A diet pattern tied to sulfur-processing gut bacteria was linked to higher lung cancer risk in a study of 95,612 U.S. adults, but the connection lost statistical significance once researchers accounted for overall diet quality. The study in Nutrition Journal, published Oct. 12, used data from a large federal cancer screening trial.
That second result is the real story for readers. A link that weakens when another factor is added often means the original signal was partly driven by something else, a problem scientists call confounding.
