heart disease

Everyone could benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering statins. Who wants gunk clogging up their arteries, right? And even if your cholesterol is already low, you may gain some wonderful side benefit.

That is the overwhelming message driven home by a combination of marketing campaigns and overly enthusiastic health reporting.

A new drug comes on the market that promises to improve people’s eyesight. “Clarivue! Make your cloudy days sunny again!”

Your editor says, “This Clarivue is like Viagra for eyeballs. It’s going to be flying off the shelves. Write up something for the Web in the next hour.”

Your next move should be to find out the NNT: the number needed to treat. It will help you answer the most important question: How many people would need to take Clarivue in order for one person to actually see better?

The annual Association of Health Care Journalists conference has become indispensable in a way conferences never are.

Far from just an excuse to see old friends and drink too much, the AHCJ conference is always so packed with great speakers and workshops that writers find themselves wishing for a baby monitor they could set up in one session while they attend a different session down the hall.

The 'Public Health Awareness' segment will be a recurring feature here on the Pulse + Signal blog where we highlight relevant public health focused observances (e.g. cancer awareness, heart disease awareness, etc). The purpose of this feature is to continue to spread the word around specific health awareness dates to spur increased understanding and prevention.