You know, I think there's a confluence between so-called "functional medicine" and this techno-utopian vision of constant testing. 1/ https://twitter.com/BenMazer/status/1037297824474574854 …
But to functional medicine, we're all "biochemically individual." So we get hyper-"individualized" testing and treatment, whether it makes a difference or not. 8/
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Here's an example of what I mean in the form of a functional medicine "case report." It's of an 80 yr. old woman with locally advanced breast cancer. Notice the sheer number of tests ordered and the supplements given, including high Dose vitamin C. 9/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-the-ultimate-misnomer-in-the-world-of-integrative-medicine/ …
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If you look critically at what the functional medicine quacks did here, the only things that likely helped this woman were the exercise, the part time care giver, and the counseling and group support. No supplements or dozens of lab tests needed. 10/
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If you look at functional medicine in practice, it's basically a shotgun approach to medicine. Functional medicine docs make it up as they go along and throw a whole bunch of things at the wall to see what sticks. 11/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-in-practice/ …
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This brings me back to Theranos. The ethic is the same as functional medicine. It's a belief that testing as many things as possible will reveal the "biochemical individuality" of the patient and allow for "individualized treatment." 12/
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If Theranos could have actually delivered a product, functional medicine docs would have loved it and likely been some of Theranos' most enthusiastic customers. 13/
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Functional medicine docs also share with Silicon Valley techoprophets a touchingly naive faith in technology as a solution to every problem. Functional medicine docs share this faith, for example... 14/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2018/09/05/robin-berzin-functional-medicine-concierge/ …
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I foresee a confluence between Silicon Valley and quacks, and it likely will be functional medicine quackery leading the way. 15/15
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