Scott Alexander examines obscure pregnancy interventions that may improve child outcomes, rating them by evidence quality and potential impact. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews various obscure pregnancy interventions that could potentially improve child outcomes, particularly IQ. He rates them in tiers based on evidence strength and potential impact, with Tier 1 being most strongly supported. Key interventions discussed include embryo selection, choline supplementation, avoiding stress and certain substances, and optimizing birth timing. He emphasizes these are extreme measures not meant to induce guilt, and that standard pregnancy advice is still most important. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander corrects and expands on the story of Omegaven, a life-saving infant nutritional fluid, using it to illustrate systemic issues with medical regulation and drug approval. Longer summary

Scott Alexander revisits a story about Omegaven, a fish-oil-based nutritional fluid for infants, correcting some details from his previous post. He explains how the fluid was discovered to prevent liver disease in infants requiring IV nutrition, and the challenges faced in getting it approved by the FDA. While the FDA comes off relatively well in the story, Scott argues that the real problem is the systemic hurdle of drug approval that makes everything in medicine illegal by default. He discusses how this hurdle makes scientific discoveries harder and potentially costs lives, even when many individuals involved are trying their best. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander summarizes reader comments about CBT-i apps, their effectiveness, pricing challenges, and FDA regulation. Longer summary

This post highlights key comments from readers on the topic of CBT-i (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia) apps. Scott Alexander summarizes several lower-cost CBT-i apps that readers pointed out, including Night Owl, Sleepedy, and Dozy. He also mentions a highly recommended CBT-i book. The post then addresses questions about the effectiveness of CBT-i, citing studies that show it works as well as or better than medications. Finally, it discusses challenges in the app economy, FDA regulation of health apps, and includes insights from experts in the field. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander critically evaluates the evidence for Vitamin D's role in COVID-19 prevention and treatment, ultimately leaning towards skepticism while acknowledging the low risk of supplementation. Longer summary

Scott Alexander examines the evidence for and against Vitamin D's effectiveness in preventing or treating COVID-19. He reviews various studies, including observational data, randomized controlled trials, and Mendelian randomization studies. While some evidence suggests a potential link between Vitamin D levels and COVID-19 outcomes, Scott ultimately leans towards skepticism. He discusses possible confounding factors and methodological issues in some of the positive studies. Despite his skepticism, Scott acknowledges the low risk of Vitamin D supplementation and suggests it may still be beneficial for other reasons. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces the launch of MetaMed, a company offering personalized medical research, and describes his positive experiences with their rational approach to medical questions. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the official launch of MetaMed, a company offering personalized medical research. He describes his experiences with the company, highlighting their commitment to solving difficult medical questions without taking shortcuts. Scott mentions a recent journal club discussion on antioxidants and multivitamins, and praises the company's rational approach to evaluating alternative medicine. He compares MetaMed to existing medical information aggregators like UpToDate, emedicine, and Wikipedia, suggesting that MetaMed could supplement these sources with rationalist medical analysis and personalized research. Shorter summary