Reader comments
Does pollution raise heart risks?

4 comments   |   Read story

Reason | 1:00 p.m. Nov. 10, 2008
Pope�s �research� methods have a history of being unscientific and should not be relied on. Deliberate or not, he uses the false notion that �correlation is causation,� i.e., assuming that if two things happen at the same time, then one causes the other. For example, if 97% of cancer patients have eaten tomatoes, then obviously tomatoes cause cancer (?).

He also often fails to consider �confounding factors,� which are other relevant variables that might explain the results. In the past he has refused to make his data available for peer review, which should raise a big red flag about the validity. Yes, we should work to reduce pollution in cost-effective ways, but we should not rely on unreliable research in the process.
Lacking Reason? | 4:16 p.m. Nov. 10, 2008
Reason - Having read his work in the past,Pope's research is a heck of a lot better than you imply. If he committed all the sins you suggest, he would never make it through the peer review process. Just because you don't like the results doesn't mean they aren't valid.
cantbreathe | 7:47 p.m. Nov. 10, 2008
Wake up all of you! Not only does the 'inversions' cause heart problems with PM2.5 but, many citizens are choking from the bad air in UTAH! Asthma, Allergies, respiratory problems, lymphoma, high autism rates, etc.... it's BAD when is everyone going to quit pointing fingers and take REAL ACTION so we all can breathe.
Comments continue below
mary giacoletti | 11:43 a.m. Nov. 12, 2008
Various additional studies(UCLA, Stanford) have implicated exposure to particulate pollution as the direct cause of Sudden Heart Syndrome. Within 24 hours of exposure to woodsmoke, for example, death can occur. Unfortunately, there is a complete lack of awareness of the very dire consequences of wood-burning pollution. Only one website addresses
the issue forcefully: www.burningissues.org.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.

previousnext

Latest comments

Letters: Parallels between wars

Conservatives want this war. Let them pay for it.

I do not believe that nothing will change. If it does not change for this...

Edwards to receive NCFAA award

COACH EDWARDS USHERED IN A NEW AGE FOR UTE FANS......THE LAST 30 YEARS UTAH...

you are certainly nothing if not prolific in the Deseret News public forum.

Wonderful Story. Thank You.

My prayers go out to the family, the friends and those involved with the...

Steve... This man will miss 100% of the shots from now on. There is...

If you are 25 years old you should not really being playing college football...

Were there any convert from this good deed. At least it had to interest an...

Thanks for the common-sense article!! We defrosted our 12 lb turkey for 2...

Advertisements