I'm back! It's been a busy couple of months and spending writing anything that wasn't going to get graded or help me get good grades hasn't seemed very justifiable, but hey, that couldn't last forever, right?
So, in the interest of spreading the love (well, love comes in all kinds of forms), I figured I'd comment just a little on a couple of noteworthy articles I came across today.
First - and most infuriating - of all, The Guardian reported today that the Department of Health reportedly watered down warnings on the NHS Choices information on homeopathy - which was initially supposed to mention that there is zero, nada, zilch, credible evidence to support the hypothesis that it does anything beyond offer a placebo effect. This was apparently the result of lobbying by the Foundation for Integrated Health. Sound familiar? It was the 'charity' founded by Prince Chuck to promote alternative medicine. Professor David Colquhoun submitted a Freedom of Information request to the DoH, under which correspondence revealing the above came to light.
I'm not even sure where to begin voicing my despair at the news! First of all - and this question has been uttered a million times before - what the hell is an unelected, born-into-privilege man with a PhD in talking to plants doing, once again trying to influence government policy? Liz, Your Maj, if you would be so kind as to abdicate pronto, to give son-dearest something else to occupy his mind and make him a little less bothersome, that'd be grand. Have a look across the mini-Pond and follow their example!
Anyway, secondly, I object to my tax money being spent on rubbish. I mean, obviously there are a lot of questionable ways in which the government spends my money and everyone else's, but this is not just questionable, it's demonstrably nonsense. When one registers for a National Insurance number, you should be offered a chance to 'opt out' of any spending on unproven treatments. I'd be quite happy to forego the right to access any of these cancer 'wonder drugs' and all complementary therapies, should I ever get cancer or any other serious illness. I'll take my chances with treatments that have been shown, in properly run trials, to be effective. Or alternatively I'd be happy to be chucked into a trial - which would be published with full access for all participants, of course... But I digress. Just like I don't approve of limited funds being spent on prohibitively expensive, largely unproven new drugs, I also disagree with the public funding of alternative medicine. It might be cheaper than those new drugs, but THEY'VE BEEN SHOWN TO BE INEFFECTIVE! I'd rather the NHS spends the money on some extra nurses, so hospitals would have the manpower to placebo-effect the hell out of their patients.
The other interesting story I came across appeared in the Daily Express. It reported on a new study, which supposedly suggests that a dietary supplement available in supermarkets could prevent diabetes and heart disease. The supplement, Bimuno, was given to a group of obese patients for a period of 12 weeks (with a four-week break somewhere? It's a bit hard to figure out the set-up from the article, which doesn't make a great deal of sense. You should check your writing, Jo Willey), while a control group was given a placebo.
The article explains early on that there are a number of 'risk factors' for health, which include low 'good' cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and large waist. So far, so scare-mongering. Anyway, Miss Willey then reports: "The research shows that the prebiotic, called Bimuno can lower these symptoms, decreasing the risk of heart disease or diabetes." But then we get a bit further into the article, and she explains:
"Results showed that those who took Bimuno had significantly increased levels of “good” gut bacteria and lower levels of “bad” bacteria." That's not the same thing! I believe the study hasn't been published yet - at least, I can't find it online - so I suppose it's possible there were amazing results that the Express has simply chosen not to comment on, but considering the paper's love of hysteria, that seems a bit unlikely. And even if the supplement was indeed found to, say, lower blood pressure and blood sugar, a 12-week study is hardly going to give any indication whether these results will in fact reduce the incidence of heart disease and diabetes in the long run. But then, the Express being the reasonable paper it is, the article does actually mention that. It's there for all to see, in paragraph 15, where Dr Matthew Hobbs of Diabetes UK is allowed exactly one sentence on the subject.
Oh, I can't find much on the lead researcher, Jelena Vulevic, online. I don't see anything direct linking her to the makers of Bimuno, although she's given talks sponsored by the company. And this is not her first study involving the product - a study in 2008 tested it in elderly people. It found a positive effect. Shocking.
Happy Vday everyone!
