Now on ScienceBlogs: Oxytocin: Starting with the basics
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
Most of the stuff you hear about hyperbaric oxygen being used to treat is total nonsense. It isn't effective at treating autism or cerebral palsy. But an article in the Times makes the point that it is effective for treating...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 4:23 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
Did you catch this story? A man in Illinois walks into a church and shoots the pastor. After killing the pastor, his gun jams, he grabs a knife and starts stabbing himself. At which point, he is tackled by two...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 6:47 PM • 10 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
This beat poem is too funny. It is by Tim Minchin in which he describes a dinner party where he confronts a hippie -- recorded live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in December 08. Sadly NSFW and audio...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:42 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
For acupuncture to work, you don't actually have to put in the needles: The acupuncture study of 215 patients who were undergoing radiation treatment in the abdomen or pelvic region chose by lot one of these two acupuncture types. 109...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 12:22 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
Crooked Timber has a great post on using what you think ancestral man ate to argue for various types of fad diets: There seems to be about as much theorising relative to evidence in the discussion of what cavemen ate...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 10:20 AM • 4 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
A Christmas present, maybe? Maybe not. A "neurotheology" researcher called Dr Michael Persinger has developed something called the "God Helmet" lined with magnets to help you in your quest: it sounds like typical bad science fodder, but it's much more...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 9:52 AM • 5 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
My rant last Friday about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) promoted a vigorous discussion, and I am happy about that. That ambivalence about CAM in even the scientific community is an interesting issue in and of itself. Several commenters criticized...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 1:07 PM • 7 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
Complementary and alternative medicine has no business participating in mainstream science or medicine....
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 8:51 AM • 14 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
Color me unsurprised. You have no doubt seen the commercials for the herbal penis-enlarging supplement Enzyte. They feature a guy with a weird smile and his grinning wife. The pills themselves come in suspiciously medicinal-looking packaging. (With a picture of...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 11:39 AM • 9 Comments •
Category: Herbal remedies and other Hooey
If my job was to debunk poorly justified herbal remedies, I would eat well for life. Here is the newest one: stem cell enhancers. As covered in the Scientist: A California company is marketing the latest in dietary supplements, an...
Posted by NotoriousLTP at 9:03 AM • 5 Comments •
PZ Myers 11.08.2009
PZ Myers 11.08.2009
Tim Lambert 11.08.2009
Orac 11.06.2009
Orac 11.08.2009
