And if, by the end [of this book], you reckon you might still disagree with me, then I offer you this: you'll still be wrong, but you'll be wrong with a lot more panache and flair than you could possibly manage right now.
Ben GoldacreData is the fabric of the modern world: just like we walk down pavements, so we trace routes through data, and build knowledge and products out of it.
Ben GoldacreIn the past, [medicalization]has been portrayed as something that doctors inflict on a passive and un-suspecting world - an expansion of the Medical Empire. But in reality, it seems that these reductionist bio-medical stories can appeal to us all, because complex problems often have depressingly-complex causes, and the solutions can be taxing, and unsatisfactory.
Ben GoldacreAs it is a major component of blood, water is vital for transporting oxygen to the brain. Heaven forbid that your blood should dry out.
Ben GoldacreDoctors and patients need as much data as possible to make an informed decision about what treatment is best.
Ben GoldacreIf I was writing a lifestyle book it would have the same advice on every page, and youโd know it all already. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, and live your whole life in every way as well as you can: exercise regularly as part of your daily routine, avoid obesity, donโt drink too much, donโt smoke, and donโt get distracted from the real, basic, simple causes of ill health. But as we will see, even these things are hard to do on your own, and in reality require wholesale social and political changes.
Ben Goldacre