So, while this is by no means confirmed and much more study is needed, it is possible that Diet Sodas DO contribute to obesity (and therefore the relationship may be causal). I think it is very premature to draw that conclusion though.

Obviously the value of finding correlations is that they point to anomalies that need further study to determine if causation exists. It is unfortunate that they are often misunderstood by those outside the field of study.

In my humble opinion, scientists and journals should take more responsibility for reporting their findings with a clear summary oriented for the press and the layman. They must also resist the tendency to exaggerate their findings with future funding in mind.

Similarly, the press needs to understand that until a study has been peer-reviewed and confirmed, any conclusions is draws are tentative at best.

Much of the general public can’t tell the difference between a single study pointing to an unconfirmed correlation and a well established theory with countless confirming experiments and studies. Even within a discipline, you run into a minority of “experts” who don’t completely accept the basic theories. Sometimes these rogue scientists can produce brilliant results (Ex: Einstein) and sometimes they seem to be suffering from denial (Ex: Behe).

Each scientific discipline (and even each scientist) must take responsibility for asserting what is established core theory from what is unproven conjecture at a level that the general public can understand.

Rick Smathers