Topic: Podcast Topic suggestions

[jt512]

Regarding the recently published study on red meat and mortality, you write:

[. . .]

they say "Red meat consumption is associated with", but their results talk about "1-serving-per-day". is the conclusion not to concern those who eat meat once or twice a week? is there a reason they didn't look at a lower frequency like this . . .

This probably isn't the forum to discuss this in depth, but what they found was that mortality increased by a factor of 1.12 per serving of red meat per day.  In principle, this factor applies to every level of red meat intake consumed by members of the study population.  The risk for n servings per day compared with intake of no red meat is 1.12ⁿ.  So, for instance, consuming red meat at every meal—ie, 3 servings per day—raises your risk of death to 1.12³=1.4 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all. 

The same formula works—in theory anyway—for fractional servings of red meat.  For instance, the risk for 1/2 a serving per day (say, eating 1 serving every other day) would be 1.12^½=1.06 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all.

Jay

[GodSlayer]

The risk for n servings per day compared with intake of no red meat is 1.12ⁿ.  So, for instance, consuming red meat at every meal—ie, 3 servings per day—raises your risk of death to 1.12³=1.4 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all. 

is there a way you can explain that for someone who sucks at math worse than Clever Hans?

[Chew]

The risk for n servings per day compared with intake of no red meat is 1.12ⁿ.  So, for instance, consuming red meat at every meal—ie, 3 servings per day—raises your risk of death to 1.12³=1.4 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all. 

is there a way you can explain that for someone who sucks at math worse than Clever Hans?

The more red meat you eat the sooner you will die.

[GodSlayer]

The risk for n servings per day compared with intake of no red meat is 1.12ⁿ.  So, for instance, consuming red meat at every meal—ie, 3 servings per day—raises your risk of death to 1.12³=1.4 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all. 

is there a way you can explain that for someone who sucks at math worse than Clever Hans?

The more red meat you eat the sooner you will die.

it's not dying I worry about, it's how I'll die.
...money wasted on cancer treatment would suck worse than a swift heart-attack. (do heart-attacks even kill people? maybe I'm thinking of something else)

how much do I have to eat to make it to 65?

[jt512]

The risk for n servings per day compared with intake of no red meat is 1.12ⁿ.  So, for instance, consuming red meat at every meal—ie, 3 servings per day—raises your risk of death to 1.12³=1.4 times what your risk would be if you ate no red meat at all. 

is there a way you can explain that for someone who sucks at math worse than Clever Hans?

The more red meat you eat the sooner you will die.

it's not dying I worry about, it's how I'll die.
...money wasted on cancer treatment would suck worse than a swift heart-attack. (do heart-attacks even kill people? maybe I'm thinking of something else)

how much do I have to eat to make it to 65?

According to the study, red meat increases your risk of dying from both heart disease and cancer, so you can't win.

Jay

[Evil Eye]

Very simple question... Hard to answer.

Should psychiatrists have an ethical obligation to discourage schizophrenic patients from attending religious services?

[Thorloar]

Has anyone heard of Naprapathy? My aunt in law has a doctorate degree in this seemingly alt-medical field in Illinois. At first I took this for granted until I saw on her facebook page that she was selling Earthing blankets, which are purported to cure illness by electromagnetically grounding the body. This set off my bullshit detector. If she was selling that kind of crap, how shady is this Naprapathy? I did some searching and from what I can see Naprapathy is much like chiropractic and is only sanctioned in Illinois and New Mexico which both have Dr. Programs (only from Naprapathic colleges). I cannot however find any information about how it is supposed to work. Do I have a real quack in my new family?   

[DoctorOHM]

Naprapathy straddles the border between quackery and massage. As i understand it, it's a bit like chiro, but mainly focused on soft parts and not so much the spine.

So, for aches and pain in joints and so, naprapathy can be ok, but doesn't do anything a physiotherapist cant.

That's how i understand it, but then, as always, i could be mistaken.

[Evil Eye]

Hiccup lollipops? meh....

http://www.psfk.com/2012/05/hiccup-lollipops.html

[Evil Eye]

Discuss (in kind) the condition: Paraphasia. (I so do this all the time)

[Boßel]

Dr. Amen and his brain scans. PBS gives him a time slot promoting his brain health program.

http://www.amenclinics.com/

Do any of the rogues even look at this thread?

[daemonowner]

I've been watching Potholer54's videos on YouTube, where he goes through some of the stupid arguments for creationism or made by creationists, and goes through objections to carbon dating etc. Perhaps all the arguments against carbon dating could be summarised in a 5x5 or two.

[Silly Llama]

I recently (June 12th) heard an interview with a woman (Barbara Roberts) on NPR who claimed that statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) do not work well enough to justify the risks associated with them.  There were several aspects of her claims that were setting off my BS detector though.  She wrote a book, not a study for example.  She was also claiming that the "Mediterranean Diet" lowered cholesterol more than statins with little more than anecdotal evidence.  I'd like to hear the truth of this issue from the SGU, which I trust.

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-06-12/new-cholesterol-research-and-heart-disease-prevention

[Gatayus]

Lately we've had a nice example of the Streisand effect in Norway. It's about an MLM sold chocolate called Xocai. A couple of years back a blogger wrote a couple critical posts about the alleged health effects of the chocolate. That didn't garner much attention but after a while, this blog crept up on google when people searched for Xocai. The chocolate powers-that-be rose to action and threatened the guy not only with a huge law suit, but his family and they warned his employer.

Since the employer was American, and afraid og lawsuits, the blogger did as told, and took down the posts. Then another blogger, Gunnar Tjomlid got wind of this, and reposted everything, plus the story in all it's sordid details. That went viral immediately, and the result was large reports in most major newspapers. The MLM-people have now gone undercover.

Here's the story in English: http://tjomlid.com/2012/06/28/xocai-the-nasty-tale-of-a-norwegian-chocolate-mafia/

[etaggart]

Hi Rogues,

I recently listened to Bill Doyle’s TED talk on tumor treating fields and Novocure.
-   http://www.ted.com/speakers/bill_doyle.html
-   http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search/view?cdrid=647437&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=8237659
-   http://www.novocure.com/

I’d be very interested in hearing you discuss how/whether tumor treating fields are different from sham treatments related to magnetic therapy, electrical stimulation, etc. as well as similar legitimate therapies for other diagnoses (like electrical stimulation for muscle therapy).

I think this would be a very interesting topic where your unique perspectives could help inform us lay people about the borderlands of science and pseudoscience.  And, I might also like to hear your thoughts on how science-based medicine proponents may need to position themselves with these types of therapies so they the public better understands the difference between science and pseudoscience.

Thanks very much,

Eric