News: 1-8 Jan 2017

Weekly Roundup:

The 7 biggest problems facing science, according to 270 scientists: Scientists all over the world, including graduate students, senior professors, laboratory heads, and Fields Medalists, say that in a variety of ways, their careers are being hijacked by perverse incentives. The result is bad science.

Why do researchers do different kinds of clinical studies: Scientists may have many reasons for doing a clinical study, such as to explore the cause of a disease or a set of symptoms, to test if a treatment will help with a symptom or condition or to learn how a certain behaviour affects people’s health.

Cancer Death Rates Fall as Prevention, Treatment Advance: Deaths from cancer in the United States have dropped 25 percent since hitting a peak in 1991, a new report finds.

Fake treatments for real diseases: A review of allergy and asthma advertisements by naturopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths and acupuncturists: A majority of Canadian chiropractic, naturopathic, homeopathic and acupuncture clinics claim that they can diagnose or treat allergies, sensitivities and asthma.

Stop taking vitamins and eat the right food if you want to stay healthy: Our bodies don’t know how to absorb vitamins and minerals from tablets and capsules. They only know about foods so you may be paying through the nose for something that’s ineffective or for a placebo effect.

Doctors issue new year detox health warning: Highlighting the case of a woman they treated last year who became critically ill after taking herbal remedies and drinking too much water, Doctors have issued a warning about the potential harms of undertaking a radical new year detox.

Related article:

Diet drinks are not healthy and could trigger weight gain, say researchers: Diet and sugar-free alternatives should not be promoted as part of a healthy diet, say researchers.

Mediterranean diet may protect your brain in old age, new finding suggests: A new study based on brain imaging in over 400 people seems to show that we have even more reason to celebrate this diet and, more importantly, to stick to it.