Is Publishing Statistics a Good Idea?
Statistics published today about heart operations show a very strong increase in success. This is despite warnings from the medical profession, that publishing statistics on success rates, would lead to conservative procedures.
This is a real result for openness.
I believe strongly that publishing information responsibly is always for the better. I think too that politicians are finally getting round to this belief, with David Cameron wanting all government and political expenses to be published on the Internet. He’s right, but he doesn’t go far enough.
What would I do?
The Health and Safety Executive has set a small precedent by publishing reasonably detailed lists of fatal incidents on their web site. But they don’t go far enough and the data is not published in a form that can easily be downloaded from the web site. This would enable analyses to be made to see if there are ways of increasing safety.
Obviously, databases of this type should be desensitised before they are put on line. For instance, I might be described as male, white, between 55 and 65 and living in St. Edmundsbury.
But suppose the following databases were available on-line and in a form such as Excel that was easily downloaded.
- Births by sex, post code, multiple birth etc.
- Deaths by sex, age, cause, smoker etc.
- Serious road accident by vehicle involved, post code, road type etc.
- Crime by type, post code, victim, clear up, sentence etc.
- Prisoner by sex, offence, age, prison etc.
- Illegal immigrant by country, sex etc.
This would remove much of the speculation beloved of the tabloid newspapers, who publish a statistic that proves their bigoted point of view.
The government and industry might like to try to keep hold of this data. They will cite confidentiality, security and other spurious reasons. However, as precedents are set, it will be extremely difficult to keep things confidential.
We will all benefit through access to these databases.
Have I Got Flu?
I don’t think so, but I’ve got a dry throat this morning, I’m a bit bunged up and I’ve got a slight cough.
Trinny Relaunches Herself
Trinny Woodall relaunches herself more than the space shuttle.
I first came across Trinny and her business partner, Susannah Constantine, at a presentation given by First Tuesday at the height of the Dot Com boom. They were launching a website for women and like many others launched at the time, I think it failed. Interestingly, I liked the idea and in common with others at the time, did they launch before the punters were ready for it?
Few sites have survived from those heady days, and most of the ones that have, have either have backers with deep pockets or no backers at all. It probably says that if you want a successful business, make sure you have control of the finances.
Perhaps, her latest relaunch is the most spectacular, as she has turned the clock back with her body.
There is a lot of truth in the old motto.
If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try, try again.
Or perhaps in Trinny’s case.
If you’ve succeeded once, you can always do it again.
I wish her the best of luck.
Especially, as at the age of nearly 62, I’m trying to get really fit. But perhaps more importantly, I’m creating a whole new suite of software, which is the successor to all of the stuff I wrote in the 1970s.
It’s hard, but it’s fun!
Coeliac Videos
This interesting set of videosfrom the Celiac Disease Centre in the USA is well worth watching.
The Celiac Disease Centerat Columbia University was established within the Department of Medicine at Columbia University in 2001 under the guidance of Peter Green, MD, one of a few recognised experts on coeliac disease in the United States.
The Center’s mission is to redefine the future of coeliac disease and treatment through continuing advances in patient care, research, education and patient advocacy.
This is the way that information from specialist centres will be distributed in the future.
National Panic Flu Service
I joked about this yesterday. But!
I also heard two stories on the radio.
In the first, a pathologist said that of the samples he’d tested for swine flu, only one in ten were actually the flu and that a lot were all of the various viruses that hang around at this time of year.
In the second, Peter Allen on Radio 5 asked Professor Hugh Pennington, the respected health expert, what he would do if he caught the dreaded swine flu. The Professor said he’d go to bed with paracetamol and a hot toddy. Peter Allen laughed at the good advice.
So are we panicing too much?
Yes! But what do I know.
I have my paracetamol and whisky ready. And the freezer is getting stocked up with home-made reday meals.
By the way, I’ve just noticed that http://www.panicflu.com and http://www.panicflu.co.uk are available.
One story that automatically linked to this post, was this one from the Washington Post. It is entitled, A Fierce Outbreak of Swine Flu Coverage.
Update – Jul 24, 2009 16:03 – If you type the title into Google this post is fourth! That’s not bad for five and a half hours.
Update – JUl 24, 2009 22:50 – Waitrose have run out of paracetamol. This post is now under the News in the Google search.
National Pandemic Flu Service
So the government has got their flu service web site up and running at last.
Who thought up the URL of http://www.pandemicflu.direct.gov.uk? It’s not very user friendly is it. As the web site is down because every Tom, Dick and Harriet is trying to use it, perhaps it should be called the National Panic Flu Service!
Coeliac Symptoms
Before detailing how I was diagnosed, I will go through a list of symptoms that coeliacs can suffer from.
Coeliac disease has been called the Many Headed Hydra by doctors because it produces so many different symptoms. I think that this is because gluten strips your gut and then you don’t take up the vitamins and nutrients that you need. This is especially true with Vitamin B12, which is essential for good cell health.
Consequently, you will get a problem in any organ that needs that nutrient.
It’s a bit like expecting your car engine to run with low engine oil. You can’t be sure where the problem will manifest itself.
I have taken this quote from the précis of a paper by M Hadjivassiliou, R A Grünewald and G A B Davies-Jones called Gluten Sensitivity: A Many Headed Hydra, that appeared in the British Medical Journal in June 1999.
Marsh’s “modern” definition of gluten sensitivity is to be recommended: “a state of heightened immunological responsiveness to ingested gluten in genetically susceptible individuals.” Such responsiveness may find expression in organs other than the gut. Gastroenterologists, dermatologists, neurologists, and other physicians need to be aware of these developments if the diagnosis and treatment of the diverse manifestations of gluten sensitivity are to be advanced. The aetiology of such diverse manifestations presents the next challenge.
I would endorse that as my experience of moderating the UK-Coeliac Yahoo Group gives me the impression, that a lot of coeliacs are misdiagnosed in a first instance, because of their symptoms. The real cause is sometimes not found until many years later.
So what symptoms can you get?
- Abdominal Distension in Children – *
- Amenorrhea – Absence of menstrual periods in a woman
- Bone and Joint Pain, and Arthritis – *
- Constipation – *
- Dandruff – *
- Depression – Generally mild, but not always – *
- Dermatitis Herpetiformis – A serious skin disorder
- Dry Skin – *
- Failure to Thrive in Children – *
- Feelings of Inadequacy – *
- Gait Ataxia/Apraxia
- Gallstones – *
- Gum Disease – *
- Gut Problems – Abdominal pain, bloat, diarrhoea and wind – *
- Heartburn
- Inability to Lose and Gain Weight – *
- Infertility and Recurrent Miscarriage
- Itchy Scalp – *
- Lactose Intolerance – *
- Lightheadness and Fainting – *
- Liver Problems
- Low B12 and Folate Levels – Leading to anaemia – *
- Migraine or Persistent Headaches – *
- Mood Swings – *
- Mouth Ulcers
- Muscle Weakness
- Osteoporosis
- Sinus Problems – *
- Sleep Disturbance
- Small Stature – *
- Thyroid Problems
- Tinnitus
You can almost play that well-known game called Name That Symptom!
The ones marked with an asterisk (*) are ones that I experienced at some time or another.
A classic one is gallstones. I was diagnosed at about the same time as I was diagnosed as a coeliac. I was told to have an operation. Since then though they have been quiet and I hope they stay that way!
But whatever you say it’s a lot of possible things you can suffer from.
Swine Flu Finds an Appropriate Victim
I did think of calling this post, “God Doesn’t Vote Labour”, but then that would be against my principles as I don’t do god.
But it appears that the Labour candidate in the Norwich North by-election has got swine-flu. Is it some sort of poetic justice or an insult to pigs?
Petition to Number 10
SAF on the UK-Coeliac list has posted this.
I have composed a new petition to the prime minister to deal with.
This petition requires 500 signatures to be effective so looking for a lot of support.
The petition can be found on http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/allergenlabels
If the EU has its way, then such things as maltodextrin will be considered gluten-free, for labelling purposes. That may be so, but it still doesn’t alter the fact that I react to it.
So please sign the petition. After all the next ingredient foisted on you might be something that you object to!
The Anonymous Widower 