In an astonishing demonstration of the evils of Marketing in a Research University Context, the University of Leicester today announced that an upcoming research project would find a link between coffee consumption by pregnant women and leukemia to develop later in their offspring.

This is a statement made by scientists involved in the Research That Has Not Yet Been Done:

Although there’s no evidence at all of a link between caffeine and cancer, we’re putting two and two together and saying: caffeine can induce these changes and it has been shown that these changes are elevated in leukaemia patients… I wonder if caffeine can somehow sensitise cells or increase the risk of leukaemia? The idea seems plausible.

I’m glad scientists have thee thoughts. Taking a shower, sitting on the water closet, on the tube heading for work, thoughts like this should be rolling around in the heads of researchers, who then take them, critically evaluate them, and turn some of them into hypotheses, operationalize the hypotheses, test them, and move us incrementally (or more) in the direction of greater knowledge and deeper understanding. Of stuff.

Or, alternatively, you can take the random sciency thoughts floating around in the head and turn them into press releases which produce media statements like this:

Women should avoid drinking coffee while pregnant as it may increase their unborn child’s risk of leukaemia

Which, in this particular case, is positioned under a photo of a woman drinking from a Starbuck’s cup, RUINING HER CHILD’S HEALTH!!!!!

Now, to be fair, there is something to this. Caffeine can be shown to mess up DNA in some situations. The exact reason a child develops leukemia is not fully understood. There have been previous links made between caffeine and cancer, but as far as I know these links have all failed to pan out. It does not seem entirely unreasonable to conduct the study that is proposed here.

But it is utterly unreasonable, misleading, exploitative, and dishonest and probably highly unethical to convert a grant proposal into a press event that literally tells people that there is a link between a particular behavior and substance and a horrific childhood cancer, when there is no known link.

Shame on the Leicester press office.

Sources:

Press release

California’s sevenfold increase in autism cannot be explained by changes in doctors’ diagnoses and most likely is due to environmental exposures, University of California scientists reported Thursday.

The scientists who authored the new study advocate a nationwide shift in autism research to focus on potential factors in the environment that babies and fetuses are exposed to, including pesticides, viruses and chemicals in household products.

Scientific American

Ebola is a viral disease that only occasionally infects humans, but when it does, he fatality rate is very high. In some population, where culturally determined methods of treating the dead involve a lot of contact with bodily fluids and where people are unaware of techniques to avoid spread of infection and are otherwise at risk, a large percentage of a rural village population can become infected, and the survival rate once infected can be as low as 10%. With increased awareness of how to avoid infection and even the most basic improvements in patient care, these numbers can be much improved, but fatality rates have never been lower than about 25% and are usually closer to 50%.

(Part of the large variation in survival rate data comes form the fact that ebola outbreaks always involve relatively small numbers of people and are rare. Useful rate data are best obtained from much larger samples.)

The protein VP35 is one of a small number of molecules that make up the center of the virus. VP35 serves several functions. Together with nearby proteins, VP35 is involved in ‘reproduction,’ such as it is for viruses. But VP35 also inhibits interferon, an immune system product, in the infected (host) individual. It turns out that mutations that affect this protein also mess up the virus’s ability to avoid the interferon.

A paper just coming out in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores the physical structure of VP35 at several levels, allowing for a characterization of the protein, with the hope of leading to the development of an effective anti-viral treatment.

From the paper:

Our results suggest a structure-based model for dsRNA-mediated innate immune antagonism by Ebola VP35 and other similarly constructed viral antagonists.

D. W. Leung, N. D. Ginder, D. B. Fulton, J. Nix, C. F. Basler, R. B. Honzatko, G. K. Amarasinghe (2009). Structure of the Ebola VP35 interferon inhibitory domain Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807854106

I am not entirely sure that the FDA has actually identified a tomato with Salmonella on it. The tomato hypothesis was based on recall data, which is notoriously iffy. Not totally useless, but iffy.The FDA, gutted by years of uncaring neglect by evil Republicans, today finds itself incapable of addressing the food safety issue, it would seem. Over 800 cases of food poisoning since April 10th is apparently considered a bit high. And there seems to be no reasonable explanation or anything close to an explanation as tomatoes become increasingly innocent looking. Continue reading I never believed it was tomatoes →

A study released today in PLoS Medicine compares alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use across seventeen different countries participating in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative.Alcohol seems to be widely used in the studied countries, tobacco less so but fairly evenly used. Major variation was found with marijuana and cocaine use, with the US and New Zealand at the top of the list for pot, and the US as a significant outlier with cocaine use, to the extent that if cocaine was not used in the US, it seems unlikely that it would even be a major part of a study such as this one. Continue reading Stoned Nation: International study of drug use places US in the lead. →

Do you drink bottled water or tap water? Water from a cooler (which is a big giant bottle) or from a filter built into a refrigerator or sink? Or do you Britta?(Yes, let me be the first to verb that noun …. )Increasingly we see resistance to bottled water. The Britta ads (one hour in a meeting, forever in a landfill) … even if they are inaccurate, as most bottles are probably recycled … may have an effect. I have seen, heard of, and even experienced the admonishment of anti-bottle activists (though I quickly add: I almost never drink bottled water. But I do occasionally. But probably, the bottle you see me drinking out of contains water I just put in there to refill it.)Anyhow, there is a sea change in the air. Continue reading The Water Wars an’Woes: Bottled vs. Tap? →

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dog bites and respiratory illness are among the top concerns for travellers to china. Continue reading Going to China? What are your health risks? →

Medical woo is not restricted to Minnesota. They even have it in California.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – A 76-year-old man operating an unlicensed chiropractic clinic out of his Oak Park, Calif., garage is suspected of killing one of his patients with a neck manipulation, according to Sacramento police.Antonio Arellano, whose only training was a massage class he took in the 1940s, was booked into the Sacramento County jail Friday on suspicion of murder, authorities said.According to police, Jose Lopez, 64, and his wife went to Arellano’s home on Washington Avenue on Tuesday. Lopez went to see Arellano for help with pain in his extremities, police said.During the treatment, Arellano adjusted the victim’s neck, …Two days later, he was declared brain dead.

Details here. Chiropractry is not my area of expertise, but the last couple/few experiences I’ve known of have lead me to estimate Chiropractry as more woo-ish than real. Even so, I do hope that Antonio is not typical. (Or is he???)

According to the Centers for Disease Control, some 3,600 people drowned in 2005, the most recent year for which there are statistics. Some 10 to 15 percent of those deaths was classified as “dry drowning,” which can occur up to 24 hours after a small amount of water gets into the lungs. In children, that can happen during a bath.

(See comments for discussion of “dry drowning” vs. “secondary drowning.” Continue reading The latest thing to be scared of: Secondary drowning →