In another few weeks it’ll be 27 years since my mother died of metastatic breast cancer. Not a nice way to go – but eased by a very caring family GP and the wonderful people at the local hospice, who helped her die with dignity at home. I was reminded of this by reading David […]
Continue readingFrom time to time the ‘debate’ around vaccinations re-surfaces in the headlines. A number of other NZ bloggers have addressed this (here, & here, for example). It’s a much hotter topic as in the US, where a number of high-profile ‘anti-‘ groups keep vaccines in the public eye for all the wrong reasons. Don’t get me wrong […]
Continue readingOver on Code for Life, Grant’s recently put up some posts concerning homeopathy (here & here, for example). He’s also suggested that homeopathic (& other) remedies should carry disclaimers to do with their active ingredients (or lack thereof) and what they can & can’t do. Anyway, one of the common responses to articles critical of homeopathy […]
Continue readingOne of my commenters asked the following question, & while I answered it quickly in that thread, I thought it might be useful for her (& maybe others) if I found a few references to support what I said. One of my friends has this as their current status on Facebook, and I wondered if […]
Continue readingWhile doing a little bedtime reading I came across a recent post by Orac that deconstructs some anti-vaccination nonsense spouted by a blogger (writing about some upcoming H1N1 flu vaccines) in the US. I don’t want to repeat it all – pop over to Orac’s place for the whole post. But one bit of foolishness […]
Continue readingA couple of days ago our local paper carried a letter that included the bald statement: "vaccines cause ear infections." My first response to that one was: citations, please! That sort of statement is incredibly dangerous, because it’s essentially saying, don’t vaccinate if you don’t want your kids to get ear infections. (The letter writer […]
Continue readingA while ago now I blogged on comments that had been made in a letter to one of our local papers concerning gardasil, the vaccine currently offered to young women & offering protection against the four most common strains of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). My main concern in writing then was to counter some rather […]
Continue readingWell, I had a great time at the Junior Cafe in Tauranga yesterday 🙂 I always like to talk about things that interest me with other equally interested people, & the questions afterwards were really stimulating. As I’ve said before, I enjoy challenging questions because they stimulate my own learning 🙂 Anyway, there was a […]
Continue readingIf you’ve seen today’s papers (& I guess it’s on TV/radio as well), you’ll know that the outbreak of measles that began in Christchurch seems to have spread to Auckland (by the simple path of someone picking up the infection in Christchurch & then travelling north, I suspect). A measles expert quoted on the Science […]
Continue readingAt least, that’s how those working in medicine/health were characterised in a letter to one of our local papers. The writer seems to see the whole vaccines/pandemic warnings issue as a conspiracy to drive up profits for doctors, scientists, & pharmaceutical companies. Personally I always thought doctors & health researchers were in the business of helping […]
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