FSM Friends’ News and Articles
FDA proposes ban on curcumin and other naturopathic favorites in compounded drugs: “Freed from the normal safety and efficacy evidence requirements for prescription drugs, these practitioners were able to create drugs based on scanty evidence or, in some cases, crackpot “theories” of disease processes at odds with science. This transformed compounding from a useful service to what is essentially experimentation on human subjects without the safeguards of a clinical trial or scientifically meaningful results.”
There’s no vaccine for HIV/AIDS, but there’s Truvada: Science has made great strides in understanding, treating, and preventing HIV/AIDS. We can hope for an AIDS vaccine, but meanwhile there is a pill that can markedly reduce the risk of becoming infected.
General
You may not have to cut back on red meat after all, controversial new guidelines say: This no doubt will get push-back, as it is in the medical community, especially from our vegan friends. This is a perfect example of contradictory health advice that drives people mad and makes them doubt much of medical advice. In the end, it all comes down to common sense. Exercise moderation in all things. In many cases it’s not what you eat but how much. And as long as there is controversy around meat eating, maybe not eat so much meat. It’s probably better for you and is definitely better for the planet.
Hormone diets are all the rage, but do they actually work? “Currently, there is no viable theory to demonstrate that a person can ‘reset’ their hormones to influence fat loss.” The ‘hormone diet’ touted by popular sources might not be bad advice and may lead to fat loss – but likely due to the usual suspects of decreasing calorie intake through consumption of fruits and vegetables over calorie-dense processed foods and increased exercise.
Great Moments in Health and Science
The development of cataract surgery: Simple and relatively safe, modern cataract surgery restores sight and preserves independence.
Today’s abused health concept
Anti HPV vaccine memes – New York anti-vaxxers get everything wrong: HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. HPV causes 43,000 cancers a year in the USA alone. The HPV vaccine prevents becoming infected by HPV, which means you are protected from these cancers.