I wore a T-shirt at The Amazing Meeting 2012 that generated a lot of controversy. You can see a picture of it on my Wikipedia article. I didn’t want to talk about the T-shirt, but I’ve been repeatedly challenged to explain myself, and I’m afraid I can no longer avoid it.… read more "A Final Word: On T-Shirts and Teapot Tempests"
I Am Not Your Enemy: An Open Letter to My Feminist Critics
Note: The previous post is my usual weekly contribution to SBM. I am taking the liberty of posting this additional entry today on an issue that is peripheral to Science Based Medicine. If you are not interested in the recent squabbles within the skeptical movement, you will probably want to skip it.… read more "I Am Not Your Enemy: An Open Letter to My Feminist Critics"
Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: It’s Complicated
When a baby is born, the obstetrician or midwife announces “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” As toddlers, children learn to classify everyone as either boy or girl. When our firstborn was very young, we overheard her talking to herself as she grappled with the concept: Let’s see… I’m… read more "Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: It’s Complicated"
Fun With Statistics
Statistics is the essential foundation for science-based medicine. Unfortunately, it’s a confusing subject that invites errors and misunderstandings. We non-statisticians could all benefit from learning more about statistics as well as trying to get a better understanding of just how much we don’t know. Most of us are not going… read more "Fun With Statistics"
Andrew Weil/AAFP Article Rejected by Slate
I was asked to write an article for Slate, the on-line magazine, about Andrew Weil’s selection as the keynote speaker for the 2012 AAFP annual scientific assembly. The science and health editor, Laura Helmuth, was initially enthusiastic about what I wrote, but eventually decided not to publish it. Here is… read more "Andrew Weil/AAFP Article Rejected by Slate"
Clinical Practice Guidelines: Cholesterol Tests for Children?
The American Academy of Family Physicians journal American Family Physician (AFP) has a feature called Journal Club that I’ve mentioned before. Three physicians examine a published article, critique it, discuss whether to believe it or not, and put it into perspective. In the September 15 issue the journal club analyzed an article that critiqued the process… read more "Clinical Practice Guidelines: Cholesterol Tests for Children?"
“How do you feel about Evidence-Based Medicine?”
That was the question asked on a Medscape Connect discussion I did a double-take. How do you feel? Could anybody object to the idea of basing treatments on evidence? The doctor who started the discussion asked: Besides using EBM, a lot of my prescribing comes from anecdotal experience and intuition. How about you? Where do… read more "“How do you feel about Evidence-Based Medicine?”"
When To See a Doctor
Two weeks ago I wrote about the demise of the traditional annual physical for healthy adults who have no symptoms. The First Step: Identifying a Symptom People who do have symptoms should see a doctor. They should have appropriate evaluations that may or may not include a partial or complete physical… read more "When To See a Doctor"
An Owner’s Manual for the Heart
In writing about science-based medicine, we give a lot of attention to medicine that is not based on good science. We use bad examples to show why science is important and how it is frequently misapplied, misinterpreted, misreported, or even wholly rejected. It’s a pleasure, for a change, to write… read more "An Owner’s Manual for the Heart"
Visceral Manipulation Embraced by the APTA
Many years ago, when I was a naïve and gullible teenager, I read about a home treatment for constipation that involved rolling a bowling ball around on the abdomen. I was intrigued, thought it sounded reasonable, and might even have tried it myself if I had been constipated or had… read more "Visceral Manipulation Embraced by the APTA"