[MAIPC] MAIPC Digest, Vol 43, Issue 18 (Reading Scientific Literature)

Mon Jun 1 14:40:56 PDT 2015

I do not have a real dog in this fight, but the ability to parse what is 
said and not said in scientific literature is critical; especially when 
it concerns potential health effects of materials vital to our work.

Just last week it was revealed that an author from Science (John 
Bohannon) had planted a report that chocolate induces weight loss; to 
see if other science reporters would critically read the report.  They 
did not.

http://www.healthnewsreview.org/2015/05/problems-behind-chocolate-study-fooling-millions-run-much-deeper-than-just-a-prankspoofsting/

I recently had a young biologist explain to me that it has now been 
proven (on the internet) that our attention spans are down to 4 seconds. 
  (My own dissertation was "Cognitive Responses to Persuasion).  My 
response was, "what did you say, I got distracted".

While I think it is dangerous to promote "practical/personal" knowledge 
over scientific inquiry, there IS a role for evaluating a published 
report in the light of what you know about that field. That is one of 
the first things looked at by those who read professional literature is 
the reputation of the authors (although this is not foolproof either). 
  We must not lose our will to critically evaluate what we are "told".

Regards,

Dewey Clark,

On 6/1/2015 11:51 AM, Muth, Norris (MUTH) wrote:
> I certainly hope nobody takes medical advice form me, but a cursory examination of the causes of Parkinsons include (as with the vast majority of diseases) a complex interaction between genetic variation and environmental triggers. I have attached the paper that Michael cited if anyone I sinterested. To be clear, the paper doesn’t assess a direct link between glyphosate and Parkinsons, but rather, it presents a case that suggests that glyphosate (negatively) influences a normal cell process that is thought to be associated with Parkinsons.
>
> I am a bit concerned about the tone of this paper, even though it is peer-reviewed. The first sentence of the abstract states: "Herbicides have been recognized as the main environmental factor associated with human neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease(PD).” Since it is in the abstract it isn’t supported with a citation. But it also isn’t supported with a citation anywhere else in the manuscript and I can find no peer-reviewed article that would actually support this claim. That is cause for concern to me.
>
> I certainly don’t mean to suggest that pesticides can’t be dangerous. Far from it. I’m also not commenting here on the adequacy of current testing and procedures. I just think that the papers I can find don’t suggest a strong role for glyphosate as a cause for Parkinsons. My reading of it is that the there may be some merit and it may warrant further investigation, but to me the case seems very speculative at present.
>
> Best,
> Norris
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norris Z. Muth, Associate Professor of Biology
> muth at juniata.edu<mailto:muth at juniata.edu>
>
> office: 1054 VonLiebig Center for Science
> tel: 814-641-3632
> ** I am available on a limited basis and by appointment only during my spring 2015 sabbatical **
>
> Juniata College
> 1700 Moore St.
> Huntingdon, PA 16652
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> From: <Ellis>, Michael <Michael.Ellis at pgparks.com<mailto:Michael.Ellis at pgparks.com>>
> Date: Monday, June 1, 2015 at 11:30 AM
> To: "maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>" <maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>>, Norris Muth <muth at juniata.edu<mailto:muth at juniata.edu>>
> Subject: Re: [MAIPC] MAIPC Digest, Vol 43, Issue 18
>
> Norris and All,
>
> Appologies for the nature of the article I just sent, I am in the field on mobile and regret that I have limited capacity for deep research into these concerns at the moment.
>
> Here is an article from NIH looking into possible modes of action regarding links to Parkinsonism:
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22504123/
>
> I was hoping for a serious discussion because there do seem to be some warranted concerns from this an other studies.
>
> Michael Ellis
> Non-Native Invasive Plant Specialist
> Natural and Historical Resources Division, Park Ranger Office
> The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
> www.pgparks.com<http://www.pgparks.com>
>
> 240-429-5042<tel:240-429-5042>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 8:05 AM -0700, "Muth, Norris (MUTH)" <MUTH at juniata.edu<mailto:MUTH at juniata.edu>> wrote:
>
> The citations here seem very tangentially related to the issue and amount to cherry picking of the data. Very few of the studies are on glyphosate. Many of the studies are note even about pesticides in general. I am certainly wary of overuse of pesticides, and perhaps there may be legitimate concerns related to Parkinson’s, but the studies here  present a weak to non-existant cace in my opinion.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norris Z. Muth, Associate Professor of Biology
> muth at juniata.edu<mailto:muth at juniata.edu><mailto:muth at juniata.edu>
>
> office: 1054 VonLiebig Center for Science
> tel: 814-641-3632
> ** I am available on a limited basis and by appointment only during my spring 2015 sabbatical **
>
> Juniata College
> 1700 Moore St.
> Huntingdon, PA 16652
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> From: <Ellis>, Michael <Michael.Ellis at pgparks.com<mailto:Michael.Ellis at pgparks.com><mailto:Michael.Ellis at pgparks.com>>
> Date: Monday, June 1, 2015 at 10:49 AM
> To: "maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org><mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>" <maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org><mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>>, "Celia V. Martin" <celiavmartin at comcast.net<mailto:celiavmartin at comcast.net><mailto:celiavmartin at comcast.net>>
> Subject: Re: [MAIPC] MAIPC Digest, Vol 43, Issue 18
>
> All,
>
> I have been more concerned with glyphosate's possible link to Parkinson's Disease more than anything else, here is an article with scientific citations:
>
>
> http://oradix.com/news/9/Parkinson%27s-Disease%3A-Caused-by-Glyphosate-%28Monsanto%29-and%7B47%7Dor-Trichloroethylene%3F.html
>
> All thoughts appreciated,
>
> Michael Ellis
> Non-Native Invasive Plant Specialist
> Natural and Historical Resources Division, Park Ranger Office
> The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
> www.pgparks.com<http://www.pgparks.com>
>
> 240-429-5042<tel:240-429-5042>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 1, 2015 at 7:03 AM -0700, "Celia V. Martin" <celiavmartin at comcast.net<mailto:celiavmartin at comcast.net><mailto:celiavmartin at comcast.net>> wrote:
>
> Thank you for the article on glyphosate studies versus cancer.  Does anyone
> know if the same study has been done for other health concerns, such as
> asthma?  Many thanks.
> Celia
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
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> Subject: MAIPC Digest, Vol 43, Issue 18
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>     1. Fwd: (Lyman, Betsy)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 29 May 2015 23:43:48 -0400
> From: "Lyman, Betsy" <betsy_lyman at nps.gov<mailto:betsy_lyman at nps.gov><mailto:betsy_lyman at nps.gov>>
> To: MA-IPC listserve <maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org><mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>>, DRIPP listserve
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> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> For your reading pleasure:
>
> The attached articles came from a professor and extension specialist from
> Washington State University who is speaking on the human health risks of
> glyphosate. These peer reviewed articles include the latest comprehensive
> review of the risk of glyphosate used for coca eradication on human health,
> an article that reviewed glyphosate and carcinogenicity issues, and a third
> that reviewed non-cancer outcomes. All found no consistent pattern of
> positive associations indicating a causal relationship between cancer and
> exposure to glyphosate.
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