Understanding Medical Reports
A medical report provides health news, such as information about a new medication or illness.INVESTIGATE If a medical report seems to apply to you, use a variety of sources, including longer and more detailed reports and your doctor, to investigate further.The job of a medical reporter is to achieve a combination of accuracy and dramatic presentation.ANALYZE Sometimes a report about a new health danger can cause unnecessary fears.It is important to understand what goes into medical reports so that you can evaluate them and stay informed.For example, something may be shown to double your chance of contracting a disease.If the chance is very, very small, then doubling it means that it is still very small.If the disease is more common, then doubling the chance may be something to worry about.Medical reports on television can give you important information that you need to know, but they can also be scary.Medical reports often include complicated information that is difficult to present in a short period of time.To get people to pay attention to the story, a reporter may use stories of real people to tell about a problem or benefit.People hear certain words and focus on them.That sounds bad!But the real question is, what is your chance of getting the disease in the first place?