Comments on: Sir Ben of Goldacre http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/ The idle musings of John B Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:27:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v= hourly 1 By: John B http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/comment-page-1/#comment-57759 John B Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:23:48 +0000 http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/#comment-57759 Result; see you at my 100th birthday party, then. Result; see you at my 100th birthday party, then.

]]> By: Dan http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/comment-page-1/#comment-57668 Dan Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:04:44 +0000 http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/#comment-57668 Michael Marmot's studies have effectively done that: even controlling for smoking, drinking etc, a social gradient still exists in things like coronary heart disease. Michael Marmot’s studies have effectively done that: even controlling for smoking, drinking etc, a social gradient still exists in things like coronary heart disease.

]]> By: John B http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/comment-page-1/#comment-57657 John B Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:33:55 +0000 http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/#comment-57657 That is excellent, indeed. I'd love to see a breakdown of life expectancy differences between someone working-class who drinks, smokes and eats bad food and someone middle-class who does the same. That is excellent, indeed.

I’d love to see a breakdown of life expectancy differences between someone working-class who drinks, smokes and eats bad food and someone middle-class who does the same.

]]> By: Dan http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/comment-page-1/#comment-57652 Dan Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:09:54 +0000 http://www.johnband.org/blog/2008/08/30/sir-ben-of-goldacre/#comment-57652 Oooooo, I particularly enjoyed hearing him talk. If you don't do so, you might miss gems like this: ‘What [media stories regarding reductionist explanations for medical ailments are] about really is a right-wing individualist message on health. These stories are about the deserving sick and the deserving healthy as much as any story in the past was about the deserving poor. “These people are dying young, they’re unhealthy, they’ve got bad skin, they cough, they hack, they look like crap because they don’t look after themselves like I do” is the story... The difference between blokes in Kentish Town [where male life expectancy is 71.6] and blokes in Hampstead [where male life expectancy is 78.8] is not that blokes in Hampstead are careful to eat a handful of Brazil nuts every day and make sure that they’re not deficient in selenium, nor is it that they buy goji berries... from the health store there. This is a completely different social class with a completely different set of risk factors for ill health.... We [ought to] be talking about addressing social inequalities that produce health inequalities. We’d be looking at work style, we’d be looking at exercise... we’d be looking at how [we can] modify the benefits system so that families will stay together, so there’s an interest in people supporting each other and working communally... and bolstering society. What we wouldn’t be talking about is bogus, childish, fantastical, reductionist, mechanical explanations for what are clearly political and social problems.’ (yes, I had it transcribed) Oooooo, I particularly enjoyed hearing him talk. If you don’t do so, you might miss gems like this:

‘What [media stories regarding reductionist explanations for medical ailments are] about really is a right-wing individualist message on health. These stories are about the deserving sick and the deserving healthy as much as any story in the past was about the deserving poor. “These people are dying young, they’re unhealthy, they’ve got bad skin, they cough, they hack, they look like crap because they don’t look after themselves like I do” is the story… The difference between blokes in Kentish Town [where male life expectancy is 71.6] and blokes in Hampstead [where male life expectancy is 78.8] is not that blokes in Hampstead are careful to eat a handful of Brazil nuts every day and make sure that they’re not deficient in selenium, nor is it that they buy goji berries… from the health store there. This is a completely different social class with a completely different set of risk factors for ill health…. We [ought to] be talking about addressing social inequalities that produce health inequalities. We’d be looking at work style, we’d be looking at exercise… we’d be looking at how [we can] modify the benefits system so that families will stay together, so there’s an interest in people supporting each other and working communally… and bolstering society. What we wouldn’t be talking about is bogus, childish, fantastical, reductionist, mechanical explanations for what are clearly political and social problems.’

(yes, I had it transcribed)

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