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Science and Creationism
20. Health
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011
www.frayn.net
Healthy Eating to Immortality?
• Hovind claims that the key to immortality is a
healthy diet
– If it was, then it would be well researched
– Scientists want to live forever, too!
• Diet is certainly important to health
• As are many other factors:
– Genetics
– Exercise
– Disease
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011
www.frayn.net
Anti-Cancer
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If there were any cancer-fighting miracle plant, pharmaceutical companies
would have…
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Can we avoid cancer through our diet?
– Well, lifestyle can certainly play a part in avoiding cancer
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Found it
Extracted the active compound
Tested and analysed it
Made it into a pill-form drug
Sold it for hundreds of billions of dollars
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Eat healthily
Avoid becoming overweight
Quit smoking
Get plenty of exercise
But there is no way to avoid it completely
Cancer is a cellular disorder, caused by unchecked mutations
A healthy immune system helps, like in all diseases
But, ultimately, it just improves your odds – it’s not a cure
Cancer science is a multi-billion dollar area of research
– The financial and reputational benefit to curing it would be ungraspably huge
– All the incentives are there
– If there was a simple solution, it would have been found
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011
www.frayn.net
Disease caused by science?
• Science has saved billions of lives from
disease
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Cured polio
Cured smallpox
Antibiotics
Anaesthetics
Painkillers
Anti-malarial drugs
Blood pressure drugs
Drugs for diabetics
Not to mention advances in nutrition
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011
www.frayn.net