Tomfoolery Blog

Archive for February, 2010

On February 18th, I gave a talk on the scientific method to the Merseyside Skeptic Society. Andy Wilson has kindly provided me with the audio, I’ve plopped the slides on top, and you can see part 1 on youtube:

And Part 2 here:

Now, this is a bit of an experiment for me. Although the talk was captured on sound tape, it wasn’t videoed. If you like the talk, I’m keen to talk elsewhere, so you can get in touch with me at tom at tomfooleryblog dot com.

The evening itself was highly enjoyable, and included a live recording of Skeptics With a K and talks from Alan Callister, Mike Hall and Michael Marshall. You can hear the recording (and Marsh’s talk) here.

According to this article in the Telegraph, a secret government report reveals that 18 children in the past 4 years have died following vaccinations.  Now, any scientist worth their salt should not be surprised by this, but if you are a concerned parent this kind of sensationalist headline will surely be a source of worry.

Of course, I have issues with this article. First of all, it cites a ‘secret report’, so there is no way of verifying it. Second, it states that the 18 children have died FOLLOWING vaccinations. No evidence of causation at all.

Think about it. How many vaccinations are given to children every year in the UK? I don’t have the numbers to hand (if anyone does please let me know!) but I’m guessing it’s in the hundreds of thousand. If that many children have vaccinations, it’s no surprise that a handful die every year, but that is not evidence that the vaccines caused the deaths.

The article was summed up here:

After the death of a child who developed meningitis and swelling of the brain three weeks after an MMR jab in 2004, a claim for compensation was made by the child’s parents. It is not known if this was successful.

That there is absolutely nothing. A three week gap between the vaccine and the death? Unsubstantiated compensation claim? This is nothing but scaremongering.

However, buried within the article is some perfectly sensible commentary:

Prof Peter Openshaw, a leading immunologist from Imperial College London, said parents should not be alarmed by the report’s findings.

“A lot of vaccine reactions are just inexplicable,” he said. “It may be that someone had an infection before they got a jab, it may be something in their genetic make-up or sometimes there are allergic reactions. But vaccines are extraordinarily safe compared to the diseases they prevent.”

Overall, thousands of lives have been saved by childhood immunisation. Smallpox and polio have been eradicated.

I just wonder why this was published in the first place.

ADZRSHQNGUAY

As we already know, the UK House of Commons Science and Technology committee slammed homeopathy in their recent evidence check. In response to this, MP David Tredinnick (Conservative) has sponsored an Early Day Motion (EDM), ‘expressing concern’ at the report.

So far, 12 other MPs have signed the motion:

• James Gray, Conservative
• Gregory Campbell, DUP
• David Simpson, DUP
• Harry Cohen, Labour
• Jeremy Corbyn, Labour
• Andrew Dismore, Labour
• David Drew, Labour
• John McDonnell, Labour
• Stephen Pound, Labour
• Alan Simpson, Labour
• Mike Hancock, Lib Dem
• Bob Russell, Lib Dem

As you can see, all the major political parties are represented, with Labour being the largest group. If any of these MPs represent you, you can ask them why they have signed the EDM here.

Here is the motion in full:

That this House expresses concern at the conclusions of the Science and Technology Committee’s Report, Evidence Check on Homeopathy; notes that the Committee took only oral evidence from a limited number of witnesses, including known critics of homeopathy Tracy Brown, the Managing Director of Sense About Science, and journalist Dr Ben Goldacre, who have no expertise in the subject; believes that evidence should have been heard from primary care trusts that commission homeopathy, doctors who use it in a primary care setting, and other relevant organisations, such as the Society of Homeopaths, to provide balance; observes that the Committee did not consider evidence from abroad from countries such as France and Germany, where provision of homeopathy is far more widespread than in the UK, or from India, where it is part of the health service; regrets that the Committee ignored the 74 randomised controlled trials comparing homeopathy with placebo, of which 63 showed homeopathic treatments were effective, and that the Committee recommends no further research; further notes that 206 hon. Members signed Early Day Motion No. 1240 in support of NHS homeopathic hospitals in Session 2006-07; and calls on the Government to maintain its policy of allowing decision-making on individual clinical interventions, including homeopathy, to remain in the hands of local NHS service providers and practitioners who are best placed to know their community’s needs.

Of course, you’ll notice that the arguments the motion brings up are completely erroneous. They complain about a ‘limited number of witnesses’, even though one of the said witnesses was none other than Robert Wilson, chairman of the British Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers! They also talk about ’74 randomized controlled trials’, even though it doesn’t say what the trials are.

Asking for evidence from other countries perplexes me somewhat. No matter where homeopathy is applied in the world, the ingredients are the same: sugar!

Of course, with only 13 signatures this EDM is very unlikely to be heard, but I still find it very worrying that there are MPs who are prepared to completely ignore the scientific method and support quack medicine. I just hope people let their MPs let them know how they feel about this…

I really don’t know what is going on with ITV. Their premier morning show, GMTV, is usually obsessed with throwaway celebrity gossip and handbags, but for some reason their website is clearly in favour of homeopathy:

Homeopathy is a huge industry, providing alternative and gentler treatments for ailments that work to heal both mind and body.

What follows is essentially an advert for ‘big homeo’, the homeopathic industry. They also include a poll on whether homeopathy is effective. Obviously polls mean nothing, but it would hurt to nobble it, would it?

Hopefully following the findings of the House of Commons Science and Technology committee, the four remaining NHS-funded homeopathic hospitals will be under threat. In the meantime, the Liverpool Primary Care Trust web page on Complementary Therapies makes disturbing reading. It details the many ailments homeopathy ‘treats’, but more worryingly it states that they offer cancer treatment with Iscador, a mistletoe treatment that appears to be yet another placebo.

I currently live in Liverpool, and have written to my MP, complaining about the provision of homeopathy on the NHS. If you also live in Liverpool, I would encourage you to do the same. You can also contact the Liverpool PCT.

After assessing the evidence, a committee of MPs has recommended that homeopathy should not be funded on the NHS. Huzzah!

Millions of people all over the world believe in the power of Jesus. Woo-practitioners will recommend the healing power of copper bracelets (Boots sells them, so they must work, right?).

Imagine if you could combine the power of Jesus and copper bracelets? Well, for a mere $9.97, you can make that dream a reality!

I shit thee not.

Andrew Wakefield is getting his comeuppance, big time. He’s been shot down by the GMC, had not one, but two papers withdrawn from journals, and now, he has left the Thoughtful House Centre for Children, the very clinic that he set up.

So where does this leave Wakefield? On the face of it, it would appear that he no longer has a voice. But just how low will he stoop? He’s already been shown to bribe children at birthday parties, as well as perform unnecessary colonoscopies and lumber punctures. To be honest I really wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up at naturalnews.com.

One quote from the Times really riled me:

My work will continue at Thoughtful House until we get a definitive answer into whether vaccines can cause autism.

This is so unscientific it hurts. He’s starting with a conclusion and trying to prove it, which is turning the scientific method on its head. And anyway, all the peer-reviewed evidence shows that vaccines (in particular the MMR vaccine) do NOT cause autism. Funny how Wakefield never mentions any of that.

Scum.

Peer review. It’s at the very core of science, and it is designed to filter out the scientific wheat from the nonsense chaff.

However, sometimes it goes wrong. The journal Peptides has published a very strange article, entitled ‘Protein information content resides in rare peptide segments’. On the face of it, the article is about pentapeptide motifs found in proteins, a fairly reasonable scientific topic. However, the abstract manages to slip in this phrase:

an ‘intelligent design’ is now a popular way to explain the information produced in biological systems.

How in the name of arse did this get published? Intelligent Design (Creationism light) has been shown to be complete nonsense by everyone, even the courts. The paper goes on to mention further Discovery Institute stock phrases, such as ‘specified complexity’ and ‘information content’.

So, if you want to easily publish, go to Peptides! They don’t care what you put in your abstract, and they don’t mind ID language! Who knows, maybe this paper will be retracted at a later date…

By the way, I first read about this on the blog of PZ Myers. He has done a much more throughout deconstruction of the paper over at his blog Pharyngula.

Sorry for the short notice! This Thursday I will be giving a brief talk on the scientific method at the Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS) Skeptics in the Pub event at the Vines Pub, L1, Liverpool. I’ll be sharing the stage with Allan Callister, who will be talking Emotional Freedom Technique, something of an interest of his of late. Next, the MSS president Mike Hall will be examining Bad Logic, with examples from the world of religion. Mike Marsh will be taking to the mic next to explain How PR Took Over Journalism, and where we go from here.

There will be a Q+A, and a live recording of the Skeptics With a K podcast. Come down if you can, these are always great, friendly, informative evenings!