Do you believe that vitamins can shorten your life?

I once asked my GP what he thought of vitamin and mineral supplements. His non-committal response was that there's no evidence that they do you any harm. He's now come round to the idea that at least glucosamine is of some use to people with bone problems.

An article published in the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) “Archives of Internal Medicine” claimed that taking vitamins leads to a higher death rate in older women. How on earth could anyone tell? Apparently this was based on surveys sent to nearly 39,000 women on just three occasions – in 1986, 1997 and 2004. As their average age in 1986 was 62, isn’t it highly likely that quite a few of them would have died by 2008? Could big pharmaceutical companies be behind this scare?

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It's only necessary to follow news reports over a few years to receive Medical opinion that either supports or demolishes any theory.  It's not difficult to find eminent Opinion in favour/against drinking red wine, taking Aspirin on a habitual basis, eating this, that or the other; in favour of exercise/recommending conservation of the body's mechanisms.  

You name it, and there's a Press cutting for either side of the argument.  Meanwhile there's truth in the saying, everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening!

Health Benefits of Vitamins

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" Any more Vitamin Burgers and chips left...?"

I'm not sure if anyone can keep up with the flip-flop nature of new health studies. I'm glad I'm not a health nut or I would be flitting about like a loosed canary wondering which way to go. There seems to be no consensus on much of anything when it comes to what is healthy and what isn't. I'm sure that someone somewhere is about to release a new study showing how writing forum posts causes cancer.

everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening!

LOL! No kidding. If I believed in Hell, I would insist that we're already in it. I would cite as evidence that the better a food tastes, the unhealthier it is. Unfortunately, the converse is also true ... the worse it tastes, the healthier it is. Now that's friggin' hellish.

It's painfully obvious that none of you've had my grilled venison steaks since you think the better things taste, the worse they are for you....

To misquote Homer Simpson: "mmmmmm...deer."

Sure it's not muntjac? Makes great road-kill.

oftenwrong wrote:
It's only necessary to follow news reports over a few years to receive Medical opinion that either supports or demolishes any theory. It's not difficult to find eminent Opinion in favour/against drinking red wine, taking Aspirin on a habitual basis, eating this, that or the other; in favour of exercise/recommending conservation of the body's mechanisms.

You name it, and there's a Press cutting for either side of the argument. Meanwhile there's truth in the saying, everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening!

Especially in the Daily Mail!

My Aunty Jill holds the Times quiz each Christmas and we compete in groups. Naturally, I can't answer a flaming thing, so sit there like a lemon wishing the session would just please be over!

Anyway, at the last one, one of the questions was, "Which of these has NOT been linked with cancer in the Daily Mail?" She proceeded to list about 20 random things, and it was absolutely crazy. It actually sounded like a joke question and it was pot luck which one to pick as the answer.

Just saw this tweet:

"@DMReporter
This week's Daily Mail Cancer List: Mon) Yoghurt Tue) Swimming Wed) Bats Thu) Plagiarism Fri) Smiling Sat) Tin Sun) Proximity to cows
Retweeted by Owen Jones"


Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Tory MP says astrology is good for the health

From an article by Laura Donnelly:-

A Conservative member of the Commons health select committee has said he is “absolutely convinced” of the benefits of astrology and called for it to be incorporated into medicine. David Tredinnick said he had spent 20 years studying astrology and healthcare and said it had a “proven track record” guiding people through their lives.

The MP, a member of both the Commons health select committee and the science and technology committee, is a keen advocate of complementary therapies, and chairman of a government working group on herbal medicine. He said more should be done to raise awareness among patients and healthcare professionals of the benefits of astrology. It followed a parliamentary debate, in which Mr Tredinnick disclosed that he has studied astrology in connection with healthcare for 20 years, and was invited to speak at the Glastonbury music festival because of his “radical agenda”.

He said he had been subject to “relentless attacks” by sceptics over the years, many of whom were “ignorant” bullies while colleagues had dubbed him “the Hon Member for Holland and Barrett.”

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Does anybody believe anything written in the daily mail ?   

The medical profession has long been aware of the "placebo effect" by which a patient "recovers" by the application of something with no known medical benefit.

How can anyone seriously believe that?

Lots of medicines given with a placebo effect oftenwrong, they seem to work too?