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Health News That's Good For You “Gene Therapy Cures Immune Disorder.” “Hormone Replacement Therapy Raises Risk of Breast Cancer.” “Green Tea Causes Athlete’s Foot.” Every day, people are bombarded by headlines like these in their morning papers, their TV programs, their Web browsers. Health reporting is a huge part of journalism these days, but sometimes its biggest stories don’t tell the whole story. Just as you should evaluate a scientific study for its accuracy and its relevance to you and your family’s health, you should learn to read the headlines with an equally informed and skeptical eye. Here are a few resources to help you figure out whether an article should really be front-page news or lining for the birdcage. HealthNewsReview, published by the University of Minnesota, grades breaking media reports on new medical findings for accuracy, balance and completeness. Media Doctor, sponsored by the University of Newcastle in Australia, provides rating of recent treatment studies and identifies their strengths and weaknesses. This Web site from the National Health Service in the United Kingdom critically discusses media coverage of new medical studies. The American Heart Association has a short but detailed article on evaluating health news stories. Excerpted from Jessie Gruman’s Aftershock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You—or Someone You Love—a Devastating Diagnosis, Walker and Company, 2007.
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