Friday 29 May 2009

Breast Milk vs Cancer

Yesterday I showed how the Sun supports pseudoscience.

Today we have another example: a cancer sufferer who is using his daughter's breast milk in an attempt to fight off both colonic and liver cancer.

While I completely sympthaise with the guy's plight and I know that people will do anything in an attempt to get better, he needs to know that it's just a placebo.

I would go into more detail, but instead would suggest that people look at the article on Respectful Insolence which - although not commenting on the Sun's article, it is about the same story - goes into a lot more detail than I ever could.

2 comments:

Alex said...

"While I completely sympthaise with the guy's plight and I know that people will do anything in an attempt to get better, he needs to know that it's just a placebo."

Doesn't that completely and utterly defeat the point of a placebo?

Unknown said...

Alex

You'd think so, but no! There was something on Ben Goldacre's site [don't have the reference to hand] a few weeks ago about placebos, including that they work even if you're told otherwise.