Sunday, June 24, 2018

Faking $cience with Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse-Tyson

Faking News With $cience 
  
In this essay, a comparison and contrast of two different clinical analysis of the same neurometabolic syndrome results in similar conclusions, but with very different methods and subsequently, differing depth and breadth of analysis. The value of the two articles are seemingly different despite arriving at similar quantitative conclusions.  In the article "Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Patients with Depressive Disorder…” Sandeep Grover and his cohort detail a study from a population of institutionalized patients who displayed symptoms of Metabolic Disorder (MS, MetS). MS is a collection of disorders and gastrointestinal inflammation and nervous system irritation and inflammation that increases the likelihood of stroke and inflammation based mental illness and death from; heart disease, diabetes. Sandeep Grover’s article was published by the Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2017) and delves into the possible correlation between MetS and schizophrenia. The study researched a sample of one hundred and fifty-two patients found that there was a forty four percent (44%) likelihood that a patient who had been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, and struggled with a depressive disorder, would also display symptoms of schizophrenia.  These findings are based on the controlled study and did not include environmental or genetic factors that might increase the likelihood of comorbid psychological and dietary distress. 
In this study the patients were already residing in an institution and would be on a strict regiment of pharmaceuticals that the researchers would have had record access. No mention is made in the article about the medicines that the patients might have been taking, including antibiotics which have been reported to adversely affect some biotic growth as well as  toxicity levels and inflammation in the intestine intestine which could lead to severe diarrhea and dehydration and sometimes death if the patient has a weak immune system of it elderly. The study and the subsequent article also failed to mention if there was any type of patient history that could be factored into the health of the subjects studied in the survey. The article didn’t mention the genders of the patients or the race or ethnicity either and no comparison or contrast could be made between them.  For these types of reasons the article seems to be resting its findings on statistics that are commonly found for MetS and mental health irritation and disorder.  
In the article; "Prevalence of Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Metabolic Abnormalities in Schizophrenia over the Course of the Illness: A Cross-sectional Study." author and researcher, M. DeHert and their cohort of psychologists, public health researchers as well as diabetes and metabolism experts performed a meticulous cross sampling of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and mental health phenotypes in a quartered study of first time instances of schizophrenic episodes as well as individual patients suffering from second time acute episodes and sub-chronic as well as chronic schizophrenic diagnosis.  
One of the outstanding differences between these two studies was the attention paid to investigating the presence of MetS and mental health amongst a sample of a healthy population of 2,524 standard subjects between 35 and 55 with data being provided by primary healthcare providers. The returned data of 2,524 samples were compared to an online database provided by the government. In that comparison researchers used the sales of diabetic medicine and accessories to evaluate the correct population of the general population that suffered from diabetes.  
  
This information was divided into ten age groups and then further bissected into male or female gender coding. Of note, there was no coding for trans or trigender individuals calling into question an aspect of the data collection. Since some statistics report  that transgender individuals account for less than one percent (0.3% although newer studies have suggested that the data might be 0.6%) of the total population a trigender not bigender coding approach might not have made a significant difference in the standard deviation. Of the ten groups, two Means were created for each gender for a total of four Means. A comparison was made between the groups and inferred statistical data was compiled.  
From the data the standard ages and health markers were drawn. The median age was thirty-seven point seven(37.7%) years with a standard deviation of eleven point three years(11.3). Sixty-seven point two percent(67.2%) of the population was male and ninety nine percent(99%) of the study being white mostly since this study was conducted from health records of Belgium, so there might be some discrepancy between these statistics and data compiled from American data that would reflect a much wider variety of ethnicity. Four hundred sixteen patients reportedly suffered from schizophrenia.  The study found that regardless of the subject and their present health complications, if the patient suffered from diabetes and of diabetic type illnesses such as hyperglycemia, the patient had a significantly higher risk for MetS and the associated grade on the inferred schizo-affective scale. The study found that the presence of MetS and Schizophrenia was significantly higher in the clinical population as opposed to the healthy population that participated in the data collection from the primary healthcare givers.  
Of the two article the second was funder by grants for research by BSM. Either author declared that they have no conflicting interests in the information they are collecting or communicating.  The latter study was much more in depth with the breadth and width of their observations having allowed for the inclusion of each patient's medication as a factor between MetS and the psychological symptoms they might be displaying. The latter study also took into consideration a comparison of symptoms between the inpatient population and the population of individuals healthy enough to live their lives in society.  For this reason alone the latter study contributed more data to the common understanding of these diseases and their etiology.  
  
     
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Citation 
  
  
  
Grover, Sandeep. "Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Patients with Depressive Disorder Admitted to a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit: A Comparison with Healthy Controls." Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2017): 139-44. Web. 2017. 
  
Hert, M. De, R. Van Winkel, D. Van Eyck, L. Hanssens, M. Wampers, A. Scheen, and J. Peuskens. "Prevalence of Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Metabolic Abnormalities in Schizophrenia over the Course of the Illness: A Cross-sectional Study." Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health. BioMed Central, 27 June 2006. Web.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
     

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