In the face of hard evidence people stick with what they know (even if the evidence contradicts what they know)

April 20, 2010

Convincing the Public to Accept New Medical Guidelines

When it comes to new treatment guidelines for breast cancer, back pain and other maladies, it’s the narrative presentation that matters.
By Christie Aschwanden

...

Nieman, director of the Human Performance Lab at Appalachian State University, eventually did recruit the subjects he needed for the study, comparing pain and inflammation in runners who took ibuprofen during the race with those who didn’t, and the results were unequivocal. Ibuprofen failed to reduce muscle pain or soreness, and blood tests revealed that ibuprofen takers actually experienced greater levels of inflammation than those who eschewed the drug. “There is absolutely no reason for runners to be using ibuprofen,” Nieman says.

...

via miller-mccune.com

That article is HUGE and I have yet to read it all (can you say nstapaper? I CAN!) but I found it very interesting that folks will ignore facts in favor of what they've been taught (I'm also wondering if Ibuprofin actually works on my headaches or if it's just psychosomatic).

I think we need to teach ourselves to accept new data and adapt accordingly.

AKA: Don't get set in your ways!

Posted via web from thepete's posterous