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News Briefs 24-06-2014

By Gregon

What he said…

Thanks Kat.

Quote of the Day:

You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.

John Mason

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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6 Comments

  1. Magical Thinking
    Before I start, love that you guys at the Grail post both skeptical and fringe articles. Thanks for keeping us thinking!

    The article on Magical Thinking was very fascinating and well written. The thing that always irks me, however, is how these articles that take to dismantle the the “eternal folly” of human “magical” thinking, never turn that dismantlinh attitude on there own thinking. Though I think the author was fair enough in his comment, “nearly every idea that ever crosses my mind is most likely unoriginal or wrong, or both.” I wish he had gone farther into questioning his own doubt. Like why does he believe that gray matter has the ability to produce thoughts (consciousness) at all?

    Of course, I am not immune from this, but with the best of my abilities I try to understand and see all sides, looking through the lens of all paradigms. That’s why left-brain (I know that is incorrect, both sides of the brain process the same kinds of thinking but stay with me) thinking should not be the only mode of the thought, especially when it comes to these meta-analyses of humanity and the universe.

    Once you understand that from my paradigm, everything is just as logical as it is from your paradigm, what we know and don’t know become harder to define.

  2. 16 mysteries
    Bermuda triangle: The beach I go to has had 1,000+ shipwrecks and counting since the 1600s. The last one was less than a year ago when a ship got lodged on a sandbar but they were able to recover the ship once the tide came back in.

    Bigfoot: Good luck convincing some people though. I actually knew of the confession, but I don’t want to get on Emlong’s bad side 😉

    #8 Inca stones: I keep yelling at the TV whenever Ancient Aliens comes on and claims they’re real but they can’t hear me for some reason 😛

    #5 Mercury -> Gold: Yes, it requires a nuclear reactor.

    #1: Yet the mystery of what happened to that plane to make it crash has not been solved. Unless you are Brad Meltzer, then it was aliens.

  3. Dr. Oz
    When I worked at a pharmacy we often had people come up and ask for stuff that they heard from Dr. Oz with ridiculous names no one heard of. Our pharmacist would just laugh and say that it’s all junk. And it is. All those pills are. The entire vitamin aisle was nothing but certified (uncertified) snake oil.

    Now for the past 10+ years I have been an avid collector of all matter of antique quack medicine. I have tons of bottles and medical books, some from my family’s collections who are REAL doctors and nurses, and it’s amazing how much has advanced and how little has changed when it comes to medicine. I always get a kick of the ridiculousness of some of the cure-alls, but I came to realize that we haven’t gotten over the “snake oils” of the 1800s. However, after collecting it and living with it for even longer (my family) I find it easy to recognize a quack. I also find it unfortunate how much of my family (those who are not of the medical profession) believe him.

    I don’t care if he’s a cardiologist. To me and to all the pharmacists and doctors in my family and those I’ve worked with he is not a real doctor. A piece of paper that says you graduated med school does not make you a doctor. What makes you a doctor, among other things, is living up to the old adage “Do No Harm,” and by recommending these untested and non-regulated medicines to middle-aged housewives he violates this. People, these medicines he recommends are just sugar pills, they can be expensive, and they are not sold at your local pharmacy and rarely at your health food store. Many of them can only be bought online, they come from China and then who knows what else you are getting. Interesting isn’t it? Coming from Dr. Oz, the man who attacked the apple juice industry for producing it in China and filling it with arsenic.

    So good for those who like to figuratively throw Oz down the medical stairs because he pisses me off. Getting millions for his show and it’s all bull. And I don’t care how much you want to impress your friends, kale tastes like shit so stop lying! I’ve eaten better tasting seaweed and that wasn’t intentional!

    1. No one knows what Dr. Oz’s
      No one knows what Dr. Oz’s original motivations were fresh out of med school, but just as power corrupts so does the allure of easy wealth. Having built an audience of followers how tempting it must be each week to feature a new “miracle” pill and watch the dollars roll in and his wealth grow, in whatever form his kickbacks, royalties, etc… materialize. Yes he is corrupted…

      That being said, I have to mildly disagree with the statement that, “The entire vitamin aisle was nothing but certified (uncertified) snake oil.” I think that is a stretch. There are numerous studies supporting benefits of short term supplementation (and equally numerous contradicting those). That is the problem with medicine, health and nutrition – it is too complex to reduce it to any one vitamin or answer. The body and nutrition work synergistically.

      And though doctors and pharmacists are educated – their education in nutrition is generally no greater than anyone else’s. They tend to specialize. This is one reason the term “medical opinion” is used – not “medical fact.” Example: years ago my friend suffering a slipped disc was told flatly by her doctor – she needed back surgery. Her second opinion stated otherwise. 10 years later, no back surgery and only lingering inconsequential issues, whereas a “failed” back surgery could have been devastating.

      Dr. Oz is clearly ruled by greed at this point. But not all supplements are junk, though many are no doubt :).

      1. Corruption
        I agree that Oz has become corrupted with greed. And while yes some supplements monitored properly as with any medication can be beneficial to an individual, often people take the treatment thinking it is a cure-all or not knowing how to take it properly. They often do not tell their personal doctors they are taking them and unwatched if they take too many their body may become dependent on them or worse. Taking too much iron, for example, can be devastating. Taking too much calcium risks kidney stones.

        A second opinion is always wise especially in risky surgeries.

        It seems like human nature to seek “the God pill” that will be the elixir of life cure everything go to drug. Hopefully it won’t lead people down the dark path that Oz took.

        1. Agreed. Those clips of Dr Oz
          Agreed. Those clips of Dr Oz stating extract from green coffee beans being a miracle weight loss pill for everybody are the worst form of misrepresentation. As someone who worked in the fitness industry for 15 years in club management and as a personal trainer, and for the last 15 years continued my fitness pursuits I can state there is NO supplement that is a miracle pill. The closest they ever came was synthesizing Ephedra in the form of Phen Phen, which was another example of greed corrupting doctors’ better sense. Ephedra came from the herb Ma Huang which was a slimming energy tea used for hundreds, even thousands of years in china. In its natural milder herbal form, with accompanying buffer compounds and used responsibly it worked well. However as western medicine does, its reductionist philosophy isolated the active compound, synthesized it, and prescribed it like candy. It worked “magically” melting away pounds, until people began dying of cardiac disease, heart problems, etc… Doctors should have known better…just as Doctor Oz should and does know better.

          Weight loss is different then fitness. Create a calorie deficit and you will lose weight – fat and muscle, which is not healthy. Fitness is achieving and maintaining proper fat to muscle ratio, keeping muscle strength and mass, so the body is capable and strong, especially as we age to mitigate the natural atrophy process of aging. This is only possible through regular resistance exercise, i.e. weight lifting in some form, cardiovascular exercise for the heart muscle, and balanced nutrition without the surplus of calories, ideally creating a slight deficit through exercise so body fat slowly drops while retaining and generating new muscle. There are supplements that assist with this, but are not necessary and will not achieve any of this on their own.

          Dr. Oz should be ashamed of himself, as well as every other doctor who over prescribes drugs or prescribes them according to the kickback incentives from pharmaceutical companies, rather than strictly what is best for the patient, regardless of the profit motive.

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