…is analysed here. (free link) There is also a piece about Breastlight at Pulse (free with free registration.) and here’s the link to today’s ASA page where PWB health, who make Breastlight,feature. feature. Their website doesn’t say ‘detects cancer early’ anymore. But I’m still not happy.
Continue Reading →What does “for earlier detection” mean?
It’s used here, on Breastlight’s home page. If you search for them on Google, it comes up; “Breastlight TM; breast exam, breast checking, breast screening..” I’d like to know what kinds of things come to mind when we are told this device is for ‘earlier detection’. ( I know what I think, but […]
Continue Reading →The Advertising Standards Authority – fit for purpose?
I’ve just had a complaint responded to. The company concerned will now apparently withdraw their non evidenced based claim that their product “helps detect cancer early”. This claim has been made for some time, it’s nonsense, and it’s right that it goes. But: the letter from the ASA says that since the company will voluntarily amend their […]
Continue Reading →DCIS, overtreatment and professionalism
There’s an article in the Guardian describing the US treatment of a woman who had DCIS diagnosed at screening, in one breast. She went on to have bilateral mastectomy, with flap reconstruction, an autologous blood transfusion, and a stay in ITU. The author writes ” It is so confusing. What was that all about? Cancer? […]
Continue Reading →Inside Health – choirs are good for you
Here are the references – it will be up here probably tomorrow. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22495689 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9783861 http://www.bmj.com/content/314/7086/1037 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1242/abstract;jsessionid=3D0C17206FD3C96227DFD224D616F5FA.d02t03 http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/24/45760738.pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.1242/pdf http://www.york.ac.uk/res/herc/documents/wp/11_21.pdf http://www.bmj.com/content/313/7072/1577?view=long&pmid=8990990 http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2466-10-41.pdf
Continue Reading →Medicine and the Media – strep B in pregnancy
is in the BMJ here
Continue Reading →Pod delusion transcript
From here, since my self-created recording is so bad. Last week, Georgia Gale Grant argued that, rather than praying for the recovery of Fabrice Muamba, it would be better, for humanists, sceptics and aethists, if aged between ‘14 and 35’ to ‘ get regular ECGs to make sure you’re not at any known risk […]
Continue Reading →Women’s Hour – cervical screening
Here are some of the references used in Women’s Hour today. There was not enough time to discuss the stats properly. What is crucial is the fact that there is a lot of guess work – there has (shockingly) never been a proper RCT of cervical screening in normal risk women. So all estimates […]
Continue Reading →Pod delusion references
Here are the references for a piece on the Pod Delusion podcast last week. The dreadful quality of the recording is all my fault. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Screening-Evidence-practice-Angela-Raffle/dp/0199214492 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/php/WHO_PHP_34.pdf newbornbloodspot.screening.nhs.uk/getdata.php?id=11648 http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/rac/v76n2/en_v76n2a20.pdf http://www.screening.nhs.uk/cms.php?folder=2898 http://www.annals.org/content/147/12/854.full http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001877/screening-for-breast-cancer-with-mammography http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/decisionaids http://www.screening.nhs.uk/hcm#mce_temp_url# http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa070972 […]
Continue Reading →Inside health and cycle helmets
The references I used for Radio 4’s Inside Health are here http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/165/12/1343.abstract http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4521 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM198603063141003 http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/165/12/1343.abstract http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/userfiles/ccoch/file/Safety_on_the_road/CD001855.pdf http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.0901747 http://www.dot.state.fl.us/research-center/Completed_Proj/Summary_RD/FDOT_BDK82%20977-01_rpt.pdf http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/3/190.full http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457506001540 http://drianwalker.com/overtaking/overtakingprobrief.pdf http://www.eta.co.uk/2011/04/01/safest-bicycle-helmet-has-built-wig
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