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In a lengthy profile filled with revealing
information, quotes, observations, and anecdotes, the Boston Globe
Sunday Magazine published a profile of well-known Harvard
epidemiologist Walter Willett in late July. Among the
topics covered include background information about his youth and
family life, his role and reputation as an influencer on nutrition
topics, the controversy generated by his criticisms of a CDC study
by fellow epidemiologist communicating Katherine Flegal,
the challenges of mixed messages to the public about scientific
data, the value and limitations of observational studies compared
to randomized clinical trials, what we have really learned about
nutritional factors in disease causation, and last but not least,
favorite recipes.
Even the science writer and epidemiology critic
Gary Taubes gets a
mention in the profile making the same kind of statements he made
back in 1995 in his widely read article in Science entitled
“Epidemiology Faces Its Limits” and in a candid and lengthy
interview with The Epidemiology Monitor.
Below are notable items from the profile selected
by The Epidemiology Monitor:
· •
The
Globe calls Willett the “world’s most influential nutritionist”
because he is the single-most-cited nutritionist in the world and
among the top five most cited researchers in all of clinical
medicine.
· •
The
controversy between himself and Flegal who reported that
moderately obese persons have a lower mortality was ignited
by an unusually critical comment Willett made to National Public
Radio trashing the Flegal study by saying “This study is really a
pile of rubbish and no one should waste their time reading it.”
· •
The
public attitude towards mixed messages from the scientific and
public health communities was well-captured by Neil Swidey,
author of the Globe’s Willett profile, who said “If scientists
from Harvard and CDC can’t decide on something as basic as whether
being overweight will kill you sooner or later, who are we
supposed to believe?
· •
A
key message from a Willett book on nutrition says “Next to whether
you smoke, the number that stares up at you from the bathroom
scale is the most important measure of your future health.”
· •
An
editorial in Nature described in the profile criticized Willett
for oversimplifying data and offering black and white
pronouncements like his “rubbish” comment. It said that science is
often gray.
· •
The
profile highlights the dilemma faced by epidemiologists trying to
protect public health by noting “Yet Willett, who presides over
decades worth of data on more than a quarter of a million people,
sees patterns that make him feel he can’t wait around for things
to get sorted out.”
· •
Willett and co-investigator Eric Rimm state that coffee is
pretty much uniformly associated with reduced risk of lots of bad
stuff, including a lower risk of suicide among women who drink 2-3
cups per day.
· •
The
profile quotes Taubes about blinders that investigators such as
epidemiologists can have without realizing it because they believe
in their methods to produce the right answers, and he cites
hormone replacement therapy as the example par excellence
· •
Harvard’s JoAnn Manson, a Willett colleague and former
student is calls Willett “critically important—a pioneer in the
field”, adding that trials which have cast doubt on some of the
findings from Willett’s studies does not diminish the value of his
contributions.
· •
About randomized trials of potential nutritional factors in
disease prevention, Stanford’s Christopher Gardner says who
has carried out nutrition-based trials such as one on the role of
garlic, says “One little thing at a time never makes a
difference.” On the limits of research in epidemiology and
nutrition, he adds “We know about 90 percent of what we’ll ever
know, and it’s not enough.”
To read the profile in its entirety, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/l8zxona
To read the review of the controversy and the
editorial in Nature, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/lfd66ya
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