Part Fills For May 1, 2010

An intermittent update of issues of relevance or interest to SBP’s audience.

Vaccines

Did getting vaccinated for seasonal flu up the risk of pandemic flu infection? Effect Measure blog comments on the publication of the Canadian data that made Canadian public health officials change their H1N1 vaccination strategy. PLoS has the studies themselves.

Did you see the PBS Frontline episode Vaccine Wars? The entire episode can be viewed online, and is highly recommended – if only to see that there is a population that believes, and will continue to believe vaccines cause autism, despite all evidence to the contrary. There’s a nice review of the episode over at Science-Based Medicine.

Naturopathy

Next week is “naturopathic medicine” week in Canada! No new content – but you can go and reread all the the World Homeopathy Awareness Week posts – as homeopathy is part of a naturopath’s “curriculum”. Also see my Skeptic North post about naturopathy that was picked up by the National Post last fall. Check out the rebuttal to the naturopath’s rebuttal from other Skeptic North contributors. And another good post is Dr. Rob Tarswell’s the Naturopath Identity Crisis from a few months back, which gives the perspective of a British Columbia-based physician.

What influences a mother’s decision to get a flu shot? Having a family doctor is positively correlated with the vaccination. Consultation with alternative health providers, such as naturopaths and homeopaths, is negatively correlated. More in the Canadian Journal of Public Health (PDF).

Homeopathy and Pharmacy Practice

The regulatory body for pharmacists in Northern Ireland has proposed that patients be told that homeopathic products do not work, other than having a placebo effect. More from the BBC.

Libel Reform

I’ve blogged previously about the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) suing Simon Singh for libel. After winning the right to appeal an initial decision, the BCA has dropped their case. It’s a tremendous victory for science and for science advocates. British libel laws, are still a problem, and the campaign for libel reform continues.

Natural Health Products

Health guru nearly killed eating own product. Gary Null, seller of questionable nutritional supplements and advocate for an unregulated marketplace, is nearly killed by one of his own products, when it’s found to be providing 2,000,000 U of vitamin D per day, rather than 2000 U. He is now suing the company – that’s right, the company that makes his own supplements. White Coat Underground has more.

NIH Conference Statement on preventing Alzheimer’s: The drugs (and supplements) don’t work. See SBP’s review of Vivimind (tramiprosate) here.

Other News

The recent SBP post on Chili Burn for weight loss was noted by Researchblogging.org as a Pick of the Week.

Coming Soon

Some exciting news about SBP is coming soon. Plus, an extended series on vitamins, starting next week, and continuing through June.