The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

My wife is 78 and I am 80. We both eat tomatoes and red peppers
daily
as major components of our diet. Neither of us suffers from any
arthritis.
My neighbour is 78 and his wife is 75. They both love tomatoes
and he
cultivates them intensively in his greenhouse. Neither of them
have
ever complained about arthritis.

But no-one is suggesting that tomatoes cause arthritis, but they *CAN*
aggravate it.

This isn't very good logic as far as I can see. I think it is
unliekly that
Tomatoes have a major part in arthritis but your argument is rather
like.
The famous Great aunt hypothesis and smoking.

I did not attempt any logical deduction in that statement. I made a
very straightforward statement of fact. Yes, it is anecdotal
evidence. Nevertheless, a cluster with 0 out of 4 does have a wee
bit of statistical significane.

"They say Smoking causes cancer but I had a great aunt who smoked 60
a day
and lived to 90"

A single incidence like that has almost zero statistical value.

ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE IS NOT EVIDENCE OF ABSENCE!

That's trivially right. Why did you shout it?

You have too small a sample to be sure of anything.

That is correct. But whoever wishes to, may add it to whatever sized
sample they already possess.

Tomatoes don't affect me, and didn't before I had a knee replacement
(arthritis was present there) and neither did rhubarb. I have a friend
who loves rhubarb, but it really hits his rheumaticky bits, and tomatoes
don't.

OTOH, I used to know someone (since passed to the great polytunnel in
the sky) who ached if he so much as looked at a tomato...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/