Free Associations

Latest Episodes:

Episode 6 - Are artificial sweeteners the cause or the cure? Oct 24, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don figure out whether or not artificial sweeteners are good or bad for your weight, pontificate on whether conflicts of interest change how we judge the results of a study, and Don and Matt have surprisingly similar feelings about what shall only be called “baloney” so that we don’t get a PG-13 rating.

Journal club article:

Nonnutritive sweeteners and cardiometabolic health study

Episode 5 - To increase regulation on pollution or not to, that is the question? Oct 10, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don discuss a new study that suggests increasing pollution regulation standards in the US could save lives (Trump’s EPA isn’t going to like this one), debate whether or not medical researchers should make policy recommendations (spoiler, Matt is alone on an island on this one) and Chris answers the question that has puzzled philosophers for centuries: is it safer to ride in blue or yellow taxis?

Journal club article:

Air pollution and mortality in the medicare population

Episode 4 - Is this the paper that launched a thousand anti-vaxxers? Sep 26, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don put on their best flannel shirts and go back to the 90s to discuss the paper that set off the MMR and autism controversy (spoiler, there is no controversy, MMR does not cause autism), dive deep into the peer review system (and debate whether the system is broken) and Chris and Don leave Matt scratching more than his head with their Amazing and Amusing contributions.

Journal club article:

Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children

Episode 3 - A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away? Sep 12, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don dig into the latest study on whether alcohol is good for your heart (please, please, please let this one work out!), discuss what kinds of health studies the media likes to report on and review the harshest peer reviewer feedback we can find.

Journal club article:

Association between clinically recorded alcohol consumption and initial presentation of 12 cardiovascular diseases: population based cohort study using linked health records

Episode 2 - Can chocolate make the heart grow healthier? Sep 12, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don review a new study suggesting chocolate may reduce your risk for atrial fibrillation (and resist the urge to just declare this one causal without ever reading the paper), discuss the difference between observational studies and randomized controlled trials and ask whether Usain Bolt is fast enough to cause a Doppler shift.

Journal club article:

Chocolate intake and risk of clinically apparent atrial fibrillation: the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study

Episode 1 - Early to bed, early to a healthy BMI? Sep 12, 2017

Show notes

Matt, Chris, and Don examine a report on how routines in childhood affect obesity at age 11, discuss their takes on how to critically read a journal article (without being as cranky as we’d like to be), and the gang debates the plural of platypus, debate the science behind that “asparagus smell” (don’t pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about) and why neurotic cats need boxes.

Journal club article:

Self-regulation and household routines at age three and obesity at age eleven: Longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium cohort study

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