'Can't get influenced by research reports'

Mobile phones are harmful to health or its usage by a pregnant woman could cause damage to the health of the baby; excess consumption of coffee may lead to a haemorrhage – these warnings may sound scary but we hardly pay heed to them. They are read and soon forgotten.

Metrolife spoke to a few people from across the City to understand why such warnings fail to bring about a change in one’s behaviour . Most people said they couldn’t stick to such warnings. Lifestyle has made cellphones an indispensable part of one’s routine, Similarly, people feel such studies are baseless and research keeps changing all the time.

Mohan Salunke, a purchasing officer in a private company says, “I used to keep my cellphone in my shirt pocket, until I read that keeping the mobile phone near the chest increases the risk of heart attack. Since then, I stopped that practice and now I keep it in my pant pocket. A few days later, I read another article which said using the mobile phone itself is hazardous to health. But, there’s no way I can do away with a phone. I try to follow a few of warnings but not all.”

There are those who believe that research is steeped in contradictions. “A study says less than six hours of sleep increases the risk of colon cancer. I have odd shift timings and I am unable to catch proper sleep and if I want to sleep during the day another study said sleeping during the day increases blood pressure. So if I really follow the study then I don’t get to sleep at all,” says Prasanna, a hardware professional.
Ankita G K, a medical practitioner observes that people should not panic after reading the information published in journals because there are different yardsticks to measure the credibility and authenticity of the findings. “A few days ago I met a patient suffering from severe back pain and had a nine month old baby. She told me that she discontinued breast feeding after she read a research which stated breast feeding increases chances of back pain but it didn’t help ease the pain. She actually misinterpreted the report which said that wrong posture when breast feeding may cause back pain.”

People must differentiate between a fake and a genuine report. “When we read a report, we must consider whether the information contained is genuine and reliable. We cannot come to a conclusion based on a single study because it is not enough to make a case. However, there is no doubt that these findings do impact our behaviour,” says Santosh, a graduate.