One blogger tells us more than 403 MSM outlets
Junkfood Science: News stories for the bird cage
Does a single drink a day really raise a woman’s risk for breast cancers? That’s what 403 media stories (and counting) have been reporting, based on a new study said to be “the largest of its kind.” But not all studies reported in the news are worth taking seriously or let worry us. Here’s why this one shouldn’t have even registered on our radar....
Sandy as ever does the hard lifting on this story, unlike the credulous newspapers who lazily just rewrite a press release...
...this paper came with a press release. Science doesn’t issue press releases. Marketing departments do that.... it was released directly to the media. It bypassed the scientific community altogether, as well as any expert critical analysis......this study was not even published... anywhere. It was presented at a meeting. It hasn’t been peer-reviewed, nor is the study available for healthcare professionals to evaluate its methodology or findings for themselves. .... it was a data dredge looking for correlations, the associations found must be tenable — above random chance or computer modeling error — meaning, at least several times over null. In this case, they were unable to find a single genuine correlation. According to the press release, one drink/day was associated with a 7% increase in relative risk for developing this type of breast cancer over 7 years. Three drinks was associated with a 51% higher relative risk compared to nondrinkers. Nowhere close to viable links. This study was a nonfinding....Not only were the authors unable to find a viable correlation, even using poor-quality data, we have no information on if they even adjusted for the other factors that might play a role in explaining this correlation.....There was simply no credible evidence presented to base any fears or make any reasonable conclusions.....
Is there a body of research giving us reason to fear that moderate alcohol consumption increases our risks for breast cancer or premature death? Far from it.... no meaningful association between alcohol (or any food) and incidences of 17 cancers....
The strongest evidence we do have is of marketing. Epidemiological correlations are most readily misused for marketing because statistical associations can be, and have been, drummed up to implicate virtually any and every aspect of our diets and lifestyles with some deadly disease. Epidemiological correlations have been twisted into causations and used to convince us that health is a matter of personal responsibility under our control, and to blame people’s “bad” behavior for any health problems they develop
