palmd | June 8, 2009
To wear the mantle of Galileo, it is not enough to be persecuted:
you must also be right.
---Robert Park
As a physician, it's hard for me to support the absurd media fashion of presenting two, equal sides to every issue. In politics, perhaps, many debates have two equally-valid viewpoints, but this isn't so in science and medicine. A treatment is either proven to work or proven not to work. Occasionally, plausible ideas are sitting somewhere in between hoping for evidence to push them one way or the other. Notice the word "evidence"---not waiting for the verdict…
palmd | June 7, 2009A "fan" on twitter sent me the crushing news that all I believed about the science of Lyme disease is wrong. Unlike many fans, he cited a source, a well-known New England publication. The New England Journal of Medicine? Nope. The Darien (CT) Times.
According to the headline, "surveys refute national Lyme disease findings." So they must at least be quoting a science publication. Right?
Actually, they are quoting the famous work of one Kent Haydock, chairman of the Deer Management Committee. How did he accomplish this astonishing first act in what will no doubt be a stunning scientific…
palmd | June 5, 2009I woke up early this morning. Rather than run out the door to the office, I showered, started some coffee, walked upstairs, and sat down on the bed next to my daughter. She turned, grunted, and said, "Too early!" I sat for a while and watched her drift in and out of sleep.
"Daddy, it's too early!"
"Honey, do you know what day it is?"
"Early!"
"It's graduation day!"
A hint of a smile. She started nudging around some of her stuffed animals that were tucked in next to her. Within a couple of minutes, she was awake and we were rolling around, overcome by laughter at absolutely nothing.…
palmd | June 4, 2009One of Oprah's favorite resources for women's health is Dr. Christiane Northrup, a gynecologist with bizarre ideas about health and disease. On the air, she has disputed the connection between HPV and cervical cancer, an uncontroversial scientific fact. Her un-belief in an important scientific fact is disturbing, but if you dig around her published writing a bit, it's even scarier. This doctor is to women's health what Dick Cheney is to human rights.
Northrup on fibroids
Uterine leiomyomas, better known as fibroid tumors, are common, non-cancerous tumors of the uterus. They can be…
palmd | June 3, 2009We've been hearing a lot about the new H1N1 ("swine") flu which is moving quickly around the globe. It's reasonably likely to be declared "pandemic" in the next few days. Here on the ground, it's almost like having a second flu season. Normally by this time of year, seasonal flu is sporadic to absent and at the walk-in clinic we see the usual assortment of colds, strep throats, poison ivy, and ankle sprains. Instead, we've had all of that layered on top of a steady trickle of flu.
Each colored line represents flu-like illnesses reported to the CDC. The blue and green lines (last season…
palmd | June 2, 2009I've written a number of times about Oprah's support for absurd medical claims, and Dr. David Gorski does a great job detailing the history of Oprah's ability to elevate quacks from obscurity to stardom. Given her latest debacle of taking Jenny McCarthy into her fold, I though I'd explore her website's health section a bit, just to see what's going on. It turns out Oprah's website is the epicenter of the medical crank-o-sphere. Let's take a little trip.
All About Homeopathy
Oprah has a nice, long section on the pre-scientific religion of homeopathy. It's so internally inconsistent that it…
palmd | June 1, 2009I don't even know how to write about this. I drives me toward silence, which is the wrong direction. Sheril Kirshenbaum at The Intersection says it better than I ever could. She reaches out with her own personal tale of sexual assault. Imagine her story, but millions of times over---women, girls, infants; some raped, some raped and murdered, many raped and mutilated; many infected with HIV, and too afraid to seek treatment. Just this year, the UNHCR reported that fewer than half of Liberian women who are diagnosed with HIV seek out care. The stigma of HIV is thought to be much higher in…
palmd | June 1, 2009To all of my friends, colleagues, fans, and detractors, I have been buried in email and real life duties, so if I haven't responded to your veryimportantemail, I'm really sorry.
That is all.
palmd | May 31, 2009One of the hardest things about practicing medicine is being compassionate and dispassionate at the same time; acknowledging a person's pain, but standing aside enough to view the problem with a degree of objectivity. This is one of the easiest mis-steps to make in medicine, and is the root of the problem of many so-called alternative medicine practitioners. Take a look at this email from a fan:
I find it interesting and short sighted that you (and many medical providers) require published research in order to be convinced that a new medical condition exists. Have you ever considered that…
palmd | May 31, 2009A Kansas doctor who performs abortions was murdered today at his church. I'll leave it to others to discuss the long history of this doctor's part in the abortion debate; what I want to show you today is the transparent lies told by the murderous group Operation Rescue.
"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. (sic) Tiller was gunned down," anti-abortion group Operation Rescue said in a statement on its Web site. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and…
palmd | May 31, 2009Around midnight, my wife and I heard a loud "thump" followed by screaming. We ran to our daughter's room and found her lying on the floor, crying, clearly terrified. I picked her up and held her, feeling around her legs, hips, arms, and head to see if anything seemed out of place or painful. That's when my wife noticed the blood soaking into the shoulder of my shirt. Trying to examine a screaming child is no easy task, but it appeared as if she had cut the inside of her lip, and no more.
How can a tiny being cause your entire being to shatter with fear? Did she hit her head? Did she…
palmd | May 28, 2009My buddy Janet always makes me think, which is one of the things I like about her (that, and her cookies). Today, she wrote about a recent PLoS Biology article about the vaccine-autism debate (Orac has also covered it, of course). I especially like Janet's take on expert status and accountability. Let's examine these issues from a doctor's perspective (and speaking of credentials, "Janet" is also Dr. Stemwedel, a professor of philosophy and ethics, and former physical chemist, so she's not making this stuff up).
Who is an "expert"?
Dr. Stemwedel addresses this problem head-on, questioning…
palmd | May 28, 2009There's a contest going on in the blogosphere, and I want in. 3 Quarks Daily is taking nominations for best social science or natural history blog post published between May 28th, 2008 and now. Go here to nominate your favorite piece, but HURRY---nominations end June 1. This year's judge is Steven Pinker.
So, when you think about nominating some of my wonderful posts, remember you can check over at denialism blog as well.
Srsly...please nominate some nice posts. My ego would love it.
palmd | May 27, 2009In case you were worried that the Huffington Post had "gone legit" with regards to medical reporting, fear no more. Barry Sears, creator of a popular diet book, has written a searingly stupid piece called We're Fighting the Wrong Epidemic. Like Gaul, it is divided into three parts: wrong information about influenza; an invented medical condition with enough truth to sound plausible; and a pitch.
Barry doesn't get the flu
And it's not because of his splendid diet. He really doesn't get it. I'm up to my eyeballs in influenza A at a time when flu season should be but a memory. The H1N1 flu…
palmd | May 27, 2009Earlier this month I wrote about some of the people who claim to be Lyme disease experts, and specifically about an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics, and its author. The article was truly horrid, especially when presented in the context of an ethics journal. My ethicist friend weighed in at the time, and now she informs us that the journal has printed a response.
Background
Lyme disease is a relatively common bacterial infection acquired from the bite of a tick. Many people who are infected develop a characteristic rash, and if they are treated at that point, that's the end of that…
palmd | May 25, 2009It's now up. It's a good one. One link in particular that was discussed is here. Go and read, then go and listen.
palmd | May 24, 2009I'm actually rather surprised that the movement to castrate autistic kids isn't more in the news. Parents of autistic kids are very good at advocacy, so where are they on this one? On the other hand, the abuse of the mentally and cognitively disabled is so ingrained in our society, that perhaps these parents can't even see it.
The idea of castrating undesirables is not new. An American eugenics movement arose in the early part of the 20th century, leading to eugenics legislation, such as the Johnson Immigration Act of 1924. To give you an idea of some of the thinking that went into this…
palmd | May 22, 2009It would certainly seem so. Alternative autism "experts" have a long history of dehumanizing autistic kids. But the Geiers take it one step further. The father-son team is chemically castrating autistic children. And what do they have to say about this?
...the Geiers focus on issues most likely to disturb parents, such as aggressive behavior and excessive masturbation.
"With masturbating there is a degree of normal, and then there is autism. Parents will say: 'He will hump pillows, he will hump your leg,' " David Geier told doctors at Eisenstein's office. He made similar statements on the…
palmd | May 22, 2009You don't have to be a parent to care about the welfare of children---but it does bring things into a sharp, personal light. I recently wrote about Daniel Hauser, a child likely to die of Hodgkin's disease due to his parents' cult medicine beliefs. Cases like his are aberrations---they stand out for their rarity, but also for their horror. Still, the horror is mitigated somewhat by the rarity.
More frightening are systemic abuses of children via cult medicine beliefs, ones that affect dozens or hundreds of kids at a time. One of the most egregious of these is Lupron therapy for autism.…
palmd | May 21, 2009It's been a while since I've posted on fatherhood. There's a couple of reasons for that. My wife brought up a disturbing point---she was uncomfortable with our daughter's picture being online. The reasons she listed made me shudder and turn white. I'm not sure whether or not I agree, but for now at least, I'm holding off on further photos until I finish thinking things through more clearly.
The next is conflict. Like most working parents I feel terribly conflicted. Last week my daughter asked, "Daddy, will you come to my birthday party?"
Cripes, she had to ask?
Last night I called her…