Troubles neurologiques

How Much would you Rely on Statistical Data? The Power of Statistical Analysis towards Truth as Well as Lie

Abstract

Petridis AK

Background: Statistics is a powerfull tool in the hands of an expert but in the hands of a fool it can result in devastating conclusions, since it can fool the whole scientific world.

Method: A simulation of 340 patients with growth hormone overexpression and visual disturbance is compared with a control group of normal expressing growth hormone in healthy individuals. Different statistical analyses have been performed.

Results: All statistical analyses performed here, show a highly significant correlation of growth hormone overexpression and visual disturbance.

Conclusion: Statistically it seems that growth hormone is a cause of visual disturbance. We know that growth hormone by itself is not causing blindness but the disease hidden behind this overexpression, namely macro adenomas does. Would we not be aware of the causative disease we would easily come to the conclusion that growth hormone is strongly associated with visual disturbance. If the knowledge about a pathologic entity is incomplete a statistical analysis alone can mislead the scientific world to very strange conclusions.