(Press-News.org) A new study, published in Addiction, shines a light on how industries associated with health harms—such as tobacco, fossil fuels, and in this case, alcohol—can distort the evaluation of scientific research through industry-friendly commentary.
A team of researchers led by UVic’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR), analyzed 268 critiques of alcohol and health studies published online since 2010 by the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research, or ISFAR.
ISFAR describes themselves as an international group of “invited physicians and scientists who are specialists in their fields and committed to balanced and well researched analysis regarding alcohol and health.” However, members have continuing alcohol-industry connections, says Tim Stockwell, CISUR scientist, professor emeritus at UVic’s psychology department, and co-author of the study.
“Although ISFAR has long-standing ties to the alcohol industry, it is still frequently quoted in the media as an authoritative voice on matters relating to alcohol and health,” says Stockwell. “We had observed their critiques seemed to favour studies finding health benefits from alcohol, and to be critical of those that said otherwise. We set out to test this impartially and comprehensively.”
The researchers’ hypotheses were confirmed, whether using data generated by human coders or by computer-based text analysis of the ISFAR critiques. The team found studies supporting an industry-friendly narrative were ten times more likely to receive a positive review from ISFAR than those suggesting otherwise. Notably, ISFAR’s favorability ratings were completely unrelated to the studies’ level of scientific merit as assessed by an independent expert who was not otherwise involved in the project.
“This analysis confirms the impression that ISFAR is an industry-friendly echo chamber whose critiques are determined more by whether they like the conclusions contained in research papers than by scientific merit,” says Stockwell. “We’ve seen this playbook before with the tobacco industry trying to discredit science around smoking’s harms.”
It’s a reminder that we need to be mindful of where our information is coming from and who is paying for its creation, says Stockwell.
Read the study The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) critiques of alcohol research: Promoting health benefits and downplaying harms
END
Forum with alcohol industry ties shows significant bias in reviews of health research
A new study, published in Addiction, shines a light on how industries associated with health harms—such as tobacco, fossil fuels, and in this case, alcohol—can distort the evaluation of scientific research through industry-friendly commentary.
2025-07-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Underestimated sources of marine pollution
2025-07-09
Plastic waste pollutes oceans across all regions of the world. Marine animals may become entangled in larger plastic debris such as nets and bags or mistake smaller pieces for food. Ingested plastic can block or injure the gastrointestinal tract. The smallest plastic particles in the micro and nano range are mostly excreted, but a small proportion can pass through the intestinal wall and enter the bloodstream.
So how much nanoplastic is actually present in the oceans? Most scientific attention has so far been focussed ...
IPK research team unlocks potential of barley’s closest wild relative, Hordeum bulbosum
2025-07-09
Wild relatives of cultivated plants are a vital source of genetic diversity for improving crops and provide a valuable reservoir of resistance against biotic and abiotic stressors. Although their value has been recognised for decades, technological obstacles have long hindered their exploration. Thanks to advances in high-throughput genomic research, the same tools can now be used in crops and their wild relatives.
An international research team led by the IPK Leibniz Institute studied structural genome evolution in barley (Hordeum vulgare) and Hordeum bulbosum. For this study, Dr. Frank Blattner collected H. bulbosum ...
Study reveals the hidden benefits of weight loss on fat tissue
2025-07-09
Scientists have produced the first detailed characterisation of the changes that weight loss causes in human fat tissue by analysing hundreds of thousands of cells. They found a range of positive effects, including clearing out of damaged, ageing cells, and increased metabolism of harmful fats.
The researchers say the findings help to better understand how weight loss leads to health improvements at a molecular level, which in the future could help to inform the development of therapies for diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
The study, published in the journal Nature, compared samples ...
Gut microbes key to understanding how exercise boosts cancer immunity
2025-07-09
A new study from the University of Pittsburgh shows for the first time how exercise improves cancer outcomes and enhances response to immunotherapy in mice by reshaping the gut microbiome.
The research, published in the journal Cell, found that these benefits are driven by a specific compound called formate, which is produced by gut bacteria in exercised mice and was also associated with better outcomes in patients with melanoma.
“We already knew that exercise increases the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapies, and we separately knew that exercise changes the microbiome in mice and humans,” said ...
Morning vs bedtime dosing and nocturnal blood pressure reduction in patients with hypertension
2025-07-09
About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial of antihypertensive chronotherapy, bedtime dosing provided better control of nocturnal blood pressure and improved the circadian rhythm, without reducing the efficacy on mean daytime or 24-hour blood pressure, or increasing the risk of nocturnal hypotension. These findings support the potential advantages of bedtime administration and offer new evidence to guide future research on antihypertensive chronotherapy.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Xiaoping Chen, MD, email xiaopingchen15@126.com.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.19354)
Editor’s ...
BMI in children before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic
2025-07-09
About The Study: This cross-sectional study including 426,000 children in Denmark found that body mass index (BMI) outcomes of COVID-19 pandemic–related control policies and restrictions were not exclusively observed among children with obesity, which suggests that pandemic-related mitigation policies targeting children and adolescents in all BMI categories are warranted. The findings of this study highlight differences among children of varying ages and BMI classes.
Corresponding Author: To contact ...
Branching out: Tomato genes point to new medicines
2025-07-09
Picture juicy red tomatoes on the vine. What do you see? Some tomato varieties have straight vines. Others are branched. The question is why. New research from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) provides the strongest evidence to date that the answer lies in what are called cryptic mutations. The findings have implications for agriculture and medicine, as they could help scientists fine-tune plant breeding techniques and clinical therapeutics.
Cryptic mutations are differences in DNA that don’t affect physical traits unless certain other genetic changes occur at the same time. CSHL Professor & HHMI Investigator Zachary Lippman has ...
Charité study analyzes 400 million years of enzyme evolution
2025-07-09
Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions in organisms - without which life would not be possible. Leveraging AlphaFold2 artificial intelligence, researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now succeeded in analyzing the laws of their evolution on a large scale. In the journal Nature*, they describe the parts of enzymes that change comparatively quickly and the parts that remain practically unchanged over time. These findings are relevant to the development of new antibiotics, for example.
Enzymes resemble ...
Large-scale DNA study maps 37,000 years of disease history
2025-07-09
A research team led by Eske Willerslev, professor at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge, has recovered ancient DNA from 214 known human pathogens in prehistoric humans from Eurasia.
The study shows, among other things, that the earliest known evidence of zoonotic diseases – illnesses transmitted from animals to humans, like COVID in recent times – dates back to around 6,500 years ago, with such diseases becoming more widespread approximately 5,000 years ago. It is ...
Results from largest review of its kind on antidepressant withdrawal symptoms
2025-07-09
The largest review of ‘gold standard’ antidepressant withdrawal studies to date has identified the type and incidence of symptoms experienced by people discontinuing antidepressants, finding most people do not experience severe withdrawal.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of previous randomised controlled trials relating to antidepressant withdrawal, a team of researchers led by Imperial College London and King’s College London concluded that, while participants who stopped antidepressants did experience an average of one more symptom than those who continued or were taking ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Orange is the new aphrodisiac—for guppies
Murals boost Cincinnati’s vitality, community development
Ad blockers may be showing users more problematic ads, NYU Tandon study finds
Verbal response time reveals hidden sleepiness in older adults
University of Maryland School of Medicine launches groundbreaking study on THC/CBD therapy for dementia-related agitation at end of life
Targeting stem-property and vasculogenic mimicry for sensitizing paclitaxel therapy of triple-negative breast cancer by biomimetic codelivery
SRSF7 promotes pulmonary fibrosis through regulating PKM alternative splicing in lung fibroblasts
Psychological stress-activated NR3C1/NUPR1 axis promotes ovarian tumor metastasis
An anti-complement homogeneous polysaccharide from Houttuynia cordata ameliorates acute pneumonia with H1N1 and MRSA coinfection through rectifying Treg/Th17 imbalance in the gut–lung axis and NLRP3 i
ALKBH3-regulated m1A of ALDOA potentiates glycolysis and doxorubicin resistance of triple negative breast cancer cells
A photodynamic nanohybrid system reverses hypoxia and augment anti-primary and metastatic tumor efficacy of immunotherapy
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 6 Publishes
From injury to agony: Scientists discover brain pathway that turns pain into suffering
Molecular simulations show graphite ‘hijacks’ diamond formation through unexpected crystallization pathways
Scientific breakthrough uses cold atoms to unlock cosmic mysteries
First-of-its-kind journal facilitates rapid publication of AI research
AI tool helps improve detection of cardiac amyloidosis
Loneliness predicts poor mental and physical health outcomes
Keeping the photon in the dark
FDA-approved drugs could make nano-medicine safer, study finds
Many seafloor fish communities are retaining their individuality despite human impacts
Somali women’s perspectives on female genital mutilation and its abandonment
Structure of tick-borne virus revealed at atomic resolution for the first time
The robot will see you now
Stepping up the potential of wearables: predicting pediatric surgery complications
Prenatal and childhood lead exposure linked to faster memory decay in children
Medical needles in the hands of AI
Source criticism in school requires more than isolated interventions
Mount Sinai’s Andy Jagoda, MD, receives top honor from New York chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians
Clinical trials reveal promising alternatives to highly toxic tuberculosis drug
[Press-News.org] Forum with alcohol industry ties shows significant bias in reviews of health researchA new study, published in Addiction, shines a light on how industries associated with health harms—such as tobacco, fossil fuels, and in this case, alcohol—can distort the evaluation of scientific research through industry-friendly commentary.