Daily Dose of Common Sense

Regular watchers of Oprah turn to the host for advice on what to buy, eat, read, and watch. And, while it’s harmless fun to see clips from the latest Will Smith movie, it’s a different story when some of her advice might cause serious injury.

Newsweek just published an excellent article called Why Health Advice on ‘Oprah’ Could Make You Sick. The writer questions some of the advice given out on Oprah’s show, such as Suzanne Somers’ homegrown hormone regimen and Jenny McCarthy’s “vaccines cause autism” campaign, because no science has been able to back these theories up. Then, there’s the “lunch time” facelift and Thermage, a procedure claiming tighter skin through radio waves. Both fell out of favor after it was revealed they had major downsides and questionable results. These are just a few examples of misinformation covered in the article.

Some of the many experts who cross her stage offer interesting and useful information (props to you, Dr. Oz). Others gush nonsense. Oprah, who holds up her guests as prophets, can’t seem to tell the difference. She has the power to summon the most learned authorities on any subject; who would refuse her? Instead, all too often Oprah winds up putting herself and her trusting audience in the hands of celebrity authors and pop-science artists pitching wonder cures and miracle treatments that are questionable or flat-out wrong, and sometimes dangerous.

Television can blur the lines between entertainment and science. Viewers should remember that Oprah is more concerned with the first than the second. So, don’t take health advice from talk shows. Do the research yourself and talk to your own doctors.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Health, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.