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☆ Can a DNA analysis help improve your fitness?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Melanie Radzicki Mcmanus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Increasingly, people are interested in pursuing how their genes may be affecting their health, nutrition, fitness potential and risk of injury. The global market for these direct-to-consumer genetic tests is projected to soar in the next several years, skyrocketing from $1.9 billion in 2023 to $8.8 billion by 2030, according to a market analysis report by Grand View Research. Still, some are intriguedDespite these issues, many remain intrigued by DNA fitness tests. Balance Gym recently partnered with FitnessGenes, a UK-based company that sells genetic tests, to help its clients achieve better results from their workouts. Time, and further scientific advances, may shed more light on whether DNA fitness tests are, or can be, useful.

Persons: they’re, there’s, Timothy Caulfield, “ I’ve, ” Caulfield, Caulfield, “, Eva, Dylan MacKay, ” MacKay, ”, Devin Maier, Maier, ” Maier, MacKay, Melanie Radzicki McManus Organizations: CNN’s, CNN, Grand View Research, Indian, Australia’s National Rugby League, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, FitnessGenes Locations: Europe, Orthopaedics, Uzbekistan, China, Edmonton, Winnipeg , Canada, Washington ,, —

Part motel, part new-age clinic, the facility offers nightly rentals in rooms that come equipped with “BioHealers” –- canisters that the company claims exude “life force energy,” or biophotons. “There are some forces driving that: obviously the internet and social media, and distrust of traditional medicine, traditional science. Given the primary importance of health, it’s hardly surprising that unproven medical claims and products that seem too-good-to-be-true have a long history in America. “ Distrust of government and distrust of major institutions makes people vulnerable,” said Stephen Barrett, a psychiatrist and expert in unproven medical claims who launched the organization Quackwatch in the 1970s to highlight medical scams. As a result, low-level hucksters or those peddling unproven treatments often don’t get as much attention.

Persons: BUTLER, exude, Tesla, Dr, James Liu, ”, Liu, Timothy Caulfield, Medbeds, Donald Trump, “ I’m, medbeds, ” Liu, it’s, John Brinkley, they’ve, Alex Jones, Trump, Stephen Barrett, Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla, Seth Robinson, Robinson doesn’t, We’re, Tesla’s, I’ve, Caulfield, ” Caulfield, “ It’s, ” Tesla’s, Bahman Anvari, It’s Organizations: Tesla, MedBed, Penn State University, “, University of Alberta, Walmart, Associated Press, Drug Administration, Elon, FDA, AP, University of California Locations: Pa, Pittsburgh, China, New Jersey, Butler, Tennessee, America, Florida, Delaware, Riverside

These days, however, conspiracy theories and those who believe them seem to be playing an outsize role in politics and culture. On the left, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has exploited conspiracy theories about vaccines to wage his own campaign for the presidency this year. The Associated Press has examined the history of conspiracy theories in the United States. “I was suicidal before I got into conspiracy theories,” said Antonio Perez, a Hawaii man who became obsessed with Sept. 11 conspiracy theories and QAnon until he decided that they were interfering with his life. Russia, China, Iran and other U.S. adversaries have worked to amplify conspiracy theories as a way to destabilize democracy further.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, ”, John Llewellyn, Melissa Sell, Antonio Perez, “, I’ve, they've, —, Nash, peddlers, Trump, Timothy Caulfield Organizations: Associated Press, Illuminati, Wake Forest University, AP, Sandy, Elementary, Capitol, Business, U.S, University of Alberta Locations: United States, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Hawaii, U.S, Russia, China, Iran

☆ How Fake Science Sells Wellness
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Rina Raphael | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

You can’t browse a grocery store or pharmacy without being subject to flashy labels that promote health benefits. But it’s becoming more common, said Timothy Caulfield, a research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. Mr. Caulfield coined the term “scienceploitation” to describe how brands borrow language from emerging areas of science to market unproven products. Scienceploitation crops up in far more places today than ever before, including in search results, on social media platforms and from influencers, Mr. Caulfield said. But they can’t always separate fact from fiction: A 2021 study suggested that people who trust science were more likely to share false claims that contained scientific references than claims that didn’t.

Persons: Timothy Caulfield, Caulfield, Sienna Piccioni Organizations: ”, University of Alberta, Mr, Federal Trade Commission Locations: influencers

☆ The cult of Emily Oster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Sarah Todd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

Emily Oster is sitting in the back of a car, checking her Garmin watch as we lurch through rush-hour traffic toward the Holland Tunnel. A self-described expert in data, Oster uses her economics training to dig into studies on things like circumcision and screen time and translate them for popular consumption. There doesn't seem to be much of a gap between the way Oster presents herself in her books and newsletters and the way she conducts her life. Unsurprisingly, economics informs every aspect of the way Oster sees the world. When Oster was a toddler, her mother told a Yale colleague that Oster often talked to herself before falling asleep.

Persons: Emily Oster, doesn't, Oster, Taylor Swift, Spock, —, Mandy Moore, Emily DiDonato, Amy Schumer, " Oster, Emily, Aisha McAdams, Claudia Goldin, who's, Lori Feldman, " Feldman, Winter, It's, reopenings, Timothy Caulfield, Oster's Brown, OSTER, She's, Sheryl Sandberg's, Brown, Denis Tangney Jr, graham, Eminem, Sharon Oster, Ray Fair, Jesse Shapiro, Katherine Nelson, Carl, Choate Rosemary Hall, John F, Kennedy, Glenn Close, Ivanka Trump, Goldin, Steven Levitt —, Oster —, Paul Farmer, Steven Levitt, Oster's, Levitt, Robert Barro, demographer Monica Das Gupta, Joseph Delaney, she'd, I've, Matt Notowidigdo, Chicago Booth, hadn't, Udo Salters, Patrick McMullan, Shapiro, Jessica Calarco, Dr, Anthony Fauci, Donald Trump, Calarco, Rochelle Walensky, Delaney, University of Manitoba epidemiologist, Abigail Cartus, Justin Feldman, Delivette Castor, they're, COVID, Castor, Notowidigdo, Carter, you'd, she's, there's Organizations: Garmin, Brown University, New York Times, American Academy of Pediatrics, Yorker, Yale School of Management, Yale, Harvard, Connecticut, Choate, University of Chicago, Forbes, Wall, Publicly, University of Manitoba, Getty, Oster, Centers for Disease Control, Columbia University, Harvard Business School Locations: Holland, Montclair , New Jersey, Montclair, Harvard, Providence , Rhode Island, New Haven , Connecticut, China, Canada, Chicago, Ohio, New Jersey

☆ Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop must stop making bogus claims about its $66 'vaginal eggs' because of a legal settlement. Here's the real science.
▼ + stars: | 2018-09-05 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A "vaginal egg" will not balance your hormones, regulate your menstrual cycle, or help with bladder control. On Tuesday, Goop settled a lawsuit brought by the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office and others that alleged the company's claims about its "vaginal eggs" were hogwash. Candace Lowry/YoutubeThe statement added: "Goop provides a forum for practitioners to present their views and experiences with various products like the jade egg. I need to start my jade egg practice," she said with a laugh. Jen Gunter, a California-based obstetrician and gynecologist, wrote a widely cited blog post in 2017 about why Goop's vaginal jade eggs are a bad idea.

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