Writers of medical advice--including columnists, insurance companies, governmental agencies, medical organizations, drug companies and even practitioners--are all biased. They always have agendas. They all choose to write about certain topics and not others. They make choices about what to include in their articles, what to leave out and how to state their cases. They're all self-serving. They all have something to "sell," even when there is not an immediate cash-return.Does that mean you should throw up your hands, say the hell with it, and never read or listen to another medical message? I don't think so, but in order to derive value from these messages, you sure as heck better understand the agendas of the people who created them. Or as the psychologists say, if you want to understand a behavior, you need to figure out what motivated it. Let's examine some advice-givers and their biases.
What motivates health columnists? Well, how about their continued employment, the needs of their publisher-employers, and the needs of the companies the publishers wish to attract as advertisers? It's not hard to imagine there are some subtle and not-so-subtle influences and incentives at play in framing the subject-matter and slant of the articles. Certainly, it's hard to attract the business of potential advertisers when you have written devastating critiques of their products.Yet don't infer that you should ignore what the health columnists have to say. They provide a wonderful service in discussing health issues, the business of medicine and its practice. I personally enjoy reading the health columns of that great medical publication, The Wall Street Journal. In fact, I still distribute to my patients an excellent article about medication-overuse headaches that Tara Parker-Pope, one of their columnists, wrote years ago.
One of the odder chapters in the business of medicine is that certain insurance companies have positioned themselves as providers of health advice, particularly those companies paid by employers to manage their medication-benefit plans. I won't waste the reader's time in building a case that insurance companies have agendas and conflicts-of-interest in providing such advice. This should be self-evident.Governmental agencies like the National Institutes of Health provide medical information which is generally reliable and useful, but influenced by the agency's understandable needs for self-promotion and self-preservation. The same holds true for medical organizations like the American Academy of Neurology (to which I belong) and big group-practices like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The advice tendered by these medical organizations in their publications and web-pages is backed by their reputations, which they zealously protect. So you can be sure that the medical content is subjected to rigorous quality-control. And fortunately, although their messages are motivated by commercial needs, the linkages are obvious and easy for the consumer to take into account.
In response to these concerns, Mosaic Nutraceuticals, a Dallas-based company, has come up with a way to address the cholesterol issue. Wrapped in a soft candy chew, "Lipotrene," Mosaic's aid in promoting cholesterol health, is an option for those wanting to control their cholesterol without pills or expensive prescriptions.
Moreover, the usually powerful antibiotics no longer have an effect in fighting against certain strain of destructive bacteria that have evolved over time. Although as of now, most staph infections are still manageable and can be successfully treated, sooner or later, there will come a time that a new and deadlier strain of these bacterial infections will become resistant to most currently available skincare and medications.The signs and symptoms of bacterial infections depends on the condition and affected area of the infection as well as the nature of illness if it is a direct infection from staph bacteria or from toxins produced by the bacteria. They may range from mild skin infections to food poisoning, deadly pneumonia, surgical wound infections, and endocarditis which is a lethal inflammation of the heart valves. Most skin infections caused by staph infections include the following: boils , cellulitis, impetigo, scalded skin syndrome, follicilitis, hordeolum, among others.
Most skin problems would require clinical care by medical professionals but it helps to take note of the following tips:* Make sure to always clean and cover areas of skin that have been injured. Do not share towels, sheets, clothing until the infection has been fully healed.* Do not touch to avoid spreading it to other parts of your body.Always remember that cleanliness and good skincare hygiene is not just a form of vanity but it is a way of keeping your skin healthy and strong to be able to protect you in warding off bacterial infections as well as preventing many skin problems.
What motivates health columnists? Well, how about their continued employment, the needs of their publisher-employers, and the needs of the companies the publishers wish to attract as advertisers? It's not hard to imagine there are some subtle and not-so-subtle influences and incentives at play in framing the subject-matter and slant of the articles. Certainly, it's hard to attract the business of potential advertisers when you have written devastating critiques of their products.Yet don't infer that you should ignore what the health columnists have to say. They provide a wonderful service in discussing health issues, the business of medicine and its practice. I personally enjoy reading the health columns of that great medical publication, The Wall Street Journal. In fact, I still distribute to my patients an excellent article about medication-overuse headaches that Tara Parker-Pope, one of their columnists, wrote years ago.
One of the odder chapters in the business of medicine is that certain insurance companies have positioned themselves as providers of health advice, particularly those companies paid by employers to manage their medication-benefit plans. I won't waste the reader's time in building a case that insurance companies have agendas and conflicts-of-interest in providing such advice. This should be self-evident.Governmental agencies like the National Institutes of Health provide medical information which is generally reliable and useful, but influenced by the agency's understandable needs for self-promotion and self-preservation. The same holds true for medical organizations like the American Academy of Neurology (to which I belong) and big group-practices like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. The advice tendered by these medical organizations in their publications and web-pages is backed by their reputations, which they zealously protect. So you can be sure that the medical content is subjected to rigorous quality-control. And fortunately, although their messages are motivated by commercial needs, the linkages are obvious and easy for the consumer to take into account.
In response to these concerns, Mosaic Nutraceuticals, a Dallas-based company, has come up with a way to address the cholesterol issue. Wrapped in a soft candy chew, "Lipotrene," Mosaic's aid in promoting cholesterol health, is an option for those wanting to control their cholesterol without pills or expensive prescriptions.
Moreover, the usually powerful antibiotics no longer have an effect in fighting against certain strain of destructive bacteria that have evolved over time. Although as of now, most staph infections are still manageable and can be successfully treated, sooner or later, there will come a time that a new and deadlier strain of these bacterial infections will become resistant to most currently available skincare and medications.The signs and symptoms of bacterial infections depends on the condition and affected area of the infection as well as the nature of illness if it is a direct infection from staph bacteria or from toxins produced by the bacteria. They may range from mild skin infections to food poisoning, deadly pneumonia, surgical wound infections, and endocarditis which is a lethal inflammation of the heart valves. Most skin infections caused by staph infections include the following: boils , cellulitis, impetigo, scalded skin syndrome, follicilitis, hordeolum, among others.
Most skin problems would require clinical care by medical professionals but it helps to take note of the following tips:* Make sure to always clean and cover areas of skin that have been injured. Do not share towels, sheets, clothing until the infection has been fully healed.* Do not touch to avoid spreading it to other parts of your body.Always remember that cleanliness and good skincare hygiene is not just a form of vanity but it is a way of keeping your skin healthy and strong to be able to protect you in warding off bacterial infections as well as preventing many skin problems.
