Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current, September 11, 2019, Image 5

Wallowa County chieftain., September 11, 2019, Page 5, Image 5

Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR

About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)

Prev Page of 18 Next Prev Issue Next Text PDF JP2 (1.4 MB) Clip/Print Image

Return to Top

Prev Page of 18 Next Prev Issue Next

Newspaper Page TextNEWS Wallowa.com Wednesday, September 11, 2019 A5 Clinical signiﬁ cance: Separating science from hype hat do these 3 state- ments have in common? From the September 2019 issue of Costco Connection, ”If Einstein had Focus Factor he’d have needed a bigger chalkboard [because its] clinically tested for- mula improves memory, con- centration and focus.”. Second, the August 29, 2019 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported the results of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) in 311 adults receiving normal doses of vitamin D3 versus high dose. “There were no signiﬁ cant differences in bone strength” at the end of 3 years. Finally, “I read that ﬁ sh oil is (or is not) good for your heart.” The common theme? All 3 state or imply that one therapy had — or did not have — a different out- come when compared to another therapy. Today’s Mountain Med- icine approaches this important W MOUNTAIN MEDICINE Ron Polk and confusing topic: What does it mean to say that there is a dif- ference between one therapy and another? From the medical science per- spective, we are often interested in knowing if different treatments result in signiﬁ cant differences in the measured outcome. Treat- ments include, for example, Focus Factor® and placebo, or differ- ent doses of vitamin D3. Out- comes Include measures of ‘mem- ory, concentration and focus’, and measures of bone strength respectively. However, there are two mean- ings for signiﬁ cant differences that are often confused: statistical sig- niﬁ cance and clinical signiﬁ cance. In a well designed RCT the measured outcomes in two or more groups are rarely exactly the same; a difference in outcomes will usually be seen. A statistical test is applied to the data to deter- mine the probability that the dif- ference is due to simple random chance. The statistical test results in a “probability value”, or sim- ply the P-value. If the test ﬁ nds a statistically signiﬁ cant differ- ence between the treatments, this means that random chance is unlikely responsible. We then usu- ally conclude that the difference is (probably) caused by differences between the treatments. Likewise if an RCT ﬁ nds there is no statistically signiﬁ cant differ- ence, such as in bone strength in the study above, we usually infer that the observed difference in outcome is compatible with ran- dom chance, and therefore the treatment will have no real effect in patients for whom it is intended. Often a new drug or therapy under investigation in pre-marketing RCTs is found to not be effective- -there is no statistically signiﬁ cant difference in outcomes. This is a common reason that new drugs do not reach the market. If an RCT ﬁ nds that a drug results in a statistically signiﬁ - cant difference in outcomes, the next question is, “Is the differ- ence clinically important?” In other words, a drug may have a real effect (a low probability that random chance explains the dif- ference), but the observed differ- ence may be small or of unknown clinical importance. Whereas sta- tistical signiﬁ cance is an objective mathematical statement based on the P-value, assessment of clinical signiﬁ cance is subjective. Nevertheless there is often broad agreement among clinicians when an outcome is large and the clinical signiﬁ cance is clear. For example, the newer shingles vac- cine (Shingrix®; Mountain Med- icine May 2, 2018) reduced the shingles incidence rate by over 90%; from 9.1per 1000 per- son-years in the placebo group to 0.3 per 1000 person-years. This difference is both statistically sig- niﬁ cant and clinically signiﬁ cant. Would Focus Factor® have improved Einstein’s mental abil- ities? There is no supporting evi- dence presented and so it is impossible to know. It goes into my folder labeled “Hype”. Is ﬁ sh oil ‘good’ for your heart? What do you mean by ‘good’? Are you talking about clinical or statis- tical signiﬁ cance? Stay tuned…. Mountain Medicine is a col- laboration between Ron Polk and Wallowa County Clinical practitioners. Legislative actions could chip away at voter registration system By Jeff Mapes Oregon Public Broadcasting PORTLAND — Ore- gon’s groundbreaking auto- matic voter registration sys- tem has led to big increases in the number of people voting. But passage of a contro- versial bill allowing undoc- umented residents to get an Oregon driver’s license could also have the unin- tended effect of eroding the effectiveness of automatic voter registration. In addition, legislators this year made a small bud- get cut that could make it more cumbersome for newly registered voters to join a political party — or to even opt out of being registered at all. John Lindback, a national elections expert who once headed Oregon’s election division, said ofﬁ cials and activists will have to take several steps to ensure the state doesn’t backslide on signing people up to vote. “People are going to be concerned about maintain- OPB Photo/Nate Sjol/East Oregonian Oregon voters drop oﬀ ballots on Election Day in Nov. 2018. Passage of a controversial bill allowing undocumented residents to get an Oregon driver’s license could have the unintended eﬀ ect of eroding the eﬀ ectiveness of the state’s automatic voter registration. ing the kind of success Ore- gon has attained,” said Lind- back, a senior adviser for the Center for Secure and Mod- ern Elections. Since 2015, Oregon has automatically registered voters using driver’s license data, which shows whether someone is a citizen and thereby eligible to vote. Peo- ple are provisionally regis- tered when they get a license and then sent a letter asking whether they want to opt out — something only around 5% choose to do. As a result, the num- ber of registered voters has skyrocketed by nearly 25% since the system came into effect in 2016. And the num- ber of people returning bal- lots has increased almost as dramatically. Now, some of those gains are being called into ques- tion by a measure allowing undocumented residents and other people who lack the documents needed to prove U.S. citizenship to get driv- er’s licenses. Under the new law, Ore- gonians will be offered two types of licenses in 2021. They can opt for a so-called Real ID that meets new federal standards and will allow holders to ﬂ y commercially and enter U.S. government installa- tions. Or they can obtain a license that shows they are qualiﬁ ed to drive but won’t show whether they are in the country legally or not. Dem- ocratic lawmakers argued the new law would improve road safety and help undocu- mented residents get to work and take their kids to school. Lindback said he is con- cerned many citizens in Ore- gon won’t opt for the Real ID license. That’s because they are expected to cost more. Plus, many people can’t or don’t want to dig Editorial: Special session? Sure, but keep it focused tightly focused and very lim- ited in their scope: This isn’t the time, for example, for proponents of cap-and-trade carbon legislation to renew their case, even though some advocates are kick- ing around that possibility. (Besides, that effort should await efforts by the gover- nor to reach out to the rural portions of Oregon where opposition to the cap-and- trade measure crystallized.) In any event, Prozanski has his work cut out for him over the next couple of weeks: Even though this looks like it should be a rel- atively easy ﬁ x, the path to ﬁ xing the death penalty bill, Senate Bill 1013, faces a number of potential pitfalls — as we learned during the last days of this year’s legis- lative session. The bill in question was ingeniously structured to limit the crimes for which Blue Mountain Eagle Gov. Kate Brown says she’s ready to call for a spe- cial legislative session to make sure that a new law limiting the use of the death penalty won’t apply to old cases. During a telephone call with reporters last week, Brown added some aster- isks: She said she would call for the session if one of the law’s key supporters, Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, is able to craft the language for what she called a “very narrow ﬁ x” for the bill and if there was enough sup- port for the ﬁ x to pass in the Legislature. The likely time for such a session would be during the week of Sept. 16, when legislative commit- tees are scheduled to meet anyway. In general, it’s wise for these special sessions to be the death penalty can be invoked without referring the question to voters. Under Oregon law, only the crime of “aggravated murder” can be punished by death. Senate Bill 1013 reduces the number of crimes that qualify as aggravated mur- der. Under the terms of the bill, aggravated murder can only be charged in cases in which a defendant kills two or more people as an act of organized terrorism; kills a child younger than 14 inten- tionally and with premedi- tation; kills another person while incarcerated for a pre- vious aggravated murder; or kills a law enforcement ofﬁ - cer. Other crimes that used to be included on the list of aggravated murder are now classiﬁ ed as “ﬁ rst-de- gree murder,” and the max- imum penalty for those is life imprisonment without parole. Most legislators and the governor, who signed the bill, believed that it wasn’t intended to be retroactive; that is, it would not apply to the 30 inmates on Ore- gon’s death row. But legal analysts determined that it could apply to death row cases which were returned to lower courts for retrial or new sentencing hearings — and that could affect those 30 cases, since not of them has exhausted their appeals. Prozanski said last week that he will press for the bill to apply only in cases when the crime is commit- ted after Sept. 29 of this year, which would seem to be sufﬁ cient to clear up any misinterpretation. up the documentation — such as a birth certiﬁ cate — showing they are a citizen. As a result, the number of people swept into the auto- matic voter registration sys- tem could steadily decline. On top of that, legislators also cut $75,000 out of the secretary of state’s budget to provide prepaid postage for newly registered voters who want to opt out regis- ter with a political party. (If prospective voters do noth- ing, they are registered as non-afﬁ liated.) That move has drawn the ire of activists who helped push for the creation of auto- matic voter registration. “Basically, it will create a barrier to participation,” said Samantha Gladu, executive director of Portland-based Next Up. The group, for- merly known as the Bus Project, seeks involve young people in liberal political causes. ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING SUPPLIES ELECTRICAL & WATER SYSTEM CONTRACTOR PUMPS • IRRIGATION HARDWARE• APPLIANCE PARTS 208 S. RIVER ST. • ENTERPRISE, OR www.jbbane.com • 541-426-3344 PET OF K THE WEE Brought to you by, Meet Darth Vader Darth is a neutered 9 year old cat with a sleek black coat. He is the “alpha male” who gets along great with female cats. He is very affectionate and lovable. Darth needs his own yard or space to roam in, plus an indoor heated space in the winter. Up to date on shots, de-worming and litter box trained. Available for Adoption Contact Karen at 541-432-7310 $45 adoption fee http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/ Anna Rinehart-Adult • Casidee Harrod-Senior • Destiny Wecks-Intermediate • Jillian Nelson-Junior Thank You! 2019 Sponsors Wallowa Mountain Open Show Bank of Eastern Oregon • Barbara Warnock • The Bookloft • BCB Ranch: Cass Botts Butterfield Farms: Dan & Lori Butterfield • Cheyenne Cafe Chrisman Development INC • Community Bank • Deb’s Apparel & Gifts Dun the Right Way Horses • Linda & Joe Estes Farm Supply Distributers • Fisher Trucking • Jayzee Lumber • Joseph Excavating Kevin’s Tire Shop • Mountain Aire Sport Horses: Connie Dunham Northwest Fence Co. • Southfork Ready Mix • SPS of Oregon 3V Ranch: Dwayne & Carol Voss • Triple Creek Cattle Co. WC Grain Growers • Wallowa Lake Vacation Rentals: The Aschenbrenners Wheatland Insurance Center INC • Char Williams Zacharias Logging: Bob & Cherryl Zacharias We're moving! Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness' main office is moving to 103 HWY 82 in Enterprise, Oregon. We will start seeing clients at the new location on August 26. wvcenterforwellness.org 541-426-4524