Evidence-Based Medicine - Synthesis Health Lab

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Evidence-Based Medicine

A collection of 6 posts

Butts, Prions & Lethal Fraud

Industrial Medicine

Butts, Prions & Lethal Fraud

There is nothing cynical or impressionable in recognizing that the tobacco industry is corrupt and used its considerable resources to influence public policy for its own benefit, resulting in deaths and harms of millions of people. It did this by creating fraudulent research, paying scientists and politicians, and spending $billions

Probiotics and Systems Behavior

complex systems

Probiotics and Systems Behavior

If you want to understand what the purpose of a given system is, then you need to look at its behavior. Recently, I read about the long-standing, wide-spread use of probiotics and prebiotics in the poultry industry. Chicken is the number one source of animal protein in the US and

According to the evidence, of course doctors should recommend acupuncture for pain

According to the evidence, of course doctors should recommend acupuncture for pain

Last week, the BMJ published an invited head to head debate as to whether doctors should recommend acupuncture for the treatment of pain. Below is my rapid response: What’s most interesting about this discussion of whether or not doctors should recommend acupuncture for pain is a total lack of

What is the ‘Science-based’ treatment for the prevention of migraine?

What is the ‘Science-based’ treatment for the prevention of migraine?

Dear Science Based Medicine, Over the years, I’ve followed your work with great interest in an effort to better understand ‘real’ medicine and how it is that treatments can consistently do well in trials and yet, according to ‘Science,’ not really work at all. It’s been very informative

“Prevention of Migraine”: Acupuncture is Conspicuous by its Unexplained Absence

“Prevention of Migraine”: Acupuncture is Conspicuous by its Unexplained Absence

Last month, JAMA published a clinical summary of treatments for the prevention of migraine, a reprint from a publication called the Medical Letter. What’s amazing about this summary is that it manages to include a mind-bogglingly diverse collection of treatments – everything from drugs to supplements to experimental head gadgets,

Wikipedia, We have a problem

Wikipedia, We have a problem

In a nutshell: Acupuncture has been increasingly embraced by conventional care as an efficacious treatment for a variety of conditions. Evidence of this support comes from recommendations for acupuncture in numerous medical guidelines, Cochrane systematic reviews demonstrating clinical effectiveness, and an explosion of research interest into acupuncture’s effectiveness and