A New Year Same Old Stupidity
This may be the start of a New Year and a new decade but that hasn’t stopped an age old problem; ridiculous studies. Diabetic Investor had thought we had seen just about everything until this morning when we learned about two astonishing studies. The first indicated that contrary to popular belief quitting smoking is not a good thing for patients with diabetes. The second comes just days before the National Championship game that college lineman are at greater risk for developing diabetes.
In a study set to be published in the January issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that people who quit smoking have a 70 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes as compared to people who never smoked. According to the study researchers suspect the elevated diabetes risk is related to the extra pounds people typically put on after renouncing cigarettes.
Although Diabetic Investor is not aware who funded this study which was conducted by John Hopkins University, one suspects that whoever it was never attempted to quit smoking. Up until today Diabetic Investor had long believed John Hopkins was an institution to be held in high regard. But it certainly doesn’t take an advanced degree to know that people who quit smoking gain weight. It also doesn’t take a PhD to understand that cigarette smoking is bad for one’s health and that no reasonable person would advise a smoker not to quit based on the possibility they may develop diabetes. This study isn’t just stupid, it’s dangerous.
Diabetic Investor finds the study conducted by Ohio State University football team physician James Borchers and published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise more amusing. According to this study football lineman were more likely to be obese and at risk for related ailments later in life, particularly diabetes. Anyone who watched the College Bowl games on New Year’s Day or any of the pro games this weekend knows that lineman are some very large humans. Although Diabetic Investor has never seen a written job description for a lineman we imagine that one of the requirements would be being an extremely large human. After all while not the glamour position in football, the play of the lineman on both sides of the ball, are critical to a team’s success. Something you suspect Mr. Borchers would know after watching his Buckeyes knock the snot out of the University of Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl.
The fact that Mr. Borchers felt compelled to do a study on this subject and that the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published this study proves to Diabetic Investor that 2010 is really no different than 2009 when it comes to publishing stupid studies that yield absolutely no relevant information. Now had Mr. Borchers offered a study that could actually explain how the Bowl Championship Series formula is determined that would be something worth studying. To tell everyone that large humans are at greater risk of developing diabetes is like telling people that it’s safe to smoke cigarettes.
Given the proliferation of bowl games Diabetic Investor has a suggestion for the NCAA. Starting next year there should be a bowl game between the two institutions which conduct the dumbest diabetes related research with the inaugural game being played between Ohio State and John Hopkins. To be honest Diabetic Investor isn’t sure that John Hopkins even fields a football team. No matter given the propensity for stupid research Diabetic Investor is confident that another institution will come along and take on the Buckeyes. And we even have the perfect name for this new bowl game; “The Stupid Bowl”.
