More Health Headline Hyperbole

Now that the end of school has arrived and responsibilities have waned, we can return to the fun task of reading about health research in the newspaper.  Whether it’s journalists completely misunderstanding a study or the researchers over-selling tepid results, there’s always something to raise my blood pressure or at least provide a good laugh.

Today’s headline is “Eating fish can prevent Parkinson’s.”  Cool.  That’s easy.  I’ll eat fish and I won’t get Parkinson’s?  Where’s the catch? 

It’s another mouse study!  Haven’t we done this before?  Leave the mouse studies to the scientists.  Animal studies are useful for hypothesis generating but they really don’t tell us exactly what will happen in humans.  In the fish study, mice that were fed DHA (omega-3 acid found in fish) and were then given MPTP (drug that causes Parkinson’s symptoms) did not develop the Parkinson’s symptoms.

Notice that the study did not look at Parkinson’s risk in people who ate fish.  So, even though the researcher is cited as advising “the prudent thing to do would be to eat fish” there really isn’t evidence for this.  Except that fish tastes good so you should eat fish.

Did you know that smokers have a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease?  Bet you won’t hear any anti-tobacco activists telling you that!