Choosing to fail?

This week's New York Times Science section is full of fascinating and provocative articles. From their blog: "The less effective a beauty product or treatment, the more likely women are to keep using it," referring to a study of 300 women. My train of thought leads to my observation of people like a woman I spoke to today: She wants grape seed extract for her daughter, who has asthma; also probiotics. Why? She has heard/read that it will help her get more oxygen, maybe get off her inhaler. Hmmm....both of these will help just about anyone improve overall health, but asthma? I showed her a few things I thought might be more directly beneficial, gave her information and a web site so she can look at well founded explanations of how these may work. Why does she pursue the original goal? I didn't ask for the source of this suggestion. Was it TV, a piece of junk mail, something she just heard? Has she tried to confirm what it is used for, whether it is safe with her daughter's medication...Have they questioned diet, allergies, environmental factors? Did I help her or enable her ignorance? Is she like the women in the study who choose to pursue a dead end rather than find the way to a better outcome?

WANT TO GOODSEARCH? Yahoo's search engine lets you donate to a non-profit whenever you search. Just enter Animaterra as the chosen charity when you use Goodsearch, and the women's chorus in Keene which I sing with will benefit -- and you'll have the same reliable search you would be using anyway...and 50 wonderful women will thank you! How easy does it get?