Results for: autism
Medical marijuana as the new herbalism, part 5: Turning herbalism into science-based medicine
There’s a new clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing a beneficial effect due to cannabidiol, a chemical isolated from marijuana, on drug-resistant seizures due to Dravet syndrome. Although there are a fair number of caveats, this is how you begin to turn the herbalism that characterizes medical marijuana advocacy into science-based medicine.
Quackery infiltrates The BMJ
As quackery in the form of "integrative medicine" has increasingly been "integrated" into medicine, medical journals are starting to notice and succumb to the temptation to decrease their skepticism. The BMJ, unfortunately, is the latest to do so. It won't be the last.
Two (now retracted) studies purporting to show that vaccinated children are sicker than unvaccinated children show nothing of the sort
Antivaccine websites have been touting two recently published studies as strong evidence that vaccinated children are less healthy than unvaccinated children. The studies are so flawed that they show nothing of the sort. Even more hilariously, the bottom-feeding predatory open access journal that published them appears to have retracted them.
Make measles great again: A case study of the politicization of school vaccine requirements in Michigan
Protecting our children through school vaccine requirements has long had strong bipartisan support. Unfortunately, the antivaccine movement has had success linking "vaccine choice" with "freedom" and "parental rights", leading to a surge of right wing antivaccine activism that has undermined that bipartisan consensus. Two bills under consideration by the Michigan legislature represent a microcosm of what is going on in much of...
Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/30/2017
Stroke from chiropractic. Measles in Minnesota. Fraudulent methodologies? How do your remove homeopathy from a product? Acuwhatever. And more.
Outbreaks among Somali immigrants in Minnesota: Thanks for the measles again, Andy
Andrew Wakefield's antivaccine propaganda film VAXXED claims that MMR vaccination causes autism in African American boys. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Wakefield has targeted people of color with antivaccine misinformation. Before there was VAXXED, Wakefield and antivaxers targeted Somali immigrants in Minnesota. Measles outbreaks have been the result.
Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/23/2017
Protection from vampires. An autistic muppet upsets anti-vaxers. Naturopaths want insurance money. Big Chiro: what THEY don't want you to know. This blog is futile. And more.
How Do Doctors Learn to Diagnose, and Can Machines Learn to Do It Too?
Siddhartha Mukherjee weighs in on how doctors arrive at a diagnosis and how computers can assist but not replace them.
Medical science policy in the U.S. under Donald Trump eighty days in
A week after Donald Trump was elected, I speculated about how he would affect medical science policy. Now, 80 days into the Trump administration, we have some observations.
Corrigendum. The Week in Review for 04/02/2017
Death from vaccine-preventable infections. Homeopathy and acupuncture do not work. There is a difference between cost and worth. And more.