Scienceploitation: How social media can distort and misinform when communicating science

Scienceploitation: How social media can distort and misinform when communicating science

"Scienceploitation is embodied in especially egregious “click-bait” headlines. Think the Huffington Post erroneously equating a glass of red wine to an hour at the gym, or the viral hoax study that linked eating chocolate with losing weight."

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Health Check: are growing pains real?

Health Check: are growing pains real?

"There is no single diagnostic test for growing pains. As a result, it continues to be diagnosed more by exclusion than inclusion of symptoms. Namely: intermittent (non-persistent) aches of muscles (not joints) in both legs presenting later in the day or evening (disappearing by morning) in an otherwise healthy child generally between the age of three and 12 years. There are usually no abnormal findings on physical exam, imaging and lab investigations."

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Concussions and kids: know the signs

Concussions and kids: know the signs

"Head trauma is a major public health concern in the United States, with indirect and direct health-care costs approaching nearly US$1 billion annually. Worse, head trauma also can cause short- and long-term health problems and, in children, problems with academics, headaches and behavioral health issues."

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The link between chronic pain and depression: which comes first?

The link between chronic pain and depression: which comes first?

 "like so much to do with persistent pain, it becomes harder to unravel exactly what the relationship is when one digs a little further. For instance, it has been repeatedly shown that people with increased emotional distress going in to surgery use more painkillers and generally fare worse afterwards."

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Have massage therapists been putting too much of an emphasis on orthopedic assessment?

Have massage therapists been putting too much of an emphasis on orthopedic assessment?

Traditionally the role of orthopedic testing is to define a treatable pathology (e.g. Lachman's for ACL), this has a role in orthopedic medicine and acute injuries, but as massage therapists we are often seeing injuries in the chronic phase. These injuries cannot as easily be defined solely by tissue damage, patients often suffer from multiple ongoing issues, such as post traumatic arthritis of the knee, anterior hip impingement, disc herniation, which is often compounded with peripheral and central sensitization.

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