- “Theirs was a happy life together”: The parallel world of biographies for children (Spy magazine article)
- In praise of Spy magazine
- Red light speeds up wound healing
- Nabokov Museum in St. Petersburg vandalized
- No correlation between egg consumption and heart disease. Long ago, doctors and other “experts” told people to not eat eggs because eggs are high in cholesterol and cholesterol causes heart disease. About ten years ago, people started backing away from this nonsense, but the Mayo Clinic website still says this.
- Corporate crime in the drug industry still rampant
- Corporate crime in the drug industry (1984 book)
Thanks to Vic Sarjoo.
“… people started backing away from this nonsense”: even pretty young dieticians will now advise you to that effect. Although, alas, they preface their advice with the untrue “research has now shown …” instead of the truthful “the idea was always a load of rubbish, unsupported by any evidence”. Hell, even that dreadful liar Ancel Keys said that cholesterol in your food would do you no harm.
Hah!
“… people with higher egg consumption had a 25% … lower risk of developing hemorrhagic stroke.”
Ha bloody ha!
P.P.S. In a British journal should that have been spelled “haemorrhagic”?
Ned Kock did a moderating effects analysis of an earlier study that had found a link between egg yolk consumption and carotid plaque.
Turns out that what the study really showed was a correlation between being old and liking eggs.
https://healthcorrelator.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-2012-atherosclerosis-egg-study-more.html
Seth: Lotta great stuff at Kock’s blog, which I didn’t know about. Very easy to read.
That egg-heart connection is nonsense and has been pushed by a certain Dr. Spence who takes quite some money for a pro-statin-pushing agenda.
Seth: It is nonsense, I agree. Many years ago it seemed like lots of people said that. Simply because eggs were high in cholesterol.
What was more interesting was that when there turned out to be no evidence that eggs were dangerous, instead of saying that, they said “Well, you can have a few eggs a week”.
See also, evidence that moderate drinking might be good for people resulting in saying “but that doesn’t mean we think anyone should start drinking”.
@ Nancy – Ned Kock did an excellent analysis of that one also.
It is amazing how often the advice/conclusions of these studies get “politically corrected” such that it is at odds with the very data they have produced!
Found a good one in the Economist this week, about a study showing bacteria in the stomach helps regulate blood pressure: https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21571844-gut-bacteria-help-regulate-blood-pressure-sniffing-out-hypertension
A friend was mildly concerned about her blood pressure – it was on the high side. Now, perhaps six months later, it’s tickety-boo. The only change to her diet that she can think of is that she’s started eating half a banana at breakfast every day.
Then again, perhaps it’s just one of those things.
Seth: Evidence that bananas lower blood pressure: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/264552.stm