Skip to content
By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use. We and our partners operate globally and use cookies, including for analytics, personalisation, and ads.
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
GidMK's profile
Health Nerd
Health Nerd
Health Nerd
Verified account
@GidMK

Tweets

Health NerdVerified account

@GidMK

Epidemiologist. Writer (Guardian, Observer etc). "Well known research trouble-maker". PhDing at @UoW Host of @senscipod Email gidmk.healthnerd@gmail.com he/him

Sydney, New South Wales
theguardian.com/profile/gideon…
Joined November 2015

Tweets

  • © 2021 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

      This ridiculous nonsense is going to be a blog soon, but a brief thread on why this new study does not show that "wine and chocolate can help you live longer"pic.twitter.com/2HCHweEdJB

      5 replies 6 retweets 6 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

      The first thing to do when you find a story of this nature, is to have a look at what the study is on. In this case, it's a large epidemiological trialpic.twitter.com/JeGjj42DSA

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

      This immediately throws up some red flags, because it's unlikely that such a trial could demonstrate anything like the headline's claims

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      Show this thread
      Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

      So, first we find the study itself (and get past the paywall...)https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/joim.12823 …

      9:51 PM - 19 Sep 2018
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          The first things I do when I see large epi studies of this nature with seemingly ridiculous headlines are: 1. Check to see what confounders are controlled for 2. Compare groups on baseline characteristics 3. Calculate absolute risks

          1 reply 1 retweet 1 like
          Show this thread
        3. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          If you go to the study, you'll see that quite a few confounders are controlled for - this is good news! However, there are few measures of socio-economic status, and none for ethnicity, which is a potential issue

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        4. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          Granted, this study was conducted in Sweden, so ethnicity may be less of a bias, but it's still concerning not to see it mentioned

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        5. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          On the second point - we look at baseline characteristics, and now it seems that we may have a problem People in the high-scored group seem to be MUCH healthier than people in the low grouppic.twitter.com/qfAsRqcmsk

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        6. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          They exercise more, they smoke less, they have lower BMIs, take more dietary supplements, are more educated, etc This means that there is almost certainly residual confounding that this study cannot address

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        7. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          Now on to our final quick check And it is a biggie Calculate those absolute risks!

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        8. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          For reference: RELATIVE risk - as reported most often by the media - is (risk of eventA)/(risk of eventB) ABSOLUTE risk - which is more useful, generally - is (risk of eventA) - (risk of eventB)

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        9. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          In this case, the RELATIVE risk reported on in most media stories is 18%, which sounds big The ABSOLUTE risk? Well...

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        10. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          The highest quartile of intake in this study had 2523 cases in 180896 person-years, or a rate of 1.4% The lowest quartile of intake had 7308 cases in 472726 person-years, or a rate of 1.5% That is an ABSOLUTE risk difference of 0.1% Not very impressivepic.twitter.com/4rHgOZDQfy

          2 replies 1 retweet 3 likes
          Show this thread
        11. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          So, to recap: 1. Decent controlling for confounders, but some issues 2. Likely residual confounding 3. Very large difference between absolute and relative risk Even without further analysis, this is enormously problematic

          1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
          Show this thread
        12. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          If you add on some of the other issues - for example, the score that this study calculated to determine 'anti-inflammatory food intake' was a bit slim - the media noise becomes that much harder to believe

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
          Show this thread
        13. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          As with so many other studies, this is an interesting piece of work that may have implications at the population level - although I'm skeptical - but definitely is not very applicable to everyday life Blog to come!

          1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
          Show this thread
        14. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 19 Sep 2018

          P.S. worth mentioning that the 'quartiles' of intake were super weird: 0-5, 6, 7, 8-13 With such large bottom and top groups, I'd guess that the analysis was problematic although not my area of expertise

          2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        15. Health Nerd‏Verified account @GidMK 20 Sep 2018

          Blog is up!https://medium.com/@gidmk/wine-and-chocolate-arent-health-foods-224a07d08aee …

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
          Show this thread
        16. End of conversation

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2021 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Cookies
        • Ads info