Results have been published by the University of Rochester (Futurity Today) suggesting a link between high blood pressure in children and their ability to learn. A study examined 201 children between the ages of 10 and 18 and found 18% to have learning difficulties, against 5% in the overall population. Previous links have been established between learning difficulties and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Standard medication given to children with ADHD is known to raise blood pressure, so a curious triangle is emerging. Does the medication for ADHD cause hypertension, and the hypertension in turn cause learning difficulties? Or does ADHD cause learning difficulties directly? With a growing trend for children in the United States to be hypertensive (currently estimated at 4% of the total) there is potential for this to become a large problem, not only in the US, but also in the UK. Think about the established links with hypertension and obesity.

So, is this a "good" study? If this were part of an A level biology question we could discuss the sample size, the control group and the method of data collection. What about clinical trials? Would hypertension have been seen as a problem as a side effect if clinical trials had taken place before a link had been established between hypertension and learning difficulties? What about afterwards? It is easy to take scientific information presented at face value. With a little more investigation and thought, science is not always as it first appears.