Research has shown that those who do not drink alcohol at all die younger than those who do. Like many of these studies we will never hear more about it. Yet it confirms the pattern often seen that studies, particularly about nutrition are contradictory. No wonder we...
A recent paper in the Medical Journal of Australia (here) provides a nice overview of the biases that lead doctors to overtreat and overinvestigate, but also offers useful solutions that we need to act on. A cognitive bias is where existing beliefs persist in the face...
We all like good news. It is human nature. But not all news is good. This fact does not mean we can simply ignore it, tempting as that may be. In fact, it is often the case that we learn more when things go wrong. So, you might think that in medical science findings...
It is an interesting contrast that bad news sells in the media but not in medical research. Doom and gloom is more likely to sell papers or get clicks in the media. Yet when it comes to medical stories we are only interested in breakthroughs and miracle cures. Not...
There is an old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same. This had new meaning to me whilst listening to music when a 2015 hit was played. It has a catchy chorus, which gets in your head. “Here’s an invitation to the whole wide world From your...
We are constantly fed doom and gloom stories in health. There is a crisis of this or a tsunami of that. This is despite life expectancy continuously increasing for over 100 years. The claims of crisis are inevitably accompanied by a plea for government funding for...
