Skeptical Reporter @ 2013-09-27

Skeptical Reporter for September 27th, 2013 The man who shot to Internet fame several years ago after appearing on Today to discuss a condition that permanently turned his skin a deep blue has died. Paul Karason was 62 when he passed away in a Washington hospital, where he was admitted last week after suffering a heart attack. He also had pneumonia and later suffered a severe stroke, his estranged wife, Jo Anna Karason, explained. Karason started turning blue about 15 years ago after he began using a special silver-based preparation to treat a skin condition. He also had been drinking colloidal silver, a product consisting of silver particles suspended in liquid. In 2008, Karason emerged from his reclusive life to discuss his condition, known as argyria, which is caused by the use of dietary supplements. Karason began using a silver preparation to treat a bad case of dermatitis that had broken out on his face. He took the silver in colloidal form that he produced himself, using electrolysis. Silver has antibacterial properties and has been used to fight infection for thousands of years. But it went out of use when the far more effective penicillin was developed in the 1930s. It continued to be used in some over-the-counter medicines until 1999, when the FDA banned it because it causes argyria, which is a result of the silver reacting with light the same way it does in photography. The silver collects in the skin and other organs and does not dissipate. Venezuela's beauty culture has prompted a surge in dangerous silicone injections. Astrid de la Rosa was left bedridden for two years after her liquid silicone buttock injections migrated into her spine, paralyzing the supporting muscles. Now she is trying to educate Venezuelan girls early on about the dangers of these procedures. “We have to get to them early, as parents tend to offer these injections as 15th birthday presents”. In Venezuela, 17 women have died in the past 12 months as a result of liquid silicone buttock injections. According to Jesus Pereira, the president of the Venezuelan Plastic Surgeons Association, an estimated 30 percent of Venezuelan women aged 18 to 50 have undergone the procedure in an attempt to achieve a figure thought to be more attractive to Venezuelan men. While the death toll resulting from these injections has risen since they became widely available in 2008, it has done little to curb the trend of Venezuelans seeking a quick-fix solution to what they perceive as physical inadequacies. Despite being illegal in Venezuela (sale of silicone carries a two-year prison sentence) the country’s Association of Cosmetic Surgeons estimates that 2,000 women every month are receiving injections of this bio-polymer, either at home or illegally at unlicensed businesses. The latest issue of Frontline – India’s National Magazine – features several stories of interest in the theme “Superstition Industry”. One of the articles discusses Sanal Edamaruku’s unmasking of a so-called miracle that saw him forced to leave to country after being accused of breaking the country’s blasphemy laws. On the 5th of March 2012, a woman passing by a roadside crucifix saw water dripping from the feet of Jesus Christ’s image. A non-Christian, she spread the word and soon the site was thronged by people who thought it was a miracle. The crucifix was across the road from Our Lady of Velankanni Church in the Mumbai suburb of Irla. A television channel covering the incident brought Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, to the site. He debunked the miracle theory and said it was water flowing from some damaged plumbing. Members of a group called the Association of Concerned Catholics challenged Edamaruku, and a battle of words began which culminated in a television studio debate between Edamaruku and Bishop Agnelo of the Archdiocese of Bombay. A report was filed by the Association of Concerned Catholics against Edamaruku under Section 295A ...