Hitting the Headlines

Hitting the Headlines

A fellow advocate posted this link to a group that I belong to. What a find! Those of you who know me, or read my articles, are aware that I always caution women to not believe everything they see, hear or read in the media. I've cited a few snippets from this website. I intend to mark it as a "favorite" and refer to it often. It's a good source of info when people call to tell me about the latest cure that they heard about on TV!

The mission of this is website is as follows: "Hitting the Headlines archive...is to assess the reliability of both the journalists' reporting of health stories and the research on which they are based [...] and to ensure that patients and health professionals are better informed about the accuracy of reporting of research into the effectiveness of new treatments, drugs and other health care interventions in the press."

Here are a few samples of the latest media reports:

Olive Oil and Breast Cancer

Early in January 2005 several newspapers and a group of television stations reported the latest hype about breast cancer: "Olive oil may prevent breast cancer". The reports go on to say that oleic acid seems to increase the effectiveness of Herceptin. The research was published in the Annals of Oncology. This research was based on a laboratory study, using human breast cancer cell liens in tissue culture. What that means is that the conclusions can not be applied to clinical practice until clinical trials are conducted. Just because something works in a lab-culture study does not mean that it will work in human beings. The volume of olive oil concentration needed to be effective may be prohibitive. This study also shows that oleic acid increases the effectiveness of Herceptin. Not every cancer patient is on a Herceptin regimen. Chemotherapy drugs are based on a variety of factors, including hormone receptor status, so even if oleic acid has beneficial properties, it will not be for everyone.

Folic Acid and Breast Cancer

In December, there were articles about an increased risk of breast cancer due to the use of folic acid. The study is based on a randomized control trial, which was conducted in the 1960s. The original study was not designed to evaluate folic acid and death rates. The results were not generally statistically significant and could be due to chance. The high does used in the study is not the amount currently recommended. Most of the reporting was accurate with only one sensationalized headline: "more likely to die from breast cancer."

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