MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'holford'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:28:15 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4027166&cid=t_102853_90_f&fid=36413&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D3516 Conclusions: The daily supplementation of vitamins B12, B6, and folic acid does not benefit cognitive function in older men, nor does it reduce the risk of cognitive impairment or dementia.” Disgracefully, this paper has hardly been reported at all. It is an excellent example of how the public is misled because of the reluctance of the media to publish negative results. Sadly that reluctance is sometimes also shown by academic journals, but not in this case. Two things went wrong, The first was near-universal failure to evaluate critically the Smith et al paper. The second was to ignore the paper that measured what actually matters. It isn’t as though there wasn’t a bit of relevant history, Prof Smith was one of the scientific advisors for Patrick Holford’s Food for... DC's goodscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4027166 Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:00:35 +0100 4027166 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2307010&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fmain-problem-is-gluttony.html There is a particularly silly bit of right-on, trendy, lefty, New Labour style journalism on the BBC website today, entitled “Cancer risk ‘not changing habits”. This is to be followed up by what I suspect will be an even sillier bit of BBC broadcast journalism from Newsnight. We can expect Paxman to be cros-examine tomato growers about why tomatoes cause cancer. And there will be the usual “representative” selection of “the people” all desperately keen to talk about their lifestyle. Yawn.Two thirds of people have not changed their diet or lifestyle to reduce the risk of cancer, a survey for the BBC's Newsnight programme has found. This is despite evidence and public health campaigns that highlight diet and lifestyle as a cause of between a third to a half of all cancers.The p... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2307010 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:15:00 +0100 2307010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2167518&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fim-believer-mmr-measles-autism.html click to enlargeWelcome to Thoughtful House"Thoughtful House is fighting to recover children with developmental disorders (autism, PDD, Asperger’s syndrome, ADD, ADHD and NLD) through the unique combination of medical care, education, and research."+++++++++++It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? All those well-dressed, smiling professionals at the top.  Do you recognise the “professional” on the right of the photograph? It’s Dr Andrew Wakefield. “Thoughtful House” is his refuge in Texas. The place he has now found from which to flog his dubious wares.What, precisely, is Andrew Wakefield’s status? He has no professional training in the management of autism, or ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. He is not a psychiatrist. He is not a paediatrician. Already, therefore, we wonder whethe... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2167518 Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:50:00 +0100 2167518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2081033&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fdetoxification-fraud.html Christmas and New Year has, as usual, been a prolonged period of general excess; too much rich food; too much booze; too many high calorie snacks. Wherever you are, wherever you turn, there seems to be an open box of biscuits or chocolates which, for eleven and a half months of the year, you would not touch.We took the tree and the cards down last night and normal service has been resumed. The feeling of excess is replaced by a craving for cornflakes, beans on toast and iced water.This is a great time of year for the nutritionists and other quacks to start flogging their dubious wares. The purveyors of colonic lavage will be busy. I’ve taken a couple of days off work this week. Luxury. Pure luxury. The BBC Radio 4 TODAY programme is much more enjoyable when one is not going to work. I wa... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2081033 Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:42:00 +0100 2081033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2039902&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Finfluenza-hypocrisy.html Oh Dear! I fear I am going to get in trouble for this one.I have never had a flu immunisation. OK, I don’t have any of the high risk conditions like asthma and COPD and so on but I am a "health care worker."Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "It's very worrying. People - even doctors - have forgotten what flu is. They have not seen real, serious flu for years and are not getting their vaccine. It is putting patients at risk - not only from catching flu but from staff being off sick. Healthcare workers have a moral duty to get the vaccine."BBCI must admit to some bias. I’m not a fan of Steve Field. I was not happy that he popped up at the top of my profession. Not quite sure how he managed that – except to say that he is, of course, a ... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2039902 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:15:00 +0100 2039902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1436799&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fnew-treatment-for-menopause-makes-dr.html A patient who is in her early fifties and who started HRT a couple of months ago came in to ask if “Hormonal Balance” from Archturus would help her continuing menopausal symptoms. I have never heard of it and so had to do some research. It has recently been recommended by Jennifer Harper-Deacon who is a registered naturopathic physician. She writes for the Sunday Times, which I do not read. However it is on the Internet here. Jennifer also has her own web-site, modestly entitled “Jennifer Harper-Deacon” which proudly proclaims that she is “Health Journalist of the Year”.She is a Doctor of Naturopathy, a qualification available from the famous Clayton College of Natural Health, USA (please enclose a stamped addressed envelope)  So, in fact, she is Dr Jennifer Harper-Deacon and... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1436799 Mon, 12 May 2008 14:56:00 +0100 1436799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356039&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fcrippen-diaries-2008-april-2.html What do you want to do when you grow up...April 2008 (2)Avril is 58 and is on hormone replacement therapy. She came to see me today for a renewal. She has been on it now for nine years, since her menopause. She is on a continuous combined no-bleed preparation and has had not problems. She does not smoke, she has regular mammograms (all normal), there is no family history of breast cancer, she is not overweight, her blood pressure is normal and she keeps very fit. She is a keen ice-skater. We have discussed the percentage increased risk of breast cancer, and the other pros and cons and I have told her that, as far as I am concerned, she can stay on it. But she still worries about it, even though she wants to take it.Towards what I inaccurately thought was the end of the consultation she sud... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356039 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0100 1356039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344180&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D650 Busy bee today, sorry for the late link, the second part of the BBC Radio 4 two-part series “The Rise of the Lifestyle Nutritionists” is going out at 8pm this evening, presented by yours truly, and produced by the excellently sharp Rami Tzabar from the BBC Radio Science Unit. I think it’s rather good, [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344180 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:52:09 +0100 1344180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1337924&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D650 Busy bee today, sorry for the late link, the second part of the BBC Radio 4 two-part series “The Rise of the Lifestyle Nutritionists” is going out at 8pm this evening, presented by yours truly, and produced by the excellently sharp Rami Tzabar from the BBC Radio Science Unit. I think it’s rather good, [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1337924 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:00:35 +0100 1337924 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=917953&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fnhs-choices-spreads-confusion-about.html Journalists and and a certain class of nutritionists frequently conflate allergy and intolerance. UK newspapers regularly carry stories about 'food allergies' where the topic is actually food intolerance and it is not unusual for IgG blood testing to be promoted as a scientifically and clinically validated test for the diagnosis of food allergies or intolerance. These misunderstandings are so common that I notice when a journalist doesn't make these mistakes.Nonetheless, I was particularly irritated when a correspondent drew my attention to an NHS site with a section dedicated to allergies: Which allergy test? The page carries some useful information about various tests, both those which are available from the NHS and those that are direct-to-consumer. For some of the tests (e.g., the hydr... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=917953 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:37:00 +0100 917953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=882555&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D532 Okay, you lot are seriously on a roll. Following a complaint from a badscience reader, the ASA have found that Patrick Holford made untruthful, unsubstantiated claims in a leaflet he was sending out. Pasted below is the full adjudication and also the original advert in question, so that you can decide for yourself about the [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=882555 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:09:36 +0100 882555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=755627&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Ffood-for-brain-promotes-autism-gut.html Understandably enough, Food for the Brain updated its homepage to coincide with the broadcast of an update of its project with Chineham Park Primary School on Tonight with Trevor Macdonald, July 13.Fair enough. It was a little odd, however, that they chose to use that update to promote a seminar, AUTISM AND DEPRESSION - A GUT PROBLEM? with these troubling words:Dr Andrew Wakefield suggested a link between gut immunity and autism. Was he right? This September we offer a seminar 'The Gut Brain Link in Autism, Depression and Mental Health' for health professionals. For more details and booking a place click here.Well, that is not quite all that Andrew Wakefield suggested in the aftermath of that discredited Lancet paper and it is a little disingenuous to cherry-pick out one aspect of that wor... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=755627 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:08:00 +0100 755627 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=720411&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Fwakefield-and-why-edith-piaf-routine-is.html When Andrew Wakefield went through his deeply-affecting Edith Piaf routine for Denis Campbell of the Observer, did his voice suddenly take on husky gallic overtones in contrast to "the deep green polo shirt, chinos and outdoor jacket" that seem to have so impressed Campbell and made him come over all descriptive?It seems as if moral probity oozed from Wakefield as he recounted his touching story of the prophet who is without honour in his own country. The story was obviously so affecting that Campbell neglected to research some basics.Journalists asked about the authors' main claim to have discovered, in a study of 12 children, a new form of inflammatory bowel disease, which they linked to the MMR vaccine. The doctors outlined their theory that in some children the combination vaccine dama... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=720411 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:41:00 +0100 720411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=702086&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fpatrick-holford-and-dr-andrew_28.html Patrick Holford is a staunch supporter of Dr Andrew Wakefield and recently set out his case as to why we should likewise support him. Patrick Holford claims to have remarkable insight into the causation of autism and how to "bring them back" when children are on the autistic spectrum. He suggests that there is hard evidence that links MMR and autism.Wakefield's claims about the inflamed and diseased guts of the children in his original Lancet study have been shown to be unfounded.But what about those measles antibodies in the cerebro-spinal fluid and the gut tissue of the children Wakefield examined? Whatever significant problems there may be with the rest of his work, surely this is the crux of the matter. Yes, the findings concerning the measles antibodies are significant, albeit, not in... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=702086 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:59:00 +0100 702086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=700728&cid=t_102853_133_f&fid=35081&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmikestanton.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F27%2Fpatrick-holford-quack-of-quacks%2F George Elliot’s eponymous hero Felix Holt was a man of principle unlike his father. After his father’s death,  Felix was heir to nothing better than a quack medicine; his mother lived up a back street in Treby Magna, and her sitting-room was ornamented with her best tea-tray and several framed testimonials to the virtues of Holt’s Cathartic [...] (Source: Action For Autism) Action For Autism blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=700728 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 23:57:00 +0100 700728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=700667&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fpay-699-to-say-no-to-cancer.html Dr Crippen has made a great discovery.It is now possible to say “no” to cancer. All you have to do is buy Patrick Holford’s book “Say no to cancer”. It only costs £6.99.Actually, you do not even need to pay £6.99. You can have the book for free. Well, sort of. You get a free copy of the book if you join “100% Health”100% Health sounds good to Dr Crippen. Better than 90% health that is for sure.Best Deal – Save £50! Yes I would like to join 100% Health today and receive your 100% Health newsletter for 2 years, that’s 12 newsletters, and the 10 special reports shown below, and I want to claim my free book for only £49.99. That’s a saving of £50 off the normal price.Yummie!Patrick Holford is clearly a very clever man. For, with his help, not only can you say “No” ... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=700667 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:15:00 +0100 700667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=702087&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fpatrick-holford-and-dr-andrew.html Patrick Holford sent round an email last week in which he asked people to sign a petition in support of Dr Andrew Wakefield for his upcoming hearing before the General Medical Council in the UK. Patrick Holford hadn't signed the petition the last time that I looked (yesterday evening), nor is the petition solely about Wakefield. Nonetheless, Patrick Holford seized this opportunity to reproduce swathes of text from his own books where his claims and recommendations stand and fall with the reliability and accuracy of Wakefield's work: Was Dr. Andrew Wakefield Right About the Link Between Autism, the Gut, Allergy and the MMR Vaccine?. He undertakes the task of providing a salient overview:If you are not sure, then please read on to find out what we know about autism, the gut, vaccinations and... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=702087 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:56:00 +0100 702087 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=682760&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fpatrick-holford-claims-remarkable.html Bowel-whisperer Patrick Holford has some disturbing ideas about vaccination. If you pay a subscription to him, you can consult his special online reports on a number of topics. One of these reports is about vaccination. I'm accustomed to anti-vax denialism and general crankery but reading this report was like allowing my eyes to turn into two fists and pummel my brain.I was slightly worried by Holford's introduction:The orthodox view is that vaccinations are essential, save lives, have few down-sides and are responsible for the decrease in deaths from many infectious diseases.These views are, however, highly questionable. One of the best reviews of the facts about immunisation is by Lynne McTaggart in the book, What Doctors Don't Tell You in which she explodes the myths surrounding vaccina... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=682760 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:08:00 +0100 682760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=650716&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D425 Ben Goldacre Saturday June 2, 2007 The Guardian The Independent has put its green columnist Julia Stephenson on to Panorama’s Wi-Fi scare story: a charming beef heiress living in Chelsea on a trust fund, who believes her symptoms of tiredness and headache are caused by electromagnetic radiation from phones and Wi-Fi. The most important background for any “electrosensitivity” story [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=650716 Sat, 02 Jun 2007 00:14:26 +0100 650716 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623334&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D413 Ben Goldacre Saturday May 19, 2007 The Guardian Normally I’d ignore quack medical devices, but when the catalogue from Health Products For Life - run by vitamin pill salesman Patrick Holford - arrived, I found an unexpected treat waiting for me. Among his usual “special formulation” pill-peddling banter, there was the QLink pendant, at just £69.99. The QLink [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623334 Sat, 19 May 2007 19:00:43 +0100 623334 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=569578&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fholford-recommends-nutritional-approach.html And please let Shinga read some decent research papers before she explodes.Several valued correspondents have brought Patrick Holford's nutritional recommendations for people with hayfever to my attention. Holford's PR people are to be congratulated because the same press release appears in many places in the form of articles about dealing with hayfever: one of the most recent of these is in the Manchester Evening News, Supplements to Solve Hayfever Sniffles. There is a more detailed account of Holford's claims regarding particular supplements and hayfever on his own site.I'm going to state right here that there is negligible evidence to support Holford's claim that:MSM has so many benefits for allergy sufferers that it’s hard to know where to start.I will enlarge upon why I reject this ... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=569578 Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:18:00 +0100 569578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=539101&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fself-testing-for-allergy-and.html Last month, I wrote up part of an House of Lords evidence session for allergy and allergic disease in which IgG food intolerance tests were described as a waste of money. The first part of that session was less entertaining but does give an insight into the regulatory mess that surrounds self-testing kits in the UK. Patrick Holford (amongst others) describes the availability of these self-tests as empowering and suggests that: some health professionals just haven’t kept up to date. Perhaps it’s because a ‘home test’ takes the power away from the professional and puts it in your hands.Not withstanding Holford's comments there are serious questions about the harm to children that arises from misdiagnosis or the inappropriate use of allergy and intolerance tests.The transcript for the... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=539101 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:11:00 +0100 539101 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478808&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fallergy-and-intolerance-under-scrutiny.html The House of Lords has a Science and Technology Committee that is one of the main investigative committees in the UK. The Committee is a major forum of independent expertise and its broad remit is “to consider science and technology”. The S & T Committee investigates a range of topics including those with public policy implications and assessing health and research priorities. Committee recommendations are largely directed at Government, though they may also have implications for industry, the professions and consumers and the general public.Presently, Sub Committee 1 is investigating allergy and allergic diseases and their associated range of policy issues. However, because allergy service provision was recently examined by the House of Commons Health Committee and the Department of H... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478808 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:07:00 +0100 478808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478815&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fviews-on-allergy-uks-stolen-lives.html Allergy UK launched their Stolen Lives report during Food Allergy and Intolerance Week in the UK. I have concerns about the value of that report and the uncritical way that its claims were reproduced in the UK media.So, it has been comforting to learn that there have been some rather more robust appraisals. Steve Carper says that:[t]he kerfluffle started by Allergy UK's moronic poll alleging to prove that one-third of the total British population has food intolerances and allergies continues to roil nicely.He highlights Dr. Miriam Stoppard's article in The Mirror:WE'RE asked to believe that nearly half of us are intolerant of one food or another. I've never heard such rubbish. And this particular rubbish is masquerading as "science" in a survey published a couple of days ago by Allergy UK,... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478815 Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:08:00 +0100 478815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478818&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Ftruthiness-and-referenciness-make-case.html And please let Shinga read some decent research papers before she explodes*.Prof. Ernst has frequently and elegantly rebutted the claim that CAM treatments and therapies are not amenable to standard forms of scientific investigation. However, hand in hand with the claims that CAM is not suited to scrutiny, it seems that there is a certain truthiness and referenciness that predominates in the claims of scientific support for some of these treatments.Dr Ben Goldacre, used this word to suggest a supposed scholarly reference that wasn't a real one: "The scholarliness of her work is a thing to behold: she produces lengthy documents that have an air of 'referenciness' ... but when you follow the numbers, and check the references, it's shocking how often they aren't what she claimed them to be." ... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478818 Sat, 03 Mar 2007 12:22:00 +0100 478818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478819&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fis-yorktest-petitioning-for-food.html There is an extraordinary synergy at work about IgG, food allergy and intolerance testing that is sending shivers down my spine. Yorktest has made some extravagant claims for the significance of an Allergy UK-sponsored audit of its foodSCAN test and its efficacy for chronic conditions.In an excited news item*, YorkTest promotes an obscure petition to provide free food intolerance tests on the NHS. Their pious hope for the petition is that:[t]he people behind the idea of having free food tests must hope they too get an email from the Prime Minister. It re-enforces the view that the NHS should put peoples health at the forefront of its health service strategy. If the petition takes off, then it could make the health minister sit up and take action in saving the health service thousands of po... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478819 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:07:00 +0100 478819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=459331&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D374 Here’s a bit of a data dump of some of the critical news coverage that Patrick Holford’s “Food Is Better Than Medicine” tour of South Africa has picked up. They’re not very impressed in Africa by his claim that vitamin C is better than AZT, and Holford seems a bit conflicted over it himself. Here’s [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=459331 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:09:34 +0100 459331 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478813&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fquote-mining-and-misrepresentation-poor.html This study is very poor; the claims being made for it are over-blown and disproportionate. Readers can not possibly assess these claims of NHS mis-treatment or mis-guided treatment if we have no way of discovering which treatment modalities were attempted.YorkTest also has the chutzpah to promote an obscure petition to provide free food intolerance tests on the NHS. Their pious hope is that the petition:re-enforces the view that the NHS should put peoples health at the forefront of its health service strategy. If the petition takes off, then it could make the health minister sit up and take action in saving the health service thousands of pounds whilst freeing up doctors valuable time. At best this petition might make the stakeholders of the health service to look at what is best for the p... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478813 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:15:00 +0100 478813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=459337&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D365 Ben Goldacre Saturday February 17, 2007 The Guardian Look, I realise this is beginning to feel like one of those big containers where the Americans play Britney at you over and over again until you confess to crimes you haven’t committed. I’m totally ready to move on from nutritionists. But Patrick Holford yesterday found his way on to [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=459337 Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:32:36 +0100 459337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=459338&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D364 Patrick Holford has now solicited his patrickholford.com subscribers to write positively about him on his wikipedia page, in a mailout earlier today: “Weirdness on Wikipedia - Ideally, debates on issues of scientific and medical contention should stick to the facts, but unfortunately those in the front line of paradigm shifts are usually subject to personal attacks, [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=459338 Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:46:25 +0100 459338 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=478823&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fwhy-igg-testing-for-food-intolerance-is.html What I know about the scientific validity of IgG testing to diagnose food intolerance could be written on a postcard leaving plenty of room for the address and stamp. I'm just mentioning this because it may be time for authors' competing interest declarations to be supplemented with a statement of scope of knowledge/ignorance/belief. I've been prompted to consider the need for this statement by Patrick Holford's theatrical outrage about BBC Watchdog's Dirty Allergy Trick* (NB, the original article has been removed, I shall do my best to keep up with other links to it). A healthy volunteer participated in three food allergy/intolerance tests – two VEGA tests (conducted at different times and with different operators), a hair test, and two YorkTest IgG Food Intolerance tests (he submitted ... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=478823 Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:18:00 +0100 478823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=459339&cid=t_102853_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F%3Fp%3D363 From the letters page today: My right to be called a nutrionist Friday February 16, 2007 The Guardian In Ben Goldacre’s column on January 6 he once again accuses me of “bad science” in reference to a statement in one of my books that “AZT is potentially harmful and proving less effective than vitamin C”. As he well knows, [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=459339 Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:16:01 +0100 459339