Discussion forum misinformation

Discussion forum misinformation

reference
(Last updated in July 2022.) Some of us still remember when "regular" people were dressed, coached, prompted and edited before they were allowed to appear on any wide-reaching media -- on TV or in newspapers or magazines. Read More Discussion forum misinformation
Read More

Weird niacin deficiency symptom: perceptual changes

reference, specific health issue, The Weird, US healthcare system
Recently I came across a discussion forum referring to the use of niacin for social anxiety at multi-gram doses. One commenter mentioned that based on her experience, either niacin has to be repleted in much larger amounts than commonly believed, or plays a much more important role in the diet. Or both. This intrigued me. I’ve never experimented with niacin in any big way, because I never found any mention of big doses used for anything but heart disease or schizophrenia, the latter application made famous in the 60s by Dr. Abram Hoffer. Another issue was the annoying and unpredictable flushing. Somehow I had mistakenly concluded that niacinamide, a form that does not cause flushing, and no-flush niacin were the same thing, and since no-flush niacin definitely gives me flushes,…
Read More

Look up and report Rx drug side effects online

reference
In the past few years several consumer-driven databases have sprung up that allow you to look up and report side effects to prescription drugs. The FDA's method of collecting and reporting side effects is slow and inefficient and relies mostly on doctors' reports of patient complaints. Apparently doctors tend to report only "medically serious" complaints like nausea or abdominal pain, and consider things like sexual dysfunction to be not worth mentioning. On top of that, many people don't even bother sharing side effects with their doctors, probably because they know the exchange will go like this: Doctor: Any problem with the flurextrothimstim? Patient: Yeah, my eyelashes started to fall out. Doctor: Really? I've never heard of that! Give me a call in a few months and tell me if it's…
Read More

Reading guide

reference
I use my other social media feeds to highlight news items focusing on the effects of nutrition, the environment and prescription drugs on our health. Here are some of the websites I get my info from. Don't be put off by the Paleo sites if you're not Paleo -- they're not too self-righteous about it, although some of their commenters can be. The site authors have done a lot of thinking about nutrition and diet, and a lot of questioning of the beliefs held by the American healthcare system and the popular media. New York Times Health Feed ("Well") New Hope 360 Amanda's Health Journal Food Politics Beyond Meds Chris Kesser Discover's Health & Medicine RSS Feed Dr. Briffa Mark's Daily Apple Nature.com's News Feed New Scientist's News Feed The…
Read More