I’ve been reluctant to call bogus on science reporting from shows like Today Tonight or A Current Affair because, well, it’s just too easy. That, and I don’t watch them.
It feels kind of cheap picking on Today Tonight when they feel the necessity to put at the bottom of the idiotic reporting on their website a disclaimer stating that “the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information is not guaranteed.”
But this week I did accidentally catch part of an episode of Today Tonight and they had an absolute cracker of a bogus science story about a bracelet that improved your life in all kinds of ways. I just couldn’t resist saying something about it.
So, what follows is a little commentary on their most popular science stories, finishing with the little gem about the miracle bracelet.
Coming in at number three in the popularity ranking is a little story about the benefits of fish oil.
Ruthless investigative reporter, Helen Wellings, explains how fish oil supplements will help you with rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica (an inflammatory disorder that causes muscle ache and stiffness), “cardio vascular problems” and even depression.
Let’s see what we what we can find out about the effect of fish oil on these conditions with an internet browser, 10 minutes, two hands and half a brain…
A good place to start is the Cochrane Library. Cochrane reviews are highly regarded, systematic reviews of the literature on different topics. Individual studies should not be relied on almost every issue, there are studies with conclusions that contradict one another. Systematic reviews, on the other hand, take a considered look at all the relevant studies.
A quick search of the Cochrane library reveals a systematic review of the research on the effects of dietary supplements (including fish oil) on rheumatoid arthritis published in January this year. It concludes: “The effects of dietary manipulation… on rheumatoid arthritis are still uncertain due to the included studies being small, single trials with moderate to high risk of bias.”
But wait, it goes further and says that “higher drop-out rates and weight loss in the groups with dietary manipulation indicate that potential adverse effects should not be ignored.”
Yes, that’s right. Not only is there no reliable evidence that dietary manipulation helps with the condition, but it can potentially have adverse effects!
So much for fish oil helping with rheumatoid arthritis.
What about helping with “cardio vascular problems”? On this topic they speak to Dr Peter Clifton, head of the CSIRO Clinical Research Unit and his opinions, as an expert, are worth listening to. They quote Dr Clifton saying that fish oil “certainly is an arithmetic [sic] so it normalises the heart rhythm, particularly after you have a heart attack.” He goes on to recommend taking a handful of capsules each day.
Firstly, the cunning Today Tonight researchers might have a bit of trouble finding any research on fish oil and “arithmetic”. It’s not particularly known for its ability to add up numbers.
When one searchers for “arrhythmic” functions of fish oil, a bunch of conflicting stuff comes up. From what I can see, there was a big systematic review published in BMJ which concluded that fish oil did help with lots of heart conditions but not with arrythmia.
Moreover, there was a follow up review which suggested that fish oil could have negative outcomes for patients with arrythmia.
I’m not even going to bother saying much about their ridiculous and exploitative claim that fish oil helps with depression. You can look around yourself and see that there’s no evidence for that claim at all. [Update: See comments below. Some research does support the use of fish oil to treat depression but more research is needed.]
Coming in at number two was the “flat belly diet”. According to the Today Tonight website, you don’t need to do any exercise, you can eat 1600 Kj every four hours and you have to eat a monounsaturated fatty acid at every meal.
If you ate 1600kj four times a day and did no exercise, you are not going to lose any weight. And telling people with dangerously unhealthy weights that they will is completely unethical.
Coming in at number one is the amazing “Power Balance Bracelet”!
Fearless reporter Frank Pangallo explains how this bracelet will make you “the best you can be.”
The snake who sells this product tells viewers that “In the Mylar hologram is a frequency and the frequency as soon as it comes into contact with the electrical field of your body basically works with your body’s electrical field that gives you a feeling of wellness.”
Right. So the “hologram is a frequency” which “works with” the “electrical field” to make you more flexible, stronger and gives you improved balance.
None of this makes any sense. How can a hologram “be” a frequency? And if it were, what would it mean for it to “work with” your body’s supposed electric field? And if it did somehow do that, why would it make you more flexible?
There’s clearly no answers to these questions.
Oh! But don’t worry, if you check out the manufacturer’s website, you can return any faulty goods!
Power Balance will replace without charge if the goods purchased are faulty. All faulty goods must be returned prior to replacement. Power Balance will meet all costs associated with postage for faulty goods. All goods carry a three month warranty.
Presumably they’ll give everyone their money back then.
Update: Here’s the full references (in order to allow this post to be indexed by Research Blogging.)
Hagen KB, Byfuglien MG, Falzon L, Olsen SU, & Smedslund G (2009). Dietary interventions for rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (1) PMID: 19160281
Leon, H., Shibata, M., Sivakumaran, S., Dorgan, M., Chatterley, T., & Tsuyuki, R. (2008). Effect of fish oil on arrhythmias and mortality: systematic review BMJ, 337 (dec23 2) DOI: 10.1136/bmj.a2931
Saravanan P, & Davidson NC (2009). Fish oil and arrhythmias. Pro-arrhythmic effects of fish oils. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 338 PMID: 19188223
Thanks to Jesse for pointing out this piece of research. It looks like there is actually some research interest in the suggestion that Omega-3 fatty acids have an antidepressant effect. More research is needed to show a causal link but a number of studies show a significant correlation between low levels of seafood consumption and several mood disorders.
to all those who dont believe, i have tried the powerbalance and stand by everything that they do. i was very skeptical at first as all should be however i also have an open mind and dont go bad mouthing something before trying it for myself unlike the publisher of this article who without any knowledge what so ever bar his own opinion has done so. Just the fact that you have know idea about the technology let alone the FACT that the body does has an emf (electromagnetic field) and that this emf can be affected by many outside forces just promotes the fact that you are an uneducated dim wit! go try it for yourself then come back and enlighten us with you all so factual rhetoric.
Yes, there is some scientific fact behind this product. It happens to be called the Placebo Effect, and it works by affecting your mind. It makes you feel as if it is having an effect, however, it is actually not. Also, it is you who is the the uneducated dimwit, for you forgot to edit your reply for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors. But who am I to complain? You were just cheated out of your money.
I am also sceptical about this bracelet, HOWEVER I agree with Rami – the author clearly has his blinkers tightly strapped on. In most worlds 10 minutes, 2 hands and half a brain is not considered research.
Thanks for your thoughts Wendy. Although, I’d just like to say that what I meant was exactly that: that you don’t need to do any real research to figure out how silly most of the things TT was spruiking were.
In an update, there have been several statements made about these bands by experts, demanding that they be withdrawn and that the misleading claims of their sellers be stopped.
Nobody that has the slightest bit of scientific knowledge would consider the claims made by the manufacturers to be at all plausible.
You must be in high school, or earlier. Basically, there is no power source in the bracelet, so there are no ‘frequencies’ and it does not ‘react with your emf’ or blah blah fricken blah. You are the reason this salesman has money. He got you. He fooled you and you believed it. DO RESEARCH FIRST AND FIGURE IT OUT. You paid 20-60$ for it so, of course, you would say it works, otherwise you would look like and idiot, but unfortunately that is too late.
How do you embed a hologram with a certain frequency. Frequencies have wavelength / speed and penetrate various substances, namely soft tissue. To control this frequency requires specialized equipment. This equipment will send the frequency in pulse packets and are detected upon return to the source after reflecting back. As you can see frequencies are not static nor lasting unless the source continously emmitts. I am not a believer of this hologram embedded interactive frequency device. There is no science/ research behind this product only bogus and emotional testomonials.
Tell that to the dude above. What the hell is wrong with people? Are they just uneducated? Jesus, come on America, GET IT TOGETHER.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN !!!
absolutely, after falling victim to the so called Power, balance and flex bracelet i feel like a total chump. it has no effect and no susbstantial tests have been done.For some reason the brain needs something physical to believe it is strong(the mind is the most powerful tool)… so if it costs R300 to for you to believe, then good for you, but if anyone convinces you it doesnt work be warned youll be out of 30L of fuel and feel like I do… spend youre money on something else!
So I just got my hands on one of these bracelets and did the flexibility and balance test and the difference was big! Had my sceptical parents try them to and they also felt and saw the difference, So Is this just my mind making it possible?
I don’t agree with many of this author’s assertions. The anti-inflammatory benefits of fish oil are well known. Omega 3 fatty acid deficiencies are well reported on in the developed world and are often pointed to as a reason for the various inflammatory diseases afffecting people these days. Perhaps more meaningful and in depth research is required rather than looking at one outdated website!
All who don’t believe should just try it… I laughed at the guy who told me about it. Boy did I feel stupid when he was right.
On the holograms,,
We all know the mind is very powerful blah blah blah,, so if we all agree with this even if some of us use half a brain as some dude stated, then, what’s the deal? I think that all boils down to the fact that, believing is Powerful, so we are actually talking about 5 kinds of people addressing one subject,
1st kind is the Skeptical
2nd is the not too much of a skeptical but has it’s doubts
3rd the neutral on the subject, wants to know whether something is true or not,
4th the one who is open to the idea but has some doubts
5th the one that is totally open.
The 1st, and 5th kind have faith, they both believing with a strong conviction, and so since believing is powerful we can either block something with our mind or make it happen,,
Example: if your Mom, Dad, Spouse, etc. loves you but you are skeptical about it, no amount of love from them will ever be enough, because you are deciding not to believe., Now, if you believe that they love you, then you will experience other beautiful qualities as well, so, the mind makes it real,. doubting something, whatever it is, destroys the little faith you can have,.
So A skeptical person will never experience the “placebo” effect,.
Instead of placebo effect, I rather call it: The reward for believing in something,.
We Humans need to believe more, more in ourselves, and respect what others choose to believe in.
Being skeptical is good, but in the long run is better to be open to possibilities beyond our human comprehension.
Being skeptical is the only way to behave. Belief and faith really won’t help your broken arm fix itself, your phone battery to charge or your airplane to stay in the sky, these things happen because skeptical people tested and tested until they found what works consistently. Their tests could be repeated and examined by anyone else and the results would be the same.
As Carl Sagan said “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” If you are making a claim about your snake-oil then expect others to examine your claim. As a skeptic I am very open minded and would love some of these miracles to be true but in pretty much 100% of cases they are bogus and expensive.
If it makes you feel good that’s great but that doesn’t make it true.
There are some attention-grabbing cut-off dates on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There is some validity but I’ll take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBurner as well