Superstions

[corydoras]

Id love to find out Cory, although If he Isnt Valencian he might not Know they like us all have regional supperstitions.

 

I come from A Irish family and just about every thing is bad luck, Birds tapping on a window,bird in the house, Dreaming about fish!!! (I do that all the time Proberly why Im so unlucy!),Lilac,Stiring things with a knife,shoes on a table,The colour green,Walking under Ladders,Egg shells give you warts, Toads Cure warts, Silver birch is an unlucy tree, Any thing to do with Thirteen, Dont ever give an empty purse as a present, and never hand any one a pair of scissors To name but a few.

 

I try just to keep to my seven turn blood knot Hang up and leave all the rest to my Mum to worry about

The colour green one has it's roots in science. In the 18th an 19th Centuries there was a commonly used pigment called Scheele's Green. It is based on Copper Arsenite and is extremely toxic. It was used to dye everything from wallpaper to fabrics and even sweets. It is a deadly toxin.

 

Dreaming about fish in Scotland means that someone is going to have a baby. Toads curing warts is sympathetic magic. Toads have a warty skin, like cures like. That is pretty much what Homoeopaths believe by the way, like cure like, and the more dilute the dose the more powerful the effect.

Edited January 21, 2009 by corydoras

[Ken L]

Toads Cure warts

Superstisions and folk remedies abound with regard to warts and other conditions that will improve spontaniously - "Regress to the mean" if you want to be a smart arse.

This is because they get anoying after a while and people start to try daft things that they've been told will cure them.

Eventually there will be a correlation between trying something and the warts dropping off or recovering from the cold or whatever and people get confused between correlation and causation.

Of course, just because you got rid of your wart after rubbing it with a toad doesn't invalidate the rubbing it with liver (which you subsequently burry in the garden) or "selling" it to an old lady that you tried in the preceeding weeks, it obviously just worked more quickly !

 

There are lots of modern superstitions about "medicine" as well.

There's the superstition the homeopathy works - Cory's favorite.

There's the superstition that fish oil helps to improve behaviour and intelligence of children.

There's the superstition that vitamin tablets and antoxident supliments will make you more healthy.

 

And the not quite so modern

Eating carots helps you to see in the dark.

Getting cold and wet will automatically lead to you getting a cold.

That shaving causes hair to grow back thicker - never worked for my head !

 

And those that relate to accidents

Almost any object being moved above waist hieght (including pillows and mattresses) is likely to "have someone's eye out".

Edited January 21, 2009 by Ken L

[corydoras]

Superstisions and folk remedies abound with regard to warts and other conditions that will improve spontaniously - "Regress to the mean" if you want to be a smart arse.

This is because they get anoying after a while and people start to try daft things that they've been told will cure them.

Eventually there will be a correlation between trying something and the warts dropping off or recovering from the cold or whatever and people get confused between correlation and causation.

Of course, just because you got rid of your wart after rubbing it with a toad doesn't invalidate the rubbing it with liver (which you subsequently burry in the garden) or "selling" it to an old lady that you tried in the preceeding weeks, it obviously just worked more quickly !

 

There are lots of modern superstitions about "medicine" as well.

There's the superstition the homeopathy works - Cory's favorite.

There's the superstition that fish oil helps to improve behaviour and intelligence of children.

There's the superstition that vitamin tablets and antoxident supliments will make you more healthy.

 

And the not quite so modern

Eating carots helps you to see in the dark.

Getting cold and wet will automatically lead to you getting a cold.

That shaving causes hair to grow back thicker - never worked for my head !

 

And those that relate to accidents

Almost any object being moved above waist hieght (including pillows and mattresses) is likely to "have someone's eye out".

Ken I can provide you with peer revieiwed evidince supporting fish oil and carrots

[Ken L]

Ken I can provide you with peer revieiwed evidince supporting fish oil and carrots

 

It's not a photo of a proper academic paper with some fish oil and a couple of carrots on top of it is it Cory ?

[The Flying Tench]

I tend to use the number thirteen if I can. For example I often heat up a cup of coffee for 13 secs in the microwave It's not anything to do with thirteen people round the table for the last supper of course, except in the limited sense that I feel 13 gets under-done. I'm sorry for number 13 and I like to give him a chance!

[Vagabond]

I'm sorry for number 13 and I like to give him a chance!

 

I too, think 13 is given a bad press - I know of a council that won't even let a new house bear that number.

 

Norma and I both have birthdays on the 13th of the month. We are exactly six months apart.

 

I wonder what astrologers would make of that !

 

Now I've probably got Cory and KenL started on astrology - this will run and run......

[corydoras]

It's not a photo of a proper academic paper with some fish oil and a couple of carrots on top of it is it Cory ?

Fish oils first

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1902298...Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1902298...Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1898665...Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

This last one is easier to read.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-3-000316.htm

 

There's more plenty more.

Edited January 22, 2009 by corydoras

[corydoras]

There's the superstition the homeopathy works - Cory's favorite.

Homoeopathy is just plain stupid.

[DavyR]

I think the "authority" that started the ash theory was botanically ignorant and didn't know the difference between ash and rowan.

 

What say you DavyR ?

 

That's a tough one, as both the true ash and the rowan have many magical associations. The only thing I would say in favour of Yggdrasil being a true ash is that spear-shafts were made from ash, and there are many mentions in the sagas of "ash" and "spear" being used interchangeably. Odin was supposed to have wounded himself with a spear whilst hanging from Yggdrasil in the course of a ceremony that always makes me think of Richard Harris and the Sundance in "A Man Called Horse". There is also some suggestion that the Vikings made a variety of mead from the ash sap.

 

Dunno really.

[Ken L]

I'm off to work now so I've only really had chance to quickly scan the first three abstracts. None of them appear to relate directly to development of inteligence or behaviour modification in children so there is a danger of inappropriatly extrapolating from these studies and making assumptions that simply arn't supported by the evidence.

The fourth says:

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

 

Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may have low levels of certain essential fatty acids (including EPA and DHA) in their bodies. In a clinical study of nearly 100 boys, those with lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids demonstrated more learning and behavioral problems (such as temper tantrums and sleep disturbances) than boys with normal omega-3 fatty acid levels. In animal studies, low levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to lower the concentration of certain brain chemicals (such as dopamine and serotonin) related to attention and motivation. Clinical studies that examine the ability of omega-3 supplements to improve symptoms of ADHD are still needed. At this point in time, eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids is a reasonable approach for someone with ADHD. A clinical study used omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplementation in 117 children with ADHD. They study found significant improvements in reading, spelling, and behavior in the children over the 3 months of therapy. Another clinical study found that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation helped to decrease physical aggression in school children with ADHD. More studies, including comparisons with drug therapies (such as stimulants), should be performed.

which is interesting. It does strike me that a study of only 100 boys is a bit scant to justify an industry worth 10's of millions of dollars a year but I will have a look at the cited evidence

Burgess J, Stevens L, Zhang W, Peck L. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Clin Nutr . 2000; 71(suppl):327S-330S.

when I get home tonight. I'll be interested to see if this is a propper double blind placebo controlled trial with measurable results which takes full account of such things as the Hawthorne effect or whether its just another version of the infamous Durham trials.

 

As you are aware of my recent reading material from another thread. I'm not quite sure whether you are being serious here or simply trying to make a point about the interpretation of "evidence". I'll have a proper look at the papers tonight though.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Ken L