I’ve had numerous psychotherapy clients tell me that they don’t “believe in vaccines.” I point out that vaccines aren’t like the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy is fictional, vaccines exist. What they don’t believe in, because there’s so much disinformation floating around, is the science underlying the creation of vaccines. I refer people to their physicians. Alas, many folks with high school diplomas or bachelors degrees in art history know more than physicians.
Moving forward, my greatest fear is that we will not produce enough trained medical people to meet our needs. My M.D. brother said that funding cuts to med schools are forcing them to decrease enrollment. We are in a world of hurt! Thank you, Dr. Love, for being a voice of reason and truth.
This is excellent. I do think we are living in such polarizing times that everything gets skewed and reduced to black and white. Yes there are problems with big Pharma (problem of incentives) but of course this doesn't justify falling for the Big Wellness. Not every functional medicine doctor is trying to scam their patients, some are genuinely caring but fell for the "root cause" regime. Dr. Makary is actually a credentialed physician who has made some good arguments in his book. However, his acquiescence to the RFK crazies has so far outweighed any good he may bring to the FDA. Life is more nuanced than what we want it to be but science is definitely under attack and we need more people like you to bring it to light.
I fully agree with your assessment and deeply regret the anti-science demolition work of the Trump administration. I speak with emotion because I am alive thanks to excellent oncologists and advanced medical science: I survived 2 non-Hodgkins lymphomas and a major aggressive skin tumor (epidermoid) that destroyed the facial nerves of my left side face. I partially recovered after major reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy. Keep the good work. However, bear in mind that RFK Jr and MAHA are not the only sources of misinformation and disinformation on medical and health science. There are also instances in which credentialized scientists working in recognized publicly funded institutions (FDA, CDC, major universities) who ignore evidence and manipulate data, sometimes by incompetence and some time because of vested ideological and political interests (I exclude here industry research which as obvious vested interests). To strengthen the effort to contain the attempt by the current Trump administration to demolish science we need to recognize ALSO that there is also "bad" science among the established official science.
It is not possible to underminE scientific research. It simply exists. What actually deserves to be undermined is knowledge monopolies that perpetuate scientific dogamatism. Arguably, the most egregious example of scientific dogmatism is the American Heart Association's anti-saturated fat campaign. Read 'A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus' https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9794145/
Biomedical research is all about developing treatments for diseases. Research to identify a cause so a disease can be prevented does not get funded. Here's and example: "Conclusions: All agreed that a 5-year randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of historically low (2%) with currently high (7.5%) linoleic acid intakes on cardiac endpoints would address the knowledge gap about the effects of different omega-6 PUFA intakes on the risk of heart disease." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21430375/
No such study has ever been funded. Why? Because epidemiliogists, not biochemists have controled funding; at least until recently. Excerpt: "Is a particular dietary recommendation harming people in the U.S.? For almost 20 years, scientists have been arguing over whether Americans and others on a typical Western diet are eating too much of omega-6s, a class of essential fatty acids. Some experts, notably ones affiliated with the American Heart Association, credit our current intake of omega-6s with lowering the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Others, which include biochemists, say the relatively high intake of omega-6 is a reason for a slew of chronic illnesses in the Western world, including asthma, various cancers, neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease itself." https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/110212/an-essential-debate
If anyone reading this comment happens to be scientifically curious, do an 'adipose tissue arachidonic acid metabolic syndrome' web search.
Having perused arachidonic acid, endocannabinoid system and eicosanoid research for 8 years, I've concluded that the field of nutrition research is still ignoring dietary arachidonic acid as per this comment: (1996) "Excessive signaling of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites has been associated with various chronic degenerative or autoimmune diseases, and intervention with the metabolism of AA is widely employed therapeutically in these afflictions. In essence, AA is the most biologically active unsaturated fatty acid in higher animals. Its concentration in membranes and its magnitude of effects depend on its amount, or that of its precursors and analogues, in the diet. The tendency of the field of nutrition to ignore the role of dietary AA will optimistically be reversed in the future." The article also said, "The underlying rationale for this symposium is that dietary AA is perhaps the single most important nutritional determinant in regulating AA levels in Americans. This may ultimately account in part for the striking differences in chronic diseases between strict vegetarians and the bulk of the omnivorous population." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8642436/
I fully agree with your assessment and deeply regret the anti-science demolition work of the Trump administration. I speak with emotion because I am alive thanks to excellent oncologists and advanced medical science: I survived 2 non-Hodgkins lymphomas and a major aggressive skin tumor (epidermoid) that destroyed the facial nerves of my left side face. I partially recovered after major reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy. Keep the good work. However, bear in mind that RFK Jr and MAHA are not the only sources of misinformation and disinformation on medical and health science. There are also instances in which credentialized scientists working in recognized publicly funded institutions (FDA, CDC, major universities) who ignore evidence and manipulate data, sometimes by incompetence and some time because of vested ideological and political interests (I exclude here industry research which as obvious vested interests). To strengthen the effort to contain the attempt by the current Trump administration to demolish science we need to recognize ALSO that there is also "bad" science among the established official science.
I’ve had numerous psychotherapy clients tell me that they don’t “believe in vaccines.” I point out that vaccines aren’t like the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy is fictional, vaccines exist. What they don’t believe in, because there’s so much disinformation floating around, is the science underlying the creation of vaccines. I refer people to their physicians. Alas, many folks with high school diplomas or bachelors degrees in art history know more than physicians.
Moving forward, my greatest fear is that we will not produce enough trained medical people to meet our needs. My M.D. brother said that funding cuts to med schools are forcing them to decrease enrollment. We are in a world of hurt! Thank you, Dr. Love, for being a voice of reason and truth.
Another great (real)root cause story- h. Pylori infection underlying peptic ulcer disease.
This is excellent. I do think we are living in such polarizing times that everything gets skewed and reduced to black and white. Yes there are problems with big Pharma (problem of incentives) but of course this doesn't justify falling for the Big Wellness. Not every functional medicine doctor is trying to scam their patients, some are genuinely caring but fell for the "root cause" regime. Dr. Makary is actually a credentialed physician who has made some good arguments in his book. However, his acquiescence to the RFK crazies has so far outweighed any good he may bring to the FDA. Life is more nuanced than what we want it to be but science is definitely under attack and we need more people like you to bring it to light.
I fully agree with your assessment and deeply regret the anti-science demolition work of the Trump administration. I speak with emotion because I am alive thanks to excellent oncologists and advanced medical science: I survived 2 non-Hodgkins lymphomas and a major aggressive skin tumor (epidermoid) that destroyed the facial nerves of my left side face. I partially recovered after major reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy. Keep the good work. However, bear in mind that RFK Jr and MAHA are not the only sources of misinformation and disinformation on medical and health science. There are also instances in which credentialized scientists working in recognized publicly funded institutions (FDA, CDC, major universities) who ignore evidence and manipulate data, sometimes by incompetence and some time because of vested ideological and political interests (I exclude here industry research which as obvious vested interests). To strengthen the effort to contain the attempt by the current Trump administration to demolish science we need to recognize ALSO that there is also "bad" science among the established official science.
It is not possible to underminE scientific research. It simply exists. What actually deserves to be undermined is knowledge monopolies that perpetuate scientific dogamatism. Arguably, the most egregious example of scientific dogmatism is the American Heart Association's anti-saturated fat campaign. Read 'A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus' https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9794145/
Scientific consensus is also a faulty construct. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2719747/
It’s not possible to undermine research? Do you not see the gutting of funding to…. Conduct research?
Biomedical research is all about developing treatments for diseases. Research to identify a cause so a disease can be prevented does not get funded. Here's and example: "Conclusions: All agreed that a 5-year randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of historically low (2%) with currently high (7.5%) linoleic acid intakes on cardiac endpoints would address the knowledge gap about the effects of different omega-6 PUFA intakes on the risk of heart disease." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21430375/
No such study has ever been funded. Why? Because epidemiliogists, not biochemists have controled funding; at least until recently. Excerpt: "Is a particular dietary recommendation harming people in the U.S.? For almost 20 years, scientists have been arguing over whether Americans and others on a typical Western diet are eating too much of omega-6s, a class of essential fatty acids. Some experts, notably ones affiliated with the American Heart Association, credit our current intake of omega-6s with lowering the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Others, which include biochemists, say the relatively high intake of omega-6 is a reason for a slew of chronic illnesses in the Western world, including asthma, various cancers, neurological disorders and cardiovascular disease itself." https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/110212/an-essential-debate
If anyone reading this comment happens to be scientifically curious, do an 'adipose tissue arachidonic acid metabolic syndrome' web search.
Having perused arachidonic acid, endocannabinoid system and eicosanoid research for 8 years, I've concluded that the field of nutrition research is still ignoring dietary arachidonic acid as per this comment: (1996) "Excessive signaling of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites has been associated with various chronic degenerative or autoimmune diseases, and intervention with the metabolism of AA is widely employed therapeutically in these afflictions. In essence, AA is the most biologically active unsaturated fatty acid in higher animals. Its concentration in membranes and its magnitude of effects depend on its amount, or that of its precursors and analogues, in the diet. The tendency of the field of nutrition to ignore the role of dietary AA will optimistically be reversed in the future." The article also said, "The underlying rationale for this symposium is that dietary AA is perhaps the single most important nutritional determinant in regulating AA levels in Americans. This may ultimately account in part for the striking differences in chronic diseases between strict vegetarians and the bulk of the omnivorous population." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8642436/
I fully agree with your assessment and deeply regret the anti-science demolition work of the Trump administration. I speak with emotion because I am alive thanks to excellent oncologists and advanced medical science: I survived 2 non-Hodgkins lymphomas and a major aggressive skin tumor (epidermoid) that destroyed the facial nerves of my left side face. I partially recovered after major reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy. Keep the good work. However, bear in mind that RFK Jr and MAHA are not the only sources of misinformation and disinformation on medical and health science. There are also instances in which credentialized scientists working in recognized publicly funded institutions (FDA, CDC, major universities) who ignore evidence and manipulate data, sometimes by incompetence and some time because of vested ideological and political interests (I exclude here industry research which as obvious vested interests). To strengthen the effort to contain the attempt by the current Trump administration to demolish science we need to recognize ALSO that there is also "bad" science among the established official science.