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Think the Answer Clear? Look Again

The New York Times Science
by Katie Hafner
August 30, 2010

The article starts with

(1) Win an Academy Award and you’re likely to live longer than had you been a runner-up.

(2) Interview for medical school on a rainy day, and your chances of being selected could fall..

Such are some of the surprising findings of Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a physician-researcher and perhaps the leading debunker of preconceived notions in the medical world

It is hard to believe that the New York Times did not know that that item 1 has been debuned. It was claimed to be true by

The assertion that Oscar winners live longer was based on an article by Donald Redelmeier, and Sheldon Singh: "Survival in Academy Award-winning actors and actresses". Annals of Internal medicine, 15 May, 2001, Vol. 134, No. 10, 955-962.

this was convincdenlty debunked by Peter Doyle and his student Mark Mixer. Mark illustrated the key of their problem with the remark breaking your hip increases your lPeter used a simulation to show that Oscer winners do not live longer.

Later

Sylvestre M, Huszti E, Hanley JA. 

Do Oscar winners live longer than less successful peers? A reanalysis of the evidence. Ann Intern Med. 2006;145:361-3.