On Bad Health Reporting.

Yeah, yeah. So I gotta call Dr. B. I know. Gf tells me so. My date book tells me so. My ever-shrivelling ovaries would tell me so too if they had lips and vocal cords (ew.)

So but I also gotta do lots of stuff. I gotta pick up the lights we ordered a gajillion years ago. I gotta do that other thing that gf doesn't know about. I gotta order a bathroom sink. I gotta answer old emails. I gotta pick up the pre-nates and folic acid...

But wait!

According a new study being cited 'round the world...

" Offspring of mothers who use folate supplements during their first trimester appear to have a slightly higher incidence of wheeze and lower respiratory tract infections up to 18 months of age, according to findings of a study conducted in Norway."

This kinda sh*t makes me crazy. I'm as much of a health-hysteric as everyone else. But also a former fact-checker, a science writer and, um, a little OCD about research.
I always read the fine print so here it is.... (Don't throw out your supplements just yet):

"The relative risk of wheeze for children exposed to folic acid supplements in the first trimester was 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.10), for lower respiratory tract infections the relative risk was 1.09 (95% confidence interval: 1.02, 1.15), and for hospitalizations for lower respiratory tract infections the relative risk was 1.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.09, 1.41)."

Ummm. Okay, I think most of you out there are smart enough to see what we're looking at without further explanation, but a little statistics refresher course for anyone on unfamiliar ground. That 1.06 relative risk? That is a hiccup-- a statistical hangnail. Nothin'. ESPECIALLY when you're looking at epidemiological studies of more than 30,000 subjects, which are by definition rife with statistical blips and freaky correlations that mean squat. Even the 1.24 RR-- note the confidence spread-- not much consistency in the data is there? You think there might be other factors going on there? Ya think maybe it was just a slow news day? There's no causation here, folks. There's not even a very convincing correlation. Go back to your crossword puzzles.