Even if you’re not into blog rankings, Wikio.com’s ranked list includes links to many solid sites. This blog rose a bit in the rankings in the past month. We’re pleased to be included in a list of so many quality blogs.
Wikio’s fine print on how ratings are compiled: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
On the NPR Shots blog, Scott Hensley writes, “Quality Prescription For Primary Care Doctors: Do Less,” about an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Excerpt:
“A group of docs who want to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of primary care tinkered with some Top 5 lists for of dos and don’ts for pediatricians, family doctors and internists.
After testing them a bit, they published online by the Archives of Internal Medicine. Most of the advice falls in the category of less is more.
So what should family doctors not be doing? The Top 5 list for them goes like this:
1. No MRI or other imaging tests for low back pain, unless it has persisted longer than six weeks or there are red flags, such as neurological problems.
2. No antibiotics for mild to moderate sinusitis, unless it has lasted a week or longer. Or the condition worsens after first getting better.
3. No annual electrocardiograms for low-risk patients without cardiac symptoms.
4. No Pap tests in patients under 21, or women who’ve had hysterectomies for non-malignant disease.
5. No bone scans for women under 65 or men under 70, unless they have specific risk factors.”
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
We simply don’t know why more news organizations can’t do an adequate job of explaining the limitations of observational studies – most notably, that they can’t prove cause and effect.
Yes, they can show strong associations. But they can’t prove cause and effect.
NBC Nightly News, as one example recently, inadequately explained the latest suggestion that coffee consumption can lower the risk of prostate cancer. In the anchor lead, Brian Williams framed this as another case of flip-flopping science, lightheartedly talking about what they say about “all those medical studies…if you don’t like the findings, wait for the next study.”
The story seemed puzzled at how the same “lab” 30 years ago reported that coffee was linked to an increase in pancreatic cancer. NBC said the researchers later said they got it wrong. This time – with the prostate cancer link – they say they got it right. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
A new analysis in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, “The Public’s Response to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s 2009 Recommendations on Mammography Screening,” included a content analysis of news stories and social media posts around the time of the USPSTF announcement. The authors report:
“Of the 233 newspaper articles, blog posts, and tweets coded, 51.9% were unsupportive, and only 17.6% were supportive. Most newspaper articles and blog posts expressed negative sentiment (55.0% and 66.2%, respectively)….The most common reasons mentioned for being unsupportive of the new recommendations were the belief that delaying screening would lead to later detection of more advanced breast cancer and subsequently more breast cancer-related deaths (22.5%) and the belief that the recommendations reflected government rationing of health care (21.9%).
…
These results are consistent with previous studies that suggest a media bias in favor of mammography screening.”
Also see an accompanying editorial by Task Force members Diana Petitti and Ned Calonge.
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
All over the country in May, hospitals are offering “Free Throat Cancer Screening.” A Google search turned up dozens of results for that specific term or the related “oral, head and neck cancer screening.”
Here’s one example, promoting “Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, May 8-14.”
This promotion uses ominous warnings:
Can you live without your voice?
What about your jaw?
Would you miss it if you couldn’t swallow food?
Throat cancer can take all of those things away, along with your ability to eat, talk and breathe normally. These debilitating problems can be prevented, but you have to catch cancer early.
Some promotions – such as this one – use celebrity pitches such as “If it happened to Michael Douglas, it can happen to you.”
Here’s one that states, “A 10-minute, painless screening could save your life.”
But where’s the evidence for that? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
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