2 ms·
'Case closed' against vitamin pills
- greenyoda 13y agoAnyone who says "case closed" is asserting that science will never find evidence to disprove their theory. Given the previous history of scientific research (especially in biomedical research), that's a very arrogant and ignorant statement, and they should probably read John Ioannidis' paper: Why Most Published Research Findings Are False https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327 A less technical discussion of Ioannidis' work can be found here: Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/308269 http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-dam...
- adrianoconnor 13y agoAnother silly HN headline. The actual quote from the article that was cherry-picked and butchered this time round was: "The latest studies on vitamins have some medical experts saying 'case closed'" These HN headlines really annoy me, because you/we should know better. Anyway, favourite quote from the article is: "The message is simple: Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death" I don't take supplements, nor do I have any particular views on the subject, except to say that I think a lot of people probably get a massive dose of positive feeling from the placebo effect alone, which is proven to be a genuinely good thing.
- greenyoda 13y agoAlso, preventing chronic disease or death are not the only valid reasons to take supplements. For example, if some hypothetical supplement made people feel happier or more energetic, or prevented a non-lethal but unpleasant condition like the common cold, it would probably be quite valuable.