If you ever took first year psychology – or read any popular psychology – then you’re probably familiar with the obedience studies conducted by Stanley Milgram at Yale in the early 1960s. Inspired in part by the horrors of the Holocaust, Milgram wanted to assess whether some nationalities are more willing than others to obey … Continue reading »
Oct
19
It’s not what you think – when health stats are twisted
Years ago, I worked for a health charity that sent out fundraising letters with a message on the envelope proclaiming “One out of every two people who open this envelope with die from [insert disease]!” The folklore was that it even became a joke on late-night US television, as in “who would want to open … Continue reading »
Oct
11
Women and heart disease – time to stop blaming menopause?
For a long time, it’s been argued, women’s risk of heart disease is relatively low until menopause, at which point it begins to increase dramatically. However, new analysis is challenging this paradigm. In an article published in BMJ (British Medical Journal),1 researchers at John Hopkins and the University of Alabama looked at ischemic heart disease … Continue reading »
Sep
18
Can we “end” the two primary causes of mortality – heart disease and cancer?
Recently, there’s been a spate of campaigns promising to “end” cancer, or at least certain types of cancer. I’m not naming any names here. I mean, I understand why organizations are making these sorts of claims – they want and need some sort of dramatic claim to galvanize donors and volunteers. The more flamboyant the … Continue reading »
Aug
21
What is the Edmonton Obesity Staging System and why does it matter?
A fair bit of media buzz was generated by the recent publication of the EdmontonObesity Staging System.1 The EOSS was created in large part because of the limitations posed by the Body Mass Index (BMI) and even waist circumference. Both may be helpful in dividing large numbers of people into risk groups but are pretty … Continue reading »
Aug
13
Do you know what your chiropractor believes?
Many, many decades ago, my father was sent to a chiropractor by his family doctor. Well, “sent” is a little strong. Actually, the family doctor said there wasn’t much he could do for my father’s back pain and so he might consider to go to the chiropractor in town, but to never tell anyone that … Continue reading »
Aug
07
On depression and “thinking positive”
Psychiatric genetics is an emerging and important area of research. As its name implies, it’s the study of how genetics contribute to psychiatric issues such as schizophrenia, autism, ADHD and depression. Not that it’s a simple relationship. For example, studies on twins in Swedenhave shown that genetics explain about 40% of a woman’s risk of … Continue reading »
Aug
02
Can RCTs be used to evaluate websites?
In the world of medical and health research, the “gold standard” of proof is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). The heart of the RCT is that it’s a trial or study that: compares a control group — a group that gets a placebo or existing standard intervention — to an experimental group that gets the … Continue reading »
Jul
19
Do medical centres exaggerate research findings?
Press releases increase the chances that findings from a research study will be picked up by the media. In fact, a 2008 study found that about a third of American health news stories rely solely or largely on press releases.(1) There’s a tendency for press releases from pharmaceutical companies and medical journal to overstate the … Continue reading »
Jul
10
When health promotion claims are exaggerated: risk factor x causes y number of deaths
On WebMD you can find the following statements: about 20% of all deaths from heart disease in the US are related to smoking 35,000 nonsmokers will die from heart disease each year as a result of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. This example cites smoking stats but similar claims have been made for other risk … Continue reading »