From The Times
\nDon\u2019t take health tips from celebs if you know what\u2019s good for you<\/strong>
\nDavid Rose
\n<\/span>From Madonna\u2019s quest to \u201cneutralise radiation\u201d to Tom Cruise\u2019s dismissals of psychiatry, celebrities are seldom shy about expressing their views on health and science \u2013 even when they appear not to know what they are talking about.
\nA roll call of public figures such as Cruise and Delia Smith have offered bogus advice or \u201cquackery\u201d this year, according to scientists and doctors. The charity Sense About Science is concerned that celebrities mislead the public when they endorse theories, diets or health products while misrepresenting the science involved.
\nSome \u2013 such as Oprah Winfrey and Kate Moss \u2013 espouse \u201cdetox\u201d regimes, while others, such as Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, believe (mistakenly) that the Pill can cause cancer.
\nNor are politicians exempt from lending credence to health myths. The US President-elect is among several American public figures who continue to suggest that the MMR vaccination is a potential cause of autism, despite an overwhelming weight of scientific evidence to the contrary.
\nSmith\u2019s suggestion that obesity is caused by sugar addiction is another of the assertions under scrutiny. In March, the cookery writer and\u00a0broadcaster told The Times: \u201cThat\u2019s what causes obesity. It\u2019s addiction. You need to have six weeks without sugar or sweetener . . . After six weeks, everything will taste\u00a0sweet . . . because\u00a0you will have got your palate back to what nature created. We could cure the nation if we cut down sugar addiction.\u201d
\nLisa Miles, of the British Nutrition Foundation, counters: \u201cDelia, you\u2019ll never get rid of sugar from the diet, nor would you want to, as you consume sugars naturally in foods such as fruit and milk, which provide us with important nutrients . . . the causes of obesity are much more complex.\u201d
\nDemi Moore, the actress, surprises the experts with her use of \u201chighly trained medical leeches\u201d to \u201cdetoxify\u201d her blood.
\nKate Moss, the model, is reported to be on a strict \u201cdetox\u201d diet of fruit and vegetables at a health spa in Thailand. But nutritionists note that such regimes exclude important food groups such as protein.
\nMoss\u2019s friend Stella McCartney, the designer, was criticised last year for saying that a chemical found in skin creams was also found in antifreeze. Gary Moss, a pharmacologist, said that the chemical, propylene glycol, was versatile and its use in cosmetics was not \u201cscary\u201d, as claimed.
\nBoth Mr Obama and his rival for the presidency, John McCain, responded to stories about vaccines by highlighting the rise in diagnoses in children of autism.
\nMr Obama told a campaign rally in April: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it\u2019s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it.\u201d In February Mr McCain had remarked on the rise in autism cases, saying that there was \u201cstrong evidence that indicates it\u2019s got to do with a preservative in vaccines\u201d.
\nThe suggestion that the MMR jab is linked to the developmental disorder dates back to a study of 12 children published in The Lancet in 1997. The research, led by Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital, has since been discredited. Yet fears about the vaccine \u2013 for measles, mumps and rubella \u2013 have resulted in many parents refusing to have their children inoculated, and there has been a resurgence of measles.
\nDr Wakefield and colleagues have been appearing before the General Medical Council on charges of serious professional misconduct, relating to their original study, which they deny.
\nStudies in several countries involving millions of children have shown no correlation between MMR and autism rates.
\nMichael Fitzpatrick, author of MMR: What Parents Need to Know, said that Mr Obama and Mr McCain were correct in noting a rise in cases of autism. \u201cHowever, authoritative studies confirm that the apparent rise is attributable to increased public and professional awareness of the condition and to widening definitions of autistic spectrum disorders,\u201d he said. \u201cThough the causes of autism remain obscure, exhaustive researches have failed to substantiate any link to vaccines or any preservatives in it.\u201d
\nThe Sense About Science initiative is an update of a leaflet encouraging celebrities to avoid making claims until they have checked the facts. While there has been \u201cconsiderable improvement\u201d in the way British celebrities approach medicine, the charity says its files are still too full of pseudo-scientific claims. \u201cWe don\u2019t expect people to know everything about science; the problem comes when they don\u2019t consider checking it or asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy: timesonline.co.uk<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From The Times Don\u2019t take health tips from celebs if you know what\u2019s good for you David Rose From Madonna\u2019s quest to \u201cneutralise radiation\u201d to Tom Cruise\u2019s dismissals of psychiatry, celebrities are seldom shy about expressing their views on health and science \u2013 even when they appear not to know what they are talking about. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n