John Doe wrote:
If you want to read about the benefit of wearing a helmet while
riding a bicycle, all you have to do is research the matter.

Yes. Unfortunately presenting these soundbites is not "researching the
matter."


J Clin Neurosci. 2004 Feb;11(2):126-9.

Helmet wearing ... essential for the prevention of head injury.

The report suggests no evidence to back up this claim.

Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2003 Oct;42(8):673-7.

Helmet use protects against head injury.

The abstract asserts this, but provides no evidence to back it up.
This report doesn't even discuss that - it is titled "Parental knowledge
and children's use of bicycle helmets.". For you to suggest that it
discusses the benefits of wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle (as
per your opening comments above), is at best disengenous and at worst
deliberately misleading.

Inj Prev. 2003 Sep;9(3):266-7.

Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK...
The wearing of a cycle helmet is estimated to prevent 60% of head
injuries.

The Cook & Sheikh report has been widely discredited - see the BMA
website for many responses from health professionals.

Ugeskr Laeger. 2002 Oct 28;164(44):5115-9.

Helmets offer bicyclists aged 0-15 years protection against head
injury.

You've (un)helpfully snipped the following sentence that says that they
have no effect in accidents involving motor vehicles.

Online J Knowl Synth Nurs. 2002 Mar 25;9:1. Print 2002 Mar 25.

Current research continues to show that bicycle helmets prevent
serious injury and death in cyclists of all ages. Children are at
special risk for head injury.

Again some disengenous snipping: "The purpose of this review was to
update information on the use and protective effect of bicycle helmets
for child cyclists. "


Arch Pediatr. 2001 Nov;8(11):1246-50.

All five conclude in favor of the effectiveness of the bicycle
helmet even when taking bias into account.

Another review paper - no new data. Just because a paper reviews, eg,
Cook & Sheikh, doesn't now mean you have TWO papers suggesting that
helmets are a good thing.

Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2001 May;33(3):345-52.

In conclusion, the evidence is clear that bicycle helmets prevent
serious injury and even death.

Another meta-analysis. See above.


Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2000 Jun 30;120(17):1955-9.

BACKGROUND: Bicycle helmets prevent head injury in bicycle riders...
RESULTS: ... If every rider used a helmet, about 1,600 head injuries
would be avoided every year, of these, 800 among children aged 0-
14... INTERPRETATIONS: There is a significant health improvement
potential in promoting bicycle helmets in Norway

Can't comment on this as I can't read Norweigan (David?....)

Semin Neurol. 2000;20(2):247-53.

Helmet usage and common sense would lower the number of serious head
trauma cases by 50%.

And the report sensibly doesn't suggest how this figure should be
divided up.

Inj Prev. 1998 Jun;4(2):122-5.

More than 70% of injured bicyclists reported no helmet use. The
proportion of admissions of injured bicyclists who did not use
helmets was always higher than the proportion of admissions of those
who used helmets (OR = 2.23, CI = 1.39 to 3.62). Head and face
injuries occurred more often among those who did not use helmets.

So, wearing a helmet on the top of your head protects your face, does
it? How, exactly?

I can't be arsed to go through this any more. You've taken a
collection of reports, some of which are simply reviews of each other,
you've done some very selective snipping, you've evidently not actually
read the full reports, just the abstracts, and you don't seem to be
aware of the many failures of some of these reports (eg Cook & Sheikh,
Thompson and Riviera) that have led to some reports being withdrawn by
their authors.