Posted by Larry Hoover on May 28, 2006, at 11:47:48
In reply to Re: TCA's are genotoxic ? Addendum » Larry Hoover, posted by ed_uk on May 28, 2006, at 11:31:41
> Hi Lar
>
> It's good to hear what you said about TCAs because I often taken a bit of amitriptyline.
>
> Thanks Lar
>
> EdI'm glad there was some reassurance in what I said. When I first entered toxicology, every discovery I read about had me freaking out. Plasticizers leaching into food in the microwave. Stuff getting into water supplies via sewage. Just plain old pollution exposures. And so on.
Maybe I'm jaded. But I don't think so.
The abstract linkage put up concludes with this remark, and it is critical in contextualizing the risk: "However, our results may have been confounded by the effects of other determinants of breast cancer associated with tricyclic antidepressant use."
Chronic pain is correlated both with tricyclic use and cancer risk. So is depression itself. Both syndromes themselves are correlated with poor diet and lack of exercise. Etc. Etc.
I almost never use etc. But this time, it's important. Any co-factor that increases relative risk above 1.000000 is a confound (as are those which reduce that risk, but I can't think of many of those). There are gazillions of them, probably, these confounds. And, unless you correct your test for significance for all of the confounds, your significant outcome is merely suggestive.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:647031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060525/msgs/649690.html