Comment on Miracle cures

JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• Dagwood222@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turmeric

  Almost all plants have some effect on the body; some people think that this one is particularly powerful.

  Also, there’s the placebo effect; if you think something is good for you it can actually help, even if it’s just a sugar pill.

  source

  • ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The placebo effect doesn’t help. It’s just noise in the data collection process. It’s particularly problematic with human trials that rely on subjective evidence. Humans have a bias that actions have effects, even when they don’t (gamblers blowing on dice, wishing on a star etc).

    Any intervention will have people think that the outcome has changed because of the intervention. This doesn’t mean the placebo effect helped, it just altered the recorded outcome. If it was a device was used to make the measurement, rather than human opinion, we just call it noise/error.

    It’s a common misconception that the placebo effect does something. It does nothing other than artificially increase subjective measurements. Placebo effect is stronger in very subjective medical conditions such as pain, shiny packaging and brand names are reported to provide greater pain relief. Such medicines are so tightly regulated the formulation and supply leaves very little opportunity for medicines to actually have an effect. You don’t see the same effect when it comes to reducing the size of cancer tumours or altering directly measurable quantities.

    Doctors aren’t allowed to prescribe placebos in the UK. Because it’s dangerous and a source of corruption. Such as King Charles selling homeopathic services to the NHS. Doctors do recommend such services, they do this primarily to dismiss patients and their issues.

    source
  • Noodle07@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Haribo has built itself around that idea, sugar pill cures my depression

    source
• skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  A spice used in Indian cuisine. It’s intensely yellow due to curcumin, a compound that has miraculous property of causing false positives in about any cell assay (ie it seems like it does something, but really it decimposes/is fluorescent/damages cell wall/clumps up/pulls metal ions where they shouldn’t be/forms hydrogen peroxide where it shouldn’t be, all of which can look like some kind of activity when looking at cells, but it is not so)

  Also it’s completely insoluble in water and shredded by liver in minutes, so there’s that. It’s great for churning out bad science tho

  source

  • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’d say it’s worse than placebo, because it’s known by now that nothing of that shit has any chance to work yet there are still clinical trials with it. This takes away resources from things that have a better shot at working which imo makes it pretty unethical

    source
  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    calling it a spice feels generous, it’s yellow food colouring powder.

    sure technically it affects flavour but so does eating out of a different bowl…

    source

    • Magnetar@feddit.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I once severely misjudged the amount needed I’m some rice I made. I can assure you, it does have flavour.

      source

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        i mean you said it yourself, you need to use waaaaay more to taste anything.

        in the quantities normally used it’s just yellow powder.

        source
    • match@pawb.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Turmeric root has some decent flavor, but the dried spice is pretty bland beyond its smell. Same with ginger or galangal.

      source
• spacemanspiffy@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  A spice used in a lot of Indian cooking. Probably elsewhere too. It’s brownish-orange and tasty.

  source