The press like to hyperbolize scientific findings, leading to confusion among the public. Many times conflicting stories are published only months apart, and often the science behind the health claims is vague or lacking explanation and context. Two associate professors of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School reviewed 174 newspaper articles (including 32 front-page stories) and 13 radio and television stories that presented research reported at scientific meetings of organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Annual International AIDS Conference. Their results, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, inclduded the finding that often "details" such as the study's methodology or the lack of a control group never made it into the news stories.
More disturbing still, only 6% of the news items mentioned that the results of animal testing may not be directly applicable to humans and only two articles reporting on 175 unpublished studies mentioned that the referenced information was not yet published in a scientific journal. And since 25% of medical meeting reports that get press coverage never actually make it into the medical literature, let the reader beware.
Before making large changes to your diet or what you purchase at the drug store or cosmetics counter based on something you see or hear in the news, make sure that you have gotten all the facts. Look for study size: a large number of human participants is better than a small number. Was the test done on humans or on lab animals? Careful and critical interpretation of the results is necessary when considering animal testing since often the dosage or physiological differences between humans and the test animals is so great that the results cannot be transferred from one species to another. Was a control group used? In order to quantify the effectiveness or harm of a treatment, it is important that a control group is given a placebo or no treatment. Also look for mention of how the experiment was designed and if the results were published in a scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal. A lack of this information raises doubts as to the validity of the results and the experiment itself.
Using a critical eye when reading or viewing health-related news stories is important, and the best way to let fact instead of fear guide your health-related decisions.
For more information, see:
"Award-Winning Journalist Scores Media for Exaggerating Environmental Risk"
"Nutrition Accuracy in Popular Magazines (January 2000-December 2002)"
Juianne Chickering is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
