ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Previous attempts to improve the quality of health journalism have not led to more responsible reporting of health news. METHOD: We reviewed the front pages of three daily tabloid and three daily broadsheet UK newspapers during a 1 month period in 2017 for medical headlines in which claims were made for diets, lifestyle behaviours or drug therapies that influence health. RESULTS: Front page medical headlines were carried by the Daily Express (11), Daily Mail (two), Daily Mirror (one) and Daily Telegraph (one). Neither the Guardian nor the Independent carried medical stories on their front pages during the period of study. Eleven headlines suggested benefits and three suggested harm. One headline accurately reflected its source material, but in this instance the source material was of doubtful clinical relevance. The remaining 13 headlines either exaggerated benefit (seven), exaggerated harm (two) or made false claims (four). CONCLUSIONS: The cumulative effect of everyday misreporting of medical stories in UK newspapers may not only serve to confuse the public but also have serious consequences for public health.
Subject(s)
Consumer Health Information/standards , Journalism, Medical/standards , Newspapers as Topic/standards , Biomedical Research , Communication , Humans , Public Health , United KingdomSubject(s)
Arthritis/drug therapy , Etretinate/therapeutic use , Psoriasis/drug therapy , Adult , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Statistics for psoriatic patients from the skin clinics of the Hong Kong Government and those from Sendai, Japan, are compared with statistics from five major cities in mainland China. These statistics were compiled since 1949, following the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Additional statistics from seven other surveys among the general population conducted in recent years (1974 to 1981), for a total of 670,000 persons examined, all showed a remarkably constant and uniformly low prevalence of psoriasis at around 0.3% in five of seven surveys. The overall statistics present the evidence of the prevalence of psoriasis to be well under 1% in the Mongoloid races of the Far East.
Subject(s)
Asian People , Psoriasis/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , China , Female , Humans , Japan , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
A case of cutaneous infection due to a niacin-positive Mycobacterium chelonei (previously called M. abscessus) on the dorsum of the hand of a professional cotton-classifier is reported from Hong Kong. The infection was probably directly acquired from handling contaminated raw cotton. The patient was successfully treated with combined anti-tuberculous drugs over a period of 1 year. Histologically, the skin lesion showed tuberculoid granulomas, in addition to abscesses.
