Lisa:
Thanks for your note. But you're wrong.
As I point out in my article, the CDC reports a statistically insignificant association between smoking and impotence. While the crude odds ratio is statistically significant, the odds ratio adjusted for other impotence risk factors is 1.5 with a 95 percent confidence interval of 1.0 - 2.2. Since the lower bound of the confidence interval is 1.0, "no effect" can not be ruled out at the 95 percent level. So the result is statistically insignificant. That the association held after adjustment is irrelevant.
While it may be true that more smokers than nonsmokers suffer from impotence, this could easily be explained by lifestyle rather than smoking per se. Smokers are often less healthy than nonsmokers -- they don't exercise, have lower quality diets, drink more alcohol, tend to be more depressed, etc.
"60 Minutes" should correct its report. You have alarmed people without sufficient scientific evidence.
Steve Milloy
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