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Search Results for "simple blood test"

sensitivity specificity
6/21/2018

Understanding medical tests: sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value

“Prostate cancer breakthrough as UK team develops more accurate test“ “A Simple 3-Part Test May Predict Alzheimer’s” “Portable device detects severe stroke in seconds with 92% accuracy” Headlines like these touting new medical tests often include impressive-sounding claims of accuracy. Consider this HealthDay story about an experimental breath test said to be “85% accurate” for […]

June 12, 2018 | News Release Review

Big Mango claims daily mango eating reduces systolic blood pressure in healthy women, but any fruit might do

Without a control group in the study to prove otherwise, it’s possible the consumption of two cups of any fruit, or even any food, may affect systolic blood pressure.

1 Star
National Mango Board

Mangoes helped improve cardiovascular and gut health in women

November 27, 2017 | News Release Review

Loyola U makes data-free claim that a ‘simple’ heart test can distinguish between major depression and bipolar disorder

A “simple electrocardiogram” can help diagnose major depression or bipolar disorder, a Loyola Medicine news release claims, but where are the data to support this “groundbreaking” study?

1 Star
Loyola Medicine

Simple Electrocardiogram Can Determine Whether a Patient Has Major Depression or Bipolar Disorder, Study Finds

11/24/2017

Is Alzheimer’s ‘coming for you’? NY Times uses anecdote and an old blood test to warn it might be

There it was again: Another article touting “simple blood tests” together with an alarming headline about Alzheimer’s disease “coming for you.” I thought I’d missed something in the research news but no, an article in the Nov. 17 Sunday Review of The New York Times focused on ApoE4, a protein in the blood, discovered to […]

5
11/21/2017

Blood pressure, dietary salt, and genes: What happens when the dots don’t connect?

Blood pressure, dietary salt, and how genes influence human biology are among the most frequently reported health-related topics in the media. In the last couple of weeks the new and lower blood pressure guidelines have been widely publicized and critically analyzed; salt is always in the news; and there is no shortage of stories about […]

July 14, 2017 | News Release Review

Blood tests help diabetes patients lose weight? Show the data.

If you’re going to claim “a breakthrough in personalized nutrition,” you need the numbers to back it up.

1 Star
Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen

Fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin identified as new biomarkers for weight loss

June 21, 2017 | Story Review

For story on experimental prostate cancer blood test, Guardian leans heavily on news release

Unfortunately, this article glosses over the measured benefits, the costs, the harms–and much more.

1 Star
The Guardian

Prostate cancer blood test could transform treatment, say scientists

February 14, 2017 | Story Review

In story on experimental blood test, CNN goes where few dare–the test’s sensitivity and specificity

Readers of this story will be given a mostly thorough, non-hyped account of what a new study found.

4 Star
CNN

Blood test might make Parkinson's diagnosis easier, study says

November 23, 2016 | News Release Review

Novel urine test for cervical cancer: strong but could be better on false negatives

Under the best of scenarios, the new test gets it wrong 10 in 100 times. That’s a potential harm that the release didn’t call out.

4 Star
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins Scientists Advance a Novel Urine Test to Predict High-Risk Cervical Cancer

November 15, 2016 | News Release Review

PR release calls concussion blood test a ‘game changer’ — based on study involving 12 head injuries

While this new blood test for concussion is portrayed as a ‘game changing’ discovery, the preliminary nature and other drawbacks warrant caution.

2 Star
Lawson Health Research Institute

Western and Lawson scientists develop game-changing blood test for concussions

November 14, 2016 | Story Review

Reuters–along with many other news sites–parrots erroneous news release on HIV testing via USB stick

These inaccurate news stories could very well stoke false hope among HIV field workers and their patients, and further erode public trust in news media.

2 Star
Reuters

Scientists develop new type of HIV test on a USB stick

8
10/13/2016

Advocacy group anecdotes present one-sided picture of genetic testing for breast cancer

Genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk is cheaper and easier than ever. But just because a test is available doesn’t mean everyone should get it. That message didn’t come through in a recent series of patient anecdotes published on Women’s Health magazine’s web site: ‘I Had No Idea I Had an Increased Risk […]

August 31, 2016 | Story Review

Well-written, Newsweek’s look at blood tests for mental illnesses needed more hard data

Well written, well researched piece could have done more to explain the status of the evidence around biomarkers for mental health disorders.

3 Star
Newsweek

CAN BLOOD TESTS DETECT SCHIZOPHRENIA AND OTHER MENTAL ILLNESSES?

April 4, 2016 | Story Review

‘Baby deadline test’ story on NBC News: heavy on anecdotes, light on evidence

This story describes how some doctors are helping women “beat their biological clock” by taking a test that roughly predicts the number of eggs left in the ovaries. This piece was rife with problems–from disease-mongering to skipping any discussion of data.

2 Star
NBCNews.com

Baby Deadline Test: Beat Your Biological Clock

February 22, 2016 | News Release Review

Patient-swimmer testimonial unbalances PR release on Viagra study

This news release uses a patient story to tout the benefits of Viagra for a rare lung condition affecting swimmers. The study itself was far less definitive than the patient’s glowing anecdote.

3 Star
Duke University Medical Center

Study suggests sildenafil may relieve severe form of edema in swimmers

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