Hacker News Reader

Also, it's not a failure to e.g. notice that high levels of biomarker X are correlated with disease Y, so let's try lowering X and see what happens. That's just the next step in determining causality.

What happens is doctors read the correlation and start massively prescribing biomarker targeted remedies (such as vitamin B) before any causation is shown. Why does this happen?

View on HN

> Why does this happen?

I'd guess it's because promoting this possible causal link as a cure for diseases is pretty much the easiest way to get it tested---where else will you find 25k volunteers?

As always, when people are involved, the reason for failure seems to be in the incentive structure.

Because treatment is not science. Its goal is not to understand more about your body but to cure you and/or relieve you of your symptoms. So yes, doctors try to cure with what they know is the best option and they try again if it fails.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com