Tag: Medicine

Just in case you’re not there yet, homeopathy doesn’t work

As I've discussed a few times, I've been dealing with shoulder pain for the last few months.  As I've been fighting through this, one of the things I've been reminded of is how many purported breakthrough or unconventional cures are offered out there, that promise to avoid the often frustrating limitations and ambiguity of evidence based medicine.  For … Continue reading Just in case you’re not there yet, homeopathy doesn’t work →

Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?

An interesting TED talk by Atul Gawande discussing some of the problems with the modern medical profession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3QkaS249Bc I came across this video when reading a recent piece by Dr. Gawande on the medical field's struggles to clearly explain a terminal patient's real situation to them, often relying on a blizzard of facts instead of … Continue reading Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine? →

World Health Organization: No, Seriously, Stop Abusing Antibiotics – James Hamblin – The Atlantic

In the sobering news department: "The problem is so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine. A post-antibiotic era—in which common infections and minor injuries can kill—far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the twenty-first century." That's according to a 257-page warning today from the World Health … Continue reading World Health Organization: No, Seriously, Stop Abusing Antibiotics – James Hamblin – The Atlantic →

Politics and money equal bad science

Jerry Coyne blogged yesterday about the trend in articles pointing out the flaws in science, noting that most of the observed problems are in medical studies, most notably in drug studies, and that generalizing these problems to all of science isn't really accurate or fair. I agree, but I have an observation about why some … Continue reading Politics and money equal bad science →