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From: sck@elsie.UUCP (Steve Kaufman)
Newsgroups: net.kids,net.med
Subject: Re: The Perils of Nutrasweet
Message-ID: <5183@elsie.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Jul-85 17:00:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: elsie.5183
Posted: Mon Jul 29 17:00:23 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Jul-85 04:24:27 EDT
References: <771@burl.UUCP> <394@petrus.UUCP> <182@steinmetz.UUCP> <208@steinmetz.UUCP>
Organization: NIH-LEC, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 19
Xref: watmath net.kids:1564 net.med:1852
Summary: How to look silly with statistics (or "Please think before you post") Also:  incidence estimates for PKU

In article <208@steinmetz.UUCP>, connolly@steinmetz.UUCP (C. Ian Connolly) writes:
> I am positive that more than .007% of the
> people I know are affected by Nutrasweet-sweetened soft drinks,
> so I am much more inclined to believe the 10% figure.

	3-digit precision based solely on anecdotal evidence?
	This sugar/aspartame/honey/etc stuff
	is getting more & more ridiculous every day!

	By the way, PKU is
	"a common biochemical disorder [as such things go],
	occurring with an incidence of about 1 in 15,000 births."
	[Nadler & Burton, 1980, "Genetics", p. 99 in _Fetal_&_Maternal_Medicine,
	Quilligan & Kretchmer, eds., Wiley]

	"Incidence estimates, including the milder forms,
	are as high as 1 in 7000 births in the US and Canada."
	[David Poskanzer, 1981 "Neurological Disorders", p. 281 in
	_Preventive_&_Community_Medicine_, Clark & MacMahon, eds., Little]