Bad Medicine

Acknowledgments. Introduction: The Roots of Bad Medicine. PART I: I SING THE BODY ECLECTIC. 10 Percent Misconception, 90 Percent Misdirection: The Brain at Work. Big Brain, Little Smarts: Brain Size and Intelligence. Blinded by Lies: The Eyes Have It. All in Good Taste: How the Tongue Works. Scrubbing Your Liver: The Demystification of Detoxification. Refer to the Appendix: Useless Organ or Helpful Player? Going Gray? Not Today: White Hair and Its Causes. Samson's Delight: Baldness Cures. The Race Is Off: Race Defined. PART II: GROWING OLD. Losing One's Mind: Memory Loss and Aging. Getting Stiffed: Vitality and Aging. Illness Gets Old: Aging and Disease. See You in 2150: The Long and Short of Life Span. On and On: Longevity and Genetics. PART III: ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK. The Plague Lives! The Black Plague in the Modern Age. Cold Comfort: How to Catch a Cold. The Ill-Advised War on Bacteria: Are All Bacteria Bad? Radiating Misperception: Radiation, Pro and Con. Swimming with Sharks: Sharks and Cancer. Mutating Misconceptions: What Your Genes Say about Your Future Health. PART IV: EATING IT UP. Learning Your Alpha-Beta-Carotenes: Antioxidants, Pro and Con. The Unbearable Heaviness of Being: Fat People and Food. Not Milk? Milk and Your Health. Organic Reasoning: The Benefits of Organic Food. Water, Water Everywhere: Bottled Water vs. Tap Water. The Whole Grain Truth: Are Whole Grains Healthier? PART V: THE RETURN OF THE WITCH DOCTOR. The Delusion of Dilution: Homeopathy X 50. Magnetic Charm: Magnets and Your Health. Reversal of Fortune: The Viability of Ayurveda. Something Smells Funny: Aromatherapy As a Cure. Suffocating Trends: Oxygen--How Much Is Too Much? The Ultimate Hands-Off Approach: Touch Therapy, Qigong, and Falun Gong. Getting to the Root of the Problem: Herbs As Alternative Medicine. A Shot in the Arm: The True Dangers of Vaccines. PART VI: RISKING IT ALL. Toxic Avenger: The Science of Toxicity. Peer-Reviewed for Your Pleasure: How Health Studies Work.

CHRISTOPHER WANJEK is a frequent contributor to the Washington Post; he has also written for Smithsonian and Forbes, among other publications. He writes jokes for The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live. Wanjek is also a senior writer for NASA. He has previously worked as an in-house science writer at MIT and the NIH.

"...Bad Medicine is an enjoyable romp through a host of biomedical misconceptions..." (New Scientist, 21 December 2002) "...Wanjek shoots and scores when he tackles the major myths of medicine..." (Focus, February 2003)