Categories
Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Medicine

A family practitioner and epidemiologist are prescribing dichloracetate (DCA) in Canada

It never seems to end, does it? I’m talking about the hype and questionable practices revolving around dichloroacetate (DCA), the small molecule chemotherapeutic agent that targets the Warburg effect, in essence normalizing the metabolism of tumor cells and thereby inhibiting their growth. (See here and here for more details.) A report by Evangelos Michelakis at […]

Categories
Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

From the sublime to the ridiculous

Recently, I discussed a story by the BBC news show Panorama about the Church of Scientology and its ridiculous anti-psychiatry museum. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t always do things right. Over at Bad Science, I find how badly Panorama messed up a story on Wi-Fi, claiming health dangers on the basis of bad science and interviews […]

Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Medicine

An idea to promote innovation in cancer research

Over the last couple of months, I’ve written periodically about cancer research and the complaints that the present system of funding grants and of peer review stifles innovation, as well as whether ideas for which there is some evidence but which fall out of the mainstream are given a fair shake. My overall take has […]

Categories
Medicine

It’s that time of year again in the Midwest

Cicadas! I don’t think I’d have the self-control that the children pictured above do, though.

Categories
Medicine

I’ve heard of people who have tight anal sphincters, but this is ridiculous

I had thought of featuring this little gem on Your Friday Dose of Woo before, but my Friday feature usually requires a bit more to go on. Well, not exactly. Rather, it requires a bit more quotable material, the better for hilarity to ensue, and this is just a book with a description and some […]