This CNN article (1) begins by focusing on summarizing a recent study from the journal of Nature Communications, “Fructose-1, 6-bisphophate couples glycolytic flux to activation of Ras” by Peeters et al. (2) to ask in essence, if sugar leads to cancer and suggests that the research project may influence personal medicine and dies for cancer patients.
The article by Peeters et al., examined yeast and cancer cells as they share a yeast mutation to identify the molecular connection between glucose fermentation and the activation of RAS. They conclude that the Warburg effect creates a vicious cycle through Fru1,6bisP activation of Ras, by which enhanced fermentation stimulates oncogenic potency.
The CNN article further references other studies that that may leads to the linkage of eating excess sugar can lead to weight gain. Thereby increasing risk for obesity, which in turn, is linked to a higher risk of some cancer.
When examining whether media outlets accurately report what is presenting in scholarly articles, it is important to scrutinize if certain circumstances or false pretenses may be occurring:
- Did the journalist accurately translate the technical jargon of the article?
- Did the journalist make causal or audacious conclusions?
- Are multiple studies cited without accounting for shortcoming’s and differences in individual studies?
- Are the significant finding reporting’s over or under inflated?
The original article is extremely technical, but from my understanding of the study, the science writer for CNN does not deviate much from the content outlined in the publication. The title, however is misleading. As most writers must do, they created an attention-grabbing headline, in order to draw readers in. Where this becomes a problem is when individuals run off with just the headline(s) and potentially spread inaccurate information. As professionals, we should be aware of this issue, especially when working with patients who may skim news outlets as a primary source of information. We should make efforts to thoroughly inform our patients and make them away of some of these possible misrepresentations. It would be more beneficial to refer our clients and /or patients to reputable sources and explain that one study is not enough to substantiate its findings; readings reviews and meta-analyses are more helpful.
- http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/health/sugar-cancer-relationship-study/index.html
- Peeters, K., Van Leemputte, F., Fischer, B., Bonini, B. M., Quezada, H., Tsytlonok, M., & … Thevelein, J. M. (2017). Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate couples glycolytic flux to activation of Ras. Nature Communications, 8(1), 922. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01019-z
It is interesting to see a news article that basically correctly reported on a journal article. And while the headline is very misleading, you could argue that it’s technically true. Many studies do show that excess sugar leads to weight gain, and many complications of being overweight or obese do increase risk for many cancers. That shows an interesting, different side to these news articles. Many make false claims from a study they didn’t read past the headlines, and many consumers can tell it’s completely baseless after reading the article. However, an article like this make claims that are technically true if you explain. Articles like this are probably more dangerous as they are much more believable.