the evolving mind

Some people believe that adjusting your diet is the only health care you need. I doubt this. As I mentioned in a post a year and some months ago (You Aren’t What You Eat) I have a relative who once believed, and still believes to a degree, that all physical and mental health problems are caused by diet. This person went so far to state that even homosexuality is the result of diet. (Maybe not enough red meat?) Sure, it would be fantastic if we could take a trip to the health food store whenever we were feeling poorly. But evidence for the effectiveness of this approach is meager at best. And that’s for run-of-mill, preventative measures. Once you have an illness, the effectiveness drops further. And I’m probably being generous here.

The belief that “it’s all about diet,” seems to stem from a faulty premise. That premise is that the human body is somehow perfect and only goes bad when we do bad things to it. Um, birth defects anyone? Diseases that run in families? Twin studies that show when one twin has a disease, the other twin is much more likely to succumb to it as well, regardless of differences in diet? And the list could go on.

The truth is, our bodies aren’t born perfect, nor do they develop and age perfectly, even when the person is diligent about changing his/her oil every 3000 miles and never fills up with cheapo fuel.

If the body is a temple, most of those temples have various cracks in the foundations from the get-go. (Sorry about switching metaphors in mid-stream.)

That said, there are number of studies revealing that there are indeed chemicals in some foods that can help treat or prevent health problems. Yesterday I encountered this one: Blueberry Juice Improves Memory in Older Adults. This finding was not the result of a diet shaman pulling an insight out of the blue. Rather, scientists conducted an experiment with actual blueberries. Well, the juice.

In the study, one group of volunteers in their 70s with early memory decline drank the equivalent of 2-2 l/2 cups of a commercially available blueberry juice every day for two months. A control group drank a beverage without blueberry juice. The blueberry juice group showed significant improvement on learning and memory tests, the scientists say.

While this finding is encouraging, I wouldn’t bet the health of my memory on it. Not yet. For one, the write-up doesn’t mention the number of “volunteers.” Nor does it provide the outcome numbers. How much better does the experimental group do than the control group?

Nevertheless, alternative-medicine types will likely use this finding to start prescribing a liberal inclusion of blueberries in the diet. The funny thing is, if the finding holds up upon further research, you can bet that the active chemical(s) in blueberries will be isolated and offered in pill form. In the future doctors might prescribe it. As part of conventional medicine.

In that example we can see how alternative medicine, in the form of specific diet supplementations, is immature medicine. Puppy medicine, you might say. And who doesn’t love puppies?

Technorati Links: alternative medicine, diet, skepticism

Watch enough television and you will die. Eventually. It may take a few decades, but one day . . . you’ll be alive one minute, dead the next. In the room with you, as suspect #1, is the television. Guilty! Is it murder?

While the TV lacks motive, new evidence has come to light: Sedentary TV Time May Cut Life Short.

Australian researchers tracked the lifestyle habits of 8,800 adults and found that each hour spent in front of the television daily was associated with: • an 11 percent increased risk of death from all causes, • a 9 percent increased risk of cancer death; and • an 18 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related death.

Throw a book at that television! Then turn off the damn thing and open the book. It could save your life.

But maybe not. There is that “sedentary” in the title. And that may be the actual instrument of death.

While the study focused specifically on television watching, the findings suggest that any prolonged sedentary behavior, such as sitting at a desk or in front of a computer, may pose a risk to one’s health.

Nuts. Here I am at my desk. And here I will be for hours on end. Should I be wearing a Kevlar vest?

Okay, so maybe the television isn’t guilty of murder. From this statistical finding can we at least charge it with manslaughter?

Technorati Links: skepticism, television

New research has shown that playing music by Mozart helps them grow. In Mozart Therapy: A Sonata a Day Keeps the Doctor Away I read -

…research from Tel Aviv University finds that premature babies who are exposed to music by 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gain weight faster — and therefore become stronger — than those who don’t.

Wow. Moms and dads, you may want to rush out and buy some Mozart for your young child. You want a stronger child, don’t you? Science has shown it works wonders.

But maybe not. There are three important points to consider.

1) The likely explanation for the “how” of the affect is that the pre-term newborns moved less when Mozart was played. When resting they wasted less energy on movement, so to speak, and were thus able to put those calories, etc., into growth. The researchers themselves cite this as the likely mechanism.

2) The researchers did not control for other types of music and even other types of stimulation, acoustic or tactile (newborns’ vision isn’t sufficiently developed to go that route). My guess is that any type of stimulation that caught the newborns’ attention and held them in a relaxed state would yield the same results. Calling it “Mozart Therapy” is, in effect, engaging in a sort of ad hominem promotion.

3) The size of the effect was not mentioned. In terms of gauging the significance of a finding, this is crucial, yet too often left out. Tsk, tsk.

Sure, the research is interesting. But science shouldn’t be a sales pitch. And this bit of science comes across like it. At least to a degree. The same degree that weakens its scientific merit, in my opinion.

Technorati Links: Mozart effect, science, skepticism

A recent neurological study found a correlation between cell phone radiation and Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. An inverse correlation. Surprise, surprise!

The researchers showed that exposing old Alzheimer’s mice to electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones erased brain deposits of the harmful protein beta-amyloid, in addition to preventing the protein’s build-up in younger Alzheimer’s mice.

Ok, the “highly-controlled” research was on mice. Still. The news release title read:

Cell phone exposure may protect against and reverse Alzheimer’s disease

At this point in time, what do we know about cell phone use and risks to the brain? Doesn’t seem that cell phones cause cancer. But they might help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s.

Man, sometimes science is stranger than fiction.

Technorati Links: cell phones, health

As members of Costco, our household receives “The Costco Connection: A Lifestyle Magazine for Costco Members.” Although I like the store, the magazine — which is basically one long excuse for advertisements — has enough woo nonsense in it to trip even minimally sensitive b.s.-detectors.

Here’s a brief sampling from the January 2010 edition:

1. MegaRed “May Reduce the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease.” At least the ad copy includes may.

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

2. Glucosamine 1500 mg tablets. “Highest potency” . . . “helps to maintain structural integrity of joints and connective tissue.”

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

But what a deal. This unevaluated product comes in it’s highest potency to do . . . what hasn’t been established.

3. Fish oil to “enrich your cell walls to keep them strong.”

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

4. SAM-e Complete (glad they don’t sell the SAM-e incomplete). “Restore and maintain your good mood daily.”

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

5. Article: “Detox Diets” has this pullquote – “Some claim that fasting helps health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches, and skin diseases.”

Some claim. Clever.

Whether or not detox methods even work is, of course, not covered in the article. Instead, it begins with this analogy: Just as we need to periodically clean the filter on our vacuum cleaners, when our filtering organs –liver, kidneys, large intestine — are over-worked, why shouldn’t we give them a hand in cleaning out or detoxifying or helping remove the “body pollution” from them.

Egads. If my body is a temple, should that temple sometimes be considered a Superfund site?

In the article, fasting, purgatives (“oral cleansers”) and colonic irrigation are covered. By a “Denver-based writer for many publications.” Egads.

6. In the article “Hand-Washing IQ” you will learn that you should wash your hands after not just going to the bathroom, but even after such things as taking out the trash, smoking, and touching your hair.

Then you should promptly step back into your antiseptic bubble and cover all exposed body parts with latex.

7. Qunol “Increases cellular energy,” among other things.

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

8. Super Collagen + C “Promotes healthy skin” & “helps with weight control.”

Small print says -

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

ENOUGH! Personally, when I have health concerns I go to a doctor. Or do some research. I don’t go shopping.

I will give Costco kudos for one thing: They have great deals on bulk toilet paper. Which has been proven effective for . . . .

Technorati Links: skepticism, supplements

If I told you, “Acupuncture might just work,” I hope you would respond with questions. That you would ask me to clarify what I meant.

Might just work for what?

Might just work how well — better than placebo?

Etc.

A new study on the use of acupuncture hit the Internet tubes a few days ago. The title: Acupuncture Reduces Hot Flashes, Improves Sex Drive for Breast Cancer Patients.

The lead sentence to the news release made a claim that got my skeptical gears spinning:

Not only is acupuncture as effective as drug therapy at reducing hot flashes in breast cancer patients, it has the added benefit of potentially increasing a woman’s sex drive and improving her sense of well-being, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

If the “added benefit” part didn’t raise a red flag in your mind, it should have. The focus of the study was on reducing side effects of breast cancer treatments, primarily hot flashes and night sweats, so to throw in improved sex drive and sense of well being as a top-of-the-page result is suspect. Particularly if the connection is not stated with due tentativeness.

In the study acupuncture (type not specified) was compared to Venlafaxine for the treatment of chemotherapy side effects:

To compare the two options, 50 patients were recruited from oncology clinics at Henry Ford. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or venlafaxine treatment for 12 weeks. The drug therapy group took venlafaxine orally each night, 37.5mg the first week and then 75mg for the remaining 11 weeks. The other group received acupuncture treatments twice per week for the first four weeks, and then once a week for the remaining eight weeks.

What happened?

The study found that both groups initially experienced a 50 percent decline in hot flashes and depressive symptoms, indicating that acupuncture is as effective as drug therapy.

What immediately jumps out at me is the lack of a control group. And yes, 50 patients overall is far too few to make any claims with confidence.

Also, much of the data was collected via subjects keeping a diary. Hmm.

Does acupuncture really work? For what? How well? While I doubt acupuncture is anything near what it is touted to be, there just might be something to it. I look forward to future research that will help clarify what that something is. If anything.

Technorati Links: alternative medicine, skepticism

Scientists test hypotheses. An alt-med hypothesis that has been circulating for years (and a number of corporations have greatly benefited from via profits) is that the herbal supplement Gingko biloba, can help maintain full mental capacities as individuals age. Even help treat dementia. Which would be nice.

But recent research strongly suggests . . . it doesn’t.

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with over 3000 subjects conducted over several years (it rarely gets better than this), the researchers found:

Older adults who used the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to adults who received placebo. [source]

Mind you, I have nothing against herbs. If it was discovered that one helped for a condition I had, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it. I would prefer it come in a standardized, concentrated dose with all the extraneous stuff removed — i.e., it was purified into a “drug.” In the case of Gingko biloba, I honestly feel disappointed that it doesn’t seem to work. I want treatments to genuinely work and thus be able to help people as much as they help the corporations that produce and sell them.

Notice I said, “genuinely work.” That’s where good science comes in. And in the case of this one remedy in one research protocol, an herb got burned.

Technorati Links: alternative medicine, health

Want fit and trim kids? Maybe you ought to buy a house near a park. That would help, right? Your children would get more exercise and maintain a healthy weight.

Maybe not. New research on 632 Montreal children, begun in 2005, has advanced this preliminary finding:

“Access to convenience stores seems more relevant in obesity than access to fast food restaurants,” says senior researcher Tracie Ann Barnett, a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Social and Preventive Medicine.

Thus the title:

Proximity to convenience stores fosters child obesity

As for choosing housing near a park . . .

The research also revealed that “access to green spaces may have little influence on the size of 8 to 10-year-olds.”

Kudos (très bien) for that bit of science writing. “May have little” is appropriately tentative. Nothing has been established as rock-solid fact. And “the size of 8 to 10-year-olds” is the specific population they studied; the writer was careful not to prematurely generalize the finding.

Of course, there are many potentially confounding variables. How many of these did the researcher(s) adequately control for is a very good question. Until more/better research comes in, I would make this conclusion: Montreal parents, when choosing a living location, and all other things being equal, should not choose the place near a convenience store. Particularly if the store sells those delicious chocolate snack cakes filled with peanut butter and covered with a crispy chocolate coating. That could be asking for trouble.

Technorati Links: health, obesity

New research suggests that the “healing touch” of therapists can be learned via watching a DVD . . . in a little over an hour!

What is healing touch? According to Healing Touch International . . .

Healing Touch is a relaxing, nurturing energy therapy. Gentle touch assists in balancing your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Healing Touch works with your energy field to support your natural ability to heal. It is safe for all ages and works in harmony with standard medical care.

Wow. Balancing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being sounds like an advanced art, if not science (definitely not science). Good thing there are trained professionals to provide this service. At Healing Touch International, and scads of other places, you can find CERTIFIED HEALING TOUCH PRACTITIONERS. Which means they must have watched a DVD, too, and thus are qualified to speak highly of themselves. And charge significant bucks to touch patients in a manner called “healing.”

Here’s how the above mentioned research was conducted:

In the study, couples were randomized to either an experimental group using the program, or an attention control group.

Those in the experimental group watched a 78-minute DVD and read an illustrated manual on “simple touch and massage techniques.” Nothing about energy fields or spirituality was mentioned.

Caregivers [not professionals but family members] in the experimental group were asked to apply the instruction for at least 20 minutes, three or more times per week for a month. Those in the control group were assigned to read to the patient for the same amounts of time.

And the results? Simple touch was indeed therapeutic.

Results indicated significant reductions for all symptoms after both activities, indicating that companionship alone has a positive effect. However, while symptoms were reduced from 12-28% after reading, massage from the caregiver led to reductions of 29-44%. The greatest impact was on stress/anxiety (44% reduction), followed by pain (34%), fatigue (32%), depression (31%), and nausea (29%).

These research results “were recently reported at the 6th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology.” And that explains why the lead investigator, William Collinge, made this statement:

“It appears that family members who receive simple instruction in safety and techniques can achieve some of the same results as professional practitioners.”

“Achieve some of the same results as professional practitioners”? Ah . . . how can he say that? There was no third group of professional practitioners that outperformed the experimental group in any way. We simply don’t know what the results of that group would have been given the particular circumstances. So Collinge can’t really say what he did. My guess is the paid professionals would have indeed done better, but not due to their training and certification. Rather, their better performance would be due to greater patient expectations for a positive outcome.

If you ask me, “healing touch” is the culinary equivalent of serving frozen pizza to restaurant patrons as the special of the day. Look, it comes on a fancy plate! The greater expectations of high quality are then self-fulfilled.

Technorati Links: alternative medicine, skepticism

Hmm. That’s an interesting finding. Recent research has -

revealed an association between use of wireless telephony and increased content of the protein transthyretin in the blood. [source]

“Wireless telephony” includes cell phones and cordless home phones.

What does the above finding mean? Not much just now. No, it doesn’t mean cell phones cause brain cancer. It simply means that the use of wireless communication devices cause an increase in a type of protein present in cerebral fluids.

It is possible that the discovered brain changes caused by cell phone use are completely benign. There is also a chance they are not. How great is that chance? Good question.

Certainly in the short term — 10 years or less — it doesn’t seem there could be any dramatic effect on the brain and susceptibility to disease. For we have millions of subjects out there voluntarily participating in a naturalistic “experiment.” You may be a subject yourself. The preliminary finding: no extreme risks detected yet.

While I am not alarmed by the finding, I’m certainly not going to poo-poo it. Instead, I’ll place it in a perspective that reflects everything else we know.

Technorati Links: biology, cell phones, health