

Study: Parachutes effective to prevent trauma due to gravitational challenge? - marvin
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7429/1459?ijkey=425457f110f8db584617b87a1eace92eaa39ff02

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sungam
Some context: This article was a satirical commentary on the situation in
evidence-based medicine where the absence of large double-blind placebo-
controlled randomized controlled trials was equated with an absence of
efficacy, for example it would be completely unethical to do a placebo
controlled trial of penicillin as a treatment for infection as patients would
have to die to prove that it worked.

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albertcardona
"Double-blind placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials" are a TOTAL
REQUIREMENT to assess the effectiveness of incremental drugs, i.e. drugs that
claim to be _better_ than some other existing drug. In the case of the
parachute, there is no such _other_ : apply common sense. If any society has
managed to enforce by law the Double-blind ... etc assay, then that society
will rightly get what it deserves for its bureaucratically administered
shortsightedness.

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streety
Their references fail to support all their statements. For example from the
introduction, "In addition, "natural history" studies of free fall indicate
that failure to take or deploy a parachute does not inevitably result in an
adverse outcome." Chasing down the reference for that statement points to the
case of Vesna Vulović. According to wikipedia she a) was in a plane at the
time of impact which will exhibit significantly different freefall
characteristics to the human body and b) she "suffered a broken skull, three
broken vertebrae, one crushed completely, and was in a coma for 27 days" which
to me would be an adverse outcome.

Further studies are clearly needed. I suggest animal studies in pigs.

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yters
Your recommendation is problematic since the results will only apply to people
who have a build like a pig.

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martythemaniak
Lack of proper nutrition and exercise will soon make this point completely
moot.

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hschenker
Satire's usually more effective when it's not immediately obvious, as in this
BMJ article: <http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/329/7480/1447?ehom>

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dejb
It is sad that so many superstitious people keep wasting their money on these
snake oil scams.

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niels_olson
how many times is this article going to surface? I can recall at least four
times in the last year between here and reddit.

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briancooley
I'd hate to end up in the placebo group...

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DenisM
clap-clap-clap

