All posts by Steven Novella

Founder and currently Executive Editor of Science-Based Medicine Steven Novella, MD is an academic clinical neurologist at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the host and producer of the popular weekly science podcast, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, and the author of the NeuroLogicaBlog, a daily blog that covers news and issues in neuroscience, but also general science, scientific skepticism, philosophy of science, critical thinking, and the intersection of science with the media and society. Dr. Novella also has produced two courses with The Great Courses, and published a book on critical thinking - also called The Skeptics Guide to the Universe.

Risks of a Gluten-Free Diet

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity does not seem to be a real entity according the current evidence, but this has not stopped the gluten-free fad, which may be causing real harm.

/ November 8, 2017

ASEA – Still Selling Snake Oil

ASEAs marketing practices, in my opinion, are clearly deceptive. They use a lot of pseudoscientific claims representing the epitome of supplement industry misdirection and obfuscation. They use science as a marketing tool, not as a method for legitimately advancing our knowledge or answering questions about the efficacy of specific interventions.

/ November 1, 2017

Jarisch-Herxheimer and Lyme disease

When patients diagnosed with chronic Lyme are treated, no matter what happens as a response to the treatment is considered by believers to be evidence in support of the diagnosis. If they get better, then that is evidence that the treatment is working. If they get worse, then that is evidence that the treatment is working and they are experiencing the JHR...

/ October 25, 2017

Is Mindfulness Meditation Science-Based?

Existing research has not yet clearly defined what mindfulness is and what effect it has. The hype clearly has gone beyond the science, and more rigorous research is needed to determine what specific effects there are, if any.

/ October 18, 2017

Zombie Science

Retractions of scientific studies do not always mean that the studies die a deserved death. Sometimes they live on as zombie studies, continuing to be cited by other researchers and having an effect on the scientific discussion. We can fix this.

/ October 11, 2017

More Integrative Propaganda

Defenders of integrative quackery attack proponents of science-based medicine for simply pointing out the scientific evidence and exposing their poor logic.

/ October 4, 2017

Homeopathy Embarrassing to Integrative Medicine

Homeopathy is the most embarrassing form of alternative medicine, and the easiest to refute. There has been long series of skeptical wins around the world over the past year - including University of California, Irvine's decision to scrub its mention from the homepage of its latest integrative medicine center. Hopefully, if we can keep up the pressure the trend will continue!

/ September 27, 2017

Quackademic Medicine at UC Irvine

UC Irvine Medicine School opens a center for integrative medicine, selling out to promote quackery in medicine.

/ September 20, 2017

Faith and Supplements – B17

Amygdalin is a toxic snake oil dating back to 1830, but it is still sold today with a combination of supplement industry deception, faith, and conspiracy theories.

/ September 13, 2017

Naturopathic Cancer Quackery

Naturopaths treat cancer with an array of implausible concoctions that are not based on clinical science, and then defend themselves with cease and desist letters.

/ September 6, 2017