Unless ratio measurements are reported with the underlying risks , readers of nutrition and clinical reports cannot cannot judge the significance of the effect.
Nutrition is not renowned for giving such data and this is a real deficiency as strong claims are made for the adverse or positive benefit of the nutrient or food being studied and yet the data is very subjective to the authors whim. The failure to give such figures may well exaggerate a claim.
It is necessary for nutrition to be more rigorous in defining risk

see

Ratio measures in leading medical journals : structured review of accessibility of underlying absolute risks. Schwartz et al BMJ 2006, 333, 1248-50

blogger_blog:

www.nutrition-nutritionists.com

blogger_author:

Martin Eastwood

blogger_permalink:

/2006/12/ratio-risks-in-nutrition.html