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Bad Science Book Report

736 Words3 Pages

-1775 Book Assignment –
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Bad Science is a fascinating read on exposing the media exaggeration of new era nutritionist pitches and alternate medicines. The following four topics in the book were the ones that I personally found most intriguing. 1. The Placebo Effect 2. Homeopathy 3. Professor Patrick Holford and 4. Is Mainstream Medicine Evil?

Placebo effect the effect that occurs from someone benefiting from a normally irrelevant substance with no actual medical uses like sugar, distilled water, or saline solution. Instances of the power of the mind over discomfort, depression and anxiety are existing with readings showing how greater prices, attractive wrapping, dramatic techniques and a confident …show more content…

I tried out homeopathic medication because my grandfather was a homeopathic doctor back in my home country of Pakistan and he liked to give to us little sugar balls he would say were magic and could fix any headache and injury as children. I had been skeptical of homeopathic medication from the beginning. I learned in this chapter that my skepticism might have actually been a reason as to why homeopathy didn’t work. Homeopathy is an alternative medicine which works under the notion of a substance which causes symptoms of a disease in a healthy individual will then cure an ill individual of the same disease. Goldacre explains laughably that homeopathic remedies are diluted in distilled water to absurd proportions and must go through a process of being hammered …show more content…

Goldacre remarks on the moderately small percentage of orthodox medical doings 50 to 80 percent which might be named "evidence-based". The science and finances of drug growth are stated, with disapproval at the lack of individuality of industrial investigations and the negligence of Third World Country diseases. Some secretive tricks used by drug corporations to engineer positive test results for their products are explored. Publication bias created by researchers not publishing negative results is demonstrated with funnel plots. Examples are made of the SSRI antidepressants, Viox drugs. Improvement of trials lists to prevent abuses is proposed. Morals of drug advertising and manipulation of patient support groups are

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