I’m starting to think they do it on purpose

Here we go again, the BBC website has some more marvellous reporting of research. This time the article is : Trial drugs “reverse” Alzheimer’s
O rly…

The BBC being accurate again

I know I haven’t been terribly active in blogging recently but this story on the BBC website raised an eyebrow. The story in question is about a crop of daffodils being grown in Wales as a source of Galantamine crystals.
For the uninitiated, Galantamine is an Acetlycholinesterase inhibitor, one of the medications used in Alzheimer’s, more specifically it is one of the three medications that doctors in the UK are allowed to prescribe. It says it right in the NICE guidelines, not according to the BBC’s reporting though. Apparently it is only available in Scotland and then only privately…
I’ve blogged repeatedly about the quality of facts on the Beeb and I will again, hopefully by the time you read this the article will be accurate but I’m not holding my breath.

When MMR attacks (or LBC and Jeni Barnett, what were you thinking?)

Just a very quick post, Ben Goldacre has been threatened by LBC’s lawyers fro infringement of copyright.

The copyright in question is to do with an episode of Jeni Barnett’s show which was frighteningly ill informed and further scare mongering about MMR. As I’ve blogged previously, the data about MMR does not show an association with autism and never has.  The events have been blogged by other already, Holford watch, jdc, Anthony Cox (Black triangle) amongst others, click on the links on this page to read their posts. You will find more links in their posts.

All this when the data shows that measles cases are increasing and therefore the risk of serious sequelae including death are also increasing. Well done LBC for stifling debate, the internet is a scary thing when geeks get riled isn’t it.

Mind you it’s all good publicity isn’t it? Well isn’t it?

It’s just a little prick

[BPSDB]

But does it do any good?

I’m referring to acupuncture which is being puffed, sorry reported on, by the BBC again today in this article.

Confusion you say, now what confusion would that be I wonder? Nothing to do with the media portrayal of previous studies surely.

But she’s a professor!

Thanks to Ben Goldacre’s mini blog I came accross this story. It’s a worrying story for me in several ways, the diagnosis by letter being one.

Snoring kills, no really…

[BPSDB]

I was reading a car magazine last week and found an advert selling SnorBan With the strap-line “Snoring Driving fatigue can be fatal”.

Itz just a little drinkie

Browsing the BBC website today I came across this article, which states that drinkers lie about how much they drink.

Goodness me, I am surprised, only 2 out of 5 people lie about their drinking. I thought the rule of thumb was:

Double what the individual says they are drinking and halve what their relatives say.

It’s just part of getting old isn’t it?

Memory loss that is, but here is a scary word for you:

DEMENTIA

Are you scared yet? I am and this is why: Stigma

But what is dementia and why are we frightened, why am I talking about this now. Well, there have been a few news stories recently about treatments and I was interested in looking at why they were reported in the way they were.

First some background, 

The biology of crime

Before I start I have to thank jdc, Ben Goldacre’s mini blog on the Badscience.net site and Cynical OT from the Bad Science forum for pointing this article out to me.

I’m starting to think I should add “bad media” to my byline…

The link in the mini blog is to the ITV news report on a study examining the cortisol response of the body to stress in adolescent males with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (F91.3). The report has been described as flaky,