May 8, 2020
Welcome to Ben Greenfield's Weekly Roundup and Cool New Discoveries!
Ben Greenfield's discoveries, from the latest news on the fronts of fitness, nutrition, health, wellness, biohacking and anti-aging research. I also recap my upcoming events and special announcements so you can keep up with giveaways, discounts, and more!
New Discoveries Of The Week: Cool New Things I'm Trying, Books I'm Reading, And More!
Book That Blew My Mind Last Week: “Plague Of Corruption”
Author Dr. Judy Mikovits is a modern-day Rosalind Franklin, a brilliant researcher shaking up the old boys’ club of science with her groundbreaking discoveries. And like many women who have trespassed into the world of men, she uncovered decades-old secrets that many would prefer to stay buried.
From her doctoral thesis, which changed the treatment of HIV-AIDS, saving the lives of millions, including basketball great Magic Johnson, to her spectacular discovery of a new family of human retroviruses, and her latest research which points to a new golden age of health, Dr. Mikovits has always been on the leading edge of science.
With the brilliant wit one might expect if Erin Brockovich had a doctorate in molecular biology, Dr. Mikovits has seen the best and worst of science. When she was part of the research community that turned HIV-AIDS from a fatal disease into a manageable one, she saw science at its best. But when her investigations questioned whether the use of animal tissue in medical research were unleashing devastating plagues of chronic diseases, such as autism and chronic fatigue syndrome, she saw science at its worst. If her suspicions are correct, we are looking at a complete realignment of scientific practices, including how we study and treat human disease.
Recounting her nearly four decades in science, including her collaboration of more than thirty-five years with Dr. Frank Ruscetti, one of the founders of the field of human retrovirology, this is a behind the scenes look at the issues and egos which will determine the future health of humanity.
I had several big takeaways from this book, but here's just one snippet from a Congress hearing I read and kept reading over and over again because it blew my mind:
“In a statement released in August of 2014, Dr. Thompson stated: “I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the Journal of Pediatrics. My primary job duties while working in the immunization safety branch from 2000 to 2006 were to lead or co-lead three major vaccine safety studies. The MADDSP MMR-Autism Cases Control Study was being carried out in response to the Wakefield Lancet study that suggested an association between the MMR vaccine and an autism-like health outcome. There were several major concerns among scientists and consumer advocates outside the CDC in the fall of 2000 regarding the execution of the Verstraeten study.
One of the important goals that was determined upfront in the spring of 2001 before any of these studies started was to have all three protocols vetted outside the CDC prior to the start of the analyses so that consumer advocates could not claim that we were presenting analyses that suited our own goals and biases. We hypothesized that if we found statistically significant effects at either 18-or 36-month thresholds, we would conclude that vaccinating children early with MMR vaccine could lead to autism-like characteristics or features. We all met and finalized the study protocol and analysis plan. The goal was not to deviate from the analysis plan to avoid the debacle that occurred with the Verstraeten Thimerosal study published in Pediatrics in 2003. At the September 5 meeting, we discussed in detail how to code race for both the sample and the birth certificate sample. At the bottom of table 7, it also shows that for the nonbirth certificate sample, the adjusted race effect statistical significance was huge.
All the authors and I met and decided sometime between August and September 2002 not to report any race effects for the paper. Sometime soon after the meeting, where we decided to exclude reporting any race effects, the coauthors scheduled a meeting to destroy documents related to the study. The remaining four co-authors all met and brought a big garbage can into the meeting room and reviewed and went through all the hard copy documents that we had thought we should discard and put them into a huge garbage can. However, because I assumed it was illegal and would violate both FOIA and DOJ requests, I kept hard copies of all documents in my office, and I retained all associated computer files. I believe we intentionally withheld controversial findings from the final draft of the Pediatrics paper. Mr. Speaker, I believe it is our duty to ensure that the documents Dr. Thompson provided are not ignored; therefore, I will provide them to Members of Congress and the House Committees upon request. Considering the nature of the whistleblower’s documents, as well as the involvement of the CDC, a hearing and a thorough investigation is warranted…”
Wow.
To get an idea of what else you'll find with the pages, you may also want to check out my friend Dr. Joseph Mercola's recent interview with Judy here. Pick up Plague of Corruption on Amazon here.
Podcasts I Recorded This Week:
This episode was brought to you by Kion (code BEN10), Beekeeper's Naturals (code BEN), Four Sigmatic (code BENGREENFIELD), and JOOVV (Order using my link and receive my brand new book, Boundless absolutely free!).
This episode was brought to you by Thrive Market (get a gift card up to $20 when you begin a new membership using my link), Powerdot, JOOVV (Order using my link and receive my brand new book, Boundless absolutely free!), and Kion Flex (code BEN10).
Articles I Published This Week:
Ben’s Sabbath Ramblings: Mini-Journalings Of The Week.
My full article feed and all past archives of my articles are here if you want to check out past articles.
Podcasts And Articles I Was Featured In This Week:
The Over 40 Alpha Podcast – Testosterone for Men
Special Announcements:
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This Week's Most Popular Instagram Post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_50ptDggVM/
This Week's Most Popular Tweet:
Wow…a large dose of sugar can compromise your immune system for more than 24 hours: https://t.co/BInADOgdB6
— Ben Greenfield (@bengreenfield) May 6, 2020
My Most Popular Facebook Post This Week:
Leave your comments and any news or discoveries that you think I missed below!
Cheers,
Ben
Hey Ben. What are your thoughts on the debunking and critiques of Dr. Mikovits’s research and claims? Science magazine tore her apart, seemingly at least.
That’s what happens to scientists that recommend anything other than palliative care. They get “debunked”. Surprisingly common. I haven’t seen research on everything she claims, but I was able to cross-reference some of it.
Good read