This story appeared in my local paper today: “The first attempt at gene therapy for Alzheimer’s patients appeared to significantly delay worsening of the disease in a few people who have tested it so far. Scientists took skin cells from eight patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and modified the genes to secrete a protein found in healthy brains called nerve growth factors or NGF. They then implanted the NGF-producing skin cells directly onto Alzheimer’s-injured spots. Six patients were tracked for almost two years. Tests found their rate of cognitive decline slowed by 36 percent to 51 percent, better than is usually seen with medication.”
How do I criticize thee? Let me counts the ways.
1. This brief omitted the critical cautionary second sentence of the original AP story: “Far more research is needed to see if the experimental treatment, which requires a form of brain surgery, really helps.”
2. It omitted the following cautionary quote from the original AP story: “These results need to be interpreted with cautious optimism,” said William Thies of the Alzheimer’s Association. With so few patients in the study, “it’s really impossible to tell whether the benefit was due to the treatment or natural fluctuation in symptoms,” he said.
3. It omitted the following cautionary quote from a researcher involved in the work: “It’s cautious optimism with a big C. It can’t be a cure, obviously … but maybe it’ll do something.”
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
We’ve written about the hype of liquid biopsies for years (see link in comment below). And now this…. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/12/medicare-shouldnt-cover-liquid-biopsies-early-cancer-detection/
Case counts still matter. “(There) are stories that may not be told adequately if only hospitalizations and deaths are emphasized.” @garyschwitzer interviewed by @dbauder of @AP. https://apnews.com/article/omicron-changing-news-outlets-covid-data-da9272f7c4c8a109c3bfb56bed9e9c76
My friend Gary @garyschwitzer wrote to his city council representative in a Minnesota town about a Viva Las Vegas event scheduled for January.
The response he got seems to perfectly capture where we are now.
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/12/2021-ends-with-covid-craziness-in-sports-and-politics/
Comments (2)
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Marilyn Meinke-Murphy
April 27, 2005 at 8:50 amThere’s at least one other significant flaw to the story, not to mention the study itself, IF the orginal AP article contained a correct and complete telling of the research:
Where is the control?
And that’s only the beginning of a long list of questions that should be asked about the research itself…not to metion the reporting.
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