The Only Conclusion of Industrialized Health Researches:
"Go Figure" and Use Your Common Sense

Nipawin - October 24, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis
   

Patricia
Bailey

I read the article "Why medical studies can be bad for your health(1)" and I was amused
by the sense of humour shown by the author, Patricia Bailey, in listing and appreciating
the validity of recent industrialized researches in the medical field.

 

 

Geminis are more prone
to heart attacks

A 1999 study by Dr. Patricia Willems-Giesbergen of Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam
conducted a follow-up study of 6,969 people over a 10-year period and concluded that
smoking and coffee consumption cut the risk of developing Parkinson's. However,
Dr. David Grimes Jr., a Parkinson's disease specialist at the Ottawa Hospital, says that
this study is flawed since the data were gathered through surveys. Dr. Grime illustrated
how things can go easily wrong with epidemiological research by referring to a bogus
study on heart disease where the people were asked their astrological sign and where
the conclusion was that Geminis are more prone to heart attacks. Perceptively Dr. Grime
has stated "I'm not going to tell my patients to start smoking to stave off Parkinson's.
Then they'll die of lung cancer."

 

 

injured victims recover
faster

This remind me of the multiple deviating study conducted by Dr. David Cassidy on
no-fault insurance(2). In Dr. Cassidy's study, good psychology was used instead of
astrological signs, and the conclusion was that injured victims recover faster under
no-fault insurance since they focus on getting better rather than suing for pain and .
suffering

 

 

studies
show

Different studies confirm that two drinks daily reduces the risk of heart attack says
Dr. George Fodor, head of prevention research at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute,
but he is ready to warn "if you don't drink, don't start. Alcohol is dangerous." Patricia
Bailey, goes on to say that other studies show that coffee reduces your chance of developing
gallstones while at the same time there have been other studies linking coffee with breast

 

cancer.

 

 

religious people
live longer

The use of good psychology seems to continue to be a fundamental framework of our
industrialized health researchers and in this respect Patricia Bailey says:
"If you're still mixed up about how to live longer and stave off heart failure and brain disorders, join a church. According to a Washington psychologist's comprehensive study probing the religious lives of more than 100,000 people, religious people live longer than those who aren't religious. Churchgoers are not only less stressed than atheists and agnostics, but they seem to eat better, smoke less and exercise more."

 

 

Go figure

Patricia Bailey concludes her article in an imaginative and constructive way, she says "Go
figure" and I equally say "Use your common sense"
   
--------References/Endnotes:
   
  List of articles by Mario deSantis http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantisNG.html
   

1.
-

Why medical studies can be bad for your health, Patricia Bailey With files from Sharon Kirkey Ottawa Citizen, The Vancouver Sun, October 17, 2000
   

2.
-

The incredible abuse of Saskatchewan No-Fault insurance (Part 1), by Mario deSantis, May 28, 2000 and reviewed by James deSantis