August 26, 2021 — Remember when the pandemic was new and we were not allowed to laugh? They canceled April Fool’s Day in 2020. Well, today it’s back. We refuse to believe this press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health is not a prank. Their environmental scientists are telling us that one hot dog will […]
August 5, 2021 — Taking dietary advice from headlines is an iffy proposition. Today many headlines are telling us to eat more foods from plants and we’ll have less heart disease. The basis for this claim is two new studies in JAHA. The American Heart Association is pretty clear about the message it wants to send. Its press release […]
July 9, 2021 — Familiarity can breed contempt or it can bring comfort. A new position statement about COVID-19 vaccines from the Obesity Society brings us comfort. In fact, the more we learn about these COVID vaccines, the more we like. They work well – even in people with obesity and other risk factors. What’s more, the effect on […]
July 5, 2021 — “Eating chocolate for breakfast can supercharge your weight loss!” This headline and many more came from a new paper in the FASEB Journal. In fact, Altmetric tells us this paper has so far generated 113 stories from 93 news outlets. In less than two weeks since publication, it has grabbed attention that puts it in […]
July 1, 2021 — There’s a familiar thread in news media about public figures losing weight. Rebel Wilson and other celebrities are eager to tell the world about their hard work to lose weight and gain health. But the PR is different when a dictator loses weight. The case in point comes from North Korea. Supreme Leader Kim Jong […]
April 22, 2021 — Call us quaint. But we believe medical journals should publish research grounded in facts and evidence. Not speculation. Especially in the midst of a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than three million people around the world. BMJ, though, has a different approach. This week the BMJ group has a paper promoting magical […]
April 19, 2021 — Does staying active reduce the risk of severe outcomes with COVID-19? A new study suggests this possibility. In fact, the authors of this study found that being inactive was a top risk factor for landing in the hospital or dying from COVID-19. Only advanced age or an organ transplant had higher risks. This makes sense. […]
April 18, 2021 — Penn State earns an award this week for Most Fanciful Research Press Release. It was all about how chocolate might help with the health effects of excess fat. Of course, it was based on a study in mice. But the press release tells us that this research is relevant for humans because the dose used […]
April 9, 2021 — Nostrums for overcoming obesity litter the landscape of health policy. “Obesity is preventable,” says the World Health Organization. We like the can-do spirit this reflects. Yet the how-to details are missing – or at least details with evidence to support them. Instead we have glittering generalities and beautiful metaphors. WHO recommends making healthy choices the […]
April 4, 2021 — Prevailing bias envelopes us invisibly. Objectivity is something we have a passion for pursuing. But the challenge of that pursuit is great. In fact, objectivity is rare, if not mythical. Humans are subjective creatures, so objectivity is unnatural for us. If we care about a subject, we bring a bias to it. When we hear […]
