The Skeptics Guide #867 - Feb 19 2022 (Ad Free)
Added 2022-02-19 17:03:26 +0000 UTCFirst Scientists; News Items: Psyche May Not Be The Iron Giant, Planet Around White Dward, Falling Birds, HIV Cure; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Girt; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction
Comments
After reading the book Invisible Women, it's no surprise just how little participation women have in clinical trials. They are considered "confounding" and are often excluded. Sometimes clinical trials for treatment for pregnant women barely involve any pregnant women. It take more effort to tease information out the data, so they are actively avoided. While it might seem like an ethical issue, the medication that's produced out of these trials are still administered to pregnant, without really knowing if there will be an adverse effect on the fetus. More people need to become bone marrow donors. As someone who donated, it was one of the highlights of my life. Everything is taken care of for you, and I underwent apheresis. I finished donating before I finished watching Hogfather.
Asymetra
2022-02-20 19:54:14 +0000 UTCAutologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants have been used to cure MS, by "hitting reset" on the patient's immune system. Of course, it's a lot more likely to cause morbidity and even mortality, and is typically used as a "last resort" for folks who have progressed despite other, more standard therapies. In MS, the offending cells are probably a very small subset of the immune system, and even if a small portion of them is somehow left over from the chemotherapy, it makes sense that the disease is probably "cured." However, with HIV, it seems to me that even a few latent viruses could be lurking about, waiting for their chance to wreak havoc. The first two patients were given transplants from donors with genetic mutations that blocked HIV infection; the latest patient was given umbilical cord blood, which presumably did not contain the mutation. I'm sure she'll be followed very closely for any resurgence of the virus.
James LaGuardia
2022-02-20 02:53:57 +0000 UTCFalling birds?! Birds aren't real.
Melissa M
2022-02-20 00:31:32 +0000 UTC"instead of a wall you got a tunnel", lol, that was a great joke Evan slipped in there! Scene starts @5:13
Logan Callen
2022-02-19 17:34:42 +0000 UTC
