Absurdly bad study spurs headlines linking healthy diet to lung cancer

Experts point out a series of flaws, including small size and no control group.

See full article...

 

[numerobis]

Specifically, it can increase the risk of lung cancer—a claim that flies in the face of decades of evidence-based nutrition guidance, like a full-fat cream pie.

On the link between being hit in the face with cream pies and lung cancer: a retrospective study

 

[rmaine]

I told my mother this for years....

She didn't buy it ether and I still had to eat my spinach and broccoli

PS. Spinach tastes a lot better when fresh as the green in a salad instead of as the soggy limp mess that my mom used to do (southern cooking :-(). As for broccoli, my wife chops it up finely enough that I can't really taste it mixed in with other things.

 

[Veritas super omens]

Wait, there's a correlation between being lean (I'm assuming this means a low BMI, although it's not entirely clear from the context) and lung cancer?

Excellent! My risk has been reduce!

 

[JohnDeL]

It looks to me as if the researchers were using ... pea-hacking.

 

[ddiazescandon]

What actually stuck me was that they are consultants at AstraZeneca, BioAtla, BMS, Catalym, Gilead, Genentech, Pfizer, Kalivir, Sanofi, Tubulis, and Urogen. How these companies afford such stupidity, I mean this is not marketable by any means.

 

[sam_I_am_not]

And I'll act stupefied as the MAGA voter base declines due to self-inflicted death of said base. Who could have possibly seen this coming?!

MAHA clearly stands for Make America Hellish Again.

I thought this of Covid eg one of the Turning Point knucklehead founders died of Covid but all that seemed to do was give us Trump 2.0

I'm not sure the rise and rise of stupid will see a return to sanity as they self select for removal from the gene pool, well, not quickly enough to matter at least.

 

[RZetopan]

Oddly, I don't care.

Pragmatically, I see this as a wonderful way to thin the herd. And by herd, I mean the unfit. The intellectually unfit, at the very least.

[snipped]

So, in your view, all disabled, babies, small children are unfit? Good to know that you are at least a sociopath, if not worse. /S

 

[hildey328]

PS. Spinach tastes a lot better when fresh as the green in a salad instead of as the soggy limp mess that my mom used to do (southern cooking :-(). As for broccoli, my wife chops it up finely enough that I can't really taste it mixed in with other things.

I saw an "influencer" try to make a point that spinach, especially raw spinach, was unhealthy because of oxalates (and kidney stones resulting from them). As it turns out, research (ahem) shows that you can eat a LOT or a little of high oxalate food and your body absorbs what it's going to absorb. If your body is going to absorb a lot, it just will and you'll likely get kidney stones.

 

[numerobis]

Wait, there's a correlation between being lean (I'm assuming this means a low BMI, although it's not entirely clear from the context) and lung cancer?

I too was surprised about this one. I assume they controlled for the fact that having cancer tends to make you lose weight.

 

[macr0t0r]

No control group? There is a difference between blazing a new trail in scientific study versus setting the entire path on fire.

 

[SplatMan_DK]

This seems solid.

Also, consuming margarine is a major cause of divorces in Maine ...

 

[Hypatia]

Wait, there's a correlation between being lean (I'm assuming this means a low BMI, although it's not entirely clear from the context) and lung cancer?

It’s slightly different than what you might be imagining:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7504685/

From the conclusion:

BMI was inversely associated with lung cancer risk. Based on anthropometric equations, low LBM rather than low FM accounted for the inverse association of BMI with risk of lung cancer.

But there are important nuances in the math:

Those in the 10th decile of predicted FM and LBM had a lower risk of lung cancer incidence compared with those in the 1st decile, but when mutually adjusted for each other, predicted FM was not associated with risk (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72 – 1.35; P(trend) = 0.97) whereas predicted LBM had an inverse association (aHR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.53 – 1.00; P(trend) = 0.03), especially among participants who were current smokers or had smoked in the previous 10 years (aHR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.36 – 0.84; P(trend) = 0.008).

Note that LBM -> lean body mass; and
FM -> fat mass.

Obviously, we’re talking about correlation here. In medical research and related fields, however, there is often much work developing intersecting lines of correlation as/until plausible causal mechanisms are proposed. As in other areas of research, it’s the low-hanging fruit.

 

[RZetopan]

It's obvious that this "study"* is incorrect, the real cause of lung cancer is caused by Google searches for: "how to treat internal bleeding"! /S
https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious...e-searches-for-how-to-treat-internal-bleeding

*A study that is so bad, that it actually deserves an "Advances in Creation Science" award.
(/S for those who still don't know the meaning of "oxymoron".)

 

[RZetopan]

What if I deep fry my fruits and vegetables in beef tallow? Will that negate the cancer risk?

I suspect that you also have to bathe in that at every meal to achieve maximal efficacy.

 

[RZetopan]

On the other hand, how many people do you know who have had cancer? I bet all of them consumed at least some fruits and vegetables.

Checkmate, eggheads.

There used to be an idiot commercial (redundant, I know) in which the moronic hyper-pitchman claimed that grapefruit was the ideal diet food, because he had never seen a fat person eating a grapefruit. QED.

 

[BadSuperblock]

I am shocked that they have not yet covered the correlation between cancer and people who breathe oxygen. It turns out that every cancer victim also consumed oxygen 24/7!

After all, oxygen is a known destructive substance. You would know this if you've ever seen the effects of oxidation, like spoiled food. Oxygen is even destructive enough to destroy iron, in the form of rust. We use oxygen bleach to help strip dirt off clothes.

I ask you, where is the outrage? Why do they still allow us to consume oxygen? It's the big pharma deep state, I tell you!

 

[_me]

Are they sure they don't mean breathing rather than eating? I could, maybe, see how inhaling an entire pumpkin might do some damage to your lungs.

On the contrary, inhaling an entire pumpkin is an absolute, sure-fire way to PREVENT cancer.

You can't develop cancer if you're dead, after all.

 

[RZetopan]

When a trained flea is told to hop, it hops.
If you tie its legs together and tell it to hop, it no longer hops.

Ergo, tying a trained flea's legs together makes it deaf.

While very funny, you may want to select a different animal, since fleas do not have ears or the ability to hear. They can sense vibration though.
https://entomology.ucr.edu/ebeling_ch9_3
Fleas do not have ears. Instead, they have sensory organs that help them detect vibrations.

 

[akenthet]

Came to the Dr. Mole article expecting horrifying images.
Left disappointed.

You didn't enjoy the food puns?
I found them to be creme de la creme.

 

[sapphir8]

While I don’t doubt that pesticides can cause issues for some people, this study is crazy. However there will be those who find this study and run with it and push their stupid shit.

 

[RZetopan]

That cAsking[sic] for a friend: Would barraging the presenter with ripe tomatoes and whole-grain dinner rolls be considered as harm caused by fruits and grains?

Pam Bondi would likely consider that to be at least a felony, with a possible lifetime sentence:
https://www.newsweek.com/doj-worker-sandwich-indicted-dc-trump-felony-2120249

And likely because she could not achieve the Orange Führer's demented goal, she has been thrown under the bus, but still being praised as a super patriot*:
https://www.newsweek.com/pam-bondi-fired-attorney-general-trump-live-updates-11776641

*These morons are incapable of learning, they will continue to follow their cult leader, even after being discarded by him.

 

[Unclebugs]

Sadly, this is another reason I subscribe to Arstechnica. It seems that the enshitification of the internet has spread to the real world. It will take a steady hand to maintain scientific and journalistic standards as a tidal wave intellectual sewage threatens to overwhelm our sanity. Dr. Mole is already a DSC winner in my estimation.

 

[Viki Ai]

That's cherry picking biased reporting!

Seriously, I lived and worked in Russia back in the 90s and the ice-cream vendors were only out selling in the cold months because they didn't have any refrigeration for their products.

(and for those people who think that Russia is only a frozen wasteland so ice-creams should have been sold all year around, where I was it went from -40°C in winter to +40°C in summer.)

Fond memories of buying icy-pops sold off the top of a blanket on the sidewalk in Shenyang winter time.

 

[RZetopan]

And is it now safe to admit I consider onion rings to be worthy of their own food group?

Asking for a friend: "Is roadkill its own food group"? How about when infested with maggots and brain worms?

 

[RZetopan]

No no no, clearly this shows that shark attacks cause people to eat ice cream.

Have you considered that sharks may like the flavor of recent ice cream consumers? Do sharks prefer rainbow ripple, or lime? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[RZetopan]

Wow, the prop 65 warning makes for way bigger fruit stickers.

Soon, one sticker will totally cover an entire grapefruit! You may not even be able to tell which fruit is inside the sticker.

 

[mfirst]

I live in a high-tourism area that is prone to shark attacks - and the local ice cream is very good. I think it is easy to see a relationship that correlates with the weather (hot) and people cooling off with ice creams and going into the ocean to stay cool during times that shark are more likely to attack....

on a side note, this just came across my feed as a serious medical article:

https://www.mdlinx.com/news/can-spa...iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Evening

 

[RZetopan]

It looks to me as if the researchers were using ... pea-hacking.

Wrinkled and smooth, yellow and green? We need to be sure.

 

[Kyuu]

Note that LBM -> lean body mass; and
FM -> fat mass.

So if I'm understanding correctly, the correlation is between low muscle mass and lung cancer? Still surprising, but less so than body fat somehow having a protective effect.

 

[ftcsm]

Immediatelly remembered of "How to Lie with Statistics".
Also remembered the first class of Statistics at the University where the teacher explained that it has to be used with discretion, math is not the only requisite. His example: If two people are on a room and one eat all the meat, it would lead to the Mean of each eating half of it, but one person is still hungry.
As good students, we also proposed our own absurd statistic: "100% of those who drink water dies". It's a fact as eveyone dies. But is meaningless.

 

[wild bill 99]

Lack of eating can prevent cancer, if done early enough, as can lack of breathing. Both are preventive for almost all disease and protective against misinformation.

 

[Thinker_in_TX]

Came to the Dr. Mole article expecting horrifying images.
Left disappointed.

But her article points out a horrifying misinformation study. I'm not disappointed.

 

[linuxophile]

That's it! Finally I can call my cigar "lung cancer prevention" and stop eating those broccoli!

 

[TechW]

What if I deep fry my fruits and vegetables in beef tallow? Will that negate the cancer risk?

Only if they are bacon wrapped.

 

[whobeme]

Eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains unquestionably increases the number of people who get cancer. The cancer rate rises with age, and eating these good foods lets people live longer, reaching ages where cancer will kill them. In other shocking news, those same foods also increase one's chance of being diagnosed with dementia, Parkinson's disease, and (probably hundreds of) other diseases whose incidence increases rapidly with age. Conversely, consuming a high fat diet decreases the risk of succumbing to most of these diseases - replacing it with a high risk of death from heart disease and stroke. Even faster and more effective treatments are available: stepping in front of a rapidly moving freight train is nearly 100% effective in preventing communicable and age related diseases.

 

[Eldorito]

What actually stuck me was that they are consultants at AstraZeneca, BioAtla, BMS, Catalym, Gilead, Genentech, Pfizer, Kalivir, Sanofi, Tubulis, and Urogen. How these companies afford such stupidity, I mean this is not marketable by any means.

I wonder if it’s just a muddying of the waters, “everything causes cancer! Vegetables, wifi, our new weight loss drug that earns billions in revenue, playing golf, everything! You can’t trust scientists”.

 

[Thinker_in_TX]

I saw an "influencer" try to make a point that spinach, especially raw spinach, was unhealthy because of oxalates (and kidney stones resulting from them). As it turns out, research (ahem) shows that you can eat a LOT or a little of high oxalate food and your body absorbs what it's going to absorb. If your body is going to absorb a lot, it just will and you'll likely get kidney stones.

I am simply puzzled why anyone listens to influencers. It must be sign of their lack of intelligence.

 

[AusPeter]

Soon, one sticker will totally cover an entire grapefruit! You may not even be able to tell which fruit is inside the sticker.

So where do you put the warning sticker for all that glue that will be absorbed by the grapefruit? Or is it stickers all the way up/down? /s

 

[True Neutral]

Just another day in Trump's USA.

 

[glutto]

Are they sure they don't mean breathing rather than eating? I could, maybe, see how inhaling an entire pumpkin might do some damage to your lungs.

By comparing this to cigarette smoking, smoking is quite harmless, so smoke a pack of Cowboy cigarettes today! With it's delicate blend of 21 tobaccos...