A coffee a day keeps heart attack at bay;well maybe.....
A recent newspaper splashed this headline based on a US study which demonstrated a correlation between coffee drinking and reduced risk of a cardiac event.
But it was not demonstrably causative - researchers admitted they weren't sure if it was the coffee or other habits associated with coffee drinking that gave the positive rap.
Even so, for every extra cup of coffee drunk per week, there was a 7% reduction in risk of heart failure and an 8% risk reduction for stroke, they said.
A review of 20 observational studies from 2014 found those who drank the most coffee had longer life expectancies than those who drank the least.
Scientific method? Not really.
Almost every water company in the UK has admitted they still use "divining rods" to find leaks.
The discredited ancient practice involves "water witchers" or "dowsers" holding metal rods, which are claimed to cross over when underground water is near.
Questioned on Twitter about the curious method, one of the water firms, Severn Trent, said "we've found that some of the older methods are just as effective as the new ones, but we do use drones as well, and now satellites".
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 22 Nov 17
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