Tag Archives: inflammation

Interview with Dr Steven Novella on acupuncture

Dr Steven Novella is an American clinical neurologist and assistant professor at Yale University School of Medicine. He’s also a science communicator and a leading figure in the skeptical movement. He co-founded Science-Based Medicine, writes a blog called NeuroLogica, hosts the podcast The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe and recently published a book on scientific skepticism.

I had the privilege of interviewing him on the topic of ACUPUNCTURE, as part of my documentary series on scientific skepticism in healthcare called Les Aventures du Pharmachien on Radio-Canada (the show’s in French, hence the subtitles).

Here’s the interview in English (note : you can press the “CC” button to get English subtitles for my short intro) :

 

Obviously I can’t post the full episode, but here’s the trailer (note : you can press the “CC” button to get English subtitles) :

 

4 Sketchy Claims about Cannabis and Your Health

October 17, 2018 will go down in history as the day that the Y2K bug finally hit Canada legalized cannabis. It’s also getting legalized or decriminalized in more and more locations around the world

Over the past year, I’ve been asked a ton of questions about this. In particular, people want to know whether I’m “for” or “against” legalization…

But I’m not the right person to answer that. The legal, social, and economic reasons for legalizing weed aren’t my area of expertise. My expertise is within science and health.

We know that criminalizing marijuana simply hasn’t worked. So I guess it’s a good idea to try something else.

And we have to face the facts: in Canada, at least 15% of people are known to consume cannabis. For young people, that number is 30-40%.

Still, I find myself annoyed by the two types of comments I hear most often, namely :

 

I do think it’s important to speak openly about cannabis. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of sketchy claims going around… so let’s assess their scientific accuracy!

 

Note #1 : For the sake of transparency, I should admit that I’ve never consumed cannabis in my life, not even a single toke. In general, I don’t really enjoy psychotropic substances (i.e. substances that produce an altered state of consciousness), including alcohol. I assume this doesn’t disqualify me from discussing the topic, considering that I haven’t consumed 99.999% of the medication I work with on a daily basis…

Note #2 : There are certain points that I don’t cover in the comic: driving under the influence of pot; the lack of a legal limit on the amount of THC in products containing marijuana; children or animals becoming intoxicated by accidentally consuming cannabis products; microdosing…This comic is pretty long as it is, so if need be, I’ll revisit the topic another time!

Note #3 : Many thanks to Robyn Penney for the translation!

 

 

 

 

cannabis natural cannabinoids

THC CBD prescription strains

 

 

 

cannabis smoking tobacco alcohol

 cannabis vaporizer secondhand smoke stoned

is alcohol worse than pot

 

 

 

 

cannabis effective for many health problems hype

 

evidence-based medical cannabis use

cannabis derived products dog treats creams

 

 

 

 

cannabis risks or harmless

 

cannabis occasional or chronic use young people

 

cannabis psychosis

 

cannabis amotivational syndrome

 

cannabis addiction dependence

 

 

 

 

 

How to naturally heal your interstitium

 

(NOTE: This piece was first published on the French version of my website on March 29th, the day after the news about the interstitium came out. It was mostly meant as a joke… but a few days later, my “prophecy” pretty much came true. I’ll explain at the end. In the meantime, enjoy my newfound superpower. Many thanks to Jonathan Jarry from the McGill Office for Science and Society and The Body of Evidence – highly recommended blogs and podcast – for helping me with the translation!)

 

Unless you live in the basement of a suburban cult, unless you don’t care about health at all, or unless you’re a Big Pharmonsanto shill, you must have heard the good news: researchers have discovered a new organ in the human body(yes, this is real news)

(Well, to be exact, they just gave a name to this “new organ”, which is not really an organ… and was sort of known already … but anyway)

 

In a nutshell, the interstitium is a network of cavities filled with liquid, which would serve as a shock absorber between organs. In addition, these cavities are found everywhere and interconnected throughout the human body. This makes the interstitium the largest organ of the body.

But hey, who cares, right?

What you really want to know at this point is:

I have spent most of my life (i.e. the last 30 minutes) reading everything that has been written on the topic, so as a pioneer of the interstitium, I would like to introduce my own range of products and services to pamper and care for this vital organ. 

 

FIRST BOOK!!!

First of all, this spring, I will publish the first book ever written on the interstitium:

In this book, I explain that the interstitium is in fact the 3rd brain and 2nd pancreas of the human body.

(the value and accuracy of these analogies are none of your business)

 

I also explain that since the cavities of the interstitium are all interconnected in the human body, it is quite reasonable to think that by targeting it, we can prevent and cure all the diseases that exist or will exist in the human body in the future. I mean, it’s pure logic.

Lastly, I stipulate that if the interstitium is a natural “shock absorber”, then it is quite obvious that taking care of it will prevent all kinds of shocks, such as:

  • Emotional shock
  • Post-traumatic shock
  • Septic shock
  • Cardiogenic shock
  • Generational culture shock
  • Chocolate cravings
  • Chucky
  • Etc.

 

FIRST SECOND BOOK!!!

This fall, I will also be the first to publish a second book (time flies, wow!) on the interstitium.

(I worked on my empathic facial expression all week-end, and it paid off)

To sum it up, you should choose foods that vibrate at the same frequency as the interstitium. As a matter of fact, the vibration of things is extremely important with regards to health, as experts say.

By a total coincidence, these foods are all those we already know are good for your health:

 

And what’s BAD for the interstitium? Well, it should be pretty obvious by now:

 

And the coolest thing about this is that it comes from:

(as opposed to what I do not personally consider to be “real science”, i.e. anything that calls into question or contradicts my words)

 

FIRST CLINIC!!!

In parallel with the release of my second book, I will inaugurate the very first health clinic dedicated to the interstitium IN THE WORLD!

(my logo kicks ass)

 

OK so we all agree that discovering new organs is a whole lotta fun but, ultimately, what matters is how to cure them.

Because yes, your interstitium, which you did not know existed 3 minutes ago, is already sick.

 

Here’s a made-up patient that I successfully cured:

 

You’ll also be the first to try my clinically proven, 100% natural health product:

(Please note that this product is not yet approved by Health Canada and that I do not intend to submit it for review, because I don’t have to)

 

Book your consultation (with me) now!

For more info, please contact my PR firm or lawyer. 

 

P.S. OK so this was mostly irony … The “new organ” bit is real news, but I found it funny to imagine how shady people could use this discovery to attract attention and/or to make money, as is the case right now with the gut microbiota. Seriously, you don’t need to worry about your interstitium… until proven otherwise…

 

Weird update: A few days later, the interstitium was proposed as a possible mechanism to explain the “efficacy” of acupuncture. As skeptics then pointed out, such a theory is ludicrous. But even worse, it looks like one the main scientists behind the discovery, Neil Theise, was already quite involved in the promotion of alternative practices. Truth IS sometimes stranger than fiction….