> Health and Disease > Men's Health Issues

“More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!” proclaims the vintage ad, in boldface type. “Based upon three nationally known independent research organizations.”

I sometimes think I was born in the wrong era–why couldn’t I have been living it up in the time when everything was supposedly good for you, as opposed to the world of today, where everything fun, it seems, is hell-bent on giving me cancer, clogging my arteries, or frying all the major wiring in my brain?

One thing that hasn’t changed in the last 50 years is the kind of control that interested parties have in distributing information to the public. Research and science are routinely misused to further both marketing strategies and political agendas. Bias, distortions, omissions, and spin aren’t new; they’ve just gotten sneakier. Perhaps as an audience, we’ve gotten so used to them that we sometimes forget that it’s happening. But it’s tough not to notice when every day seems to feature a new front-page fear–or a complete reversal of what was said the day before!

There was a period in my life when I just got fed up. It seemed like half the “research studies” that were printed in major newspapers were actually regurgitated press releases from companies with something to sell. Everything I saw and read seemed to have an agenda way beyond the sharing of information. The rise of celebrity worship, the dumbing-down of news, and the explosion of info-tainment made me ornery and distrustful, so I just stopped reading. I got rid of my TV, too. Soon, I was blissfully ignorant. I had no idea what was going on in the world, and I had never been happier!

I should have known it couldn’t last. At parties, people would talk about everything from politics to pop culture, and I’d just sit there, staring blankly. At first, I tried explaining why I didn’t know what was going on, but all I got in return were these strange looks. I could tell what they were thinking: “Next she’ll be telling us that they faked the moon landing…” I soon stopped trying to explain and said nothing. Then I just looked like a dummy.

Luckily, I got a little older and wiser (and decided that a world without Beverly Hills, 90210 was too sad to live in). I realized that, somewhere between the embittered cynic and the apathetic ostrich, there was some room for me. I sought out materials that presented other viewpoints and encouraged intelligent debate.

I’d like to think that now I can read something with a critical–not a cynical–eye, and then judge for myself. Every once in a while, I can just ignore it and go back to my place of happy ignorance. After all, I remember reading somewhere that reading about studies in the newspaper can raise your blood pressure…

Jenn Farrell is a Vancouver writer who believes fervently in the studies about the health benefits of wine consumption.

Source: alive #297, July 2007