bengoldacre - secondary blog http://bengoldacre.posterous.com ben goldacre witters on and on and on about things that are too long to post on twitter and not clever enough to post on his main blog at www.badscience.net posterous.com Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:41:57 -0700 Awesome videos on history of Cochrane http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/awesome-videos-on-history-of-cochrane http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/awesome-videos-on-history-of-cochrane I spend a of my time shouting about systematic reviews, and how baffling it is that they're so recent. Cochrane Collaboration were instrumental in developing these ideas, and they've just released a bunch of videos to celebrate the anniversary. There are lots of interviews and old pictures featuring people you should have heard of, and some great human history of the battles for evidence that have shaped medicine. Some are memorable moments (like David Weatherall talking about the criticism of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine) but there are also some fun one liners, like Muir Gray saying, "I've taught Iain a lot, especially this: all civil servants need our help, some need a lot of our help..."

I shout about systematic reviews in this clip here, and there's a couple of pages in Chapter one of Bad Pharma on textbooks ignoring evidence, if you've got a copy kicking around. 

Bored? Procrastinating?
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:26:04 -0700 Event for journalists about reporting on the new NHS systems. AND: a drunk video idea. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/event-for-journalists-about-reporting-on-the http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/event-for-journalists-about-reporting-on-the
This looks like an interesting backgrounder, via @paulbradshaw

I have, incidentally, a fantasy YouTube video series that I would like to commission: civil servants from the Department of Health explain the administrative structures of the new NHS after the current redisorganisation, to drunk people, and then the drunk people have to explain it back to the camera. It'll be like Drunk History meets the King's Fund. 

Anyway, here's the event. Get in touch if you want to make the video, I'm ben@badscience.net and we'll need: some civil servants from DH (off camera is fine), a camera (I've got one), and some drunk people. So, basically get in touch if you work at DH and want to do this. 
 

'GPs in control? Reporting the new health system' is an event bringing together the people who will be part of the new clinical commissioning system with those reporting on it.

It will discuss what are likely to be the important issues, as well as providing an opportunity for building new relationships with bodies such as CSUs and CCGs, as well as hyperlocal bloggers and health experts.

Speakers come from both the health system and health journalism, and include former Health Service Journal editor and public policy expert Richard Vize.

The event is being organised by the BBC College of Journalism, Birmingham City University and Help Me Investigate Health.

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Tue, 12 Mar 2013 06:15:58 -0700 Gorgeous, informative song about techy details of evidence based practice http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/gorgeous-informative-song-about-techy-details http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/gorgeous-informative-song-about-techy-details
This is a gorgeous, informative song about techy details of evidence based practice

I totally agree with the principles set out here - the importance of thinking critically about the merits of surrogate outcomes, or benefits which are statistically significant but only clinically modest -  though I'm not sure I agree with all his implicit summary conclusions about specific interventions. 

But that's kind of THE POINT. 


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:06:46 -0800 I'm sad about Chavez. Here's an amazing documentary that had access during the coup against him. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/im-sad-about-chavez-heres-an-amazing-document http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/im-sad-about-chavez-heres-an-amazing-document
Chavez was a mixed picture, but he had some amazing lines, and he was elected. Here's an amazing documentary that was filmed during the coup against him. It has some very scary moments, and the people on the other side don't come out looking too good.


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:56:00 -0800 Nurse refuses to perform CPR on dying patient. Chilling. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/nurse-refuses-to-perform-cpr-on-dying-patient http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/nurse-refuses-to-perform-cpr-on-dying-patient
This 911 call is absolutely chilling. A nurse refuses to give CPR to a dying patient, explaining that it's not her job, and that her boss won't let her. She also refuses to hand the phone to any passer-by who will help save the life. The recording of the call is upsetting, it's a very peculiar situation. 

I could understand this a little more if the person on the phone said that the person had a "Do Not Resuscitate" documented. 

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Mon, 11 Feb 2013 02:55:11 -0800 The dangers of approving things before the evidence is in: you don't get the evidence http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/the-dangers-of-approving-things-before-the-ev http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/the-dangers-of-approving-things-before-the-ev
There's a good editorial in the NEJM this week: the evidence for endovascular therapy is poor, but now that it's approved, and paid for, it's hard to get people into randomised trials to find out if it's any good. 

As you know, my interest in pharma is just a subset of my interest in the broader issues around poor evidence based practice in medicine. We invented the ideals of evidence based medicine, much more recently than most people realise, and now we run around acting like we have instantiated it. The reality is very different: the "information architecture" of EBM is fractured and ad hoc, built on legacy systems that don't join up properly. 

We should be identifying uncertainty, and minimising it, as rapidly as possible, with research embedded in routine clinical care (as discussed in Bad Pharma Chapter 5), to improve patient outcomes wherever possible. 

This editorial makes a similar observation: maybe Medicare should only pay for this particular treatment in the context of an RCT?

However, conducting randomized endovascular trials involving patients with acute ischemic stroke is easier said than done. The two above-mentioned trials that were conducted primarily in the United States (IMS III and MR RESCUE) had substantial difficulty in recruiting patients, because once the FDA approved the devices and Medicare provided reimbursement for these procedures, endovascular treatment became widespread and many physicians who were treating patients with acute stroke felt that the “answer was in.” Therefore, treatment equipoise was lost. It is hoped that equipoise will return on the basis of the results of these three trials. Nevertheless, recruitment in new trials will still be challenging, particularly among patients with large disabling strokes and their concerned families who “want everything done,” especially with new endovascular devices available and third-party payers willing to reimburse for these procedures. A decision by Medicare to place a moratorium on reimbursement for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke outside of randomized trials would facilitate recruitment in these urgently needed trials. Once the new trials are completed, endovascular treatment will have been given ample opportunity to prove itself.


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:08:00 -0800 i think the australian medical students association have some odd ideas about me http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/i-think-the-australian-medical-students-assoc http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/i-think-the-australian-medical-students-assoc

i haven't seen her for ages. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Academic Convenors 2013 <@amsa.org.au>
Date: Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 11:42 AM
Subject: Invitation to the 54th AMSA National Convention
To: ben@badscience.net, sballard@unitedagents.co.uk

Dear Dr Goldacre,

It is with great pleasure that we would like to invite Ms Natalie Portman to address

the delegates of the 54th National Convention of the Australian

Medical Students' Association (AMSA). This event will be held on the

Gold Coast, Australia, in July 2013. Please find your formal invitation

to this event attached. If you are available during this time and are

interested in speaking, we would love to send you some more

information on the conference.

We sincerely hope that you will be able to attend, and look forward to

hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,

Rhys Youngberg and Stefanie Tran
Academic Convenors AMSA National Convention 2013
Australian Medical Students' Association

WARNING: This e-mail, including any attachments, is for the personal use of the recipient(s) only. Republication and re-dissemination, including the posting to news groups or web pages is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the Australian Medical Students' Association. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately on 0421 217 407.

The Australian Medical Students' Association does not warrant that this email and any attachments are virus free and recommends that all attachments be checked for computer viruses.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Mon, 04 Feb 2013 08:13:00 -0800 Do MPs go to prison more than you'd expect for 600 posh people? http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/do-mps-go-to-prison-more-than-youd-expect-for http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/do-mps-go-to-prison-more-than-youd-expect-for
I just got called by a radio show asking me to discuss this flippent tweet:

But I think it's a really important and interesting question. Do more MPs go to prison than we'd expect? Accounting for age, class and gender mix of parliament (since those may be confounders in either direction)?

To calculate this, we would need:

1. a list of every MP prison term for, say, two terms (easiest), or the past ten years, or something.
2. age, class and gender breakdown of parliament over the same period.
3. UK "going to prison" rates for the general population, stratified by social class and gender.

from that, with some whizzy maths, we're done. 

i don't have time to grab the figures, but if someone does i'll cheerfully help. 

UPDATE:

This is a crude attempt to do the same thing, from C4 FactCheck, but doesn't take account of age, gender and class, so overall it probably underestimates the higher rate for MPs:

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:50:00 -0800 "Storyboard" take stills from any video with subtitles, when the words change, thus turning it into a picture book. Genius. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/storyboard-take-stills-from-any-video-with-su http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/storyboard-take-stills-from-any-video-with-su
"Storyboard" watches a film with subtitles for you, takes a still when the words change, and so turns a film into a picture book. 

"Storyboard was born of my insane desire to consume videos without actually having to watch them. Normally that would involve putting the TV on in the background and ignoring the video while listening to the audio, but what about the reverse? All visual without the audio. On my kindle."

I think this is a work of automated format-shifting genius.

http://syntaxi.net/2013/01/20/storyboard/

via waxy.org/links

Image

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:52:39 -0800 Moist exposed bum ointment http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/moist-exposed-bum-ointment http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/moist-exposed-bum-ointment
Here's a fun press release that just came in. The Nobel Prize committee have put out an own official press release saying they've never heard of this guy. What are they afraid of?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mebo I <@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 12:30 AM
Subject: Stem Cell Regeneration
To: ben@badscience.net

Hello Mr. Goldacre,

I admire your work work and Bad Science blog and thought you would be the perfect resource to get in touch with about a news story in regard to the world-renowned scientist Rongxiang Xu, a leading entrepreneur in stem cell regeneration. His innovative research and product, Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) International, symbolizes human body regenerative restoration at its most effective.  
    • Dr. Xu has cured a patient with open burn wounds for 10 straight months in 10 days.
    • The Chinese Ministry of Health ranked his ointment as one of the top ten medical technologies
    • The Crown Prince of the United Erab Emirates has enlisted his help. So has the govenrment of Thailand
    • He had once been recognized by the American Burn Association and National Burn Victim Foundation, before politics got involved.
Despite these incredible results, Dr. Xu and MEBO are still unrecognized in the American public, to the extent that he is in lawsuit with the Nobel Prize organization. Our goal is to get the word out in hopes of benefiting the science community and the patients around the country who are in dire need of this incredible treatment by spreading awareness.

Given your expert knowledge in the science and medical community, I'd like to ask your help/input in building a conversation around the story of the Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) technology. 

You can learn more at the MEBO International Website or read this story about Dr. Xu’s history in America.

Please let me know if you have any questions or other suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kindly,

Michele Gottlieb

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:36:33 -0800 Eliane Rodigue on her ARP 2500 http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/eliane-rodigue-on-her-arp-2500 http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/eliane-rodigue-on-her-arp-2500
Just watched this over a sandwich: French electronic music pioneer Eliane Rodigue on her ARP 2500. I like her patch storage solution.


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:58:00 -0800 Come to Britain, it's GREAT. No... No wait, stay away, it's RUBBISH!! http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/come-to-britain-its-great-no-no-wait-stay-awa http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/come-to-britain-its-great-no-no-wait-stay-awa
Compare and contrast.

October 2012....

Image

...January 2013

0image

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:03:00 -0800 Did you know the Guardian gives its staff private healthcare. Is this ethical? Does it affect NHS reporting? BMJ highly critical. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/did-you-know-the-guardian-gives-its-staff-pri http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/did-you-know-the-guardian-gives-its-staff-pri
The Guardian comes in for a lot of flak in this week's British Medical Journal for giving private healthcare to its staff.

I'm not entirely sure what I think about this. I'm more concerned that public bodies - including the BBC, the GMC, the Science Museum -  offer private healthcare to middle class staff on high wages. Is the NHS really so bad? I also think, whether this is bad or not, it is different to individuals paying for private education (or private healthcare), because it is the oganisation itself paying for the private healthcare. 

But in any case, the fact of it happening is a nugget that will interest people, and I suspect that private healthcare in the Guardian contract will interest or surprise people more than the same news for the Times, or any of the other papers that refused to reply.  

I'm also (as a final aside) not really convinced that private healthcare is actually very good. It might come at more predictable times of day, in nicer looking rooms, and the great merit for many is that they are protected from having to sit next to the people who actually live in their postcode area (who may be distressingly not like you).

But Harley Street, in particular, is the blogosphere of medicine: a rainbow mixture, with the very best in medicine, alongside people who are clinicaly weak, or worse still, eccentric loners, quietly falling ever deeper into the rabbit hole of their own wild treatment ideas, untouched by the casual coffee room scrutiny of medical colleagues, as the decades race by...   

... The media pass comment: they have a duty to. But what if senior staff in the media pass comment on the NHS yet do not use the NHS? Can that comment be fair? After the revelations that the BBC provided private medical insurance to some of its employees, I sent several requests under the Freedom of Information Act...

I also approached the media... The only response bravely came from the Guardian, confirming that it indeed provides private medical cover for staff. From the others came a whiff of the fifth amendment.

Queue jumping in healthcare diminishes opinions and hollows out the angry rhetoric of the media. The media is not in a position to comment on the NHS unless they actually use it. The issue of private medical insurance is just another example of a British liberal elite riven with contradictions, such as excessive pay, private education, tutoring, and poorly paid foreign nannies and cleaners. The truth is that we have a socially segregated society, with institutional class based discrimination. Those in power know nothing, and care nothing, for society’s nobodies. The last Labour government did not tackle this problem but rather used money to assuage our consciences over persistent class privilege.

Another obvious truth also conveniently ignored is the private insurance held by doctors. What does it say about the NHS if NHS doctors don’t think it is good enough for their families? Private medical insurance is a conflict of interest for the governing elite. Social correction is only achieved during periods of crisis, and now is such a time. I am intolerant of the phony tolerant; let’s judge others by their deeds, not their written words.


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:38:00 -0800 Sometimes proper nutrition researchers complain that I use "nutritionist" to describe quacks. This is my reply. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/sometimes-proper-nutrition-researchers-compla http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/sometimes-proper-nutrition-researchers-compla

Sometimes academic nutrition researchers complain that I use "nutritionist" to describe quacks.

http://www.badscience.net/category/complementary-medicine/nutritionists/

In case it's of interest, this is what I say, in a reply I sent to an email last night. 

But first, three minutes in, here is Dara O'Briain on the same issue:


=================================


Hi there, 

thanks.

As I think I say in the book: the word “nutritionist” has been lost by your profession.  It now means - to more people than not - a person making schmaltzy public claims about diet, selling diet books and pills, offering charismatic personal consultations with wildly specific advice, and so on. 

It's hard to know who's fault this is. There are undoubtedly people in your own profession of legitimate nutrition research who were seduced by the media exposure that overstated diet crank stories brought for their field, despite knowing these stories were misleading. I also know that many dietitians feel the British Dietetic Association have failed to take a public stand on people overstating evidence and misleading the public in their field. 

But I suspect most of that is irrelevant. This kind of semantic shift in meaning just happens, and when it does, the sensible thing for sensible people is to start using a different word. 

There are many words that are horribly offensive vernacular today - such as spastic, moron, and cretin - which started out as technical medical terms, though they have now completed their journey to being offensive slang, with no residual medical meaning. Where this happened rapidly, I'm sure that many people in professional bodies which used those words as technical terms - possibly even in the names of their organisations - were annoyed. 

But we have to move with the times, and accept the changes in language that happen around us. "Nutritionist" is no longer a good public descriptor of what you do, as an academic studying nutrition. That word has been successfully co-opted, it's meaning has changed. Continuing to use it will inevitably lump you in with idiots, and there's nothing either of us can do to change that reality. 

I’d suggest finding a new word!

Best wishes, 

B

 

dr ben goldacre

ben@badscience.net
http://www.badscience.net/

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:55:50 -0800 RIP Michael Winner. Here he is torpedoing Littlejohn for mocking lesbians. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/rip-michael-winner-here-he-is-torpedoing-litt http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/rip-michael-winner-here-he-is-torpedoing-litt

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Sun, 20 Jan 2013 06:07:00 -0800 Why can't BBC News do LONG EXPLAINERS instead of repetition? A commissioning blog. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/why-cant-bbc-news-24-do-long-explainers-inste http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/why-cant-bbc-news-24-do-long-explainers-inste
I've been watching BBC News today. As with all such channels, it gets repetitive and supeficial very quickly, on topics that are deep and would benefit from long explanations. 

Here's what I'd like to see: a channel called BBC News Long. Today it might have...

- One hour on the history of Mali. 
- One hour on the history of Algeria.
- One hour on terrorist tactics, and counter terrorism. 
- One hour on what the current European treaty commits us to, and why anyone cares either way. 

It would be fine if this was low budget. In fact, just wise talking heads with library shots would be fine, as long as they were delivering their long form packages on these subjects. While public intellectuals (yack) are wheeled out for three minutes, in reality, every one is capable of talking for an hour on their core subject, whether in discussion or semi-prepped. Many of them are hugely informative, if they are not polished, and these days, I think, people are over polish.  

It could also be repetitive, just like BBC News is. Repeating a series of one hour detailed backgrounders over the course of a day is fine. Maybe a rolling roster of six would be ok, and that might make the production cycle easier: a team making six hours of discussion / presentation telly a day isn't so bad. 

If BBC News Long existed, if it was on all day, then you'd come out of a week at home sick like some kind of genius. 

I just wish that old media could get away from the idea that knowledge is best presented in 3 minute chunks: which are repeated endlessly, and replicated around the world by other old media organisations.

I'm right; they're wrong. People would watch News Long. 

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:19:00 -0800 Randomised trials, blinding, systematic reviews and publication bias, using the 1000 commonest words #upgoerfive http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/randomised-trials-blinding-systematic-reviews http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/randomised-trials-blinding-systematic-reviews
This game is completely addictive. 

The genius at xkcd did a graphic explaining how the Apollo 5 rocket worked... using only the 1,000 most common words in the English language. It's called "Up Goer Five" and I insist that you read it, because it is magnificent.

Now, some equally massive genius has created an online text editor, one that only lets you use the 1,000 most common words in the English language. 

I used it (briefly, I could have been sucked in for hours) to try and explain: randomised controlled trials, double blinding, systematic reviews and publication bias. Doing this was so addictive I had to force myself to step away from the keyboard. 

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Tweet your explanations of whatever under #upgoerfive...

When we are sick we need help to get better. But how do we know if the thing we used really did help us? Let's say you have two things you think will help people who are sick, and you want to know which is the best. This problem is easy and fun to fix, but it took a long time for people to work out the right way to do it. 

Take, say, two hundred people who are sick with the same thing, and put them into two groups. For each person, put them in one group or the other by chance alone: you should have no control over who goes in each group. This is to make sure that both groups are the same, on all the things you care about, like how sick they are, or whether they have a good chance of getting better.

Now, you have your two things that you think will help the sick people get better. Give one to the people in group one, and the other to the people in group two. If you can, it's a really good idea to make sure that the sick people don't know which group they are in, or what they are having to make them get better. The same is true for the people working on the problem. This is for a good reason: we have found that people get better faster when they think they have been given something that works well to make them feel better, even if they haven't really.

Now: you know what is wrong with your sick people, so you know how long it will take for them to get better. Wait a while, and then look and see if people get better faster (or more better!) in group one, or group two. This will tell you which of the things that you did helped people the most. 

Looking at a big number of sick people will help you to be sure that you have got the right answer. If you have friends who have tried the same idea, you can add their numbers to your numbers and get an even clearer idea of what works best. Don't let anyone hide their numbers!

There are tons of these springing up tonight. 

Here's a great one - the first I clicked on! - from the twitter hashtag #upgoerfive

And here's a whole blog of them:

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:56:00 -0800 Anti-vaxxer parents do 100% turnaround after son gets ill. Admirable and moving. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/anti-vaxxer-parents-do-100-turnaround-after-s http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/anti-vaxxer-parents-do-100-turnaround-after-s

This is a harrowing but admirable story. 


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10860122

A boy who almost died of tetanus before Christmas is home and on the mend, but his parents are desperate for others to vaccinate their children after they did not.

..

Auckland couple Ian and Linda Williams thought they had made an informed decision against immunising their three children because of concerns over adverse reactions.

But they regretted their decision when middle child Alijah contracted the potentially fatal disease just before Christmas, and was put in an induced coma on life support at Starship hospital.

..

"It was me that put my son in this situation," Mr Williams said.

"Parents like us make the decision to not vaccinate on very little factual information about the actual consequences of the diseases - massive pain, disability and death - and a lot of non-factual, emotive information from the internet stating inflated figures on the frequency and severity of adverse reactions and conspiracy theories about 'evil' doctors, governments and drug companies."

Seven-year-old Alijah is among the 90 per cent of people who get tetanus and survive, though he still gets spasms and will require ongoing medication and rehabilitation.

He was discharged in a wheelchair on January 8 after 26 days in hospital. He faces a 12-month recovery including having to learn to eat and walk again. 

This must have been a deeply harrowing experience for all concerned. We can only wish the family the best. 

Previously on vaccine scares:

http://www.badscience.net/category/mmr/

If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:27:00 -0800 Blockbuster video has gone into administration. South Park nails it. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/blockbuster-video-has-gone-into-administratio http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/blockbuster-video-has-gone-into-administratio
BlockBuster video store has just announced that it is going into administration. It's very sad news that 4,000 jobs will be lost, but this is an old-model high street video rental business, so it's no great surprise.

As is so often the case, South Park nailed this story, with their hilarious special on the long slow death of Blockbuster, a long time ago...

 



If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:23:05 -0800 Updated my handy twitter-rage infographic: the abnormal distribution of the bell-end curve http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/updated-my-handy-twitter-rage-infographic-the http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/updated-my-handy-twitter-rage-infographic-the
20130111_180822

Click to enlarge. 


If you're bored:
I'm @bengoldacre on Twitter. 
My first book is Bad Science
My second book is Bad Pharma
My main blog is here. 
My throwaway blog is here. 
I did this TED talk, and this TED talk.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/161027/benface.jpg http://posterous.com/users/4afDib4oXvjz Ben Goldacre bengoldacre Ben Goldacre