Category: Medicine

Pseudoscience in health marketing

Pseudoscience in health marketing

07/15/17

“How can we identify pseudoscience in health marketing?”

People become sick from time to time. And when people become sick with an unknown illness, they often become desperate for anything that sounds like a cure. And as such, malignant individuals will try to take advantage of people’s confusion and lack of knowledge. So to save your health, time, and money, here are some warning signs for pseudoscience in health marketing

Claims of being “natural”

Many pseudoscientific health products try to justify their existence with the claim of being “natural”. (Senapathy, Kavin 2017) Supposedly, being composed of natural ingredients means that this product is safe and healthy for use and works better than the “artificial” industrial alternatives. However, just because something is natural or comes from a plant does not mean that it has any useful qualities. Uranium and parasitic fungi are natural but don’t offer anything good for us

Claims of being based on “ancient knowledge”

Since pseudoscience marketers are often unable to explain their products using modern scientific theories, they will often retort that their material is based on “ancient” or “forgotten” knowledge/wisdom (Ernst, Edzard 2013). However, previous generation’s knowledge of the natural and social world was often flawed (see geocentric universe, flat earth, and racial “science”) and are not a substitute for the fruits of current empirical endeavors.

Claims of being “untestable”

Testability of a hypothesis is one of the most important aspects of the scientific method. (Thompson, Bruce 1997) If something can not be tested, then it can not be accepted as a scientific phenomenon and must be avoided until such procedures are possible

Claims of being a wide ranging cure

Since pseudoscience plays on the fears of ordinary people, vendors will often make bold claims about the healing powers of their product. However, such claims are usually unfounded, and if one logically thinks about it, if these items were so useful wouldn’t they be selling like hot cakes? For more info, look up “too good to be true” (Gauch, Hugh G. 2003)

Claims of conspiracy

When pressed to explain their lack of widespread success, alternative health marketers will often retort that there is a “conspiracy” to keep them down. These are usually a desperate attempt to rationalize their product’s niche nature, and never based on reality. (Gauch, Hugh G. 2003)

References

Ernst, Edzard. “Thirteen Follies and Fallacies about Alternative Medicine.” EMBO Reports 14.12 (2013): 1025-026. Web.

Gauch, Hugh G. (2003). Scientific Method in Practice. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521017084. LCCN 2002022271.

Senapathy, Kavin. “Your Logical Fallacy Is Appeal To Nature: These 5 Natural Toxins In Food Have Caused Real Harm.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Apr. 2017. Web. 22 June 2017.

Thompson, Bruce. “Appeal to Mystery.” Ad Hominem – Abusive. Palomar College, 08 Nov. 1997. Web. 22 June 2017.

Malaria

Malaria

07/12/17

“What is Malaria?”

Mosquitos spread all sorts of diseases. However, one of their more infamous ones is known as Malaria. Malaria is characterized by high fevers, chills, and muscle pain. Malaria can be treated with medicines, but are not always effective due to possible bio-resistance by certain strands of the Malaria parasite. Malaria is commonly found in Asia, Latin America, and Africa

Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis

Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis

06/07/17

“What does coal do to the lungs?”

Coal dust does not decompose in a human body. And since coal miners have to sustain long-term exposure inhaling such material, it would only be logical that the coal dust would build up and permanently damage the body. Specifically, such individuals would develop something known as Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis, also known as Black Lung for the dark tint that the organs develop. Symptoms of Black Lung include shortness of breath, chronic cough, coughing up black mucus, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis is just another reminder that relying on outdated technologies will only destroy humanity and hinder progress.

Microscope optics

Microscope optics

02/23/17

“How exactly do microscopes work?”
Microscopes are one of the most important inventions that humanity has ever created. With these devices, we can view the microscopic world in unparalleled detail, enabling accurate observations for a myriad of scientific fields. However, have you ever wondered how they worked in the first place? Well, let’s use our engineering mindset to think about it. Before we begin to work on this problem, let’s see if a similar problem has been solved before. If you research hard enough, then you will probably realize that our fundamental problem, taking a small image and magnifying it to a larger one, has been solved by refracting telescopes already. Believe it or not, optical microscopes use the exact same setup as these telescopes! This shows how discoveries in one field of science can be applied to a completely different one as well, and through intercommunication can both field benefit.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis

10/13/16

“What happens when bones weaken as they get older?”

The human body changes throughout it’s lifetime. And as one approaches an older age, the bone structure in the body begin to weaken. Specifically, the holes in cancellous bones will become exacerbated and largen, causing a loss in bone density. This loss in bone density reduces the strength of human bones. This brittleness could lead to bone fracture in case of an unforseen accident, such as a falling event. Doctors have termed this condition osteoporosis. To prevent the onset of osteoporosis, one should commit to a weight-bearing exercise and a diet full of vitamin-D and calcium

Kidney stones

Kidney stones

09/25/16

“What are Kidney stones?”

You have probably heard of Kidney stones, those mysterious solid objects that cause major pain to everyone. But what are they and how do they form? Well, it turns out that kidney stones is caused by simple chemistry, insoluble compounds. When your urine contains too many insoluble components such as calcium, they begin to build up and cause kidney stones to form. In order to avoid Kidney stones, you should commit to regular exercise and avoid diets that are too high in protein, sugar, and sodium.

Blood pressure

Blood pressure

09/05/16

“What is blood pressure?”

When you go for a medical checkup, you will often hear a lot of talk about your “blood pressure”. But what exactly is this phenomena? Well, believe it or not, blood pressure is actually a very simple concept. Your body is able to maintain it’s operations because the heart pumps blood (which carries oxygen) to all of it’s vital systems. This pumping motion causes blood to be pushed against the walls of your blood vessels, and we can quantify this force as blood pressure. Your blood pressure is usually measured in “millimeters of mercury” (or mmHg), and is given two values (for example, a stable blood pressure is considered to be 120/80 mmHg). But why on Earth will your blood pressure be given two values? Well, let’s think about it. When your heart pumps blood, it does not do so in a constant fashion. Instead, it acts like a piston, with a force changing in a beating nature. So your blood pressure will be the highest at the peak force (termed the systolic blood pressure), and lowest at the bottom (termed the diastolic blood pressure). The higher your blood pressure is, the higher you will have a risk of developing heart heart problems. For example, someone with a blood pressure reading of 135/85 mmHg is twice as likely to receive a heart attack as someone with a blood pressure of 115/75