From whale sperm to colon cleansers to the shape of a woman’s foot when she has an orgasm, celebrities did not disappoint during 2011 with their penchant for peddling suspect science in the world’s media.
In its annual list of what it considers the year’s worst abuses against science, the Sense About Science (SAS) campaign named US reality TV star Nicole Polizzi, Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann and American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro as top offenders, with their dubious views on why the sea is salty, the risks of cervical cancer vaccines and the colon.
“I used to get a lot of sore throats and then one of my sisters told me that all illnesses start in the colon. I started taking a daily colon cleanser powder mixed with fresh juice every morning and it made an enormous difference,” Quatro told the Daily Mail newspaper.
But ASS was keen to dispel such myths. “The colon is very important in some diseases, but it certainly is not the cause of all illnesses,” said MelitaGordon, a consultant gastro-enterologist said in the review.
“Sore throats do not come from your colon; they are caused by viruses that come in through your nose and mouth. Taking “colon cleansers” has no beneficial effect on your throat — or on your colon.”
While the review is partly about entertainment, the campaign group stresses it also has a serious aim — to make sure pseudo-science is not allowed to become accepted as true.