Search results for: “statistics”

  • Does Your Evidence Based Opinion of Science Need a Statistics Primer?

      Evidence based medicine is a term we use (or more correctly, throw around) when we are trying to assure the validity that what medicine we are giving has been proven by science to work.  Actually this is a definition I just made up as a summary of best explanation I can find to describe…

  • The Continuum of Evidence Based Medicine

    Should Pharmacists be blasted for selling what some call alternative therapies or products that are not “evidence based”? These criticisms can blindside unsuspecting Pharmacists trying to do what they can for their patients regardless of the fact that they are making a profit from it or not. What makes it more difficult is the way…

  • Looking for the rabbit in the field: my study disproves your study.

    When I am asked to “prove” something by showing a study, it reminds me of how backwards we can be when it comes to stacking studies against each other to make a point.  We come up with rebuttals like, “the patient size was too small”,  “the study is too old” and “the study wasn’t double…

  • Are Young People Eating Their Way Into Depression

    As a pharmacist I see the alarming rate that antidepressant medication is used, especially in young people.  Along with this use, anti-anxiety and sleep medication are also one of the most commonly used medications that leave my pharmacy.  Statistics tell us that the number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by approximately 20% per year,…

  • How Long Can a Human Live? Telomeres & The Effect of Money on Life Expectancy

    The World Health Organization has released statistics that relate the most common causes of death in relation to overall income for a country.  Believe it or not, HIV/AIDS is the second leading cause of death among low income countries.  Also in these countries, almost 1/2 of the deaths in children under the age of five…

  • Why is it becoming easier to gain weight?

      There is no point giving statistics anymore on the incidence of obesity, the effects of obesity, the millions of dollars spent to eliminate obesity, or the cost obesity has on everyone.  These statistics are merely valuable for trivia at best and really don’t result in anyone becoming fearful for their lives and going off…

  • Prostate Health

    According to Canada’s Movember, the following statistics show alarming facts about Prostate health 1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer during his lifetime and 1 in 28 will die of it. A man dies from prostate cancer every 15.6 minutes. In 2013, 26,500 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed and 4,000 men…