Question

Good for the gut? Is fish good for the gut? Researchers tracked $22,000$ male physicians for $22$ years. Those who reported eating seafood of any kind at least $5$ times per week had a $40\%$ lower risk of colon cancer than those who said they ate seafood less than once a week. Explain how confounding makes it unreasonable to conclude that eating seafood causes a reduction in the risk of colon cancer, based on this study

Short answer

Combining facts might lead to incorrect outcomes. therefore, confounding makes it unreasonable to conclude that eating seafood causes a reduction in the risk of colon cancer, based on this study.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

We need to explain how confounding, making it difficult to conclude that consuming seafood reduces the risk of colon cancer.

Simplify

It's worth noting that the researchers followed $22,000$ male doctors for $22$ years.
The study also discovered that people who ate fish of any kind at least five times each week had a $40\%$lower risk of developing cancer than those who ate seafood less than once per week.
As a result of the confounding, it is irrational to conclude that consuming seafood reduces the risk of colon cancer because the study was originally conducted to determine whether fish is beneficial for the gut or not, and then it moved to seafood and colon cancer.
As a result, combining facts might lead to incorrect outcomes.
Separate investigations should have been conducted to obtain precise results and draw appropriate conclusions.