Posts Tagged ‘causality’

The Difference Between Measured and Imagined Life Expectancy

November 26, 2023 — As an article of faith, we like to believe that healthy habits will lead us to a longer life. So of course, it makes sense to develop healthy habits for eating, enjoy an active life, and get enough good sleep every night. But putting a number on the benefit of those habits is not so […]

Loose Takes on a Study of Red Meat and Type 2 Diabetes

October 25, 2023 — It’s a popular cause. Red meat production is a problem for the climate. Add that to ethical concerns some people have about consuming meat, and the push to reduce red meat consumption makes total sense. But when people start spinning misleading narratives about observational research and using them to promote this otherwise worthy idea, they’re […]

Early to Bed, Early to Rise … Has Links

September 25, 2023 — “Morning workouts turbocharge the benefits of exercise,” says Psychology Today. A litany of headlines like this have been crossing our screen for weeks now. They are insistent. “The early bird gets the worm – and sees better workout results,” said People magazine. “This is the best time of day to work out if you want […]

Ultra-Processed Food: Correlation Without Cause

April 22, 2023 — An “impassioned polemic” is headed our way from British media doctor Chris van Tulleken and it aims to have us excise ultra-processed from our dietary habits. No doubt about it, ultra-processed food wins the prize for today’s best food boogeyman, but how wise is this bit of food fear based on correlation without a cause. […]

Causality, Attribution, and Diet Culture

April 18, 2023 — Consider these two competing headlines. In the Washington Post, Kate Cohen tells us “It’s time to cancel diet culture.” Then with a press release about new papers in Nature Medicine, researchers tell us “Most new Type 2 diabetes cases attributable to suboptimal diet.” It’s a fascinating mashup of causality, attribution, and diet culture. On one […]

Unwanted Weight Loss Is Cause for Concern (duh)

April 13, 2023 — This news just rolled in from the department of DUH at JAMA Network Open. Unwanted weight loss in older persons is a cause for concern. Perhaps some people have sailed through life without seeing a loved one wither when they suffer a devastating illness. But for most of us, this is not a big news […]

Headline Fantasies: Coffee and Obesity

March 17, 2023 — “Coffee could slash obesity,” says the New York Post. Now you might think that cynical folks at the Post just make this stuff up because it’s so obviously false. But in fact, they have help from PR by the BMJ, and they’re not alone. The BMJ managed to induce quite a few news outlets last […]

Too Much Food That Tastes Too Good?

February 26, 2023 — Quietly and systematically, Tera Fazzino has been working with colleagues to define a concept of hyper-palatable foods that might explain the apparent effect of ultra-processed foods on body composition and thus, obesity. The latest chapter in this quest appeared recently in Nature Food. In short, a narrative is taking shape that we may have a […]

Teasing Out Causality in Obesity and Depression

December 23, 2022 — Causality in the relationship between obesity and depression is mighty hard to discern in a rigorous way. For clinicians, it seems obvious that obesity creates a risk for depression. Likewise, the observation that depression in some patients can lead to obesity is easy to find. But understanding that causal relationship is a challenge. Mere association […]

Take the Stairs for a Longer Life?

December 9, 2022 — We have four levels in our home – three sets of stairs to climb. So this new study in Nature Medicine yesterday definitely has our attention. Digging into observational activity monitor data from the UK Biobank, Emmanuel Stamatakis and colleagues from all over the world found that short bursts of vigorous activity – like quickly […]