Has any scientific study ever made you change the way you live?

AMKC · 08-11-2019 9:18pm #1

So we here of all the studys been done all the time. Today I heard one where they said single Women with no children live longer than a women that is in a relationship and has children. So what do you think of this?
Myself I think it all depends on a lot of factors not just if you are single or with someone.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 08-11-2019 9:20pm

Various ones I read in college about STIs. They are rampant. Be careful out there, folks!

banie01 · 08-11-2019 9:25pm

I once heard STI's were like Pokémon, they are too....
Never bloody caught one of them either

beejee · 08-11-2019 9:26pm

Academic output has become woeful. More and more students and researchers trying to grab less and less funding.

This week: eating 10 pineapples a day COULD make you taller.

Next week: eating 10 pineapples a week COULD make you shorter.

Most of them are brain-farts that will have no follow-through, never be heard of again.

Common sense is what you're left with, so I rely on fundamental information and observation to draw my own conclusions.

Timberrrrrrrr · 08-11-2019 9:26pm

I stopped smoking

bfa1509 · 08-11-2019 9:36pm

Studies show studies show studies, studies show.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 08-11-2019 9:42pm

It has been proven that if you stacked all the studies in the world on top of each other they'd never reach a conclusion

Wanderer2010 · 08-11-2019 10:05pm

Absolutely not, because these scientific studies lack any credibility due to the sheer volume and inconsistency of them. If you stuck to every study that came out then you couldn't eat anything, drink anything, drive, go outdoors, own a pet, own carpet, never drink alcohol etc etc. One week cheese is great the next its a demon which will give you a heart attack.

Remember when all fats were bad? Then all carbs were bad, then protein was the best thing ever. I think the current fad is macro nutrients that we 100% have to buy or risk a premature death. Its all swings and roundabouts and depends on the current "craze" of the day. Cheers, people, I want to enjoy my life before I die!

08-11-2019 10:12pm

I was always meticulous about oral hygiene but I'm even more so as the link between P. gingivalis and Alzheimers becomes increasingly elucidated.

Brush, floss, clean your tongues, and visit your dentist regularly folks.

Fourier · 08-11-2019 10:13pm

Some have changed my view of the world, not sure about changing how I live my life. The major problem with many scientific studies in this regard is that the authors don't really know statistics (both because colleges teach statistics poorly and it is difficult) or they're very confined in focus. In general the more sensational it sounds the less likely it is to true. Conversely the less you'll want to read it the more likely it is to be true, e.g.

"Study finds women worse at logical reasoning than men!" => Almost certainly not true. Also not likely to be what the paper actually says.
"Study finds t = 0.48 on certain types of logical reasoning among population matrix" => More likely to be true, but when you read it it's hard to say if it has any relevance to everyday life (usually it doesn't)

And studies about major philosophical questions (e.g. absence of Free Will, etc) are very likely to be overinflated.

However there are things that are clearly demonstrated. So advice about major topics of health: sleep, minding your teeth as Candie mentioned, etc. are often solid. The exception being things tied to "fads" like dieting. It's tough to navigate all the information out there!

coffee_cake · 08-11-2019 10:20pm

Fourier wrote: »

"Study finds women worse at logical reasoning than men!" => Almost certainly not true. Also not likely to be what the paper actually says.
"Study finds t = 0.48 on certain types of logical reasoning among population matrix" => More likely to be true, but when you read it it's hard to say if it has any relevance to everyday life (usually it doesn't)

i was reading someone on reddit science going on about p value manipulation in these studies as well

Wibbs · 08-11-2019 11:24pm

The one that linked prostate cancer in later life with a lack of orgasms and since most people think me a wanker it seemed to be something to be considered and acted upon. For science.

Wibbs · 08-11-2019 11:31pm

+1000 on the looking hard at the value of too many studies out there. As F says the more "ah here" it reads, the more likely it is to be slanted, or bogus.

The Lancet medical magazine has had a few editorials and articles questioning a fair number of studies for all sorts of reasons, and these are medical studies, "proper" double blind, statistically sound stuff that concerns human health. And it wasn't just the "Big Pharma" :rolleyes: stuff either, where you might feel economic bias might be in play.

Wibbs · 08-11-2019 11:35pm

I suppose the interwebs has had a large part to play in this. One of the most fantastic things about it is that there are so many voices competing for attention and recognition of the novel idea. One of the most negative things about it is that there are so many..... Some research of late, too much works along those lines.

And that's before the journalists find and dumb them down to the point where reading the Daily Mail feels intellectual. 92.31%(actual value) of studies we hear about come through the distorted prism of the media.

coffee_cake · 08-11-2019 11:37pm

who ya talkin to there wibbs

08-11-2019 11:38pm

"...And one more thing....!"

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 08-11-2019 11:39pm

I learned to play the tuba after a study showed the world was divided into two distinct groups: Those who have an uncle who can play the tuba and those who don't.

Earthhorse · 08-11-2019 11:42pm

bluewolf wrote: »

who ya talkin to there wibbs

He’s not been brushing his teeth.

misterme123 · 08-11-2019 11:50pm

I think a lot of us do this in little ways without realising it.
Example: I stopped putting my laptop on my, eh, lap, after reading some study or other. I still hug the radiator in the morning though.

Wibbs · 08-11-2019 11:55pm

Candie wrote: »

I was always meticulous about oral hygiene but I'm even more so as the link between P. gingivalis and Alzheimers becomes increasingly elucidated.

Brush, floss, clean your tongues, and visit your dentist regularly folks.

I've read about that alright C. Only last year I had a conversation with some folks I know in their 80's(one in her 90's) about bad teeth and dementia and they said that it seems more common now(and I would largely concur), but people's teeth are in much better shape than their generation's. The aforementioned 90 odd year old then piped up with; "but most of us had false teeth by the time we were 40, so we didn't have any teeth to go bad, which might be why less of us went(and I quote) doolally". Which TBH floored me on the "jaysus she might well be onto something there" front. Then her boyfriend(who is mid 80's, cos he's into cougars) came back with "with brains like yours you probably never have had a tooth in your head". Me. On the floor. Near puking with laughter.

Actually that particular bunch who I check in on the regular are a study all of their own and one I've taken to believe. Laugh often, eat what you like, but little of it, walk as much as you can, do as many things manually as you can(all but one have an aversion to dishwashers

), hang out with mates you know for donkey's years and keep being interested in as many things as possible, no matter how daft.

Earthhorse · 08-11-2019 11:57pm

Do you often hang out with people younger than you, Wibbs?

Wibbs · 09-11-2019 12:02am

bluewolf wrote: »

who ya talkin to there wibbs

The only one I can find an equal with in the morass of the lesser minds *dramatic flounce* that is reality. AKA fcuk off B.

Earthhorse wrote: »

Do you often hang out with people younger than you, Wibbs?

well you can fcuk off an' all too E.

Bunch of bastids ye are.

Fourier · 09-11-2019 12:06am

Wibbs wrote: »

+1000 on the looking hard at the value of too many studies out there. As F says the more "ah here" it reads, the more likely it is to be slanted, or bogus.

The Lancet medical magazine has had a few editorials and articles questioning a fair number of studies for all sorts of reasons, and these are medical studies, "proper" double blind, statistically sound stuff that concerns human health. And it wasn't just the "Big Pharma" :rolleyes: stuff either, where you might feel economic bias might be in play.

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124

Although this study is not itself wrong!

bluewolf wrote: »

i was reading someone on reddit science going on about p value manipulation in these studies as well

Thanks for that. Reading a bit about it now.

One I've seen myself is not including priors. For anybody who doesn't know this, priors are just your pre-existing beliefs that make you assign things likelihoods in advance before the study. The study would then just update these beliefs. So often strictly speaking whether a study proves something depends on what you thought beforehand. A famous example is the psychic toy*, a kids toy that just goes yes/no in response to questions you ask. Technically if the toy gives say eight correct answers in a row, a sort of dumbass totally neutral application of statistics would suggest you should believe it really does know your life in detail and is psychic.

Now nobody would actually believe this because nobody thinks toys are psychic (or so Big Pharma claims) so no matter how much evidence you get your opinion is probably not going to budge. Technically speaking all studies should be like this and come with an expert on the subject's opinion built in and have the study update that, not update a totally neutral opinion. However it's a tough thing to do: Which experts? How does one encode their opinions mathematically? It's one of the biggest issues in studies today, as most have statistics that correspond to the "dumbass neutral" point of view.

TLDR: Sometimes the intuitive reaction of "here come on" is actually technically correct

*Anybody into the maths, it's here: https://www.countbayesie.com/blog/2016/3/16/bayesian-reasoning-in-the-twilight-zone

Melania Frump · 09-11-2019 12:17am

64.229% of studies are fake.

09-11-2019 12:20am

Wibbs wrote: »

I've read about that alright C. Only last year I had a conversation with some folks I know in their 80's(one in her 90's) about bad teeth and dementia and they said that it seems more common now(and I would largely concur), but people's teeth are in much better shape than their generation's. The aforementioned 90 odd year old then piped up with; "but most of us had false teeth by the time we were 40, so we didn't have any teeth to go bad, which might be why less of us went(and I quote) doolally". Which TBH floored me on the "jaysus she might well be onto something there" front. Then her boyfriend(who is mid 80's, cos he's into cougars) came back with "with brains like yours you probably never have had a tooth in your head". Me. On the floor. Near puking with laughter.

Actually that particular bunch who I check in on the regular are a study all of their own and one I've taken to believe. Laugh often, eat what you like, but little of it, walk as much as you can, do as many things manually as you can(all but one have an aversion to dishwashers ), hang out with mates you know for donkey's years and keep being interested in as many things as possible, no matter how daft.

My own Gran is visiting me atm and I've had a similar conversation with her today, after someone else talking about another study underway re P. gingivalis. She said much the same thing, and that not only did people have teeth out at the first sign of trouble, but quite frequently they'd have them all out if even one gave trouble to save money on repeated trips. She has most of her own teeth but estimates that about 8 out of ten of her close friends have most if not all their teeth out.

Evidence about P.ging's role in dementia isn't solid yet but it's certainly an avenue that needs much more exploration.

Ficheall · 09-11-2019 12:30am

Amayah Dazzling Zephyr wrote: »

It has been proven that if you stacked all the studies in the world on top of each other they'd never reach a conclusion

Shaw?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 09-11-2019 1:40am

Candie wrote: »

I was always meticulous about oral hygiene but I'm even more so as the link between P. gingivalis and Alzheimers becomes increasingly elucidated.

Brush, floss, clean your tongues, and visit your dentist regularly folks.

And poor oral hygiene is also linked to heart problems. :eek:

punisher5112 · 09-11-2019 1:41am

I'm waiting for autonomous buses so I can retire.....

Fcuk this depressing sh1t... Dealing with the public and scum of society....

09-11-2019 1:52am

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

And poor oral hygiene is also linked to heart problems. :eek:

I don't think the link is as strong as was thought. A big study showed the presence of P. gingivalis appeared to have zero influence on the degeneration of aortic and mitral valves, but other studies have made tenuous links.

Things don't always translate in ways you'd assume logical. Folic acid supplementation was shown to lower levels of homocysteine by up to 20% but it didn't translate to even a slightly lessened risk of heart disease.

fatknacker · 09-11-2019 2:02am

Gut bacteria. Gut bacteria is trying to control us all...it's coming out of the woodwork.
They're studying it by doing fecal transplants into mice. Fecal microbes are coming for us. It's the end of days. There are not enough probiotics to go around. We're doomed.
Send for help

One eyed Jack · 09-11-2019 2:08am

Nope, not made me change the way I live my life, but certainly I’ve read studies that have changed my perceptions, perspectives and beliefs on many different topics.

Understanding health sciences studies can be a bit of a slog at times as I don’t generally find them all that interesting. I’d read a lot of studies in social sciences, because they’re more about people and different cultures and societies, and often I’d want to read more about the history and context of those societies and I can see similarities in societies today.

I wouldn’t base how I live my life on health or environmental studies though as they can often be politicised and catastrophising in their use of language, and I don’t really find them all that relatable.

Has any scientific study ever made you change the way you live?

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