Guest guest Posted January 2, 2003 Report Share Posted January 2, 2003 January 2, 2003 NUTRITION NEWS FOCUS " Nutrition news is important. We help you understand it! " Today's Topic: Beware of the Waffle In nutrition and medical reports, you really need to focus on the " waffle " words that are typically used by scientists: may, if, could. This is the usual language of scientific publications, not " builds strong bones " which is the domain of the public relations expert. Reports of no differences are of little interest, so scientists usually exploit statistically significant differences, even if small or biologically meaningless. Sometimes, more than one endpoint in a study is combined (like heart attacks and deaths) to find statistically significant differences because there was no significant effect on heart attacks or deaths. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The first study on anything is usually something worth reading but should not be the basis for a change in your lifestyle. If Brussels sprouts are found to prevent colon cancer, I want to see it reproduced at least a couple of times in people eating a diet like mine before I start eating them every day. Unfortunately, in science being second is even worse than finishing second in the Olympics. Nobody remembers and nobody cares about runners up in science, even though confirmation of findings is a fundamental part of the process. It is extremely rare to see a media report that a study is confirming what was published six years earlier, even though this happens regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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