BioBlog

Blood and guts, surgeons and scientists: “the butchering art”

Alison Campbell • Nov 22, 2017

• Science and Society

The Butchering Art is medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris’s first book. And what a book! Descriptions that bring the horrors of pre-anaesthesia, pre-antisepsis surgery shudderingly into view? Very definitely. Science and history? Oh yes, lots of it, and beautifully told. And through it all, the humanity and vision of Joseph Lister and others like him, working to improve the outcomes of … Read More

The last of the iron lungs

Alison Campbell • Nov 21, 2017

• iron lung,
• polio,
• Respirology,
• Science and Society,
• Vaccine

That’s the title of this excellent article by Jennings Brown, and I urge you to go and read the whole thing. It’s the tale of perhaps the last 3 people in the US who are still alive because they are still living in iron lungs. It’s a story of courage and endurance that lets them live a life that … Read More

Attitudes and antibiotics

Alison Campbell • Nov 20, 2017

• antibiotic,
• antibiotic resistance,
• antimicrobial resistance,
• comments,
• Facebook,
• Influenza,
• natural selection,
• Social media,
• spanish flu

A recent FB post from Stuff discussed the rising concerns about the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (This is something that Siouxsie Wiles has often written about: here and here, for example; her excellent book on the subject is reviewed here.) Fairly predictably, it didn’t take long for the proponents of essential oils to turn up, soon to be joined by the … Read More

Another antivax myth (ingestion vs injection)

Alison Campbell • Nov 08, 2017

• aluminium,
• aluminium adjuvant,
• antivax,
• antivaxxer,
• ingestion,
• Science and Society,
• vaccines

There’s an oft-repeated claim by the more strident anti-vaxxers that ingesting and injecting are two different things when it comes to substances like aluminium. This betrays a disturbing lack of knowledge of biology and physiology (especially from those who boast of ‘having done their research’), but they repeat it nonetheless. (Red’s self-belief is mildly amusing.)     The … Read More

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The various ‘costs’ of measles

Alison Campbell • Nov 06, 2017

• antivaxxers,
• health costs,
• immunisation,
• measles,
• Science and Society,
• vaccination

On that FB thread about dropping vaccination rates in New Zealand, one commenter proudly proclaimed that she and her four children had all had measles. Over in a week, no problems, stop yer whining.  Well, lovely for her – and if the illness indeed lasted only a week per person then they were lucky; 7-10 days is the norm for … Read More

Antivaxxers still ‘delusional’ and ‘dangerous’

Alison Campbell • Nov 06, 2017

• anti-vaxxers,
• antivaxxers,
• immunisation rates,
• Science and Society,
• vaccination,
• vaccines,
• Vaxxed

Aaron Leaman’s excellent storyA in the Waikato Times and in Stuff used those words, and I’m sticking with them – because those adjectives describe the majority of the comments on the relevant FB page. When Aaron interviewed me for that story, I commented that it’s essential for scientists and doctors to continue to confront the waves of anti-vaccine … Read More

Vegetarian spiders? What is the world coming to?

Alison Campbell • Oct 17, 2017

• arachnids,
• Bagheera kiplingi,
• herbivory,
• Orsima ichneumon,
• spiders,
• Vegetarian

Like probably everyone reading this, I have always thought that spiders are carnivorous, sucking the precious bodily fluidsA from their prey. I mean, those fangs! And I was wrong, for it seems that some spiders eat some plant material alongside their liquid meals – and some are almost fully vegetarian. A just-published paper (Painting, Nicholson, Bulbert, Norma-Rashid & LI, 2017) … Read More

Cancer, oils, and uncritical reporting

Alison Campbell • Oct 11, 2017

• Alternative Medicine,
• cancer,
• DoTERRA,
• essential oils,
• Oncology,
• pseudoscience,
• reporting,
• Science and Society

On Sunday, the Stuff website carried a story about a particular brand of essential oils that may as well have been marked ‘advertorial’. This is because most of the article comprises positive commentary from those involved in selling the products – you have to scroll well down the screen to find a photo and brief comment from the Medical … Read More

Possum peppering – still totally implausible, seven years on

Alison Campbell • Oct 09, 2017

• biodynamics,
• Environment and Ecology,
• possum peppering,
• possums,
• predator control

“Kerikeri award entry turns possums into burning issue“, proclaims a headline in the Northern Advocate.  The story is about an entry in the WWF-NZ’s Conservation Awards for 2017; I hope the judges have a good grasp of science and scientific method. From the article: The entry from Kerikeri promotes a new take on an old-world biodynamic method of … Read More

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TL;DR: Antiperspirants don’t cause breast cancer

Alison Campbell • Oct 07, 2017

• aluminum,
• Breast cancer,
• cancer,
• deodorant,
• Science and Society,
• spray under arm

Facebook certainly leads me to read papers that I normally wouldn’t.  For whatever reason, a post about deodorants popped up on my feed, from the Wendyl’s Green Goddess page. In the blurb for a sale of products was the following: Conventional products contain aluminium ingredients which have been linked to cancer. Do your skin and body a favour and … Read More