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Health news: Going beyond the headlines
Don't fall for every headline proclaiming a new cure or medical breakthrough. Use these tips for evaluating health news.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Pick up any newspaper or turn on your TV or computer and you're greeted by news about the latest medical breakthrough. Today's health news may even contradict yesterday's headlines. So, how do you know what to believe and what advice to follow? First, learn to go beyond the headlines to distinguish credible health news from sensationalism. Then you'll be better able to determine what health news means for you.
It isn't as difficult as it sounds. You can learn to look at health news the way doctors do, starting with knowing what questions to ask. In the following interview with Scott Litin, M.D., a practicing general internist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and editor-in-chief of the third and fourth editions of the "Mayo Clinic Family Health Book," he shares tips for deciphering the latest health news.
Every day there seems to be another news story about a new miracle cure or worrisome health threat. How do people know which are legitimate?
It's tough. Of course it's going to grab your attention when you hear on the news that you may get cancer of the pancreas if you drink coffee. The science behind the headline — or the lack of it — is never as exciting. But you have to learn to ask questions and be a bit of a skeptic in order to decide if the story is valid.
What questions should people ask themselves when they're reading health news?
As you're reading any type of health news, ask yourself these three questions:
- Is it new? Does the story provide new information, or is it just a rehash of old news? You can't always tell by the headline. Consider this recent headline: "Too much salt takes blood pressure toll." This isn't new information — we've known about the connection between salt and blood pressure for years.
- Is it true? What evidence is the story based on? Randomized clinical trials are the gold standard for evidence. One person's opinion — even an expert's — isn't proof.
- Will it affect you? Again, you have to look beyond the headline. The story may be about a health problem you have, but its focus might be on diagnosis not treatment. In addition, not every treatment you read about will be right for you.
What is a randomized clinical trial, and why is it superior to other research?
Clinical trials only take place after initial research, including animal studies, has shown promise. They typically involve large numbers of volunteers. Volunteers are randomized — assigned using the statistical equivalent of a coin toss — to receive either the drug being studied or a placebo, which looks just like the study drug but doesn't contain medicine. The group that receives the placebo is called the control or comparison group. For a new drug to be proved effective, people treated with it must do significantly better than those treated with the placebo.
The best clinical trials are not only randomized but also double-blind, meaning that neither the doctors nor the volunteers know who is getting the study drug or the placebo. Practices like randomizing and double-blinding help keep volunteers and researchers from possibly skewing the results because of preconceived ideas they have about the study. That makes the study's conclusions more reliable.
Next page(1 of 2)
- Understanding risk: What do those headlines really mean? National Institute on Aging. http://www.niapublications.org/tipsheets/pdf/Understanding_Risk-What_Do_Those_Headlines_Really_Mean.pdf. Accessed Dec. 21, 2009.
- 'Miracle' health claims: Add a dose of skepticism. Federal Trade Commission. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/health/hea07.shtm. Accessed Dec. 21, 2009.
- Update on the methods of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Insufficient evidence. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf09/methods/inevidup.htm. Accessed Jan. 20, 2010.
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