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junk science
Jan. 12th, 2009 08:12 pmThe Australian Dental Journal has a review of a study on the link between alcohol-containing mouthwash and oral cancer. The study concluded that mouthwash that contains alcohol increases the risk of oral cancer by 4 to 5 times. The problem is, the study is junk. Worthless. And mostly likely initially biased and doomed from the start.
In 2003, The University of Alabama performed a study of previous studies on the link between mouthwash and oral cancer, and found them all to be flawed and further went on to conclude that no link has been definitively established. Most of the studies has some sort of flaw in either their premise, methodology, or conclusion. The Aussie study is no exception to this.
The article in the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph talks more about the scope of the study. One thing they don't mention being considerd was HPV. Several of the variants of the virus that cause cervical cancer also cause oral cancer. (Gee, I wonder how that happens?). By not taking HPV into account, the Australian study is flawed. The problem is, we don't know if the number are just a little off, or a lot. Consequently, the conclusesion are Worthless. Junk. And people, and probably more than one government, will be making decisions with long-reaching consequences based on it.
This is just the latest example of junk science. It happens all the time. It's going on right now. It's going to change your life, and there's precious little you can do about it, except the best you can to stay informed.
In 2003, The University of Alabama performed a study of previous studies on the link between mouthwash and oral cancer, and found them all to be flawed and further went on to conclude that no link has been definitively established. Most of the studies has some sort of flaw in either their premise, methodology, or conclusion. The Aussie study is no exception to this.
The article in the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph talks more about the scope of the study. One thing they don't mention being considerd was HPV. Several of the variants of the virus that cause cervical cancer also cause oral cancer. (Gee, I wonder how that happens?). By not taking HPV into account, the Australian study is flawed. The problem is, we don't know if the number are just a little off, or a lot. Consequently, the conclusesion are Worthless. Junk. And people, and probably more than one government, will be making decisions with long-reaching consequences based on it.
This is just the latest example of junk science. It happens all the time. It's going on right now. It's going to change your life, and there's precious little you can do about it, except the best you can to stay informed.
