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A review by theomnivorescientist
Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them by Seema Yasmin
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Viral BS
Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them
Seema Yasmin
Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 9781421440408
272 pp. | 6 in x 9 in
2 line drawings
12 Jan 2021
**This is an ARC provided by NetGalley for book reviews.**
Summary:
A collection of articles about medical myths, propagation and genesis of misinformation, rampant pseudoscience, and dark episodes of unethical medical practices including human medical experimentations and false publications in reputed journals. The forty-six "debunking" articles have a journalistic vibe to them and comprise of historical facts, quotations from physicians, scientists, patients, and administrators involved in various cases. This book is quite relevant in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Detail Review:
The first few chapters of this book tell us about the gross misinformation regarding usage and safety of several over-the-counter drugs, food and dietary supplements, and some really bizarre cases of medical misconceptions such as placental pills (this is where I had a sinking feeling that the book is going to be a lot more shocking than I originally predicted). The section on the rise of Instagram influencers and their role in disseminating wrong information about health fads is seriously alarming. This only goes to show how many people around the world are exposed to false advertisements which are potentially harmful to them via social media. The pandemic surely brought forth the general disbelief and denial that prevails among a large section of the world's population about scientific truths. But when you read about the history of racial bias regarding blood donation in the US it surely is an eye-opener. This book is a catalogue of how billion-dollar companies push their agenda towards consumers like us to buy pills, e-cigarettes, and seemingly healthy-sounding products like detox teas which have been found to contain harmful compounds in certain cases.
Dr Yasmin talks about her personal experiences when she researched about a whooping cough outbreak in Arizona in 2011. I was as flabbergasted as she was when she realized how deeply entrenched anti-vaccine sentiment is in the US. Now that vaccines against the Sars-Cov2 have started rolling out we are beginning to see the blatant disregard for the vaccination procedures not just in the US but across the globe.
Written by someone who has worked in the field of epidemiology the book clears some unfamiliar concepts regarding how clinical trials are conducted. For example, the nocebo effect occurs when something doesn't have any health effects whatsoever but makes you ill simply because you believe it's bad for your health. This has been documented in the case of MSG or Ajinomoto used in Chinese cuisine where people actually got sick thinking MSG caused their illness whereas no study could prove it categorically.
Dr Yasmin explains the importance of scientific language used in clinical studies. When we read about a particular medical finding which was gathered from an observational study it means the scientists found only links or associations between the causal agent and the disease. Groups of people are observed for their habits and intake of medicines or food supplements which often consists of observational bias. Some of these observational studies are clumped together and called "meta-analysis". It only shows an association between a causative agent and a particular disease based on observational data collected from thousands of people. Again, meta-analyses suffer from personal bias as well. On the other hand, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are conducted by randomly assigning people to "placebo" or "treatment" groups where personal bias about the medicine is kept minimal. These are the highest standards in any clinical study. Many such RCTs have come in the media regarding our Covid vaccine studies. I think such a distinction between various methods of a clinical study should be discussed more so that the general audience is aware of the quality of evidence rather than jumping on conclusions about some quirky research finding which makes a juicy news flash.
The second half of the book deals with more serious diseases like Ebola and Zika and the doubts surrounding their long-term effects and routes the virus follow to infect people. An exception to all these medical chapters mentioned before is the one particular case where the author talks about the rampant fracking practices. It is a concern how academia is forced to publish fracking in a good light under the monetary influence and political pressure from the oil and gas industry. This is a sad truth but academia is not a pinnacle of unbiased truth as it likes to be. People run it and people can be swayed and manipulated by rich conglomerates and big-pharma in academia just as anywhere else.
Overall, the book has a lot to offer but its structure could have been a bit more classified. A division of the chapters into sections like diseases, cosmetics, medicines, dietary habits, occupational hazards would have been more convenient and accessible for the reader.
Who will love this book:
For someone with a long scientific training, some of the stories in this book come as a shock to me. The book is an excellent handbook to refer to if you are struggling to discuss concerns about any recent medical fact, infectious diseases, or misinformation regarding dietary habits or medicines. But I doubt whether the right audience will read this book. This book is meant to shatter misconceptions and unless a greater number of people read it and discuss it with one another the path to curbing misinformation is a long haul.
Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them
Seema Yasmin
Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 9781421440408
272 pp. | 6 in x 9 in
2 line drawings
12 Jan 2021
**This is an ARC provided by NetGalley for book reviews.**
Summary:
A collection of articles about medical myths, propagation and genesis of misinformation, rampant pseudoscience, and dark episodes of unethical medical practices including human medical experimentations and false publications in reputed journals. The forty-six "debunking" articles have a journalistic vibe to them and comprise of historical facts, quotations from physicians, scientists, patients, and administrators involved in various cases. This book is quite relevant in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Detail Review:
The first few chapters of this book tell us about the gross misinformation regarding usage and safety of several over-the-counter drugs, food and dietary supplements, and some really bizarre cases of medical misconceptions such as placental pills (this is where I had a sinking feeling that the book is going to be a lot more shocking than I originally predicted). The section on the rise of Instagram influencers and their role in disseminating wrong information about health fads is seriously alarming. This only goes to show how many people around the world are exposed to false advertisements which are potentially harmful to them via social media. The pandemic surely brought forth the general disbelief and denial that prevails among a large section of the world's population about scientific truths. But when you read about the history of racial bias regarding blood donation in the US it surely is an eye-opener. This book is a catalogue of how billion-dollar companies push their agenda towards consumers like us to buy pills, e-cigarettes, and seemingly healthy-sounding products like detox teas which have been found to contain harmful compounds in certain cases.
Dr Yasmin talks about her personal experiences when she researched about a whooping cough outbreak in Arizona in 2011. I was as flabbergasted as she was when she realized how deeply entrenched anti-vaccine sentiment is in the US. Now that vaccines against the Sars-Cov2 have started rolling out we are beginning to see the blatant disregard for the vaccination procedures not just in the US but across the globe.
Written by someone who has worked in the field of epidemiology the book clears some unfamiliar concepts regarding how clinical trials are conducted. For example, the nocebo effect occurs when something doesn't have any health effects whatsoever but makes you ill simply because you believe it's bad for your health. This has been documented in the case of MSG or Ajinomoto used in Chinese cuisine where people actually got sick thinking MSG caused their illness whereas no study could prove it categorically.
Dr Yasmin explains the importance of scientific language used in clinical studies. When we read about a particular medical finding which was gathered from an observational study it means the scientists found only links or associations between the causal agent and the disease. Groups of people are observed for their habits and intake of medicines or food supplements which often consists of observational bias. Some of these observational studies are clumped together and called "meta-analysis". It only shows an association between a causative agent and a particular disease based on observational data collected from thousands of people. Again, meta-analyses suffer from personal bias as well. On the other hand, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are conducted by randomly assigning people to "placebo" or "treatment" groups where personal bias about the medicine is kept minimal. These are the highest standards in any clinical study. Many such RCTs have come in the media regarding our Covid vaccine studies. I think such a distinction between various methods of a clinical study should be discussed more so that the general audience is aware of the quality of evidence rather than jumping on conclusions about some quirky research finding which makes a juicy news flash.
The second half of the book deals with more serious diseases like Ebola and Zika and the doubts surrounding their long-term effects and routes the virus follow to infect people. An exception to all these medical chapters mentioned before is the one particular case where the author talks about the rampant fracking practices. It is a concern how academia is forced to publish fracking in a good light under the monetary influence and political pressure from the oil and gas industry. This is a sad truth but academia is not a pinnacle of unbiased truth as it likes to be. People run it and people can be swayed and manipulated by rich conglomerates and big-pharma in academia just as anywhere else.
Overall, the book has a lot to offer but its structure could have been a bit more classified. A division of the chapters into sections like diseases, cosmetics, medicines, dietary habits, occupational hazards would have been more convenient and accessible for the reader.
Who will love this book:
For someone with a long scientific training, some of the stories in this book come as a shock to me. The book is an excellent handbook to refer to if you are struggling to discuss concerns about any recent medical fact, infectious diseases, or misinformation regarding dietary habits or medicines. But I doubt whether the right audience will read this book. This book is meant to shatter misconceptions and unless a greater number of people read it and discuss it with one another the path to curbing misinformation is a long haul.