Posted by Gary Schwitzer in Disease mongering, Health care journalism, Wisdom of the crowds
Thank God for hospital chaplains – and special thanks for those who are also smart bloggers.
See this chaplain’s blog (here and here) for how he evaluated a CNN/Health.com story, “Cholesterol jumps with menopause.”
The story included this line:
“A new study shows beyond a doubt that menopause, not the natural aging process, is responsible for a sharp increase in cholesterol levels.”
The chaplain wrote:
“So, just when, we asked one another, did menopause cease to be part of the natural aging process for all women? … In fact they determined that for several measures of cholesterol, menopause was more predictive than age, while for other risk factors age was more predictive. However, in neither case was there any implication that menopause wasn’t “natural;” only that in the natural course of things different women experienced it at different ages.”
Chaplain, pray for us that we can all learn to scrutinize health care news as well as you do.
Disclaimer: I welcome comments but will delete those with any kind of product pitch, profanity, personal attacks or those from anyone who doesn’t list what appears to be an actual e-mail address. I will also end any thread of comments that are repetitive. Because I moderate comments, I can’t keep reacting to repeatedly inaccurate or unsubstantiated claims. We don't give medical advice so we won't respond to questions asking for it.
Sarah G posted on December 18, 2009 at 3:26 pm
That was a great catch on his part!