If you’ve ever sneezed while driving your car, did you immediately think, “Cars Cause the Common Cold!”? No, of course not. A headline like that wouldn’t make any sense. And yet, some of the sources we rely on for health and medical news are not much better. Many media outlets are perfectly happy to grab us with a wacky headline or an article that reflects none of the nuance of the study on which it’s based—as long as we buy the magazine or click through to the article. And we do. We take the bait. With 50,000 scientific studies published each week in English, many media outlets don’t put in the time and effort to adequately decipher and report on even a tiny fraction of those studies. But they publish news about them, anyway.
Author(s): Roy Benaroch
Series: The Great Courses
Publisher: The Teaching Company
Year: 2019-02
Language: English
Pages: 219
Professor Biography......Page 3
Table of Contents......Page 5
Disclaimer......Page 8
Course Scope......Page 9
The Skeptic’s Toolkit......Page 11
Lecture 1—Hormone Replacement Therapy......Page 12
Premarin......Page 13
Hormones, Medicine, and the Media......Page 14
HRT Falls and Rises Again......Page 16
Another Turning Point......Page 18
Testosterone......Page 19
Lecture 2 —Concussions and the Future of Football......Page 22
The Cause of Concussions......Page 23
After a Concussion......Page 24
Concussions in the Long Term......Page 25
Mike Webster......Page 27
CTE......Page 28
The Fallout......Page 30
Lecture 3 —New Drugs on the Block......Page 32
Sola......Page 33
Medical Studies......Page 34
Tamiflu......Page 36
The Story Changes......Page 37
Examining the Data......Page 38
Conclusion......Page 39
Lecture 4 —Is It Time for Medical Marijuana?......Page 41
Marijuana Terms......Page 42
Marijuana and Epilepsy......Page 43
Marijuana and Pain......Page 44
A Comprehensive Review......Page 46
Lecture 5 —The Media and Weight Loss......Page 48
Calories and Obesity......Page 49
Salience......Page 51
Example 2: Metabolism and Mice......Page 52
Conclusion......Page 53
Lecture 6 —Alternative Medicine in the News......Page 55
Stem Cells and Gordie Howe......Page 56
Stem Cells: A Complicated Picture......Page 57
Fish Oil......Page 58
Acupuncture......Page 61
Quiz 1......Page 63
Lecture 7 —The Media’s Take on Mental Health......Page 64
Mental Illness in Movies......Page 65
Speculation......Page 66
Studies......Page 68
A Complicated Picture......Page 69
Social Media......Page 70
Conclusion......Page 72
Lecture 8 —The Media and the Internet......Page 73
The Breatharian Couple......Page 74
Social and Traditional Media......Page 76
Clickbaiting......Page 77
Cause and Effect......Page 78
Lecture 9 —We Share Our World with Toxins......Page 80
Toxins, Baby Food, and Sources......Page 81
Lead......Page 83
The Flint Story......Page 84
A New Concern for Flint......Page 85
Media Coverage of Fluoride......Page 86
Lecture 10 —Are Coffee and Wine Good for Your Heart?......Page 88
Coffee and Surrogate Markers......Page 89
Coffee and Arteries......Page 90
Coffee’s Story, Continued......Page 92
Red Wine......Page 94
Lecture 11 —Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality......Page 96
Measuring Life Expectancy......Page 97
Overdoses and Car Crashes......Page 98
Different Comparisons......Page 99
Infant Mortality......Page 100
Explaining the Gap......Page 101
Looking for Answers......Page 102
Conclusion......Page 103
Lecture 12 —Is It Really OK to Stop Flossing?......Page 104
The Beginning of the Flossing Story......Page 105
The Story Continues......Page 106
Other Outlets......Page 107
Sources of Recommendations......Page 108
Pushback on Blood Pressure Recommendations......Page 109
Fake Organizations......Page 111
Quiz 2......Page 113
Lecture 13 —Does Cancer Screening Work?......Page 114
Old and New Models......Page 115
Changing Perspectives......Page 116
Mammograms and Breast Cancer......Page 117
The Studies......Page 119
Combined Data......Page 120
Conclusion......Page 121
Lecture 14 —Drug Prices in the News......Page 122
Luxturna......Page 123
Generic Drugs......Page 124
Barriers......Page 125
Negotiated Rates......Page 127
Advertising......Page 128
Lecture 15 —Selling Disease......Page 131
Selling Dry Eyes......Page 132
Selling in Medical Literature......Page 134
Attention Deficit Disorder......Page 136
Conclusion......Page 137
Lecture 16 —The Opioid Crisis......Page 138
Overdoses and Death......Page 139
The Big Picture......Page 140
Oxycodone and Oxycontin......Page 141
A Complicated Picture......Page 142
Substitutes......Page 143
Fixing the Problem......Page 145
Lecture 17 —Infections in the Headlines......Page 147
Ebola......Page 148
Flu Coverage, Continued......Page 150
The CDC Press Release......Page 151
Lecture 18—Health Risks in Our Environment......Page 154
Cell Phones......Page 155
Cleaning Products......Page 157
Three Reports......Page 158
Report 2: CNN......Page 159
Fake News Stories......Page 160
Quiz 3......Page 162
Lecture 19 —Bad Science......Page 163
Fraud......Page 164
Shoddy Design......Page 165
Bias......Page 166
Lecture 20 —Diet, Health, and the Power of Words......Page 168
Acai......Page 169
The Acai Story, Continued......Page 171
Pink Slime......Page 172
Clean Eating......Page 173
Lecture 21 —Genetics and the Media......Page 175
Obesity......Page 176
Genetic Testing......Page 178
Personal Testing......Page 179
Genetic Manipulation......Page 181
Lecture 22 —How to Stay Young......Page 183
Search Engines......Page 184
Drinking More Water......Page 185
Taking Vitamins......Page 186
Exercise......Page 187
Lecture 23 —Cures for the Common Cold......Page 189
Vitamin C......Page 190
Echinacea......Page 191
Chicken Soup......Page 192
Zinc......Page 193
Vitamin D......Page 194
Lecture 24 —The Media’s Role in Improving Health......Page 196
The 1960s and Smoking......Page 197
The Rise of Smoking......Page 198
Changing Perceptions......Page 200
The Media’s Role......Page 201
Conclusion......Page 202
Quiz 4......Page 204
Bibliography......Page 205
Image credits......Page 213
Quiz answers......Page 216
