It's #WorldCancerDay so, let's talk about some of the utter nonsense that's promoted as cancer cure #quackery. Spoiler: none of them cure any kind of cancer. They might give you other health conditions to deal with, though.
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MMS (sodium chlorite solution) & CD (chlorine dioxide). MMS is sold as "water purification drops" & it does do that. It's also touted as a cure for literally everything, inc. cancer. It doesn't cure anything. It does cause gastrointestinal distress.
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Homeopathy: substances so extremely diluted in water or ethanol that no traces of the original molecule remain. In quite a few cases, that's a good thing--because the stuff in question is pretty nasty. Anyway, at best it's just sugar.
Alkaline diets and bicarbonate of soda blood transfusions. No really, do I have to do this again? Yes, obviously, eat fruit & vegetables. But because fibre, nutrients etc, NOT because of some notion it's changing your blood pH. It's not.
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Black salve is a horrible mixture of bloodroot, zinc chloride & other skin irritants. It literally burns holes in your skin. This is not recommended by dermatologists. If you suspect skin cancer, please see a proper doctor.
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Hydrogen peroxide infusions are another "brilliant" idea by naturopaths, involving mixing 30% reagent grade hydrogen peroxide with water & administering as an intravenous drip. Hydrogen peroxide is corrosive. Does this really need spelling out?
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Last but not least, apricot kernels. These contain amygdalin/laetrile/B17 (not a vitamin). They don't cure cancer. They do cause cyanide poisoning. Yes, really. Don't eat them.
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To finish: cancer isn't one disease. There's no simple cure that "big pharma" are hiding, & anyone saying so is probably selling something dangerous. If you have worrying symptoms, see a properly qualified doctor.
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Many people have said lots of witty & moving things about #Discworld#TerryPratchett and the awful The Watch today.
I shall just add this.
They people behind this were told.
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If this is a ‘mistake’, it is the equivalent of being warned not to climb Ben Nevis in flip flops and a pair of shorts whilst looking at the horizon and saying “oh, they’re just clouds, clouds can’t hurt anyone!”
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The people who made this somehow, gods only know how, failed to recognise that @terryandrob and @rhipratchett are, deep in their hearts & souls, fans. They told them it was umpteen kinds of wrong. They were ignored and dismissed.
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... and there were people there dressed as Granny Weatherwax & ... I can’t remember who else she said. Might’ve been Cheery? Or Angua? I have a feeling it was someone from the Watch. Anyway,
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I don’t know if they were cosplayers or an official part of the event, but my Nan being my Nan insisted that THEY sign the book, too...
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Hey #ChemTwitter gotta mystery for you. A friend painted my nails with a UV-cured gel. It was pink when it went on. Over the next 48 hours, it’s increasingly turned yellow (lighting is different in pics but I think you can see...) 1/2
... what could possibly have caused this? I haven’t handled anything (that I can of) that might cause discolouration or pigment breakdown. Friend has painted her own nails same colour since, no change yet. It’s apparently me! 🤷🏼♀️
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Quick add: could it be hand sanitiser perhaps? IPA? Ethanol?
As a chemist, shall I tell you what annoys me in this #Watch picture? The graffiti. Not because there's 20th century spray-paint in—what ought to be—a pre-industrial setting, but because #TerryPratchett was fascinated by science & engineering & you KNOW that if he'd WANTED 1/4
spray paint he'd have carefully researched how spray cans work, how the pigments were developed, how solvents ensure a fine, even mist. He'd have looked up the original inventors (Francis Davis Millet & Edward Seymour, for the record) & read about how & why they
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developed aerosol paint, AND THEN he'd have come up with something to explain it all, probably involving imps and the Alchemist's Guild, making clever puns on the inventor's names & undoubtedly somehow referencing the Chicago World Fair & Seymour of Sycamore, then he'd
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