7, Pseudo science
Insect repellent
This is a bit different, we're going to explore scientific method and ethics.
There’s a lot of my personal opinion in here and you should do your own research.
We’re told sooooooo many things, but how often do you question if they’re true? How can we verify what we’re told? On social media, television, from politicians and companies we find a constant stream of half truths and outright lies. The problem has been made worse by social media driven polarisation and AI generated propaganda.
At the extreme end, Donald Trump famously told people to inject disinfectant to cure Covid-19. He also said that chloroquine phosphate could cure the disease (one couple even believed him and an elderly man died ingesting chloroquine phosphate).
Note that above I include links to references that support my claim. However, if an AI can generate a very realistic, but incorrect story that can then be linked to as a reference, it becomes extremely difficult for people to know fact from fiction. I don't have an answer to this problem, however a good understanding of science, reading broadly, and holding a skeptical, questioning mindset will all help.
Students in New Zealand famously found that Ribena, a cordial that had been marketed for years as having a lot of vitamin C had none.
The expression “blinded by science” exists, because people often believe what “scientists” say without question. This is bad. Particularly as you’re often not sure if it’s a scientist speaking!
The origins of chemistry started with the processing of metal, recipes in the kitchen (particularly brewing), production of pots and with early medicine.
People started trying things out (e.g. mixing different metals together when making a sword to make it stronger - forming alloys), recording the results (is the new sword stronger and does it stay sharper), making measurements and improving things (if we add carbon does it get better? creating steel).
This is the basis of scientific method. I.e. Come up with a theory, try to test it, record the results, confirm or refute.
Big Pharma
Let’s consider the pharmaceutical firms (companies that make drugs).
With medicine, people observed that some plants and minerals had positive benefits and so "home remedies" became common.
As chemistry advanced, we saw the creation of pharmaceutical companies that use science to create remedies to a wide range of illnesses. Some are extremely effective and have changed the world (e.g. antibiotics and vaccines).
With companies, it’s important to remember that they must make money. With politicians they must get elected, with news papers they must sell advertising (and make money), and with pharmaceuticals they must sell drugs. If they don’t they fail.
Some organisations / people display stronger ethics.
For example with Covid-19 vaccines, Astra-Zenica and Johnson and Johnson made their vaccine available at cost ($3-$10 per 2 shot course), while Moderna and Pfizer are charging over $30 per course and making huge profits.
Is that immoral? How would you decide?
The OxyContin scandal related to Purdue Pharma is an example of how bad things can get. Many people died.
You can argue that these companies make money by ensuring their products improve health, but that is overly simplistic (you can do your own research on “drug company ethics” on google).
This means that we must be skeptical about health claims for any commercial products because companies will generally say whatever they legally can to increase sales. If a company has spent 500 million dollars bringing a new drug to market, they will do whatever it takes to ensure people buy that drug. This includes lobbying governments and doctors, suppressing negative results, and making misleading advertising claims.
There are important issues with this conflict of interest that affect many companies and how they communicate the science behind their products. For example, drug companies always conduct research to prove that their products are beneficial, however they are not required to publish research that shows negative results they are also not required to prove that a new product is better than existing products.
Therefore even doctors may not know that a product was found to have a negative impact on health in certain situations. The only way to have confidence about health claims for products is if independent research (that is research that is NOT paid for by the company making the product) has proved it effective.
Being skeptical is healthy. Ask hard questions.
Equally, we must also be skeptical of home remedies, because, when researched many are shown to have little to no effect.
Homeopathy is one such widely used treatment that studies have shown is largely ineffective.
Another tale that you will often hear is that you are more likely to catch cold if you become cold. Of course this is not true. A cold is transmitted by a virus and our bodies immune response does not fail because we get cold (indeed swimming in cold water has been shown to have many good effects including on the immune system).
Flu is more common in winter because the virus is more stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry (in winter), the exact conditions for much of the flu season. This means you have more chance of being exposed to it.
What happened of course, is that people realised that more people got flu when it was cold, and assumed that it was being cold that caused the increase. Wrong.
Of course it’s not just pharmaceutical companies. Many companies, organisations, and groups (political or religious) will misrepresent science to try to convince you of something. Your job is to ask skeptical questions and keep and open mind.
Scientific method & research
In this thought experiment, we’re going to look at why we need to be healthily sceptical of claims made by companies and people relating to remedies (or any science).
Remember that the key to scientific discovery is the ability to ask skeptical questions. To be skeptical of those telling us something is true. To demand proof. Faith is anathema to a scientist.
Companies, politicians and media can all chose to try and persuade us with “science”. The science they present may be true or not. It’s up to you to find out.
To help with our understanding of scientific method and communication, please review this link to a homemade mosquito repellent.
This recipe is provided courtesy of wellnessmama.com (we're not endorsing it in any way - remember this exercise is about scientific method - we have no opinion regarding the effectiveness of this remedy).
You don’t have to make this, essential oils can be expensive, however, you may find your parents or neighbours have them tucked away so do ask around.
We want you to do some investigation. First read the recipe for the repellent, but don't read the comments from people who have made it just yet. Next please answer these questions:
- Based on the write up, do you believe that this will work? Why?
- Can you find products for sale online that sound similar. What do they cost?
Now read the comments.
Based on the comments, do you think this repellent will work? Have your feelings about this idea chaged?
Scientific method.
Using scientific method can you create an experiment to test if the repellent works? How would you do that?
- How many subjects would you use?
- How would you estimate efficacy of the repellent?
We've copied the recipe exactly as it appears on wellnessmama.com.
Natural insect repellent (courtesy wellnessmama.com)
This recipes uses essential oils, which are highly effective, but there are some concerns about putting these directly on the skin, especially on children. I prefer to use this recipe on clothing or gear instead of directly on the skin.
Homemade Bug Spray Ingredients
- Essential oils: choose from Citronella, Clove, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Cajeput, Eucalyptus, Cedar, Catnip, Lavender, Mint
- Natural Witch Hazel
- Distilled or boiled Water
- Vegetable glycerin (optional)
Homemade Bug Spray Instructions
- Fill spray bottle (I used 8 ounce, 250ml) 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water
- Add witch hazel to fill almost to the top
- Add 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin if using
- Add 30-50 drops of essential oils to desired scent. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be. My personal favourite mix is: Rosemary, Clove, Cajeput, Lavender, Cinnamon and Eucalyptus. It works great and smells good too!
How to Make Bug Spray From Dried or Fresh Herbs
Ingredients
Distilled water Witch hazel or rubbing alcohol Dried herbs: peppermint, spearmint, citronella, lemongrass, catnip, lavender, etc. I recommend using at least one herb from the mint family.
Fresh or Dried Herbs Bug Spray Instructions
Below is a different bug spray recipe. We’re not sure they’ll keep bugs away, but they probably smell nice!
Boil 1 cup of water and add 3-4 TBSP of dried herbs total in any combination from the above. I use 1 TBSP each of peppermint, spearmint, catnip and lavender, and also throw in a couple of dried cloves.
Mix well, cover and let cool (covering is important to keep the volatile oils in!)
Strain herbs out and mix water with 1 cup of witch hazel or rubbing alcohol (if anything keeps the bugs away it will be these two). Store in a spray bottle in a cool place (fridge is great because then it's nice and cool).
Use as needed. Added bonus: it smells great and is very refreshing to the skin.
Clinical trial - insect spray (print this sheet)
What spray type did you make? Essential oils, Fresh herbs, Dried herbs,
What commercial insect spray did you test against?
There are two options,
- you spray one arm with a commercial deet based spray and the other with the homemade spray, or
- spray one arm with the homemade spray and the other with nothing.
Then sit outside with flies and mosquitoes and either count bites or landings (bites for mosquitoes and landings for flies).
Number of landings or bites (deet based commercial product)
Number of landings or bites (homemade spray)