Bad Medicine (eBook)

CHRISTOPHER WANJEK is a frequent contributor to the Washington Post; he has also written for Smithsonian and Forbes, among other publications. He writes jokes for The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live. Wanjek is also a senior writer for NASA. He has previously worked as an in-house science writer at MIT and the NIH.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: The Roots of Bad Medicine.

PART I: I SING THE BODY ECLECTIC.

10 Percent Misconception, 90 Percent Misdirection: The Brain atWork.

Big Brain, Little Smarts: Brain Size and Intelligence.

Blinded by Lies: The Eyes Have It.

All in Good Taste: How the Tongue Works.

Scrubbing Your Liver: The Demystification of Detoxification.

Refer to the Appendix: Useless Organ or Helpful Player?

Going Gray? Not Today: White Hair and Its Causes.

Samson's Delight: Baldness Cures.

The Race Is Off: Race Defined.

PART II: GROWING OLD.

Losing One's Mind: Memory Loss and Aging.

Getting Stiffed: Vitality and Aging.

Illness Gets Old: Aging and Disease.

See You in 2150: The Long and Short of Life Span.

On and On: Longevity and Genetics.

PART III: ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK.

The Plague Lives! The Black Plague in the Modern Age.

Cold Comfort: How to Catch a Cold.

The Ill-Advised War on Bacteria: Are All Bacteria Bad?

Radiating Misperception: Radiation, Pro and Con.

Swimming with Sharks: Sharks and Cancer.

Mutating Misconceptions: What Your Genes Say about Your FutureHealth.

PART IV: EATING IT UP.

Learning Your Alpha-Beta-Carotenes: Antioxidants, Pro andCon.

The Unbearable Heaviness of Being: Fat People and Food.

Not Milk? Milk and Your Health.

Organic Reasoning: The Benefits of Organic Food.

Water, Water Everywhere: Bottled Water vs. Tap Water.

The Whole Grain Truth: Are Whole Grains Healthier?

PART V: THE RETURN OF THE WITCH DOCTOR.

The Delusion of Dilution: Homeopathy X 50.

Magnetic Charm: Magnets and Your Health.

Reversal of Fortune: The Viability of Ayurveda.

Something Smells Funny: Aromatherapy As a Cure.

Suffocating Trends: Oxygen--How Much Is Too Much?

The Ultimate Hands-Off Approach: Touch Therapy, Qigong, and FalunGong.

Getting to the Root of the Problem: Herbs As AlternativeMedicine.

A Shot in the Arm: The True Dangers of Vaccines.

PART VI: RISKING IT ALL.

Toxic Avenger: The Science of Toxicity.

Peer-Reviewed for Your Pleasure: How Health Studies Work.

Candy Adds Years to Your Life: And Other Important Health StudyFindings.

We're #1: Rating America's Health.

PART VII: JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIES.

I'm Not a Reporter, but I Play One on TV: The Accuracy ofTelevision Medical News.

Rambo VI: The Quest for Hearing: Guns and Their Aftereffects.

Knocked Out, Loaded: Imagined Violence and Real Problems.

Heartbreaker: Hollywood Style.

Epilogue: Tomorrow's Promise: Bad Medicine on the Horizon.

Appendix: More Bad Medicine.

Recommended Reading.

Bibliography.

Index.

For skeptics, always fans of science: The first two books in aseries devoted to "bad science," Bad Astronomy by PhilipPlait and Bad Medicine (Wiley, $15.95) by ChristopherWanjek, may warm even a Scrooge's heart. In short chapters, Plaittackles misperceptions about why the moon looks larger on thehorizon and why stars twinkle before moving on, dismantlingconspiracy kooks who doubt the moon landing and offering a top 10list of bad science moments in movie history. Wanjek, a sciencewriter who has also written jokes for The Tonight Show andSaturday Night Live, takes an edgy and funny tack indebunking myths such as humans using only 10% of their brains, theutility of "anti-bacterial" toys and the safety of "natural" herbalremedies, ones often loaded with powerful chemicals. (USATODAY, December 3, 2002)

"...Bad Medicine is an enjoyable romp through a host ofbiomedical misconceptions..." (New Scientist, 21 December 2002)

"...Wanjek shoots and scores when he tackles the major myths ofmedicine..." (Focus, February 2003)