{"id":403012,"date":"2023-12-29T14:16:36","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T19:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/2023-the-screamers-science-hype-award-goes-to-anti-aging-media-coverage-the-niche\/"},"modified":"2023-12-29T14:53:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T19:53:38","slug":"2023-the-screamers-science-hype-award-goes-to-anti-aging-media-coverage-the-niche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/2023-the-screamers-science-hype-award-goes-to-anti-aging-media-coverage-the-niche\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 The Screamers Science Hype Award goes to anti-aging media coverage – The Niche","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year I give out The Screamers Science Hype Award.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The point of The Screamers is to raise awareness about science hype and catalyze new ways to combat it. In that spirit, I award what I see as the most extreme examples of science hype. Sometimes in addition to the one main winner, I give \u201chonorable\u201d mentions too.<\/p>\n

These awards are focused mostly on the biomedical sciences. However, I do sometimes award media issues in additional fields of science.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Screamers Science Hype Awards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Screamers Award winner: hyped media coverage of anti-aging<\/h2>\n

2023 was quite a year of science hype in many areas. What struck me the most was the ballyhoo in the longevity and anti-aging space.<\/p>\n

Many media outlets gobbled up overstated or unverified claims about anti-aging regimens like so many fistfuls of supposed longevity supplements.<\/p>\n

As a result, I had no trouble finding wild longevity headlines. They were often about folks like Bryan Johnson<\/strong><\/a> and David Sinclair<\/strong> <\/a>but also others.<\/p>\n

These media pieces were so ubiquitous and some of the anti-aging regimens intensive enough that I even began to wonder whether the most extreme anti-aging<\/strong><\/a> efforts might be a disease unto themselves. Potentially a fatal one. I also coined some neologisms like \u201chealth flexing<\/strong><\/a>\u201d and \u201chealth celebrities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of hypeful longevity headlines in 2023. One is the overall winner, while the others are runners-up.<\/p>\n

Given all this hype, it was hard to pick just one winner, but I did. The winner of the 2023 The Screamers Science Hype Award goes to The Daily Mail<\/em> article (first bullet point above). The article has no balance.<\/p>\n

Some common sense approaches to moderate anti-aging efforts<\/h2>\n

The irony about the article and its headline being so bad in my view is that much of Dr. Hyman\u2019s actual routine makes good common sense, unlike the reported regimens of other prominent anti-agers.<\/p>\n

His emphasis on a plant-based diet and exercise are two solid pillars of general health.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether such practices can consistently stave off aging, but some data suggest it\u2019s possible to a modest degree. It\u2019s not going to knock 23 years off of your biological age though. Maybe a year? These practices are likely to improve your quality of life.<\/p>\n

I have a post on potential natural stem cell boosts<\/strong><\/a> that could have longevity impacts. These are common sense things rather than extreme measures like snorting stem cells, DIY gene therapy, or swallowing massive amounts of supplements.<\/p>\n

Always talk to your doctor before taking any steps to change your health.<\/p>\n

The Screamers Runners-up<\/h2>\n

Miracle Gro?<\/h3>\n

In addition to the runners-up in the bullet point list above, I thought I\u2019d mention a couple of others.<\/p>\n

Miracle Regrowth: How Stopping an Aging Enzyme Can Repair Nerve Damage,<\/a> SciTechDaily.<\/em><\/strong> True, the research paper that this news item is reporting on is kind of interesting, but where\u2019s the miracle?<\/p>\n

Aging miracle cure that isn\u2019t: NMN<\/h3>\n

Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) May Be the Miracle Cure for Aging, <\/strong><\/a>Healthnews.<\/em><\/strong> In contrast to the headline, from the article, \u201cAnimal studies suggest NMN does not help to prolong lifespan<\/strong>. However, it may produce some health benefits\u2026\u201d So, another non-miracle.<\/p>\n

Understatement of the Year Award to The NYT<\/em> SpaceX coverage<\/h3>\n

And, finally, a runner-up award goes to an NYT<\/em> Science<\/em> article about a recent SpaceX rocket mission in which the rocket blew up but the story was relentlessly spinning things positively.<\/p>\n

SpaceX Makes Progress in 2nd Launch of Giant Moon and Mars Rocket<\/a>.<\/strong> I love space travel and SpaceX has done some cool things, but this article was far from balanced.  This specific sentence blew my mind given that the SpaceX rocket blew up (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n

\n

Saturday\u2019s flight of Starship, a powerful vehicle designed to carry NASA astronauts to the moon, was not a complete success.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I guess at least nobody died.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the part of the article that seems to finally face facts at least somewhat:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cSoon after stage separation, the booster exploded \u2014 a \u201crapid unscheduled disassembly,\u201d in the jargon of rocket engineers. The upper-stage Starship spacecraft continued heading toward orbit for several more minutes, reaching an altitude of more than 90 miles, but then SpaceX lost contact with it after the flight termination system detonated.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Boom.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m trying to think if there\u2019s an equivalent crock of baloney expression as \u201crapid unscheduled disassembly\u201d in the biomedical sciences. Thoughts?<\/p>\n

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Related Posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n