Snake oil can be beneficial for arthritis and other conditions (2007)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/

by loop22 • 9 years ago

46 16 9 years ago

Simulacra2• 9 years ago

Well I guess the salesmen will be relieved

ender89• 9 years ago

What I heard was that actual snake-oil was used for a number of things it actually worked on in china, but when someone tried to introduce it in the US, the salesmen figured it was complete bs and no one would notice if they just sold counterfeit oil.

Simulacra2• 9 years ago

Oh wow! I didn't know that, sort of reminds me of the olive oil market right now.

stcredzero3• 9 years ago

There's an analogy here for OO.

tdeck• 9 years ago

That last part at least is correct. Clark Stanley (the original snake oil salesman) traveled around with a bag full of snakes, and made a big show out of rendering them into oil. But the actual product was just beef fat and some other ingredients.

rootsudo• 9 years ago

Laughable.

jlg23• 9 years ago

Python fat has been used to treat painful joints in Nigeria for ages and its effectiveness has also been proven in a scientific study.[1]

[1] https://www.biomedscidirect.com/1195/python_fat_effect_on_co...

potatote• 9 years ago

Same in Myanmar. There, people with stroke are given small doses of Python liver/pancreas or some sort as part of traditional medicine. I'm quite surprised to see that there's some sort of medicinal application to snakes.

cholantesh• 9 years ago

Scientific studies do not not prove anything. They provide evidence for a hypothesis. And one study is not sufficient to draw conclusions from,especially with a sample size of 9.

Snake oil can be beneficial for arthritis and other conditions (2007)

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