Lurking danger, bus tours, bats, and more…

FSM News and Articles

Hidden dangers lurk in many sports supplements: Experts have warned of undeclared poisons in supplements, especially grey market products from overseas. Is tighter regulation the solution? The use of sports supplement is hugely popular among athletes and fitness fiends, but many unknowingly risk consuming poisonous substances that can cause injury or death. Australia’s chief anti-doping scientist wants GPs to know there are health risks associated with supplements that apply to athletes and recreational users alike.

FSM Friends’ News and Articles

Call to action on anti-vaccination bus tour: “The Commission has established that AVN does not provide reliable information in relation to certain vaccines and vaccination more generally. The Commission considers that AVN’s dissemination of misleading, misrepresented and incorrect information about vaccination engenders fear and alarm and is likely to detrimentally affect the clinical management or care of its readers.”

General

Here’s how scientists know the coronavirus came from bats and wasn’t made in a lab: “One of the conspiracy theories that have plagued attempts to keep people informed during the pandemic is the idea that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory. But the vast majority of scientists who have studied the virus agree that it evolved naturally and crossed into humans from an animal species, most likely a bat. How exactly do we know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, has a “zoonotic” animal origin and not an artificial one? The answers lie in the genetic material and evolutionary history of the virus, and understanding the ecology of the bats in question.”

‘Not banned it at all!’ China’s latest medicine list STILL includes wildlife ingredients: Last month it was reported that the Chinese government had banned trade in endangered Pangolins, and had removed them from the list of approved Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ingredients. This was hailed as a much needed step towards reducing SOME of the harm TCM causes. But ‘So Called Alternative Medicines’ (SCAM) have a habit of being slippery. Even when they claim to be making improvements and positive changes, it is often just for show or to get past legal or political hurdles. So it is unsurprising to find out that while Pangolins were removed from the ‘List of key Ingredients’, the endangered animal REMAINS on the recipe lists for particular medicines, approved by the Chinese government. Thus the use of pangolins in TCM is not banned after all. In science based medicine transparency, ethics and effectiveness are the dominant characteristics. In SCAM medicine none of those are common, and a little ‘bait and switch’ or ‘smoke and mirrors’ is par for the course.

Hidden Health Professions

Anatomical Pathologists. Day in the Life – Anatomical Pathology – Dr Adrienne Morey: Anatomical Pathologists are the specialist medical doctors responsible for diagnosing the vast majority of cancers and work very closely with surgeons and oncologists, yet most people have never heard of them.

Disease Prevention

Folate during pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects – Fiona Stanley on how she became the driving force behind folate for pregnant women: Fiona Stanley’s groundbreaking research lead to recommendations that have successfully prevented over 4000 neural tube defects in Australian babies. Australia embraced this finding by mandating folate-fortification of bread in 2009. This has lead to a 14% decrease in neural tube defects in Australian babies – and over 60% decrease in neural tube defects in Indigenous Australian birth.

Today’s Abused Health Concept

Anti-Masks – Anti-maskers are posting selfies wearing useless netted masks to appear compliant with rules they don’t agree with: As more people are required to wear masks in areas with COVID outbreaks, legal requirements for the masks are necessarily minimal and lax. For example it would be highly inappropriate to punish people for using non standard cloth masks if that was all they had access to. The point is that we all do what we can to lower risk for all those around us. But non-compliant ‘anti-maskers’ are trying to take advantage of any laxity. Some are cutting holes in their masks to make them insultingly useless, or making fake medical exemption cards. Others are deliberately selecting masks that provide no protection what so ever. Such masks are even advertised with words like “anti mask protest, look comply.” There are even cases of people punching holes in their masks so they can go to work without their rebellion being detected. These people are making it very clear that they have a total lack of respect both for the safety and for the intellect of the people around them. In the meantime, the rest of us have to maintain vigilance to make up for their lack. Such behaviour should be discouraged as strongly as possible, both through legal and through social feedback.