Science in the Media
j7uy5 | September 14, 2007The Guardian Unlimited has a provocative
article on the role of
endocrine disruptors in increasing the ratio of girl babies to boy
babies in the Arctic.
I've written about the topic before (
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/02/endocrine_disruptors.php">12)
as have
href="http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2007/02/lavender_and_tea_tree_oils_may.php">Abel
and
href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/12/satans_perfect_food_tofu.php">PZ.
James Hrynyshyn, on Island of Doubt, has
already commented on
the Guardian article:
href="http://scienceblogs.com/…
j7uy5 | August 2, 2007
title="Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences">PNAS
has an open-access article describing the current state of knowledge of
the genetics of
rel="tag">autism. The authors looked at
information from the Autism
Genetic Resource Exchange and two other databases; one from
the University of Michigan, the other from the
href="http://www.iancommunity.org/">Interactive Autism
Network (IAN) Research Database. Their findings
indicated that most cases of autism can be explained by one of two
mechanisms. The concluded that most cases arise from
spontaneous mutations, with a…
j7uy5 | July 14, 2007
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">
href="http://www.kcl.ac.uk/phpnews/wmview.php?ArtID=1918">This
press release (HT:
href="http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/07/got_moles_they_might_be_good_for_you.html">medGadget)
from King's College tips us off to an article in the journal,
href="http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/">Cancer
Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.
This is something that news sites picked up on.
Specifically, the authors reported a relationship between the
number of moles a person has, and the length of their
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere…
j7uy5 | July 14, 2007A
couple of
href="http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec16/ch221/ch221g.html"
rel="tag">Parkinson's Disease related items came
across the news wires,
briefly. There are lessons in both of them, but both leave me
with unresolved questions.
The first one I noticed was a report based upon a journal article,
rev="review"
href="http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/2/187">Risk
factors for somnolence, edema, and hallucinations in early Parkinson
disease. The second was based on a
different article (in the same journal),
href="http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/01.wnl.…
j7uy5 | July 12, 2007
One sure sign of acceptance in the mainstream media occurs when a
publication gets picked up by Google News (as illustrated in the screen capture image, above).
Yesterday, reading the Public Library of Science Medicine journal (
rel="tag" href="http://medicine.plosjournals.org/">PLoS
Medicine), I noticed an article linking infestation
with liver flukes
and the development of cancer of the bile ducts (
href="http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040201">Liver
Fluke Induces Cholangiocarcinoma).
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-…
j7uy5 | July 11, 2007The
href="http://www.fda.gov/default.htm" rel="tag">FDA
just can't win. When they restrict something or say something
negative, they are being too restrictive or complicit with big pharma.
When they approve something too slowly they are insensitive
to the needs of patients. When they approve something too
quickly they are not protecting the public.
In fact, I've criticized them on all of these counts, all the while
knowing that it very difficult to know when the FDA is being fair and
balanced.
Now, we see headlines about a health claim that the FDA has denied.
It concerns
href="…
j7uy5 | July 11, 2007
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of hearing
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Goodman" rel="tag">Amy
Goodman interview
href="http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/about.php">Chris
Mooney about the subject of his new book,
href="http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/2007/07/storm_world_tour_beginsweather.php"
rel="tag">Storm World.
It was a segment from
href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/11/1343232&mode=thread&tid=25">Democracy
Now! I won't trouble you with a synopsis,
you can watch/hear/read it yourself:
Listen to
href="http://play.…
j7uy5 | July 10, 2007(RWOS=Republican War
on Science) In
case you haven't noticed (and why would you?), the USA is without a
Surgeon General. The old one, Dr.
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carmona" rel="tag">Richard
Carmona, unhired himself for unclear reasons last July, as
href="http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2006/10/the_surgeon_generals_new_gig.php">noted
on Effect Measure. The
candidate for the position, Dr.
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W._Holsinger" rel="tag">James
Holsinger, has proven to be
href="http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=67035601">…
j7uy5 | May 31, 2007I
wrote about a similar topic a bit ago, it which a relationship was
found between
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/04/depression_and_pain_in_retired.php">chronic
pain and depression in retired pro football players.
Now, there is an NTY article that reviews some findings about
a relationship between concussions and depression.
title="NYT permanent link via RSS"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/sports/football/31concussions.html?ex=1338264000&en=aa42809a8c7be226&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">Concussions
Tied to Depression in Ex-N.F.L.…
j7uy5 | May 28, 2007I am
on call today, so I am about to go in to the hospital for a full day of
work. But while drinking my coffee I encountered an article
that I need to get back to. Maybe some of you could take a
look at it too, if you have subscriber or academic access to Science.
href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/316/5827/996">Childhood
Origins of Adult Resistance to Science
Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg
Science 18 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5827, pp. 996 - 997
DOI: 10.1126/science.1133398Resistance to certain scientific ideas derives in large
part from assumptions and biases…
j7uy5 | May 15, 2007Often,
on this blog, I've ranted about the risks that our government, and our
corporate citizens, e.g. pharmaceutical companies, expose us to on a
daily basis.
Perhaps it would be good to put some of those risks in perspective.
That is, to compare the risks of various medications to
others risks that we take on a routine basis. In the May/June
issue of the journal, Health Affairs, there is an article on the
subject. The full thing is behind a pay wall, but we'll get
to the heart of the matter anyway.
href="http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/3/636">What's
More…
j7uy5 | May 5, 2007"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050401976.html?hpid=topnews">Resilient
Infections Worry Military Doctors" is a headline in the
Washington Post. It reflects a serious concern often noted
here at ScienceBlogs. I read it and worried, again.
But perhaps there is hope: maggots. FromNews@Nature.com:
href="http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070430/full/070430-13.html">Maggots
eat up resistant bacteriaCreepy
crawlies are the latest weapon in the anti-MRSA arsenal.Published
online: 4 May 2007
doi:10.1038/news070430-13Katharine
Sanderson
face…
j7uy5 | April 3, 2007
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">This is
one of the first publications that I subscribed to, after
Popular Electronics, and maybe Mad Magazine. I must confess
that I have not renewed the subscription, but from time to time I check
their website.
There is a bunch of good skeptical writing in the Blogosphere, but so
far nothing matches the quality and expertise you will find in
Skeptical Inquirer. Plus, they have a long and distinguished
history, which no blog has.
This issue, they feature a tribute to
href="http://www.csicop.org/si/2007-01/sagan.html" rel="tag">Carl
Sagan. …
j7uy5 | April 2, 2007
A few days ago, a couple of ScienceBloggers, (
href="http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/03/british_government_was_advised.php">Tim
Lambert and
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/03/ministers_were_told.php">I)
wrote about the startling revelation the the British government's
science advisors informed Tony Blair that what he was about to do was
going to be a mistake.
The leading UK medical journal, The Lancet, had
published a study that showed a estimated 50% increase in mortality
risk in the immediate post-invasion period (2003-2004). That
translated into an…
j7uy5 | February 26, 2007There is a whole field of
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology">evolutionary
psychology. Let me get this out of the way: I
remain
skeptical of the entire endeavor, even though there is now a
href="http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/">Center for
Evolutionary
Psychology.
But when it makes it into the mass media, it deserves some
comment. The LA Times reported a few days ago on how the
formulation of psychiatric disorders is changing, in part because of
evolutionary theory.
href="http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-evpsych12feb12,0,3649492.story…
j7uy5 | February 4, 2007Yesterday, both
href="http://scienceblogs.com/terrasig/2007/02/lavender_and_tea_tree_oils_may.php">Abel
and I posted about the unexpected effects of lavender and tea-tree
oils: they've been implicated as causing gynecomastia in boys.
href="http://www.blogpulse.com/search?query=gynecomastia&image22.x=20&image22.y=18">Blogpulse
indicates that the Blogosphere has reacted quite a bit to this: the
blog at
href="http://blog.wired.com/biotech/2007/02/lavender_oils_f.html">Wired
News picked it up, as did
href="http://skepchick.org/blog/?p=377">Skepchick,
href="http://…
j7uy5 | February 2, 2007This morning, or noon, or whatever, I read Jonah's post at The
Frontal Cortex,
href="http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2007/02/the_nfl_and_mental_illness.php">The
NFL and Mental Illness. It is a tragic story, but there is
one thing about it that I want to comment upon, regarding the reported
Adderall prescription.
But first, a digression. Reporters are expected to do at least a
little fact-checking. But in addition to checking facts,
sometimes it is appropriate to check for consistency.
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/sports/football/02concussions.html?ei=5090&en=…
j7uy5 | January 30, 2007And what an unflattering light it is.
It occurs to me that often, when I write about the pharmaceutical
industry, I have something negative to say. Really, my thoughts
are not all negative. It's just that it is easier to come up with
criticisms when responding to news items.
Anyway, this one (from Washington Post) deserves comment:
href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2007/01/drug_ads_taking_medicine_never.html">Drug
Ads: Taking Medicine Never Looked So Good
Remember all those tricks drugmakers used to get you to take medicine
as a kid? They made cough syrup sweet and…
j7uy5 | January 6, 2007(This is a public health announcement for women and men.)
News agencies are, appropriately, reporting on the finding that the
average levels of folate in American women are falling. (e.g.
href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-01-04-folates_x.htm?csp=34">Folate
levels in young American women fall, could lead to rise in birth defects)
The media are doing a pretty good job of putting this in context.
I am happy to see that the subject is getting as much
attention as it is. But it is so important,
that I want to add some additional background information, in order to
reinforce…
j7uy5 | January 5, 2007(I know Shelly has
href="http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/01/post.php">already
posted about this on Retrospectacle.
Hopefully, you'll see there is a different slant to this.)
Significant controversy arose over the idea of using pharmaceutical and
surgical methods to permanently stunt the growth of children with
severe disabilities. The controversy arose with the
publication of stories in the media about "Ashley X."
The medical profession refers to this as
"growth attenuation treatment." In order to understand the
controversy, it first is necessary to understand what was…