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Dueling Medical Studies - Who to Believe?
People who primarily get their health information from the evening news, the local newspaper, or non-medical Internet sites are in big trouble. The amount of conflicting information about the risks or benefits of just about anything is staggering. I guess I am particularly troubled by television news. I use coffee as an example:
This was a story that I heard over 30 years ago (before the Internet!). It was so shocking at the time, that women stopped drinking coffee all over the country. In one, highly-publicized study, coffee was blamed for fibrocystic breast disease and tentatively linked to breast cancer. This alarming coffee/breast cancer link was later disproven, but that news never seemed to make it to the media. This is really like having your neighbor hauled off by police as a possible child molester. The evening news shows him being put into a police car. The police quickly realize that they got the wrong man, apologize, and release him. All your neighbors really remember is that there is a child molester that lives in that house. The news that this was a mistaken identity doesn't really filter down. The accusation of being a child molester, even after being vindicated, is reason enough to move away. Capturing a child molester is a big story. The man not being a child molester is boring news.
A doctor in a nearby community was accused of fondling his patient's breasts. He was arrested in his office and put in jail. It made the evening news top story and the front page of the newspaper for weeks. After spending tens of thousands of dollars to defend his medical license and good name, he was finally exonerated after the victim admitted to lying. She had made up the entire story. What was once front-page news, complete with pictures, was now a tiny write-up on page seven. Most of his patients never saw that he had been exonerated. His practice and reputation was ruined by the news media jumping to sensationalism. People are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but the media can prematurely imply guilt.
Coffee has been vindicated, too. As a matter of fact, coffee has completely recovered from that story that it causes breast cancer. Coffee is now considered medically beneficial, assuming of course, that those recent studies were not funded by Maxwell House or Starbucks. People spend billions of dollars every year on this valuable commodity, so having a safe reputation is essential. According to WebMD there have been 19,000 studies that have examined coffee's impact on health. It appears that the benefits of coffee greatly outweigh any hazards.
Coffee contains a significant amount of caffeine, about 85 mg. - a potent stimulant. It can zip you up when you are tired, boost your concentration, but it can also raise your pulse and blood pressure, and make you a bit jittery, at least until it wears off. If you are not used to drinking strong coffee, those effects can be frightening.
When my daughter was in high school, she worked part-time at a neighborhood coffee shop. I worked for a university at the time, with a remote campus about ninety miles away. At the time, I was not a coffee drinker. I was a coffee virgin. Since I had to leave very early, I thought that I would try drinking coffee to keep me awake on the long, boring drive, so I ordered mocha. I assumed this was primarily chocolate. The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted a "single or double". I figured this referred to the size of the cup. It was a long drive, so I said "double". I had absolutely no idea that he was referring to two shots of espresso. In about twenty minutes, the palpitations of my heart were so severe that I had to pull off of the highway. Now, my entire coffee consumption is just one cup in the morning - no double shots of anything. When driving non-stop back from Mexico, I did drink one of those new "energy drinks" heavy in caffeine. I definitely felt those effects and remained alert while driving the last six hours of an 18 hour journey.
As parents, we typically don't let children drink coffee, perhaps because we feel that kids are zippy enough without it. Believe it or not, no studies have shown that coffee is harmful to kids. Even if it is safe, I am not going to ever suggest that parents give their kids a cup of joe before heading off to school. With teenagers dozing off in math and social studies on a regular basis, perhaps coffee would not be a bad idea for them. Of course, we all worry about "complimentary behaviors" in coffee drinkers. I just can't picture a five-year sipping on a cup of coffee in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and looking for the newspaper. Okay, I know this is a bad stereotype, but you get the idea. Maybe coffee is a gateway drug? Perhaps we need a study.
Studies have now concluded the coffee is good for us; or most of us, at least. Coffee drinkers are less likely to develop Parkinsonism, decreased the risk of colon cancer, less chance of gallstones, and even less dental cavities. There is even evidence that asthmatics who are also coffee drinkers, have less asthma attacks. Coffee appears to be a good diuretic, too. There are just some of the positive health benefits that have been linked to coffee, if we are to believe those studies.
People are more likely to believe the last thing that they read in the newspaper, magazine, or on television news. We tend to quickly forget that a conflicting story may have been highlighted a few weeks prior, or even a rebuttal or disclaimer announced later. Once we glom on to a story, it becomes part of our belief system - one that we will freely share with others.
Every day in my clinic, I am defending vaccinations and dispelling junk-science about their presumed hazards. Once a parent is convinced that vaccinations may be harmful to their child, perhaps causing autism, it is very difficult for a medical provider to convince them otherwise. For some, holding on to those beliefs are like a religion - they are deep and personal.
I watched an anti-smoking documentary the other day that effectively used the Scared Straight technique. The anti-smoking lecture was given by a surgically-deformed cancer survivor who had most of his face removed. Those kids were listening. I think it would be a good idea to get a group of survivors of vaccine-preventable diseases, like polio, meningitis, or mumps, to have a talk with some of these parents.
Until I hear otherwise, from a well-designed, scientifically-controlled medical study, I am going to continue to promote vaccines, and of course, drink my one cup of coffee in the morning. Let the fools continue to smoke, avoid seat belts, drink booze, drive crazy, take drugs, have unsafe sex, and believe that vaccines are a government plot to control and harm us. Nature has some unique ways of dealing with them.
Related Topics:
"New Study Shows that Coffee Consumption Linked to Breast Cancer"
This was a story that I heard over 30 years ago (before the Internet!). It was so shocking at the time, that women stopped drinking coffee all over the country. In one, highly-publicized study, coffee was blamed for fibrocystic breast disease and tentatively linked to breast cancer. This alarming coffee/breast cancer link was later disproven, but that news never seemed to make it to the media. This is really like having your neighbor hauled off by police as a possible child molester. The evening news shows him being put into a police car. The police quickly realize that they got the wrong man, apologize, and release him. All your neighbors really remember is that there is a child molester that lives in that house. The news that this was a mistaken identity doesn't really filter down. The accusation of being a child molester, even after being vindicated, is reason enough to move away. Capturing a child molester is a big story. The man not being a child molester is boring news.
A doctor in a nearby community was accused of fondling his patient's breasts. He was arrested in his office and put in jail. It made the evening news top story and the front page of the newspaper for weeks. After spending tens of thousands of dollars to defend his medical license and good name, he was finally exonerated after the victim admitted to lying. She had made up the entire story. What was once front-page news, complete with pictures, was now a tiny write-up on page seven. Most of his patients never saw that he had been exonerated. His practice and reputation was ruined by the news media jumping to sensationalism. People are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but the media can prematurely imply guilt.
Coffee has been vindicated, too. As a matter of fact, coffee has completely recovered from that story that it causes breast cancer. Coffee is now considered medically beneficial, assuming of course, that those recent studies were not funded by Maxwell House or Starbucks. People spend billions of dollars every year on this valuable commodity, so having a safe reputation is essential. According to WebMD there have been 19,000 studies that have examined coffee's impact on health. It appears that the benefits of coffee greatly outweigh any hazards.
Coffee contains a significant amount of caffeine, about 85 mg. - a potent stimulant. It can zip you up when you are tired, boost your concentration, but it can also raise your pulse and blood pressure, and make you a bit jittery, at least until it wears off. If you are not used to drinking strong coffee, those effects can be frightening.
When my daughter was in high school, she worked part-time at a neighborhood coffee shop. I worked for a university at the time, with a remote campus about ninety miles away. At the time, I was not a coffee drinker. I was a coffee virgin. Since I had to leave very early, I thought that I would try drinking coffee to keep me awake on the long, boring drive, so I ordered mocha. I assumed this was primarily chocolate. The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted a "single or double". I figured this referred to the size of the cup. It was a long drive, so I said "double". I had absolutely no idea that he was referring to two shots of espresso. In about twenty minutes, the palpitations of my heart were so severe that I had to pull off of the highway. Now, my entire coffee consumption is just one cup in the morning - no double shots of anything. When driving non-stop back from Mexico, I did drink one of those new "energy drinks" heavy in caffeine. I definitely felt those effects and remained alert while driving the last six hours of an 18 hour journey.
As parents, we typically don't let children drink coffee, perhaps because we feel that kids are zippy enough without it. Believe it or not, no studies have shown that coffee is harmful to kids. Even if it is safe, I am not going to ever suggest that parents give their kids a cup of joe before heading off to school. With teenagers dozing off in math and social studies on a regular basis, perhaps coffee would not be a bad idea for them. Of course, we all worry about "complimentary behaviors" in coffee drinkers. I just can't picture a five-year sipping on a cup of coffee in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and looking for the newspaper. Okay, I know this is a bad stereotype, but you get the idea. Maybe coffee is a gateway drug? Perhaps we need a study.
Studies have now concluded the coffee is good for us; or most of us, at least. Coffee drinkers are less likely to develop Parkinsonism, decreased the risk of colon cancer, less chance of gallstones, and even less dental cavities. There is even evidence that asthmatics who are also coffee drinkers, have less asthma attacks. Coffee appears to be a good diuretic, too. There are just some of the positive health benefits that have been linked to coffee, if we are to believe those studies.
People are more likely to believe the last thing that they read in the newspaper, magazine, or on television news. We tend to quickly forget that a conflicting story may have been highlighted a few weeks prior, or even a rebuttal or disclaimer announced later. Once we glom on to a story, it becomes part of our belief system - one that we will freely share with others.
Every day in my clinic, I am defending vaccinations and dispelling junk-science about their presumed hazards. Once a parent is convinced that vaccinations may be harmful to their child, perhaps causing autism, it is very difficult for a medical provider to convince them otherwise. For some, holding on to those beliefs are like a religion - they are deep and personal.
I watched an anti-smoking documentary the other day that effectively used the Scared Straight technique. The anti-smoking lecture was given by a surgically-deformed cancer survivor who had most of his face removed. Those kids were listening. I think it would be a good idea to get a group of survivors of vaccine-preventable diseases, like polio, meningitis, or mumps, to have a talk with some of these parents.
Until I hear otherwise, from a well-designed, scientifically-controlled medical study, I am going to continue to promote vaccines, and of course, drink my one cup of coffee in the morning. Let the fools continue to smoke, avoid seat belts, drink booze, drive crazy, take drugs, have unsafe sex, and believe that vaccines are a government plot to control and harm us. Nature has some unique ways of dealing with them.
Related Topics:
- Ear, Nose & Throat Message Board with Rod Moser, PA, PhD
- Living Better Newsletter - Wellness news to keep you healthy and strong!
Labels: coffee, health and wellness, media, medical practice, vaccine
