Science in the Media

The 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">1 2) 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/…

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…

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…

A 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…

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-…

The 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…

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.…

(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">…

I 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.…

I 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.1133398 Resistance to certain scientific ideas derives in large part from assumptions…

Often, 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…

" 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.  From News@Nature.com: href="http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070430/full/070430-13.html">Maggots eat up resistant bacteria Creepy crawlies are the latest weapon in the anti-MRSA arsenal. Published online: 4 May 2007 doi:10.1038/news070430-13 Katharine…

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…

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…

There 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.…

Yesterday, 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://…

This 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=…

And 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…

(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…

(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…