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Discussion

What?! This can't be real...

I was doing some research for my clinical paperwork and did a google search about how smoking affects your hemoglobin. I came up with the following article:

Cigarette smoking: an underused tool in high-performance endurance training

It's posted on the http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ website and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. With a quick skimming of the article, the premise makes sense - smoking does increase hemoglobin. I thought it was a bit odd, but totally legit until I got to the second paragraph under the Discussion:

"One important aspect of the benefits of smoking is they appear to be dose-dependent and may not develop until many years after initiation of treatment. With this in mind,smoking should be commenced at as young an age as is reasonably possible. Children who have not yet developed a pincer grasp might require modified cigarette holders, safety lighters or both. These points are moot at this time, because such initiatives are not possible in many countries because of existing legislation putting age restrictions on the purchase of cigarettes. For example, the minimum age to buy cigarettes in Canada is 18 years."

LOL what? I checked to see if this was published on April Fool's Day.... it wasn't. How does something like this get into a journal and on a government health website?!

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    From the abstract:

    "The review paper is a staple of medical literature and, when well executed by an expert in the field, can provide a summary of literature that generates useful recommendations and new conceptualizations of a topic. However, if research results are selectively chosen, a review has the potential to create a convincing argument for a faulty hypothesis. Improper correlation or extrapolation of data can result in dangerously flawed conclusions. The following paper seeks to illustrate this point, using existing research to argue the hypothesis that cigarette smoking enhances endurance performance and should be incorporated into high-level training programs."

    This is genius. They used this as an example of how one can use research data to support pretty much any conclusion they want. It is an extreme example of what the media does all the time when they grab onto a study that shows that x correlates with y, then spins it to say that x CAUSES y and that everyone should start/stop doing x or die. Love these researchers...genius.

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    • Author

    Oh nice! I didn't see the abstract, but now I see that button for "other sections". I knew it had to be tongue-in-cheek but couldn't imagine why it was published :D

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    • Expert

    That's probably what led to this:

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    After reading this post, I'm thinking that the publishers of the article should be required to clearly state that disclaimer on every page.

    OP is a nursing student reading the article, and obviously knew enough to see that it wasn't true. What if that was a high school student looking for ways to improve their athletic performance? They stumble upon this article from google and think they have discovered a new secret to great performance....

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    LOL..Classic. Writing a journal paper about how you can't trust journals.

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    • Guides
    They used this as an example of how one can use research data to support pretty much any conclusion they want. It is an extreme example of what the media does all the time when they grab onto a study that shows that x correlates with y, then spins it to say that x CAUSES y and that everyone should start/stop doing x or die. Love these researchers...genius.

    This is why I am secretly rolling my eyes over "latest research".

    It can be taken and twisted to suit any agenda.

    Also, how do I -- or anyone else -- know the research was even done properly or in an aboveboard manner?

    We have a very obnoxious nurse where I work. She happens to be a nursing instructor and she is getting her doctorate.

    She loves to waddle her fat butt up to everyone and, with a simpering know-it-all tone, launch into one of her lectures about "the latest research" and "evidence-based practice has shown" and blah blah blah.

    What she doesn't know, is that the latest research and evidence-based practice has shown that highly annoying people end up with their smart butts tarred and feathered and in the dumpster out back...

    :saint:

    Sorry, she is that annoying.

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    What if that was a high school student looking for ways to improve their athletic performance? They stumble upon this article from google and think they have discovered a new secret to great performance....

    Then they would be a Darwin Award Nominee.

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