This time, I'd like to talk about how to recognize health information.
Are you being deceived by health information?
During the pandemic caused by COVID-19 infection, all kinds of false rumors were spread, and I was surprised to find out that some of my relatives believed them.
Even if you are a medical professional, not everyone provides evidence-based medicine, and there are many people who practice treatments without evidence.
This does not include new treatments or clinical trials, but means that they practice folk medicine without evidence.To avoid becoming such a medical professional, and to avoid being deceived by such medical professionals, here are some ways to get the right information.
1. Check the evidence
There are many times when animal experiments say that a drug is effective in treating a disease.There is also the current situation where information is circulated even though it is not known whether it is effective in humans.
It is important that the effectiveness of the product is truly confirmed through research on people (clinical research).
One way to find out is to browse the research data available on the web.
If you find it difficult, ask someone who specializes in this field to explain it to you.
2. Make sure the information is not biased.
For example, only ask patients who have been coming to the clinic for a long time, "How was your experience with this treatment? for example.
Patients who come to the clinic believing that the treatment is working will answer, "It is working.Some patients stop coming to the hospital because they think the treatment is not working, and it can be difficult to find out what happened to them.
This kind of situation is very common.
This can happen regardless of the institution, position, or authority.
Can we trust these unclear information?
3. Determine the numbers
The way you use numbers can change the way people perceive you.
If a number is presented in a plausible way, it seems to be objective and neutral.
The nature of numbers can be used (or abused?) in different ways. If you use (abuse?) the nature of numbers, you can create a message that is convenient for the sender of the information.
For example, let's say there is a treatment that worked for 30 out of 100 people.
Do you say, "It worked for 30 people! or "It didn't work for 70 people, but it worked for 30 people! Which way of presentation is more appealing?
In advertising, this is sometimes the method of choice.
This is one of the factors that are easy to misjudge because the impression will change depending on the recipient.
4. Know the "denominator" of the results.
When you come across a success story, an experience story, or a fascinating story, try to think, "How many of the total are we talking about? Try to think about it.
Some information is designed to hide the whole (denominator) and draw attention to only a small portion of the events (numerator).
For example, there was an ad that said, "This is how we satisfied 600 people! If it's out of 1,000 people, the number of people who were satisfied would be 1,000.
If it's about 1,000 people, it's a very attractive number, but what about 100,000 people?
But what about 100,000 people?
In this way, the numbers are often manipulated to suit their own convenience.
5. Consider some causes
Whenever I feel better or worse, I think about what the cause might be.
It is very important to understand the causes in order to maintain or improve your health.However, there are times when we assume that the first thing we see is the cause.
If we focus too much on one thing and say, "I only need to change this," we may overlook other important causes.
An analogy would be, my knees are bad! The cause is the cartilage in the joint.
When they are told that the cause is the cartilage in their joints, or that aging is the cause, some people think of trying to get younger or regain their cartilage.
But being overweight may be one of the causes.
When thinking about causes, think of several, and when improving, think of one at a time.
6. Think about cause-and-effect relationships
Try to correctly determine the cause and effect relationship of things.
In actual events, it is often difficult to distinguish what was the cause and what was the result.
It sounds difficult, doesn't it?
For example, there is a person who has not had a cold in three years! For example, there is a person who has not had a cold for three years.
He exercises every day for 20 minutes and eats a well-balanced diet.
He exercises for 20 minutes every day, eats a well-balanced diet, and takes health foods to prevent colds.
You don't know what caused him to stop getting colds, do you?
In other words, it may be the result of all these factors that kept you from getting sick.That's what you need to think about.
7. Know the comparison and contrast
We can only say that a method is effective if there is a comparison with other cases.
If you don't have a comparison, what you hear may just be an assumption.
For example, if someone says, "I lost weight because I exercised to lose weight! For example, there is a person who says, "I lost weight because I exercised.
Maybe they were not only exercising, but also taking care of their diet.
These stories are collected and advertised as "exercise makes you thin! This is how it is advertised.Of course, it is hard to imagine that 10 people will participate and all lose weight in the same way.
8. Don't believe online information easily.
You can get a lot of information just by searching the Internet.
Unfortunately, there is a wide variety of information on the Internet, from reliable to questionable.And the information that comes up at the top of an Internet search is not necessarily reliable.
The same goes for magazines, newspapers, and television.
9. Know the source of the information.
It is easy to believe something when it is said, "It was revealed by a doctor's research" or "It was presented at an academic conference.
You may feel that it is somewhat prestigious.
What you need to know is that there are two types of evidence: high and low.
Personal testimonials and expert opinions are the lowest.
There are different types of studies: animal studies → clinical results → blinded studies → randomized controlled trials.
There are three types of studies.
The highest level of evidence is a study called a systematic review.
When you are the source of information, it should fall into one of these categories.
10. Know the positives and negatives of an event.
When you look at information and make a decision about something, what you want to be aware of is the comparison of benefits (benefits) and risks (risks).
In order to decide how to deal with various things, you need to compare the benefits and risks.
Conclusion
It's hard to remember 10 things and actually discern information, isn't it?
However, in these days of being exposed to so much information, doing these things has become a necessity, and it is not uncommon to be victimized by unfounded information.
I am not deceived! The more confident you are in your knowledge, the more likely you are to be deceived, so it is good to review this information on a regular basis.
The source of this information is the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, but just because it's the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare doesn't mean it's not deceptive...
