click to read full article
Seems like a legitimate cause for concern as far as I can tell. However, less than 24 hours later, this article starts making it rounds:
click to read full article
Look suspicious? Especially considering the second study, if you read the full article, is completely inconclusive. But the headline definitely takes away the stigma of caffeine's impact on women's health from the previous day. Did the "Caffeine Industry" see the bad news and decide to go into PR spin overdrive? None of these articles actually mention who's funding the research. I wonder if there should be some mandated acknowledgement by journalists as to who's actually sponsoring these statistics (instead of hiding behind names like Harvard Medical School). Shouldn't the reader have a right to know so they could make a more educated conclusion and look at all sides of the story and not just one? Especially when it comes to health? I know my idea's DOA, but I feel it's worth thinking about.
I guess the regular person's too lazy or doesn't have the time to go seek all the necessary information. And the media and the corporations know it. I guess I'll shut up now...otherwise I'll experience a media blackout like John Edwards.
Disclaimer: I in no way am attacking caffeine itself. For at least this very moment, it's my best friend.
4 comments:
funny, joe mentioned this article to me yesterday.
i haven't read either scientific article, but it seems reasonable that a substance could be associated with one outcome but not with another. i don't seem them as conflicting messages per say.
i'm taking the first study with a grain of salt. the prof quoted in the times article has a good point. some women don't actually know that they're pregnant when they have miscarriages, so i'd wonder about bias in the study sample.
but i haven't read the orig study myself, so what does that make me to be commenting here? peanut gallery. still, i'm glad you're blogging again. so i thought i'd show support by commenting!
Interesting. Everything in moderation, I say.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Michelle - Peanut galleries are grossly underrated. Welcome! (again)
Geggie - Agred. Moderation is the key word to everything.
when i was in my first trimester, i got a info sheet about caffeine intake while pregnant. it was a grid of various organizations ranging from la leche league to doc's associations and their recommendations on what they considered safe caffeine consumption for pregnant mommas. it was ridiculous--"safe" went from no caffeine to as much as 6 small cups a day. i really tried to give up coffee but I just couldn't do it. i drank at least 1-2 small cups a day. Shhhh. no miscarriage. hopefully i won't get ovarian cancer either! it really is about moderation though and knowing your own body.
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