New Study Of Hydroxychoroquine Points To Improvements But Difficult To Interpret Due To Methodology Problems And Limitations

Study Finds Hydroxychloroquine May Have Boosted Survival, But Other Researchers Have Doubts by Maggie Fox, Andrea Kane, And Elizabeth Cohen.  CNN.  July 3, 2020.,

The Mathematics Of The Spread Of Coronavirus

The Coronavirus, By The Numbers by James Gorman.  The New York Times.  March 5, 2019.

Health Effects Of Meat Evaluated: Methodology Makes The Difference

Is Eating Beef Healthy?  The New Fight Raging In Nutrition Science, Explained by Julia Belluz.  Vox.  October 1, 2019.

Flaws Identified In Huge Mediterranean Diet Study: Was It Wrong?

That Huge Mediterranean Diet Study Was Flawed.  But Was It Wrong?  by Gina Kolata.  The New York Times.  June 13, 2018. 

Expertise And Systematic Evaluation As Partners In Scientific Investigation

Flossing And The Art Of Scientific Investigation by Jamie Holmes.  New York Times.  November 25, 2016

Subpopulation Analysis Seems To Indicate That Calorie Labels Help Those Who Need Them Most

Calorie Counts Really Do Fight Obesity by Cass R. Sunstein.  BloombergView.  February 19, 2016

Diverging Interpretations Of Study Of Antidepressant Paxil Reaches Opposite Conclusions; Multiple Interpretations Of Data Is New Trend In Scientific Publishing

Antidepressant Paxil Is Unsafe For Teenagers, New Analysis Says by Benedict Carey.  The New York Times.  September 16, 2015. 

Hospital Rankings Differ Wildly

What Are the Best Hospitals?  Rankings Disagree by Melinda Beck.  The Wall Street Journal.  March 2, 2015. 

Affordable Care Act Provides Role For Patients In Clinical Trials

Design Power:  Patients Play Researchers In Drug Trails by Amy Dockser Marcus.  The Wall Street Journal.  September 29, 2014.

Experts Address Controversial New Report On Obesity: Even A Little Overweight Presents Hazards

Experts Weigh In On the Dangers Of Extra Pounds by Nanci Hellmich.  USA Today.  January 4, 2013.

The director of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and the chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health address a report this week from the National Center for Health Statistics.  They address the limitations of the statistical analysis of the report including the limitations of using BMI as means to understand death rates.  The CDC director points out that waist circumference and skin-fold thickness may be more accurate for some types of analysis.  The Harvard representative points to numerous methodological and sampling issues with the study calling it "rubbish."

Omega 3 Effectiveness and Research Methodology

Questioning The Superpowers of Omega-3 in Diets by Melinda Beck.  The Wall Street Journal.  October 1, 2012.

The Journal of the American Medical Association last month published a meta-analysis of 20 clinical trials, finding that omega 3 fatty acids did not prevent strokes, heart attacks, or death from heart disease.    If these results are true, they will impact the 21% of Americans who take omega 3 supplements.

However, the American Heart Association will continue to recommend omega 3 by diet and especially for those with heart disease or high triglycerides.

Among the reasons the Association will  continue to recommend omega 3 is that the JAMA study used a unusually strict standard of statistical significance.  A more traditional measure would show an association of omega 3 and a 9 percent reduction in cardiac deaths.

The article provides a summary of other omega 3 research for Alzheimer's, macular degeneration, ADHD, depression, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and fetal development.  This summary provide a picture of the uses and limitations of omega 3.  For example, while omega 3 seems to reduce the levels of the  protein associated with Alzheimer's, it does not seem to ward off cognitive decline.