Questions to Ask When Reading Any Health Article
Health and nutrition news changes from day to day , so how do you know if the latest research is worth taking seriously? You can avoid annoying headlines by asking yourself a few questions as you read the article.
This list has been compiled by NHS Choices, a UK-based organization that publishesexcellent explanations about the scientific evidence behind top health news. Their cheat sheet includes seven questions you can ask yourself to find out if health news is based on sound scientific evidence or not. These include:
- Does the article support its claims with scientific research? Sometimes a health article looks promising, but it is based on the opinion of one person or is just a slightly disguised advertisement. If they can’t confirm their claims, move on.
- Is the article based on conference abstracts? Scientists often talk about their work at conferences before it is published. Sometimes this gives us an idea of what will soon be big news, but other times it’s a teaser of a study that turns out to be useless. More reliable information comes from studies that are published in peer-reviewed journals, which means that a group of scientists criticized and approved of it. A good news article will include the title of the magazine and ideally a link to the newspaper.
- Have there been human studies? A lot of flashy headlines come from studies done in vitro or in mouse populations. These discoveries often do not work in humans, although from the point of view of scientists, they are an important stepping stone. Don’t worry until the human trials begin.
Other important questions to ask include how many people were in the study, whether it had a control group, whether the scientists actually studied what the title said, and who paid for or conducted the study. Read the full list in NHS Choices to be better informed the next time you read a spit-worthy headline, and if you have even more questions to ask yourself, watch how we read and report on scientific evidence at Lifehacker .
How to read health news | NHS Choices
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