The historical drama film The Imitation Game is about Alan Turing breaking the German wartime Enigma code. To solve the code, Alan Turing applied Bayes’ approach to probability, which has been termed “the theory that would not die." The Bayesian interpretation of probability reflects the incompleteness of our knowledge and is suited for mastering complexity (1). Bayes’ rule can be described in one sentence: by updating our initial beliefs (about something) with objective new information, we get … [Read more...]
Are non-communicable diseases not caused by microorganisms?
According to Wikipedia, a non-communicable disease, or NCD, is a medical condition or disease that can be defined as non-infectious and non-transmissible among people. The basic causes of NCD are unknown and for that reason, we cannot say for sure that NCD are not caused by infections. Multiple epidemiological studies have, for example, established positive associations between the risk of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality and markers of infection(1). However, what we definitely … [Read more...]
A Standard Model of medicine
If it is terrifying to think that life may be at the mercy of the multiplication of infinitesimally small creatures, it is also consoling to hope that science will not always remain powerless before such enemies. . . . All is dark, obscure and open to dispute when the cause of the phenomena is not known; all is light when it is grasped. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) With the view that Louis Pasteur’s “germ theory of disease” should be revived regarding non-communicable diseases, … [Read more...]