h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Seen this?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/12/05/ngay05.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/12/05/ixportal.html
"Pregnant women who take slimming pills 'are more likely to have gay children'
...
The mothers of homosexuals were found to be up to eight times more likely to have taken such drugs, with the effect being strongest with daughters whose mothers took the drugs during the first three months of pregnancy."

I'd love to see all the evidence but the way it is being reported seems to be, argueing in reverse? I.e. take parents who have children who are homosexual and then find a common theme.
But then I haven't had time to read it properly yet!

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That is certainly how it looks to me.

Snappy subject title, btw.


az

Yes, that's an attention-getter, that is.

My first thought was 'The US is going to release a study suggesting that homosexuality is not a choice???' How very progressive of us.

And yes, it does seem the research was performed backwards.

I would think that if this study has any merit, over the last decade or so we would have seen a rise in the homosexual female population. I say this because it's becoming more widely known that pregnancy often causes thyroid disorders, meaning that as more women are diagnosed with these problems there are a higher percentage of women taking thyroid medication during their subsequent pregnancies. A study I would put more faith in will survey these women for the sexual orientation of their offspring.

This sort of study is known as a case control study and is a fairly standard way of generatiing hypothses to study in more detail. It's not proof but you need to be able to have a hypothese to test in a prospective study.

I'll tell you what does cause homosexualism.

Cutting the the crusts of sandwhiches. My aunt did that and 50% of her sons are on the other

Me and my brothers all had our crusts left on and none of us even like musicals.

Ive heard that fancying people of your own sex more than the opposite makes you gay too. Who'd have thunk it?

one love

At the risk of being accussed of pushing one of my own entries I'm pushing one of my own entries.

If indeed I could remember too.. A852761

"you need to be able to have a hypothese to test in a prospective study."

Yes, but shouldn't you conduct the study before going public with your findings?

are you? Gonna give us a clue which one?

Oh, and thanks for the info re: the type of study. So basically this shouldn;t be reported as it is, but rather as a study aimed and providing a hypothesis?

dammit, slow servers!

*thinks*

Well it's quite common to go public with the preliminary findings to the scientific community, for instance you might not have the funding available to conduct a prospective co-hort study. In this circumstance a prospective cohort study would take years.

Also it might be in the public interest to report primilary findings, if instead of suggesting a link bettween slimming pills and homosexualty it suggested a link bettween slimming pills and diabetes, you would want to advise women not to take slimming pills when pregnant.

Yeah, my post was before Z posted the link to the entry, thanks for that .

strikes me then that there is a neglected duty to both communicate to the press accurately and for the press to be educated to report accurately. In several points in that article it states that there is a link. Even quoting the Prof. involved. Having read Z's article I can see that this does appear to be where the study is coming from, but it was not obvious on first reading. Most people unaware of this would, I think, come away believing that there is link between the two proven by medical research. Which is unfortunate.

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Hmmm, so is this a thinly disguised attempt to label homosexuality as something 'undesirable' and 'avoidable'? Also, I can't imagine why any woman would take slimming pills while pregnant, unless she was taking them before she found out she was pregnant.


az

maybe they have seen the photo in the paper today of the 12oz 7oz baby and got worried?

12lb 7oz

Az - I can think of several women who WOULD take slimming pills when pregnant, given half a chance. My own sister is so obsessed with being thin and wearing size 6 jeans and so on and so forth that she whined incessantly throughout her pregnancy. She did take care to be and do healthy for the baby's sake (including giving up smoking we were very proud) but if she had been a little less clued up on health, I can see her taking slimming pills very easily. She met some other women during classes who were SO annoyed about their water retention and swelling tummies that they completely lost sight of the baby's needs and two of them went on the Atkins diet until the midwife found out and bawled them out.

But I am worried about the effects on the babies' health, not on their sexuality. And so should everyone else be.

Quite agree with you there, Agapanthus.

Meanwhile, I feel suspicious of *any* research study that is concerned about what 'creates' homosexuals. What could possibly be the motive behind these studies that wasn't somehow related to homophobic attitudes?


az

Betting on pregnant women going out to buy nausea treatment now?

I think this is a somewhat frivalous investigation, and somewhat irresponsibly publicised.

I don't even think I bare to comment on this. I may end up getting very p!ssed off and quite honestly I am enjoying being in a good mood.

Women have been intimate with each other for centuries. It is only now that the men have found out about it because it is 'almost' ok to be a gay/bi woman (moreso than a gay/bi man).
So of course it is going to appear to be more prevalent in women.

Stories of women that have been married for 30 years and have kids that have 'turned' to women are very common.

Give anyone a bunch of stats and you can make it say anything you want - just look at the sugar incident.



*heads of for a *