Theranos: Not the Miracle Touted?
My gripe with this whole story was more about entrepreneurs needing to find some high minded motive instead of just admitting that they are out to make money. Hey! We live in America! Making money is the highest of holies so just get on with it and don’t try to tell us you’re saving the…
Read MorePlacebo Effect
Nice summary of what is currently the thinking on placebos. Author Ted Kaptchuk, one of the first westerners to explore acupuncture.
Read MoreMelatonin: Potent Anti-inflammatory Agent
http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/16/8/16981 As followers of the blog know, I do not believe in popping pills for what ails you. However, I think that melatonin as a sleep aid meets the challenge of having a very low risk to benefit ratio. Sleep is so fundamental that a bit of melatonin now and then is “what the doctor…
Read MoreProbiotics and Acne
A case for probiotics for acne. Acne. Small studies from Italy, Russia and Korea have found that probiotics from food or supplements used in conjunction with standard acne treatments may increase the rate of acne clearance, and also helps patients better tolerate acne treatment with antibiotics, Bowe told Live Science. Some probiotic strains found to…
Read MoreBrain Maker by David Perlmutter
I will be discussing in brief, this book in the August Newsletter. Melodramatic trailer for the book by clicking the photo below. He recommends probiotics (these 5–> lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus acidopophilus, lactobacillus brevis, bifidobacterum lactis, and bifidobacterium longum.) He also recommends “prebiotics”, which are foods that feed good bacteria in a low-carb, high fat, high…
Read MoreBetter Sleep Helps to Mitigate Alzheimer's Disease
Became aware of this very recent study listening to Science Friday. It features two issues, well even three that I’m deeply interested in. 1. Sleep. I’ve done a number of blog posts and newsletters on the importance of sleep and some natural means to sleep better. 2. Electroceuticals. The researcher, Matthew Walker from UC Berkeley…
Read MoreMore Medical Research Fraud
Follow the Money. “These days, of course, medical research is not just a scholarly affair. It is also a global, multibillion-dollar business enterprise, powered by the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries. The ethical problem today is not merely that these corporations have plenty of money to grease the wheels of university research. It’s also that…
Read MoreWhen Medical Devices Spread Superbugs
Germs that are resistant to antibiotics are cropping up with alarming frequency at American hospitals. A lethal “superbug” known as CRE infected seven patients at the Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center and killed two of them. The germs were apparently transmitted on inadequately sterilized medical scopes.
Read MoreIf Patients Knew More They Would Get Less Treatment
There will always be people who think that more medicine means better health, or even worse that the latest thing is always best. But for many, if they really knew the downsides of some treatments, they would opt out. You often hear physicians saying that they wouldn’t do X or Y, though lay people think…
Read MorePaying Doctors to Prescribe
According to the BBC, 9 out of 10 Big Pharma companies do in fact spend more on marketing than on R&D. The point is, these pharmaceutical companies have a big a influence on doctors and they do not always public’s best interests at heat. Read More: http://www.trueactivist.com/why-do-pharmaceutical-companies-spend-billions-on-marketing-drugs-to-doctors-john-oliver-is-back-to-explain/ http://www.trueactivist.com/why-do-pharmaceutical-companies-spend-billions-on-marketing-drugs-to-doctors-john-oliver-is-back-to-explain/
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