[IAmGraydon]

Always be wary of headlines structured like this:

“Are the Longevity Benefits of Acarbose Rooted in Its Effect on the Gut Microbiota?”

It presents something as fact (Acarbose has longevity benefits) in the form of a question. This sort of structure implies that it’s already been widely accepted as fact that this is true without overtly saying it and it’s commonly used in marketing to slip things by the brain’s natural BS filter. You can also commonly see this in agenda-driven media headlines.

The truth is that Acarbose hasn’t been shown to have longevity benefits in anything but mice, and even that research is questionable at best.

If you need further proof that this is marketing, notice the “products” button on the upper right, where the website that published this article happens to sell…you guessed it…Acarbose. The guy who wrote the article, Daniel Tawfik, is the founder of Zenpatient, the online pharmacy used to sell this and other medications.

We’re being marketed to. I’m flagging this post. It’s spam.

[trollied]

I think it is. I'm lactose intolerant, and somebody posted in one of the LI forums this morning asking about acarbose. I had never heard of it until today, and now it has also appeared on HN.