphosphate, Analgesic Effect, Ancient Superstition, ATP, Block Pain Signals, CAM, Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Eastern Medicine, Evidence Based Medicine, Inhibit Prostaglandins, Mechanism, Modulating Pain, Nana Goldman, Nature Neuroscience, New therapies, New treatment, Opiate Receptors, Pain Relief, Pre-Scientific Superstition, Propaganda, SBM, Science Based Medicine, Science-Based Evidence, Science-Based World, Western Medicine, WHO, World Health Organization
No Comments »
The development of drugs and other treatments for specific symptoms or conditions relies heavily on either serendipity (the chance finding of a beneficial effect) or on an understanding of underlying mechanisms.
In pain, for example, there are limited ways in which we can block pain signals –- such as activating opiate receptors, or inhibiting prostaglandins. There are only so many ways in which you can interact with these systems. The discovery of a novel mechanism of modulating pain is therefore most welcome, and has the potential of leading to entirely new treatments that may have a better side effect profile than existing treatments and also have an additive clinical effect.
A recent study by Nana Goldman et. al., published in Nature Neuroscience, adds to our understanding of pain relief by identifying the role of adenosine in reducing pain activity in the peripheral nervous system. The researchers, in a nice series of experiments, demonstrated that producing a local painful stimulus in mice causes the local release of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) that peaks at about 30 minutes. This correlates with a decreased pain response in the mice. Further, if drugs are given that prolong the effect of adenosine, the analgesic effect itself is prolonged. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
