Chad Clark's Open Journal : 2007-09-12

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September 12, 2007 :
1) Be wary of bad science or science reporting.

Part 1:

Recently parts of Canada introduced a voluntary HPV vaccine.  This morning
on the radio news there was mention that some recipients have experienced
side effects such as swelling.  Of course this is something medical
authorities should be looking into.

The news mentioned one person who received two other injections at the same
time as the HPV vaccine is experiencing numbness in her hands and she feels
the cause is the HPV vaccine.  Why does she feel that is the case?  What
does she have to base that diagnosis on?  Who knows?  The problem might be
with another injection, a combination of injections, or even be completely
unrelated.  It might be related to the vaccine but the listener has nothing
to base a decision about the cause on.

The result is the general population listening to the news is going to
think the vaccine is unsafe.  There may be a problem with the vaccine for
some people and this individual's case should be studied but spreading fear
does not seem productive to me.

On a related note I know someone who had a relative die after receiving a
polio vaccine many years ago.

Part 2:

This post was prompted by the vaccine story and a story that mentions
RFID implants might induce cancer.

  The AP report says that studies in veterinary and toxicology journals
  published between 1996 and 2006 found that "chipped" laboratory mice and
  rats sometimes developed tumors under their skin, most of which encased
  the implants.
  
  While the AP report cautions against using these results to predict the
  effect of implantation on human health and notes that none of the studies
  included a control group of mice without implanted chips

The manufacturer (VeriChip) "cited two studies that find no link between
RFID implants and cancer in mice."  So again more research is called for.
I just got a bit skeptical when I read that no control group was used.  Not
because I have reason to think the conclusions are wrong but rather that
they could be.


2) Water bottle that can filter viruses from water.

The bottle design can clean 4,000 litres without changing the filter.

  Conventional filters can cut out bacteria measuring more than 200
  nanometres but not viruses, which typically are 25 nanometres long.
  
  Mr Pritchard's bottle can clean up any water - including faecal matter -
  using a filter that cuts out anything longer than 15 nanometres, which
  means that viruses can be filtered out without the use of chemicals.



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