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.
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