Ken Perrott • Feb 22, 2018 •
Data from Bashash et al., (2017). Despite a statistically significant relationship of child IQ with mothers prenatal urinary fluoride, this explains only about 3% of the huge scatter in the data. I haven’t followed the latest speaking tour of Paul Connett – organised by the local Fluoride Free NZ organisation. But I watched a TV interview with him this … Read More
Ken Perrott • Dec 06, 2017 •
Frankly, these days I just get turned off by media reports of studies showing statistically significant relationships as evidence for or against the latest health or other fads. I was pleased to read this Nature article – Five ways to fix statistics – recently as it mirrors my concern at the way statistical analysis is sometimes used to justify or confirm a bias and not … Read More
Ken Perrott • Sep 22, 2017 •
What’s the story about this new IQ-fluoride study? The one that claims fluoride intake by pregnant women could endanger their children’s IQ? Whatever the truth, it has certainly got the anti-fluoride activists going. Mary O’Brien Byrne, leader of the local anti-fluoride group is even suggesting people check if their mothers lived in fluoridated areas. And they are busy promoting the newspaper articles … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Aug 25, 2012 •
Whenever I see correlation confused with causation, it reminds me of a time in my early teens when the A&P (Agricultural and Pastoral) show was in my home town. People started getting sick, and the common factor seemed to be attendance at the A&P show. Suspicion started to fall on those providing food at the A&P show, particularly for some … Read More