Jerry ElprinHealthy Living
December 8, 2016
I like to consider myself well informed. I read, I listen and take in a lot of news and information, and recently began taking more notice of and interest in health-related topics. Not just because I find myself taking more pills as I age, but also because there’s so much of it coming at me in emails, Facebook, newspapers, magazines, and newsletters. It can be overwhelming…and confounding.
I was talking about this with my next-door neighbor, who happens to work for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. She asked if I had seen an article in The New York Times titled “We’re So Confused: The Problems With Food and Exercise Studies” by Gina Kolata.
It’s an interesting article. It begins with a warning: “Nearly everything you have been told about the food you eat and the exercise you do and their effects on your health should be met with a raised eyebrow.” The reasons:
Poorly designed research.
No gold standard of measurement that everyone agrees on and uses.
The conclusions of most studies are not reproducible.
According to Dr. Barnett Kramer, director of the National Cancer Institute’s division of disease prevention, the result is whipsaw literature: “One-week drinking coffee is good for you, and the next week, it is lethal.” This raises these questions: what can we believe? How do we distinguish between what’s true and what’s just peddling some new diet, exercise, medication, procedure, or technology?
How do I filter it all? How does anyone filter it all? Does anyone have an answer?