Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
When we started vaccinating for measles back in the 1960s it had the intended effect; the decline and obliteration of Measles. We might think of it as a harmless childhood illness, but its eradication is truly a big deal. The prognosis for measles is that complications such as bronchitis, sensorineural hearing loss, and panencephalitis (which is fatal), can occur, so eradicating it … Read more
As a rather blatant slap in the face for the anti-vaccine movement there is a new study that illustrates the profoundly positive and deep impact that vaccines have, and will continue to have. Vaccines save 20 million lives, $350 billion in poor countries since 2001 It is the one medical intervention that stands out from … Read more
There is a new study that takes a rather serious look into the idea that you can psychologically inoculate people. Well yes, with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek I believe the term we use to describe that is the word “Education”. OK, so putting the teasing to one side, it is actually both … Read more
For some, just the name “Andrew Wakefield” is guaranteed to provoke a reaction, and so his attendance at one of the Trump inaugural balls did just that. He is often billed as a vaccine skeptic, but I would seriously argue that this is an abuse of the term skeptic because there is clear decisive irrefutable proof … Read more
Rather a lot of beliefs do not lean on evidence, but instead are castles of confidence that are built upon something distinctly different. I’m not specifically talking about religion, so what am I getting at? OK, let’s work a few examples. Myth: Vaccines cause Autism I need not go into the history here, except to perhaps point … Read more
Living a rather isolated lifestyle from the rest of us are the Amish community. They are a religious group generally located in Pennsylvania as a result of an 18th century migration, and numbers at roughly 220,000 individuals. Natural News (yes “that” Natural News) has been using them to assert a claim in the context of the observation that … Read more