Health Writing - DeMystifying Medicine for the Masses

Given my six-year intensive foray into the land of doctors, medicine, and disease, I've been reminded of how important it is for SOMEONE to deliver GOOD health and medical information to "the masses." Much of what we read in mainstream newspapers and magazines regarding the lastest medical studies, controversies, and "discoveries" is too often reported by media people who have no idea what they're talking about - not really. They have neither the knowledge nor the expertise that would enable them to responsibly report on the medical and scientific issues of the day. Ditto for television reporters.

Here's one small example. You pick up the newspaper and read an article that says "the study shows that hormone replacement therapy increases a woman's risk for breast cancer."

What the article doesn't say, however, is that this risk was not shown to be  "statistically significant." In other words, if the risk increases by  a very very small percentage, researchers and doctors do not consider it significant. But when lay people read the article, all they think is, "Oh my god, I can't take estrogen because it will increase my risk of breast cancer!"

Wrong. It's WAY more complicated than that.

It's no big deal if you make a mistake reporting on the lastest fashion trend in shoes, but it's a pretty darn big deal to mislead the public if you're reporting on the latest national breast cancer study.

 

Comments

[Sue Silva]

Hi Jane. Here's wishing you the best of luck on your next surgery. Your blog has always been interesting and well written. With this recent unhappy twist of fate, it has become compelling.

Sue

[Dee]

Hi again Jane,

You're absolutely right. There is far too much misinformation in the media about such things.
Since I've been diagnosed with breast cancer, I feel like I've had a crash course in it. All the poor information that seems to be around, makes me quite angry.

Anyway, I wanted to wish you luck with surgery.
I had the results of bone, liver and lung scans back today, which show no sign of any metastatic spread. So a bit of good news for once!

I wish you all the luck in the world, and hope your nodes are negative!

Dee
xxx