Denialism

Author: MarkH

  • Breathing 102—bringing the woo

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    (This one is cross-posted over at Science-Based Medicine. FYI. –PalMD) If you’ve been a regular reader of SBM or denialism blog, you know that plausibility plays an important part in science-based medicine. If plausibility is discounted, clinical studies of improbable medical claims can show apparently positive results. But once pre-test probability is factored in, the…

  • Who broke ScienceBlogs?

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    Yeah, we know things aren’t working right. Comments are timing out, but that’s the least of it. Our techies aren’t sure yet what’s going on, but they are putting extra hamsters on the treadmill working extra hard trying to get things moving smoothly again. Meanwhile, if you comment and it times out on you, don’t…

  • Breathing 101

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    A letter from a reader (thank you, Mr. “Smith”) got me thinking—could the fight against improbable medical claims be aided by a better knowledge of science? In another attempt to bring complicated science to the masses, today we will learn a bit about how we breathe. The first thing we need to understand is what…

  • Is this for real? Racist attacks on Obama from all sides

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    I hate having to repost this but there’s a reason. If you watch the GOP rally’s lately, they are becoming filled with hate, with near-violence, with hyperbole calling Obama as terrorist. McCain isn’t my candidate, but that’s it—I may not agree with him, but I know he’s no terrorist; I know he’s not evil. But…

  • Disaster—McCain’s health care plan will ruin us all

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    As a physician, I have a lot of politically conservative colleagues. Much of this stems from our experience with the government. The influence of Medicare helps set prices, which we are not at liberty to change, and affects how we practice. On the other hand, Medicare is usually pretty good at paying its bills—except when…

  • A big problem for diabetics

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    I’ve written quite a bit about diabetes here and at my old blog, and I’ve explained to you how controlling blood pressure and cholesterol in diabetics prevents macrovascular disease, such as heart attack and stroke. I’ve also explained how controlling blood sugar prevents microvascular disease such as kidney failure and blindness. In type II diabetics,…

  • Obesity and health—a quick primer

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    Still coughing and tired, so here’s another one I’m migrating from the old blog. –PalMD There has been much talk in the media over the last few years about the “obesity epidemic” in the U.S. This has led to a bit of a backlash among a small but vocal group of critics who don’t believe…

  • It burns! It burns!

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    Yes, I’m still migrating posts from the old blog, but don’t worry, I’ll run out eventually. –PalMD So maybe homeopathy (the use of water to treat disease) isn’t strong enough for you. Maybe isn’t doesn’t have that certain…je ne sais qois…um…that sizzle. I have the solution for you! Just add another oxygen molecule! Water Pl+s!®…

  • Worst. Paper. Ever.

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    Yesterday, we looked at how real science works; today, in a repost from my old blog, we look at some really bad science. –PalMD I’ve been meaning to touch on “Morgellons disease” (a form of delusional parasitosis) for a while, but haven’t figured out how to approach it. Thankfully, others have. In the first referenced…

  • Exciting news on the HIV front

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    In my earlier post about HIV therapy (a post I strongly recommend), I wrote, “After entering a cell (never mind how for now), HIV needs to find a way to makes copies of itself, which requires DNA.” Because of some recently released data, it’s time to look at how HIV enters the cell, and to…