Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplements: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

What Hacker News said

Recommends Fishysoup · 2020-12 · on “Vitamin D insufficiency may account for almost 90% of Covid-19 deaths”

There's no such thing as an "immune booster". The immune system is incredibly complex and nuanced, and there isn't a knob (or 10) that you can tweak to turn it up or down. It exists in a continuum of largely understood configurations, and it can learn and adapt (not always with good results). If anything, "boosting" it as in turning up immune activity is usually terrible (think auto-immune disorders, inflammation, cancer). The "misinformation" people are battling is about a) unsubstantiated health claims and b) the fact that supplement manufacturers don't need to provide any evidence or follow any regulations regarding what's actually in the supplements. That means they can say they're selli

Cites gopalv · 2014-08 · on “Aspirin could dramatically cut cancer risk, according to biggest study yet”

Next I'll be hearing I should chew willow bark instead of paying for Aspirin :) Even if this worked, the amount of misinformation about this has inoculated me against taking medical decisions myself (other than avoiding the free Twix littered in the office kitchen). John Oliver covered this style of journalism, rather sarcastically a while back. [this video]

Cites dumbneurologist · 2017-07 · on “Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?”

Haha. This is an incredibly polite reply, sharpened to a very fine point. I'm grateful I have something to contribute to a site that I've gotten an incredible amount out of. And it's a powerful reminder that very very smart people can have a hard time critically appraising medical claims. As powerful as the internet is, medicine is really complicated, and it's easy for doctors to forget that. I'll let the surgeon speak for him/herself, but for my part: I am raising the issue of industry size and quackery to give other readers context. It doesn't make the article wrong necessarily, but I would want to have that context as a non-expert reader trying to understand how it fits into the larger bo

Cites nindalf · 2021-01 · on “Larry King has died”

It’s funny you should blame the government for this. In the 90s people actually died from shady supplements. In response the FDA tried to expand its authority to regulating these supplements. The industry started a scaremongering ad campaign telling people that they wouldn’t be able to get Vitamin C supplements unless they wrote their congressman. Many did. Reps received more letters from their constituents on this one Bill than the entire Vietnam War [1]. In response to pressure from constituents, government reversed course. The unelected experts in Government tried to do the right thing. It’s the people who were so easily misled that forced the end of regulation for dietary supplements. Pa