Health Canada is finally making (baby) steps toward better informing the public when it comes to homeopathy. As readers of the blog should know by now, homeopathy is based on really silly, counterfactual beliefs that, if true, would lead to a complete rewrite of biology and chemistry textbooks. Despite this, Health Canada routinely approves homeopathic … Continue reading
Tag Archives: health
Listen: Science Says, “The Best Beauty Product Is…”
What do you think is the best beauty product out there? The one that science has shown has the greatest impact on your health? The one with tested rejuvenating powers? The one the evidence says, “Buy it, use it, and you will see the difference”? Is it Retin-A? Coconut oil? Kakadu plum? Listen to this … Continue reading
Read: Vermont’s Pro-Vaccine Position
The State of Vermont officially says “no” to philosophical objections to vaccination: “Like most states, Vermont currently offers parents an exemption for medical conditions and one for religious beliefs. It has been one of about twenty states that allow for philosophical exemptions, and the majority of exemptions in Vermont have been for philosophical reasons.” Vermont’s … Continue reading
Read: 23andMe or the Fallacy of ‘More Is Better’
A few months ago, a fellow skeptic told me he was considering personalized genetic testing and wondered what my opinion was on the service. The idea is that any consumer who desires can send a DNA sample to a company, like 23andMe, and get a report back on various genetic risk factors. Sounds like a … Continue reading
Read: Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight
Exercise has many virtues but, contrary to popular belief, it is not an efficient way to lose weight. So what is? “The idea that our obesity epidemic is caused by sedentary lifestyles has spread widely over the past few decades, spurring a multibillion-dollar industry that pitches gadgets and gimmicks promising to walk, run and kickbox … Continue reading
I’m Majoring in Science, With a Minor in Wishful Thinking
The infiltration of pseudoscience in academia, either universities proper or academic health centres, is very real. Dr. David Gorski is doing a great job reporting on the American side of this disturbing inroad, but I thought it was time to tackle the Canadian (and more specifically the Quebec) perspective. The Prince Arthur Herald recently published … Continue reading
Follow-Up on the Makayla Sault/J.J./Hippocrates Health Institute Case: J.J. Went Back to Chemo
Finally, two items of good news come out of this dreadful affair in which Aboriginal families stopped chemotherapeutic treatment for their leukemic daughters and sought nonsensical pseudoscientific treatment in Florida. While one of the children passed away this winter, the other, known in the media as “J.J.”, is being reported as feeling well. Could it … Continue reading
Read: What? WHAT? I’M DAMAGING MY WHAT?
My podcasting buddy and general thorn in my side, Dr. Christopher Labos, has published something for the CBC and we’re supposed to, I don’t know, stop everything we’re doing and read it because it’s so great. Here’s an excerpt: “He points out that most of us are slowly damaging our hearing without realizing it. “But the … Continue reading
Food and Health Through the Lens of Entertainment: Funny You Should Think That!
A little plug for the show I’m hosting in a week. It’s all about science… and entertainment! A show of comedy, reason, and alcohol. FUNNY YOU SHOULD THINK THAT! is a monthly event (intelligently) designed to make you laugh and think. Moutons No More takes to the stage with amazing guests to talk pseudoscience, lambast … Continue reading
Watch: Journalists Get Health Canada License Number for Fake Remedy
If you have ever bought a natural health product approved by Health Canada, you must watch this 22-minute episode of CBC’s Marketplace. Do you have any idea how easy it is to get approval from Health Canada to manufacture and sell a natural health product? You will hear from me on this topic in a couple … Continue reading
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