Month: October 2015

WHO and eating processed meat

Interesting press release from WHO that eating processed meat increases potential for colon cancer.

http://www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/

The quoted eating “50g of processed meat can increase your changes by 18%”, evening assuming that the studies reviewed do show causation not just a relationship, the vital bit of information is what is the new risk.

In Wikipedia there is a statement that based on late 2000 data from America around 4% of men and women born around then will experience some form of colon cancer.

Hence we have a risk of 0.04 x 1.18 = 0.047, near 5%, which does seem a lot of people, the vast majority would occur over 50 years of age, incidence and mortality, and we have not idea of the world wide factors.  

Causes would be multi-faceted, and the reference below, from the US shows a decline in most population areas but that Afro-American’s have a higher rate of noth incedence and resultant mortality. There are also other interesting demographic differences e.g. Alaska has a much higher rate.

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-028312.pdf

The press release from WHO does not give sifficient detail and will simply cause problems with interpretation.

Decline in participation in Mathematics

http://theconversation.com/why-it-matters-that-student-participation-in-maths-and-science-is-declining-47559

Mathematics and Science are the basic tools along with Philosophy that enable us to ask question such as, why is that happening, are there connections, what is…….

Of course we can ask these questions without using a scientific approach but probably such an approach would value certain factors more than they should be. For example, a belief that God will provide, and it is the will of God what happens are, to say the least, problematic.

One wonders the role of doubt in these non-scientific thought processes. Science values doubt, it seems non-science does not.

This non-valuing of doubt results in reactionary thinking, or conservationism in the face of change.