August 26th, 20190719Much is made of the evidence base of modern medicine. It is certainly the case that many trials are done and that to bring a pharmaceutical to market requires trial evidence to show that the drug is better than placebo and that side effects are acceptable.
There is one catch in all of this. Who determines the quality or lack thereof,...
September 17th, 20180766Regular readers will know that I enjoy a glass of wine. The wine industry is fascinating as is the history. After my recent trip to Italy, this has only grown. Especially, when one sees how cultures are able to incorporate wine into what they do rather than going out drinking for its own sake.
Others enjoy a beer or spirit. Excess...
February 19th, 20180905It is little wonder that people are confused by health messages and the latest discovery. As I have observed before when you are certain that what causes cancer this week was a cure for cancer last week, you are not imagining it.
We need medical research as it does lead to discoveries and progress. Unfortunately, over 80% of medical...
December 14th, 20171898We share the same world as our pets, yet we do not perceive the same reality.
Both cats and dogs have only 20 per cent of the cone photo-receptor cells of humans, meaning they can only see the colours blue and yellow. All other colours are shades of grey. Dogs and cats also can’t focus on far distant objects. If any of us woke up...
July 10th, 20170909Research has shown that those who do not drink alcohol at all die younger than those who do. Like many of these studies we will never hear more about it.
Yet it confirms the pattern often seen that studies, particularly about nutrition are contradictory. No wonder we get confused.
Daniel Sarewitz, a professor at Arizona State...
June 19th, 20170996We all like good news. It is human nature. But not all news is good. This fact does not mean we can simply ignore it, tempting as that may be. In fact, it is often the case that we learn more when things go wrong.
So, you might think that in medical science findings which do not support your hypothesis are as important as those that...
April 3rd, 201701179It is an interesting contrast that bad news sells in the media but not in medical research. Doom and gloom is more likely to sell papers or get clicks in the media. Yet when it comes to medical stories we are only interested in breakthroughs and miracle cures.
Not surprisingly then most medical stories are of the breakthrough variety....
February 27th, 201701173
There is an old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same. This had new meaning to me whilst listening to music when a 2015 hit was played. It has a catchy chorus, which gets in your head.
“Here’s an invitation to the whole wide world
From your brother to your sister to your best friends girl
Can’t...
November 28th, 201631369We are constantly fed doom and gloom stories in health. There is a crisis of this or a tsunami of that. This is despite life expectancy continuously increasing for over 100 years. The claims of crisis are inevitably accompanied by a plea for government funding for whoever has found the latest crisis.
Yet when good news comes along...
October 24th, 201611472There was an interesting review published in The Lancet about the placebo rate in use of antidepressants. The review found that that the placebo response rate had remained steady over the last 20 years – at around 40%. What was even more interesting was the way this was spun. Australian Doctor reported international experts hailing...
