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I No Longer Love a Parade

Posted by on October 9, 2008

Parade magazine is the most widely read periodical in the US, with a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 71 million (1). They get that readership by placing it, free for readers, in over 400 newspapers.

The column in question is “Ease The Aches Of Arthritis” By Dr. Vijay Vad, published 09/28/2008. Dr. Vad is a physiatrist (a rehabilitation doctor) who has published several books on arthritis for the the public.

In the article, Dr. Vad discusses ways to decrease arthritis pain. Like most popular summaries, it is without references, so I used Pubmed and Google for each of his suggestions to look for the evidence to support the advice he offers. I tried to use both narrow and broad search terms in Pubmed, but I do not doubt I missed key articles. I have confidence that the readers of the blog will show me the error of my ways.
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Posted in: Herbs & Supplements, Nutrition, Science and the Media

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Cholesterol Skeptics Strike Again

Posted by on October 9, 2008

I’m really tired of arguing about cholesterol, but I feel obliged to stand up once more to defend science-based medicine from unfair calumny.

Lewis Jones’s article “Cholesterol-shmesterol” in Skeptical Briefs (December 2007) included errors and misconceptions about cholesterol. It was a re-hash of the same kind of misinformation that is being spread by The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS) and that I addressed in an earlier post. THINCS would like us to believe that cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease; that low cholesterol is harmful and high cholesterol is beneficial; and they demonize statins, even falsely claiming that they cause cancer.

I answered Jones with my own article “Cholesterol Clarifications” in the June 2008 issue of Skeptical Briefs. I said I agreed that cholesterol does not “cause” heart disease, that low-fat and low-cholesterol diets have been promoted way beyond the evidence and that statins are being over-prescribed. The public has a lot of misconceptions, but thoughtful science-based doctors agree that the evidence shows: (more…)

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Posted in: Nutrition, Pharmaceuticals, Science and Medicine

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