JUNK MEDICAL RESEARCH

Health blogarithm for December December 27th 2009

Heard a report on the news tonight that researchers a the Alfred Hospital research centre have discovered that fat women are at greater risk of breast cancer than thin women, the reaon being that fat women produce more eostrogen – which somehow stimulates the breast cancer.

Of course this it not new news, but it was dressed up as though it were.

Then came the punch line. The researchers have discovered that the risk of breast cancer in fat women is lowered by taking the diabeteds drug, Metformin.

So there you go. Just more junk research coming out of one of the sheltered workshops for the academically gifted.

And what the hell is a hospital doing employing people to do junk research. A hospital is they to cater for sick people. No wonder they’re going broke. No wonder there are waiting lists. they're employing researchers not doctors and nurses.

But when it’s all boiled down the research just proves what we’ve known for a longtime, that it’s easier to give someone a drug than inspire and motivate them to get themselves into exceptionally good nick. Do that and the risk of all the metabolic dysfunctions goes down exponentially.

It’s easier to provide someone with a drug for another body system dysfunction than it is it to improve their fitness.

I’m quickly forming the opinion that cancer is just one more symptom of metabolic dysfunction. it’s not a disease at all, just a symptom, and when somneone is more than 20Kg over weight you can be pretty certain that they haven’t been out on the track for a long time.

Thinner women and more likely to be fitter women. They are less risk of all the metabolic dysfunctions, period.

You don't have to be a rocket surgeon to work that one out - or drag money out of the NH&MRC to prove the obvious.

There are of course exceptions. Fit and healthy young women get breast cancer. But that seems to be an anomaly.

The test of metabolic dysunction is the 20m run test of aerobic fitness.

I doubt the Junk researchers measured how fit these wpmen were, juts how fat they were.

I’d also lay London to a brick that somewhere lurking in the back ground were the manufactureres of Metformin. The drug companies are always casting around for a new dysfunction to sell more drugs, even though the drug was designed for another dysfunction.

I’d also lay London to a brick they don’t carefully monitor the side-effects. The cure may be worse than the dysfunction.

Finally I’d also lay London to a brick that the statistics are loaded and don’t refer to the number to treat. The last time I read a report like this it would have taken 10,000 people taking the drug for 10 years to save half a dozen lives.

On the track
Went down to the hotel gym tonight and spent 40 minutes cruising along on the bike watching TV.

Sandy, if you read this one: my backside feels like it belongs to an orangutang.

I don’t think I brought the heart rate monitor strap, but I’ll give myself 80 aerabytes for the session.


In the meantime stay tuned, bhighly tuned and don't take any notive of junk medical research; just train harder.