Given the recent attacks on supplements in the media, I
don’t think this article can wait until the next regular issue of the
Newsletter. People are being warned off
the very thing they need more of: Vitamin C. Write the media and tell them what
you think.
by Andrew Saul “The Doctor Yourself Newsletter”
1. Where’s the
beef? How much of the original study is
quoted in the media? Are you just
getting factoids, or are data provided?
Has the journalist writing about the subject actually read the original paper?
2. What exactly was
studied, and how? Was it an IN VITRO (test-tube) study or an IN VIVO (animal)
study? Was there a CLINICAL STUDY on people, or is its application to real life
a matter of conjecture?
3. Follow the
Money. Who paid for the study? Cash from food processors, pharmaceutical
giants, and other deep pockets decides what gets studied, and how. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for
researchers to present findings that embarrass their financial backers. Published research will often indicate
sources of funding, possibly at the end of the paper in an acknowledgements
paragraph. If not, correspondence addesses of principle authors are invariably
provided. Write and ask.
4. Check the
dosages. Any vitamin C study using less
than 2,000 mg a day is a waste of time. Any vitamin E study employing less than
400 International Units (I.U.) is a waste of time. Any study using less than
1,000 mg niacin a day is a waste of time. All low-dose studies are set up to
fail. Low doses of vitamins do not cure major diseases. Large doses cure diseases.
5. Check the form of
supplement used. Was the vitamin used in the study natural or synthetic? Any carotene study using the synthetic form
of beta-carotene only is a waste of time. Any vitamin E study using the synthetic
DL-alpha form is a waste of time.
6. Use the Pauling
Principle: read the entire study and interpret the data for yourself. Do not rely on the summary and/or
conclusions of the study authors. As
Linus Pauling pointed out repeatedly, many researchers miss, or dismiss, the
statistical significance of their own work.
Such behavior may be human error, or it may be politically motivated.
Beware of editorializing.
7. Beware of
Pauling-bashers. If a media article is
critical about twice Nobel prize-winning Linus Pauling, you can be confident it
has been spin-doctored.
8. Watch for these
throw-away slams against supplements:
“You get all the vitamins you need form your daily diet.”
“Vitamins are dangerous if you take too many of them.”
“Excess vitamins are wasted.”
“More research is needed before supplements can be
recommended.”
“There is no scientific support for large vitamin doses.”
9. Watch for pontifical
public recommendations at the end of the article such as:
“Vitamins can do some good things, but can do some bad
things as well.”
“You are better off not popping vitamin pills.”
“Just eat a balanced diet.”
“If you take vitamins, take no more than the US RDA.”
10. Use the media
backwards. The more headlines about a particular study, the more politically
charged the subject and the less likely that the reporting, or the original
study, is positive towards vitamins.
Negative news sells newspapers, and magazines, and gets lots of
viewers. Positive drug studies do get
headlines, of course. Positive vitamin
studies do not. Is this a conspiracy?
You mean with shady people all sitting around a shaded table in a darkened back
room? Of course not. It is nevertheless
an enormous public health problem with enormous consequences. Consider what
might be called Saul’s Law of the Media: “Press and television coverage of a
vitamin study is inversely proportionate to the study’s clinical usefulness.”
In other words, the more media hoopla, the worse the research. Truly valuable research
does not scare people; it helps people get well. There are over 3,000
scientific references at Doctor Yourself.com for people who share in this goal.
Reprinted from the book FIRE YOUR DOCTOR, copyright 2001 and
prior
years by Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New
York 14470
USA Telephone (716)
638-5357
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ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.