Jevin West joins Chris to talk about teaching critical thinking and whether AI is a force for good or a force for evil. Both of them have passed the Turing Test so all fellow humans are welcome.

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Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) Red Pen Reviews: https://www.redpenreviews.org

Nick Tiller returns to discuss whether saunas actually have health benefits and possibly completely contradict himself after his previous episode about ice baths. We dig into the data from Kuopio and the Finnish Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor study and investigate whether there might be some risks associated with saunas.

Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you!

http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE

Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.

Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) Nick’s Skeptical Inquirer article on the subject of saunas: https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/are-saunas-good-for-you-yes-but/

2) The study purporting to show a 60% benefit in cardiovascular risk

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/07853890.2017.1387927#d1e290

3) A scientific review of the health benefits of sauns from the same authors: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619623000083

4) One of the few RCTs on the issue although it only uses surrogate endpoints: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00322.2023

EPISODE 152 – Why RFK Jr. is wrong to claim that Tylenol causes autism.

According to the Wall Street Journal, RFK Jr. and the HHS are planning to release a report claiming acetaminophen (Tylenol/paracetamol) is inked to autism spectrum disorder. The evidence says he’s wrong. Not just because the better quality studies show no link, not just because autism is probably mostly genetic with some minor environmental factors impacting its prevalence, but also because the alternatives to Tylenol for pain/fever control are much worse.

Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you!

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Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.

Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) The Wall Street Journal article: https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/rfk-jr-hhs-to-link-autism-to-tylenol-use-in-pregnancy-and-folate-deficiencies-e3acbb4c

2) Chris article in the Montreal Gazette: https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article1154467.html

3) The safety warning about NSAIDs in pregnancy: https://www.fda.gov/safety/medical-product-safety-information/nonsteroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs-nsaids-drug-safety-communication-avoid-use-nsaids-pregnancy-20

4) The 2024 Swedish study that used sibling controls: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2817406

5) Data showing the roughly 3:1 preponderance of males vs. females with autism https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34855727/

6) Some of the environmental factors that may affect autism spectrum disorder https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21746727/

A viewer question prompts Chris and Sophie to look into scrambler therapy. A medical therapy for chronic pain with a silly name that sounds like it should be pseudoscience, but actually isn’t. How is it different from Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)? How good is the evidence and how much of the benefit is actually a placebo response.

Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you!

http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE

Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.

Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) 2016 review of scrambler therapy for chronic pain

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3177-3

2) 2018 update https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735419845143

• Key studies:
• • Sabato (2005) – 226 patients: 80% had >50% pain reduction
  • Marineo (2011) – RCT: 91% pain reduction in Scrambler group vs. 28% in controls
  • Ricci (2012) – 82 patients: Mean pain scores dropped from 6.2/10 prior to treatment to 1.6 just after completing 10 treatment days to 2.9, 2 weeks after finishing treatment.
  • Compagnone (2015) – 201 patients: pain went from 7.41 to 1.6
  • Notaro (2015) – All patients had ≥50% pain reduction; relief lasted ~8 weeks; sleep improved
  • Pachman (2014) – 37 patients: 53% average pain reduction; effect lasted 10 weeks
• One ‘no results’ study: Campbell (2013) – 14 patients, RCT with sham control; no improvement—but team lacked experience, which may have skewed results.

Rodney Schmaltz joins Chris to talk about teaching scientific skepticism to university students. How does learning about Big Foot, debunking photos of fairies, and going on a ghost hunt make you better at debunking pseudoscience? Also, how to speak to believers in pseudoscience without making the other person hate you.

Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you!

http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE

Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.

Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) Rodney’s website that also hosts his Tedx talk: https://www.rodneyschmaltz.com/

2) The Lilienfeld Alliance: https://sites.google.com/view/lilienfeldalliance/lilicon-2026?authuser=0

Leaky Gut Syndrome. Always a favorite of the pseudoscience crowd. But is there any medical validity to the concept. Chris and Sophie look deep into the concept to find out if the diagnosis of Leaky Gut holds water or is just full of holes.

Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you!

http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE

Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.

Editor: Robyn Flynn

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.