Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Importance of Understanding Science: Why we all have to do it.


Today I will take a short break from talking about school, life, or biking to talk about something that is important to me. Science. (sorry about the length of this. It is really important to me.)

Science is important for everyone but sadly most folks do not properly understand scientific methods, conclusions, or why it matters to them. As I tell my research methods class it is important for everyone to be a good consumer of research and understand how to evaluate scientific claims for themselves. I wanted to share this will everyone in light of two studies that have been released in the past few weeks. One of these studies has received a great deal of attention this week but sadly even the "experts" in the field are not responding in way that suggests that they are really following the science. The second study I will discuss really just shows folks that even people who should understand and follow scientific research typically ignore it and do what they think is best.

The first study and the one that has received the most attention were released just this week. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, made up of a very large group of highly respected scientists at primer medical institutions across the country has released new guidelines for schedules of breast cancer screening. These guidelines have met with an extremely large amount of resistance from individuals and groups both within and outside of the medical community. One part of the new guidelines that has been most controversial is the finding that mammograms for women below the age of 50 is no longer recommended unless you have a family history to put you at a higher risk. This new recommendation comes from a very impressive study that found that mammograms were not as effective for women below the age of 50 and actually carried higher risks (false positives and increased radiation) than they had benefits. Now let me stop to say that I care greatly about this issue. As someone whose mother is a breast cancer survivor increased screening should be good thing. I personally would do anything to make sure that my wife, mom, and sister are around and health for as long as possible. This issue matter to me and has impacted my family.

However, as a scientist I cannot ignore the result of this study. So much has been made about the results of this study increasing the likelihood of cancer detection not occurring early enough. But what struck me was that the results of this study suggest that standard mammograms do not work as effectively for women under 50. This should be a wake up call for researcher to develop better techniques for detecting cancer in women under 50.

What really bugs me is the number of health experts across the country, including our current Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius does not even seem to understand the results of this current study. She has stated that women should "Keep doing what you have been doing for years: talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you." So it appears that even someone who should be careful to understand the science behind this panels report has decided to dismiss the results because they are either not politically desirable or they are not what they wanted them to be.

Medical science is not alone in dismissing sound research because they disagree with the findings. At least they listen to the science. Clinical Psychology is largely guilty of not even bothering to listen to the science. Of course, this does not mean that all of clinical Psychology ignores scientific research but rather than a large part of it does. If I were the only one saying this then I could be ignored. However I am not the only one or the first to say this.

The second study that came out recently was published in the Association of Psychological Science's journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest. The article has received a great deal of mass media attention from Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/216506) to the Washington Post (http://ow.ly/CKUN ). The article suggests that there is a widening gap between scientific research and the clinical practice of Psychology. It is critical that individuals believe that their doctor (medical or psychological) is up to date on the latest research and understands and USES the most effective treatment. Sadly this is not the case. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has received a great deal of attention recently given the number of combat troops who are experiencing traumas as a result of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. PTSD has a relatively effective treatment (exposure therapy) however clinicians not always or even typically use this type of treatment. The medical analogy to this would be patients with a bacteria infection being treated with Aspirin rather than antibiotics. This is a direct result of a lack of understanding of Science.

If we ignore scientific findings and we simply go with what we think is right then we might as well be back in the stone ages. We cannot only take the scientific findings that we like and ignore the ones that are counter to our beliefs. Science should take the emotions out of the situations and look at the facts. As Joe Friday from Dragnet used to say "Just the facts". Sometimes results of studies are controversial and go against our personal beliefs but if we ignore them then we might as well never do the research.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Exciting News

Well my life has officially changed forever. My wife and I are now expecting our first child in May! We are both super excited about this news and can't wait for may. From talking to friends who are either pregnant right now or have had kids recently I feel good in knowing that we are feeling the same things that other folks are feeling. It is odd to go back and forth from really excited to terrified all in the same 10 minute span. Fortunately, I have been told that this is perfectly normal and probably a good sign since we are actually thinking about everything enough to think about the scary stuff!

So now I have even more reasons to finish school ASAP and to get as many miles in on the bike as I can before may so I am super fit and can take a good chunk of time off without starting back at a zero level of fitness. All of that said, I guess I had better get back to writing a paper so I can send to to a journal and get out of school!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Midday ride

One of the few perks to being a graduate student who works from home a couple of days a week is the ability to sneak out for a midday ride. I have not been taking advantage of this perk for the first couple months of the semester but in the last few weeks I have been able to meet up with a friend for some nice miles. The ability to go out during the middle of the day, when the temperature has warmed up, is very nice. So I should not gloat about being able to get miles in during the day. There is a trade off for the time taken off during the day. It means more hours working late into the evening. All well worth it!

Ok so back to work. Still getting work done at 9pm, but then I did get 42 miles in this morning!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Fall 2009- Here goes nothing

The next few months are going to be very busy and it's not like things up to this point have been calm and slow. This semester I still have a lot to get done and if I want to graduate in May or August deadlines are fast approaching. So I could simply bury myself in work and make things a little easier but then I would miss out on all of the wonderful things that life has to offer. I figure that having a plate full of work, life, and family stuff will make life a little crazy but worth all of the trouble! So what am I doing over the next few months? I figured that I would be better off if I share my plans and goals with everyone and update folks along the way so that I can get harassed by everyone if I start to not meet all of them. I will break my goals up into school (work), riding, and family goals to keep it clear.

School goals
-       Finish at least 3 studies
-       Finish and submit 3 papers to journals (for my remaining coursework)
-       Comps???
Riding
            - Actually get on my bike and ride
- Ramp up my mileage and follow a training plan (get in some 100 mile rides on the weekends)
- Be in shape by the time spring riding season starts so that I am keeping up with all of my racing friends.
-Finally lose the weight that I have been working to lose for the last 2 years
Family
-       Spend time with my wife, dogs, and cats!
-       Actually update this blog a few times a week rather than once a month!


Yes I am trying to take a page out of the fatcyclist.com book but it seems to have worked for him. By the way if you have not visited the fatcyclist blog it is a must for all cyclists out there.

Wish me luck, harass me, but hopefully I can get it all done asap!