Ben Goldacre interview

[caketheory]

Ben Goldacre is a psychiatrist. He's a quack and a fraud.

Psychiatry has no biological test for any mental illness, they fiddle the clinical trials and then drug kids with ritalin and other damaging drugs. Wake Up people.

[WhelkDoctor1]

Many patronising, self-appointed "experts" dumb-down science in the arrogant belief that it's the only way the public will understand it. Goldacre is the first I've come across who dumbs-down a subject so that HE can understand it.

[mohanaturo]

Homeopathy remedy Ruta 6 can treat brain tumors:

Ruta 6 selectively induces cell death in brain cancer cells but proliferation in normal peripheral blood lymphocytes: A novel treatment for human brain cancer. International Journal of Oncology, 2003;23(4):975-982

[logician360]

@mohanaturo After a quick google: the sample set of the study was 15, all of which showed some improvement, but there wasn't a placebo condition, it wasn't double blind, and it wasn't stated whether or not conventional medicine was used alongside Ruta 6. In other words, the Ruta 6 might have caused the improvement, or it might have been due to spontaneous improvement, the placebo effect, other medicine, or a mixture of the three.

[Joe22c]

NewScientist needs to invest in a digital audio recorder. Just sayin' lol.

[amoreproprio]

You lot really need to do some studying yourself and not just repeat the hyperbole spouted out by those of you in the Alternative Medicine camp who have nothing going for themselves so spend their time trying to bring down what has been proved beyond any doubt i.e. modern medicine. Nothing is perfect but this is close and science is self-correcting and constantly evolving to improve YOUR lives. Move on people!

[drmarrese101]

modern medicine is great but it also kills, maims, destroys an wrecks peoples lifes [and all in the name of 'good science'] just look at the anti depressent industry in the states and you will see what a huge bowl of turds are in control. No need for conspiracy, just look at the USA and its drugs market, its worse that the cocain market. We need informed choice, not the sensationalists or the witty little drs selling books but some intelligent resourse that we can rely on [god help us]

[macrobius]

replace DOTs with real ones

[macrobius]

Well said. Medicine was diverted when John D. Rockefeller got involved in the 30s. Antibiotics were a great discovery but google for the 1997 BBC Horizon programme on bacteriophages for a better alternative that could be benefitting us today. Nutritional supplementation could have saved many lives if only Pharma didn't put profit before people.

[TurboDally]

@macrobius

"Antibiotics...bacteriophages for a better alternative"

The reason it wasn't being looked into as much was due to its lack of efficacy and the difficulty of manipulating it. However due to a recent scientist having made an "artificial cell" by making the DNA from scratch or so it would seem, bacteriophages may recieve more attention now.

"Pharma didn't put profit before people."

Which is why you should have regulations to prevent misuse/misrepresentation.

[macrobius]

@TurboDally "The reason it wasn't being looked into as much was due to its lack of efficacy"

According to the Horizon programme it was not that they lacked efficacy but because antibiotics were an easier option while phages took more time as you mention ('difficulty of manipulating it'). However, it has been known for some time that over-using antibiotics renders them ineffective, so not to have looked into phages sooner suggests that profit has been put before people.

[TurboDally]

@macrobius

"over-using antibiotics renders them ineffective"

Not keeping up with antibiotic doses consistently & prescribing them for viral infections also does the same thing. To reduce resistance, patients must adhere to their timetable, multiple antibiotics in synergy can be used & decreasing antibiotic use in agriculture.

"profit has been put before people."

It costs half a billion $ to bring a new drug to the market...Best wait for new tech to fiddle with phages, for now antibiotics.

[macrobius]

@TurboDally True, antibiotics need to be used correctly, but it is a mystery why the prescribing of them for viral infections (true bad science) became so widespread; after all, GPs do consult the Merck manual or similar. Surely an actual placebo would have been cheaper, or prevention by keeping up nutrient levels (Vit C + Lysine for instance).

[yoda43]

i think that what the witty little dr is saying, is that we need intelligent resourses, not ill informed drivel, that was sort of his point!

mr goldacre makes a more damning and cogent arguement against "big pharma" in his book then you do, i read it and found it very informative

[drmarrese101]

I should hope he did...in a whole book over a few words!

[aleee3]

CAKETHEORY: can you tell me what ben goldacre has done to boost drug sales ?

[caketheory]

Hi, Your missing the point, I never said he personally did anything, I was referring to his profession.

[aleee3]

ok you're generalising here, not all psychiatrists are like that ... he does have valid arguments though, all he is doing is giving u a different perspective to things ... i dont know why u think he should be put into prison for that ... ????

[caketheory]

I like what he say's cus a lot of it is true. I just can't understand why he doesn't apply the same amount of common sense to his own profession "psychiatry", which has nothing to do with medicine.

[evilreligion]

He does. Read his book and you will see.

[caketheory]

Dr Ben Goldacre is a psychiatrist and psychiatry is the biggest medical fraud known to man.

He's got the audacity to talk about "misinformation" but why doesn't he look at his own profession. They constantly exagerate and cherry pick case studies to promote their profession and boost drug sales.

What a joke he should be put in prison.

[finefilth]

Lets be clear... If the medical monopoly allowed the existing cures for disease to go mainstream, and the deliberate poisonings were halted , ( (fluoride, aspartame, chemtrails, mercury, etc etc etc), they would be bankrupt or drastically downsized in very short order. A policy like this would not be in THEIR ECONOMIC INTEREST... IN FACT these policies would DESTROY their economic interest

The business as usual policies of deliberate poisoning are far more profitable for their stockholders

[finefilth]

Ben Goldacre is a medical cartel shill For example Allopathy is responsible for 780,000 deaths every year in the USA where you would be lucky to find one from Homeopathy, Naturopathy and Herbalism combined, and has only cured bacterial infections for Allopathy isn't science-based medicine it is money-based medicine. The only people who care about and hate anti-vaccinists and alternative medicine are pharma boys

[Maxdwolf]

Not just pharma boys. Anyone who cares about evidence based medicine. Homeopathy hasn't killed anyone directly because it doesn't do anything, at all. Measles deaths are on the rise in the UK and Japan because of the anti-vaccinists. I hope whoever loses a child here sues the bastards to the oblivion they so richly deserve.

[finefilth]

these pharma people need to make helping people their # 1 policy .. profits 2nd... people do not trust them for good reason... Surely a better arrangement can be found other than increasing market share and sales( sick people). Do you feel me?

[Maxdwolf]

That the drug companies have to much influence on studies is something I tentatively agree with. That it would be nice if people were put first I agree with. But to hold companies to a higher standard than the rest of us human being have exhibited capability of seems unreasonable, laudable or not.

[mctagnutandfries]

Hooray for Goldacre & the antitripe movement! I'm off to make a matchstick effigy of poosniffer Gillian McKeith.

[323266362]

thanksSszsz

im sad n2

[swyft187]

pie > cake

[Paxmax]

swyft187 said: "pie > cake"

oh oh you liar you!! =o) cakes are always bigger better and more!

[Redshift21]

Very interesting.

[mclight81]

also. wtf is up with: "a mail order phd from america." Does this guy really think he can get away with: a) that haircut, and b) saying that the guy had a mail order Ph, D from America. "bollacks" Nice try at smearing the education system you SOB. (that's american for wanker)

[Eregeras]

He wasn't smearing the US education system, all he said was there was this whack-job running a quack laboratory and he had a fake accreditation that just so happened to be bought from the US. The real US education system would not allow it and neither would any other in any developed nation.

[mclight81]

I disagree. If it was from England he wouldn't have said "mail order phd from England." Its kind of like saying I met a nice black man today. As if it would be a surprise that a black man would be nice. He's using America as a modifier as if it provides more clarity to why there would be a chop shop for phds. Its subtle but intentional.

[Eregeras]

No, it's subtle as in nothing.

He's English, this interview is in England. It would seem pretty odd for him to say 'from England' if that was the case. If you read his Bad Science blog you can see he doesn't look kindly on any fake qualifications, where they are from is irrelevent. It's because of him 'Dr' Gillain McKeith, a celebrity-nutritionist wingnut can no longer get away with pretending she has any serious medical qualification.

[mln9898]

oh and also meteor's hit the earth every once in a while, does that mean its cool because it happens naturally and we shouldn't try to stop it from happening? After all, even though most life was wiped out, eventually life flourishes.

[juaneezy19910209]

Great vid...

[columbo1988]

Who wants to CD?

[Salladsdressing]

"Scare stories" sells magazines! That's why the whole global warming issue have got totally out of hand.

It is true that global warming is happening and that it is caused by man but most of the "scare stories" that you read in the newspaper are TOTALLY wrong.

[BMWmotorrad14]

You don't think the earth warms naturally? You know the earth didn't always have polar icecaps and life flourished.

[slitrobo]

Humans werent always the dominant species either. Personally I would not like that to change.

[BMWmotorrad14]

I don't know why you'd negged me. All I said are facts. There are still two sides of the global warming story as far as scientist are concerned. Do your research. CNN and Fox news are not the decider of facts, but they know fear sells. It even looks like you bought into the fear with your comment. I suggest you look at the other side for once.

[slitrobo]

So you want me to look at the other side of being alive? I still think I like living.

[BMWmotorrad14]

I'm saying is the earth naturally goes through warming and cooling, and the fact is, if that kills us there's not a thing one can do about it. It warms even without the help of humans. Ice ages have came and went, warming has came and went, and modern humans thus far have survived, even without current technology.

[rugermkiii]

I agree with you on that one. If we were around before the last ice age, for example, we would likely have been wiped out by it and there wouldn't have been a damn thing to do about it.

[tmthymllgn]

lol

[BMWmotorrad14]

Meh, just read a book for once in your life. I'm done here.

[kmt112991]

Yes that is true. But there are accurate readings that the rate of increase on global warming is accelerated by human involvement. My point is that if we have the ability to change the out come, why not do so? I mean WE HAVE been changing the landscape of the entire earth and not to mention polluting the rivers, over hunting animals, destroying habitats etc.

[mln9898]

BMW you're obviously very ignorant about the history of our planet and life on it... the environment was habitable for other types of life, not much of the species on Earth today, including humans. And by emitting harmful things into our atmosphere that greatly accelerates the natural warming that goes on, species aren't able to able to adapt that otherwise would or could have if it happened at a natural pace. Also, it wouldn't be a very peaceful environmental process.

[BMWmotorrad14]

OK.. The oldest hominid is around 6-7 million years old (modern humans are around 250-100 thousand years old). There was a mini ice age 200 years ago. The planet warmed for about 150 years since. The planet then cooled for 30 years from 1940 to 1970. Since then it's been increased by about 1 or 2 degrees on whole. Humans have only kept accurate temperature reading for about 200 years.

[Eregeras]

No one is denying the natural cycle of the Earth, but this fact should not be twisted into a ridiculous denialist canard. The consensus in science about the general fact of man-made global warming is there, those denying this general fact are in fact a very small number of people with little relevent published work. In fact they seem to have made small side-careers out of giving their expert testimonials; every 'skeptical' article that needs a contrary quote uses one of the same few people.

[BMWmotorrad14]

My whole point in everything I said is that even with the effects of humans, the earth will go through natural cooling and warming periods, and no matter what humans do, it is such a small factor on the geographical scale. Yes, we may well be able to delay the rise of CO2 for a while, but the earth, by itself, is currently producing more CO2 than humans are. To judge things over a 38 year period on a 4.6 billion year old earth is just ridiculous.

[Eregeras]

A fountain spring spews more water than a human pouring buckets into it from a tap, but that doesn't matter because if the said human keeps doing it, the fountain WILL overflow because it's made to deal with the amount of water coming from the spring. The fraction more contributed by the human with each bucket adds about half a bucket more than the drainage can remove from the pool.

That is what we're doing with pollution and the Earth. It doesn't matter that our contribution is small.

[Eregeras]

(continued)

But it isn't small enough. We need some of the 'greenhouse' gasses otherwise the Earth would freeze, the Earth produces just as much as it needs.

Potholer54 has a good video explaining it.

[BMWmotorrad14]

Yes, but we also know that the last major ice age ended because of a shift of the earths axis, and there is nothing we can do to stop that happen in the future. I'd like to point out that the earth has had 10+ times more CO2 in it's atmosphere and life still thrived. I think people will have to worry more about their beachfront condo in Florida in the short term. What would you prefer? Warming or Cooling; the earth is always doing one or the other.

I will check out potholer54 video.

[jackdent1982]

The life on Earth will resists to CO2 increase and global warming, but without humans.

We have an impact on future generation, you think that you can burn tausends of tonns of oil and cut forests without any effect?

[BMWmotorrad14]

Let me get something straight. I don't deny global warming caused by humans. My real questions are, what do you think the end result will be? Are humans going to go extinct due to global warming? If so, how? Humans have been at the apex in countless climate catastrophes. Also, what do we do when the Earth natural gets hotter or cooler by itself? We should just count ourselves lucky to live in such a benign era. Let's work on terraforming Mars instead of Earth.

[jackdent1982]

I think that the global warming will affect for sure, human civilisation.Egiptians and some south american civilisations felt in to ruins because of drought.

Anyway we will have a decrease of population because of famine or wars, how much will be this decrease I don't know.

[pipedreambomb]

"Yes, we may well be able to delay the rise of CO2 for a while"

why bother, eh we're already fucked? that's your suggestion? might as well drive gas-guzzlers and party while we can? presumably you also believe in the rapture or you wouldn't be quite so complacent!

[BMWmotorrad14]

Meh, and no, I'm just not a hypochondriac. I live in western Canada which is one of the world's largest producers of oil, so one cannot just say, turn off the taps tomorrow and all are problems are solved. The oil will eventually run out though. Personally, at this time I think humans contribution to global warming is part of something so woven into the fabric of our society it may take something parable to a rapture to fix it. Also, no, I'm not religious at all.

[bigboxbobby2]

I dont wish to be rude, but you seem to be commenting on some other Video clip and not the Ben Goldacre interview which is about BAD SCIENCE!! Bet you feel embarassed now dont you?

[tx1523]

''BMW you're obviously very ignorant '' , that from a BLONDE of the USA, hahahah lol.

another quote: ''species aren't able to able to adapt that otherwise would or could have if it happened at a natural pace. Also, it wouldn't be a very peaceful environmental process. ''

haha, I'll give you a PhD for Grammar & Intelligence.

[DoctorPlausible]

Did he say "a man with a MAILED phd from America"?

[Paxmax]

Uhu sort of, a "mailorder phd from america".

IE a fake certificate.

[DoctorPlausible]

Oh thanks. THAT's funny.

[BF2mods]

rofl :D

[Keylimedelight]

NOOOO!! Someone else got first! I'm gona go cut myself with a cheese grateer.

[NicNasty1981]

lol

[Zerph21]

Want some lemons?