The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media 9404

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. 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