The Critical News Consumer.Newspapers. The nightly news Nightly News may refer to
It's difficult to evaluate medical or scientific information about MS, even if it's presented in popular terms. For instance, an ABC news
ABC News is a division of American television and radio network ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Its current president is David Westin. report about Wisconsin researchers studying a possible link between the HHV-6 virus and MS led many viewers to believe that scientists had finally found "Finally Found" was the debut single from the Honeyz. This was their most successful single in the UK and worldwide, securing a number 4 position in the UK singles chart and achieved platinum status in Australia [1] Tracklisting # Title Length the cause of--and a cure for--the disease. The research study cited turned out to be preliminary. Many Internet surfers came across an article warning that the food additive Noun 1. food additive - an additive to food intended to improve its flavor or appearance or shelf-life artificial additive additive - something added to enhance food or gasoline or paint or medicine aspartame aspartame: see sweetener, artificial. aspartame Synthetic organic compound (a dipeptide) of phenylalanine and aspartic acid. It is 150–200 times as sweet as cane sugar and is used as a nonnutritive tabletop sweetener and in low-calorie was responsible for an MS "epidemic". In fact, none of the claims in the article were supported by scientific evidence. Reports like these can send people with MS on an emotional roller coaster What a bad CD-R disc is often called. See CD-R and underrun. ride. It pays to have basic critical guidelines for digesting medical and scientific information. Hot headlines, vague qualifiers A dramatic headline is the most effective hook to grab audiences' attention. Be skeptical of announcements that seem too good to be true or that make sweeping claims. Flashy headlines are often balanced by disclaimers or qualifiers in the body of the story. Such phrases as "might possibly", "may be", "appears to be", "supposedly", "could suggest" mean exactly what they say: Doubt remains about a reported result. Who said? Always evaluate the credibility of the source of any information. Does the reporter have expertise in the field? Do quoted experts have bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding. A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being credentials? Does the story give clear references or citations for the original sources? Are these from reputable journals, conferences, or medical centers? Are they current? Most television health information reports must fit into a time slot Continuously repeating interval of time or a time period in which two devices are able to interconnect. of a few minutes--a format that requires breathtaking "breakthrough" news stories. Make sure you catch your breath after hearing about any "miracle cure" or surefire treatment. Don't forget that important details are being left out. The ABC news story on the HHV-6 link to MS did not put the scientific study they cited into context. Most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , it failed to emphasize that this study was very small, involving only 11 people. To date, there is no reputable clinical evidence that antiviral agents antiviral agent Antiviral Infectious disease An agent that prevents viral invasion or replication, treats an infection, or thrashes the virus into latency; antivirals may be specific–see below or nonspecific–eg, IFNs, which stimulate host defenses , particularly in an oral form, can influence the disease course of MS. The ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. story suggested otherwise. Research on HHV-6 is promising--but it's a far cry from being a breakthrough. Crib sheet on scientific studies The words "scientific study" carry a great deal of authority, but there are different kinds of studies and research procedures--which means that all reported findings shouldn't be given the same weight. The most reputable study method for specific treatments is the double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Here, participants are randomly assigned to 2 treatment groups, one receiving the experimental treatment, the other receiving a placebo (an inert substance) or a control substance such as an older standard treatment. This kind of study is double-blinded, meaning that neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the new treatment until the study is completed. This minimizes any bias that can skew (1) The misalignment of a document or punch card in the feed tray or hopper that prohibits it from being scanned or read properly. (2) In facsimile, the difference in rectangularity between the received and transmitted page. study results. Epidemiological studies An Epidemiological study is a statistical study on human populations, which attempts to link human health effects to a specified cause. make observations about data on large groups of people in order to find possible associations between factors. Results from this type of study are very easy to misread mis·read tr.v. mis·read , mis·read·ing, mis·reads 1. To read inaccurately. 2. To misinterpret or misunderstand: misread our friendly concern as prying. . Even a statistically significant association does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Most of all, news consumers should be careful about laboratory studies. Observing how cells react to a drug in a test tube or how a certain treatment affects lab animals provides valuable information but the treatment may not be safe or effective for people. The journey from successful animal research to small safety trials with human beings to effective, approved treatments takes many years. MS research involves all 3 kinds of studies. Each has the potential to fill in one more missing piece of the large MS puzzle. To analyze a claim about scientific studies, ask: * What kind of study was done--laboratory, epidemiological, or clinical trial? * How large was the group in the study? * How long did the study last? * Has another research group replicated the results? * Has the study been published? If the study has been published by a reputable medical journal using peer review, it's a good bet that many in the scientific community think the information is important. Information superhighway: drive carefully The Internet has become a major source of health-related information. Web surfers need all their critical skills--and then some: * Check the source of articles on the web. Is the article reprinted from a reputable journal? Does the author have valid credentials? * Is the web site private, or affiliated with an institution? The ending of a site address or domain name can give you a clue: ".com" is a commercial site, ".org" is generally a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. , ".edu" educational, and ".gov" governmental. Universities, medical centers, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other such institutions tend to check the reliability of the content of affiliated web sites more carefully. * Is the web site trying to sell you something? Does this bias the information given? * Is there a contact e-mail or postal address or phone number for the owner of the site? The aspartame story that popped up on many Internet mailing lists looked reputable at first glance. The author cited the "World Environmental Conference" and "the MS Foundation" in her header, suggesting that her report had their support. The MS Foundation (which is not affiliated with the National MS Society) immediately denied any such connection. A search of MEDLINE The online medical database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) whose parent is the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. MEDLINE contains millions of articles from thousands of medical journals and publications. The consumer section of the site (http://medlineplus. , an online medical journal review service, found no other publications by this author. The author's claims about how the body metabolizes aspartame were misleading. In short, the story is not credible. Chat rooms provide a safe environment for people experiencing similar problems. People find tremendous comfort and ongoing support in these groups, and even establish close friendships. But there is a potential for erroneous information to get passed around or blown out of proportion. Don't take information from chat rooms at face value. And don't forget that anyone can add a professional title to their name or otherwise misrepresent mis·rep·re·sent tr.v. mis·rep·re·sent·ed, mis·rep·re·sent·ing, mis·rep·re·sents 1. To give an incorrect or misleading representation of. 2. themselves online. Good grounding Does this mean that you shouldn't believe anything you read? Not exactly. While cultivating critical responses to information, it's also helpful to establish trustworthy sources that you can turn to. The National MS Society maintains conservative guidelines for all the information that we make public. The Society does not publish information without solid scientific or expert authentication (1) Verifying the integrity of a transmitted message. See message integrity, e-mail authentication and MAC. (2) Verifying the identity of a user logging into a network. . Whenever there has been a victory in the fight against MS, the National MS Society has been happy to shout it from the rooftops--but we always substantiate the validity of the victory first. Call 1-800-FIGHT MS, option #1 with any questions. Or access our web site at www.nmss.org. Lorna Smedman is managing editor of this magazine. |
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