Vitamins, Cover-ups, Naturopathy, and more…

 

FSM Friends news & articles

Vitamania: A great doco by talented film-maker Sonya Pemberton – who brought us Jabbed. This one is about the scientific evidence about vitamins – their discovery, chemistry, role and the risks of unnecessary supplementation.

General

Seven things about vaccines and autism that the movie ‘Vaxxed’ won’t tell you: ‘On its surface, the movie “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe” appears to be a slickly produced scientific documentary with lots of charts and data about one of the most important issues of our time. The central premise of the film is that the country’s mandatory measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — when given to children under age 2 — may be leading to an epidemic of autism diagnoses. It contains heartbreaking footage of happy, laughing toddlers who, their parents say, became profoundly disabled almost overnight after receiving the shot. It explains the findings of a study that confirms the link and unearths recordings from a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who purportedly claimed the government quashed findings of the connection.

‘But what the movie doesn’t get into is as compelling as what it does present. There are numerous facts, backstories and events that the filmmakers pretend didn’t happen that challenge many of the main points of the film. Here’s what you need to know to put “Vaxxed” into context.

Vitamins are just expensive pee – The seven myths we’re guilty of believing: Bottom line: Focus on a healthy diet filled with fruits and veg, and most importantly, treat vitamins exactly like medicines.

Double standards in hematology for integrative and complementary medicine: a case study: “The rebranding of standard care and recommendations of science-based medicine is dangerous as it only serves to provide a veneer of legitimacy to the complete nonsense promoted like energy healing and thereby attract new customers, because that’s all patients are to the proponents, a source of income and/or a source of undeserved praise.”

Great moments in Health and Science

The Invention of the Eye Chart – Who Made that Eye Chart? A useful tool for individualising glasses, monitoring vision deterioration and even deciding if someone is safe to drive. The idea that different people required different glasses didn’t come about until over 100 years after glasses became relatively widely available.

Today’s abused health concept

 Naturopathy Textbook: Most people think that naturopathy is merely naturally sourced medicine. In point of fact it is a philosophy of vitalism (energy magic), with nothing to insulate it from the worst kinds of nonsense. Dr Harriet Hall does an extensive review of the major Naturopath textbook. From incorrect facts to debunked theories to inappropriate/useless medical tests, to irresponsible advice in the face of asthma attacks, the things naturopaths are taught are … scary.

“It is hard for me to fathom how such a textbook could exist in the 21stcentury… Despite the plentiful citations, the content is a bizarre, uneven potpourri of good science, bad science, pseudoscience, vitalism, philosophy, ancient history, superstition, gullibility, misrepresentations, metaphysics, religion, hearsay, opinion, and anecdotes. (Note: I used the word potpourri intentionally; its original meaning in French was rotten pot.) …it recommends using treatments that are purely speculative and even treatments have been proven not to work. … If this is what Naturopathic ‘Doctors’ are taught, if this is what they believe, they are deluding themselves and doing their patients a disservice.”