Sarah Louden: Correlation is not causation
Sarah Louden, Founder and CEO of Total Health, shared a post by Monica Bertagnollion on LinkedIn, adding:
“Obviously Monica Bertagnolli and Vivek Murthy have enormously powerful voices in science, prevention, and diseases but.
I cannot accept this data without having to acknowledge that correlation is not causation. In the same period of time, obesity, the incredible rise of processed food consumption, and a myriad of other environmental (including chronic stress) factors MUST contribute to cancer prevalence.
It seems so trivial to me to look at any population studies without looking at groups of people in other countries where obesity has not been part of daily life since childhood, but where ‘reasonable’ alcohol consumption is part of culture.
I’m sharing this in my own voice—not as an educator but as a human—one that has 2-3 drinks a month socially (or to help manage pain). It would not impact me if we went into a new era of prohibition!
It would, however, be so much braver to say being fat, and the food-based contributors to this largely American phenomenon cause cancer. Dr. Murthy has issued ‘concerns’, he ‘urges’ but he falls short of calling this condition and its contributors a warning like we see on cigarettes and maybe on alcohol.
I share this as a fat person. I’m 215lbs and 5’10. In 2025, I’ve worked so hard to lose 35lbs slowly and naturally but I’m fighting against the currents—like millions on millions of my fellow citizens have done for years.
We have to stop being afraid of using our words. We have to stop labeling things as ‘fat-shaming’. That’s not what it is in a clinical setting—it’s called delivering healthcare.
That would be what it was if our Surgeon General put a warning right on the boxes of food and drinks that slowly kill us with heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
That’s as close to a TED talk as I’ll get this year.
Happy to hear the yays and nays to my position.”
Quoting Monica Bertagnollion’s post:
“Today, Dr. Vivek Murthy released a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the causal link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. With about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths per year in the U.S., we must increase awareness of the risks of alcohol consumption.”
More posts featuring Sarah Louden.
Sarah Louden is the Founder and CEO of Total Health Oncology. She is a committed advocate for women in business and healthcare and also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Cancer Equity Project.
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