3 ms·
> Have a feeling this is a correlation and not direct causation Classic. An HN commenter's gut feel (no pun intended) apparently outweighs a serious piece of w
by KineticLensman 6y ago
> Have a feeling this is a correlation and not direct causation
Classic. An HN commenter's gut feel (no pun intended) apparently outweighs a serious piece of work. Here's the results from the actual study [0] referenced in the article:
In this study, 1028 participants were randomized (INT, 424 [41.2%] [166 women (39.2%)]; INT-DPM, 426 [41.4%] [147 women (34.5%)]; CON, 178 [17.3%] [70 women (%39.3)]) between January 1, 2011, and February 24, 2017. The mean (SD) age was 65.3 (10.0) years, mean (SD) body mass index 31.2 (5) (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), and mean (SD) follow-up 24.7 (13.4) months. A total of 156 participants progressed to type 2 diabetes, which comprised 39 of 171 receiving CON (22.8%), 55 of 403 receiving INT (13.7%), and 62 of 414 receiving INT-DPM (15.0%). There was no significant difference between the intervention arms in the primary outcome (odds ratio [OR], 1.14; 95% CI, 0.77-1.7; P = .51), but each intervention arm had significantly lower odds of type 2 diabetes (INT: OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.34-0.85; P = .01; INT-DPM: OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39-0.96; P = .033; combined: OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.38-0.87; P = .01). The effect size was similar in all glycemic, age, and social deprivation groups, and intervention costs per participant were low at $153 (£122).
[0] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2772239 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/articl...
- jamil7 6y agoHN's medical advice is on par with it's advice on law and economics.
- roel_v 6y ago*its (cause if there's one thing we do well, it's pedantry!)
- rileymat2 6y agoI don't think the OP is denying the results of the study, but trying to understand if it is the acts associated with losing weight or actually weighing less.
- aplummer 6y agoYeah in this case OP is right though, you can gain muscle mass, be very active, and eat healthy. It is 100% a correlation. Actually I would describe what you posted an example of a limitation of the correlation, since it uses BMI.
- bityard 6y agoI don't fully blame OP, the HN title is simply wrong. The paper does not say that weight loss lowers the risk of diabetes. Which would imply a causal relationship. The paper says that "lifestyle intervention" lowers the risk of diabetes. This intervention could also explain the weight loss, hence a corollary relationship. That said, there is such a thing as bad science and there is literally decades of it when it comes to nutrition and chronic diseases. And more keeps coming out all the time. I don't blame the OP for being skeptical, but he/she was skeptical of the wrong thing in this case.