Search Results for "limits of observational studies"
4 pre-Thanksgiving health news turkeys on observational studies
The limits of observational studies–once again missing from health care PR news releases. And from health care news stories. Two examples of each caught our eye in this pre-Thanksgiving news slowdown period. As real news slows down, news about observational studies often fills the void. Just what we didn’t need. Here are some things that […]
Weak reporting of limitations of observational research
A research letter in this week’s JAMA Internal Medicine addresses an issue that has become a pet peeve of ours: the failure of medical journal articles, journal news releases, and subsequent news releases, to address the limitations of observational studies. Observational studies, although important, cannot prove cause-and-effect; they can show statistical association but that does not […]
12/3/2012Cardiobrief: Exercise And The Limitations Of Observational Studies
Cardiobrief blogger Larry Husten writes: “Last week I wrote twice about exercise. Strictly speaking, both stories were complete lies.” Well, Larry is speaking strictly there. But his heart is in the right place. Go to Cardiobrief and read the entire post, but just to capture it here, the following is what Husten thought about the first […]
5/17/2012Another coffee observational study – another round of misplaced emphasis
Here were some of the headlines or lead lines: Coffee May Be Part of the Recipe for a Longer Life (WebMD) “Coffee drinkers who worry about the jolt of java it takes to get them going in the morning might just as well relax and pour another cup.” (MSNBC) Daily Coffee May Help Keep Grim […]
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Observational studies: Does the language fit the evidence? Association vs. causation
by Mark Zweig, MD, and Emily DeVoto, PhD, two people who have thought a lot about how reporters cover medical research back to “Tips for Understanding Studies” A health writer’s first attempt at expressing results from a new observational study read, “Frequent fish consumption was associated with a 50% reduction in the relative risk of […]
NY Times was blind to flaws in “Statins May Cut Glaucoma Risk” story
Let me count the ways in which I am moved to write about another unwell piece in the New York Times Well section – “Statins May Cut Glaucoma Risk.” Let’s begin with the first line: “More good news about cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.” No, it’s not good news. There’s no “take it to the bank” definitive […]
When reporting on sloppy science, NY Times ‘Well’ section should practice what it preaches
A New York Times column on Monday bemoaned the sorry state of much nutrition research, saying it’s too often poorly designed and riddled with conflicts of interest. The headline: Confused by Nutrition Research? Sloppy Science May Be to Blame Written by longtime “Personal Health” columnist Jane Brody, the piece is based on a new book, […]
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Alcohol and cancer: What does a ‘500% increase’ in risk really mean?
[Editor’s note: This post has been updated. Scroll to the bottom to read the addendum.] Last night, NBC Nightly News ran a story about the cancer risks related to alcohol consumption. But instead of communicating those risks in a way that would educate and inform, NBC’s coverage was an example of misinformation and fear-mongering. Consider […]
Headline vs. study: boxes for your baby, blueberries for your brain
We continue our regular series looking for clear and compelling disconnects between what a headline highlights, and what the referenced study is really about. As you will see below, this past month ended up to be a smorgasbord of food and nutrition stories. Not surprising really. Time and time again we’ve found this to be a genre of health […]
‘Why Most Clinical Research Is Not Useful’ yet tsunami of news about it
Within the quotation marks in the headline above is the title of a new paper in PLoS Medicine by Stanford’s John Ioannidis. He again holds up a mirror for scientists, journals, policymakers, journalists and the general public. Excerpt: “There are many millions of papers of clinical research—approximately 1 million papers from clinical trials have been […]
1 Troubled BMJ news release on young fathers & early death risk
Shortly after praising a news release by The BMJ earlier today for emphasizing the limitations of an observational study, another news release for another journal published by BMJ is at the other end of the spectrum. “Fatherhood at young age linked to greater likelihood of mid-life death,” is the headline of a news release about […]
Friday gems – in case you missed them
We can’t do a Five Star Friday feature today because we didn’t have any five-star reviews to shine a light on. In fact, this week, after publishing 128 systematic criteria-driven news story reviews so far this year, we gave our first zero-star score of the year to a Washington Post diet story. We don’t like […]
Claim that fermented dairy products reduce heart attacks leaves us feeling sour
There’s an emerging assumption that fermented dairy products might be “pro-biotic” and, therefore, “heart-friendly.” But, at this time, that remains purely speculative.
Fermented dairy products may protect against heart attack
What you need to know about yet another study on Alzheimer’s and exercise
Including “exercise” and “Alzheimer’s” in the same headline is sure-fire clickbait for a lot of people. For example: 150 minutes of exercise every week can reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease (The Economic Times) Exercise may delay rare form of Alzheimer’s (HealthDay) But these headlines refer to a study published earlier this week that doesn’t justify such […]
Motherhood affects Alzheimer’s risk? Here’s what you need to know
Many everyday things have been proposed to cause Alzheimer’s disease over the years — deodorant, dental fillings, diet soda, and flu shots, to name just a few. But none of these proposed causes has stood up to sustained scientific scrutiny, and the alarm bells raised by early research have turned out to be false alarms. […]
