Editor’s Selections: Placebos, Touch, Eyelid Twitch, and Halloween Infections!
October 27th, 2010 Editor's Selections 3 Comments
Each week, Dr. Peter Janiszewski selects several notable posts from Health and Clinical Research. He blogs at Obesity Panacea.
Another stellar week of posts. Here are some of the most fascinating discussions:
- So you’ve all heard about placebos. But what exactly are these “sugar pills” composed of? Helen Jaques of In Sickness and in Health suggests that apparently, no one seems to know.
- And if we’re on the topic of placebos, you should check out a great post by Michael Slezak of Good, Bad, and Bogus on the ethics of placebos.
- How does touch reduce pain? In an ‘elegant’ post, Lorimer Moseley of BodyInMind explains.
- Does your eyelid ever twitch? Did you know the medical lingo for the condition is benign essential blepharospasm? Did you also know that Trinidadians have superstitions about the meaning of these twitches? You should most certainly read Krystal D’Costa’s post on the topic over at Anthropology in Practice.
- Halloween haunted houses and the like are fun for all. What’s not so fun? Getting a sporotrichosis infection after visiting a Halloween Spook House. Head over to Disease of the Week! to read some spooky Halloween themed science.
How is that for a nice brain massage? Check back next week for some more riveting discussions of health and clinical research!
Peter
