When it comes to medical advice, is less always more?
To the general public, the trial-and-error process of science and medicine may erode confidence, but without it, we’d have no science and medicine at all.
Small steps toward improving research reliability
Unfortunately, scientific publishing is riddled with myriad problems, many of which likely can’t be solved without completely rethinking current processes and the underlying research culture. However, there are still small, short-term changes that are relatively easy to implement and can yield meaningful improvements in research integrity.
Adding context to the Alzheimer’s disease research fraud charges
This past July, a news article published in Science sent shockwaves through the scientific community when it reported that one of the most influential and frequently-cited publications in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research was evidently based on fraud.
Different effects of fat- vs. carbohydrate-restriction on neural reward signaling
“A calorie is a calorie” seems like a simple and obvious statement. But do different macronutrients vary in their ability to drive obesity? A recent study by Dr. Kevin Hall and colleagues provides new clues – and likely new fodder for debate.
Vitamin D(éjà vu): new study, same old problems
For vitamin D supplementation to have any effect relative to placebo, it needs to be increasing the body’s supply of vitamin D, and if it doesn’t, then the treatment and placebo groups are effectively identical. So did the researchers achieve a difference in vitamin D levels over the course of the study?
Can cocoa help prevent cardiovascular death?
A recent study explored whether supplementation with the beneficial compounds in cocoa could have a clinically-relevant effect on ASCVD.
A pilot immunotherapy trial is one step on a long road toward curing cancer
“Remission in every patient” reads the New York Times headline about a study published earlier this month in the New…
Dangerous messaging around a recent SIDS study
Irresponsible reporting misleads new and grieving parents
Do helmets give cyclists a false sense of security?
PedalMe, a London-based e-bike company, recently announced that their employees were not allowed to wear bike helmets for safety reasons. Does their rationale have any merit?
Challenges of meditation & understanding ‘sub-minds’
This audio clip is from episode #37 with Zubin Damania, M.D., originally released on January 21, 2019.