Note to My Readers

Dear Readers,

I will continue to leave this blog up in hopes it will be of help to you and a source of information. (Please note that Google has disabled my access to the main frame and does not show the daily articles on the home pages. There are years of daily articles available. You can still scroll down on the right side all the way to the bottom and search past articles by topic using the search engine.) I passionately believe that everyone deserves sound information about their health, food, and the world we live in. I also believe that public policies and clinical guidelines should be based on the soundest science and reasoned risk-benefit analysis, to be ethical, and to have been proven to actually help and not harm people. Sadly, this is significantly not the case today. I never imagined that we would be witnessing the greatest decimation of science, medicine and of our country with today's politicalization and corruption of science, medicine and media.

Most pop science in media, being taught in schools and universities today, and popularly believed – is increasingly the furthest thing from the reasoned, careful scientific process that has guided progress and advancement for over a century. The proliferation of junk science even in formerly credible science and health sources, publications and organizations is disturbing. Please be careful out there! The "science" being taught today is increasingly anti-science, and scientific literacy is the lowest I've seen in my lifetime. Worse, rather than science and advancements being viewed positively as bringing great benefits to people and our world, it is being used for political ideologies and marketing like never before. Rather than celebrate the positive things that can come from good science, we are surrounded by fears, with ominous views of our health and our world. Fear sells products and corrupt policies, but when scares are being used to convince us of something, it's our clue that it's very unlikely to be credible.

It has becoming increasingly difficult, and nearly impossible, for people (consumers and professionals alike) to find credible and factual information. Internet searches and search engines bring up screened/censored, limited content that is predominately marketing, political and agenda-driven. Credible science, original sources and objective, thoughtful analyses rarely appear. Media has become an expanse of junk science, disinformation, politics and marketing. All of us are now on our own to question everything, seek out original sources and do our own fact-checking, research and critical thinking. Avoid those "fact checkers." You'll be surprised at how much of what "everyone knows" is not true.

As a medical professional, it is extremely troubling to see history repeating itself with the rise of healthism and anti-science, and how medical ethics has been redefined to no longer protect individuals and preserve the doctor-patient relationship, but to increase the power and control of government over lives. The abandonment of the Hippocratic Oath, has cost lives and resulted in the loss of many of the finest medical professionals and medical practices. The quality of education and licensing of nursing and medical professionals has crumbled to the point where credentials don't mean what they once did. I hope new young professionals realize that most of their learning needs to come after they've gotten out of school and will require diligence, hard work and critical thinking on their part. Sadly, it has never been more imperative for consumers to not only do their own research, but to seek second opinions and fight for the medical care they need and deserve.

My personal commitment is unchanged. I hope the articles continue to offer tools to help you critically examine the studies and news reports we encounter everyday. Remeber that dates on articles and research do not and never will change good science, and conclusions remain valid today. You can take the very same critical thinking techniques in these articles to step-and-repeat with today's news in order to do your own analysis of the latest claims. Junk science has a way of being repeated for decades, because unlike science, junk science never progresses with sound scientific information. I'm leaving this site up in hopes that the information will continue to be of help to you and your loved ones.

Warmly,

Sandy

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