/oss/taxonomy/term/861/all en /oss/article/medical/study-gets-heart-controversial-chelation-therapy <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-study-gets-to-the-heart-of-controversial-chelation-therapy">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Chelation therapy is the process of removing heavy metals from the body. It can be used to treat a child with lead poisoning or remove excess iron from the blood of someone with thalassemia. What it can’t do is treat heart disease, and the recent TACT2 trial should hopefully put the final nail in the coffin of this idea. </p> Fri, 30 Aug 2024 21:29:05 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 10054 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/claptrap <p>Back in the 18<sup>th</sup> century, a theatrical line that was delivered to shamelessly elicit or “trap” applause from the audience was referred to as “claptrap.”  The line usually didn’t have much meaning and claptrap became synonymous with nonsense.  Unfortunately, because of necessity, it has become a very popular word in my vocabulary. Rapper Nicki Minaj tweets about a cousin’s friend’s testicles swelling after a COVID vaccine. What can I say? Claptrap!</p> Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:47:12 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8865 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/there-more-microbes-viruses <p>We have been inundated with discussions of viruses but there are other types of microbes out there as well. Fungi, algae, protozoa and of course, bacteria. The latter are not only out there, but inside us as well. We share our body with bacteria. They live in our mouth, on our skin and mostly in our digestive tract. There are up to a thousand different varieties, and their total number, some 100 trillion, is many times greater than the total number of human cells in the body. Luckily, bacterial cells are much smaller than human cells.</p> Tue, 23 Jun 2020 19:49:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8309 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience/masks-fall-when-antivaxxers-congregate <p>“I try to look and see where the evidence takes me.” Does this statement sound reasonable? If I told you it came from me, you might not bat an eyelash, but these words were spoken by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a famous antivaxxer, during his keynote address for the AutismOne virtual conference. Pseudoscience is insidious because it steals the very concepts that we promote in science and claims to abide by them, and there was a lot of pseudoscience at AutismOne’s conference this year. Truth be told, that’s seemingly all there is every year.</p> Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:57:31 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8287 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience/anti-vaccine-movement-2020 <p>What does an antivaxxer and a far-right activist have in common? If the thought of someone who opposes vaccines brings to mind tie-dye shirts and tree hugging, your answer may be “nothing.” But clearly, some do have a commonality: protesting the COVID-19 lockdowns.</p> Fri, 22 May 2020 15:02:07 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8254 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/who-doing-pointing-when-communication-facilitated <p>Addressing the topic of facilitated communication in a public arena feels like walking into a military academy with a target on your back. It requires disentangling the emotions from the science, because these emotions run high. This is akin to criticizing religion.</p> Fri, 15 Nov 2019 15:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7989 at /oss /oss/article/videos/cracked-science-21-scienceploitation-stem-cells <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-2"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-h5xk8lnkt5y" width="640" height="390" title="The Scienceploitation of Stem Cells (CS21)" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/H5xk8lnkT5Y?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-h5xk8lnkt5y&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="The Scienceploitation of Stem Cells (CS21)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of The Scienceploitation of Stem Cells (CS21)</iframe> </div> </p> Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:04:54 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 7469 at /oss /oss/article/news/jenny-mccarthys-charisma-masks-her-kookiness <p>About one thing there is no doubt. Jenny McCarthy is a very pretty lady. After all she rose to fame as a Playboy Playmate. She has also had a fling with modelling, TV and movies. And she is probably a nice lady and a caring mother. But a scientist she is not. Nevertheless she has no qualms about offering her opinion on complex scientific issues such as vaccination. Jenny believes that her son’s medical condition, which she claims is autism, was caused by a reaction to the mumps, measles, rubella (MMR) vaccine.</p> Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:09:52 +0000 OSS 1865 at /oss /oss/article/health-pseudoscience/toxic-lunacy-robert-de-niro-and-robert-kennedy-jr <p>Science can prove danger but it can never prove safety. It is impossible to prove that something cannot happen! Even if not a single person in a study has an adverse reaction, there is always the possibility that someone else may be affected. What science can do, is weigh the risks versus the benefits. And when it comes to vaccines, there is just no question that the benefits outweigh the risks. By several country miles. Of course, nobody claims that there is zero risk associated with vaccines, just that the risk is minimal. </p> Thu, 16 Feb 2017 20:35:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1468 at /oss