Manufactured Illness

This story made me think "ROFLMAO!". There's a new serious health crisis. One in five teens has "high cholesterol".

Someone isn't using statistics correctly. Do you see the joke? It's amusing how evil fnords like this one jump out at me now.

SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE
SPOILER SPACE

Here's how you create a new illness:

1. Measure attribute X.
2. Anybody who has a value of X more than two standard deviations away from the median is considered "sick".
3. Congratulations! A new illness has been invented. Now, you can prescribe drugs to help the people with "high X".

"1 in 5 children has high cholesterol" is logically equivalent to "1 in 5 children has a cholesterol level more than 2 standard deviations above the mean". (The exact value was not mentioned in the article. By definition, 20% of the people will have values a certain amount over the median.)

If there's a normal distribution, 25% of the people are going to be two standard deviations away from the median! Most biological measurements have a normal distribution.

There's another sampling bias, "Overweight children have a 20% chance of having high cholesterol." What if the doctor only measures your cholesterol level if you're overweight?

There's also "correlation confused with causation". Even if high cholesterol is correlated with other health problems, that doesn't imply a causation relationship.

If you are labeled as having "high cholesterol", then you are given drugs to "fix your cholesterol level". These drugs may have harmful side effects. Then, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy! People with "high cholesterol" are at greater risk for illness, because of the drugs they're given to correct the high cholesterol level.

It's a proven fact that the "chemical imbalance" theory of mental illness is a mistake/fraud. It's possible that "High cholesterol is bad for you!" is also a mistake. I'm not sure. I'm just suggesting it as a possibility.

The research study proved "1 in 5 teens have high cholesterol levels", which should be obvious to anyone who knows statistics. The other issue, "High cholesterol levels are correlated with other illnesses.", is not proven by this study. Further, proving correlation does not prove causation. Giving someone drugs to lower their cholesterol level might cause more harm than good, because the drug disrupts the patient's normal biological balance.

All science research is paid directly or indirectly by the State. This leads to bias. Via "Problem! Reaction! Solution!", phony research leads to bad practices. In this study, an result is hyped as "OMFG! Some children have high cholesterol!", when it's really a natural consequence of statistics.

It's obvious who profits from fake science like this study. Children with "high cholesterol" will be given drugs that lower their cholesterol. The drug manufacturer profits from fake science. The State has a research monopoly, both for funding research and for giving out research permits. There are no independent scientists, especially in fields where a lot of people profit from fake science.

I'm not sure "High cholesterol causes other illnesses!" is a mistake. Seeing this obvious nonsense research report makes me seriously consider the possibility. Statistically, a certain percentage of people are *GUARANTEED* to have "high X" for any attribute X. This heavily hyped study is merely observing a normal distribution.