"Contraceptive pill linked to depression"

"I can't believe the amount of women unwittingly taking the pill and then suffering depression. I have been on the pill since I was 15 and battling depression for just as long. 2 years ago I had implanon inserted into my arm and turned into moody nightmare. I live in Indonesia, in the most beautiful tropical paradise and all I could feel was misery. I came back to Sydney recently and was told that Implanon was famous for exacerbating mental illness (by a doctor friend- I wonder if it's famous among doctors because nobody told me!) an since I have had it removed even my partner has noticed how much happier I am. I'm no longer moody or sad or inexplicably tearful. It feels amazing! I was going to go back on the pill but now reading these forums I think my delicate mental state could do without the pill induced psychosis!

Thanks for the blogs everyone, I'm certainly staying off the pill!"

"'Skipping' drug step forward for muscular dystrophy"

"I agree, this article describes comples processes in a clear way and its great that research like this is being reported on by mainstream press. Developing drugs/conducting clinical trials can be prohibitively expensive, especially in this case where each individual patient may need a different drug.
However the following description:
'It occurs because of a deletion in a gene that makes a protein called dystrophin, which helps provide a protective membrane around muscle fibres. Without this skin, muscle fibres become damaged and eventually die.'
is a little misleading.
The dystrophin protein acts like a shock absorber in muscle cells. Rather than forming a 'skin', it acts like a spring. It is located at the inner surface of the cells and stabilises them during contraction."

"An end to snoring?"

"Had this surgery and as recommended by my ENT went back for 4 more surgery's with no clear benefit. Have since been on alot of forums and seems success rate of surgery for snore/ apnoea is low and medicare is actualy looking at whether it is still a worthwhile tretment due to its cost and side effects. Have since tried CPAP (worked well). Now using a positonal device and happy as larry. Think very carefully before you get surgery, talk to a sleep specialist first."
(this comment has been moderated)

"Thanks Adam for your story.
Media Doctor Team"

"A working week for new post-sex pill"

"Thank You all for your help and perspectives."

"Aust scientists develop therapeutic HIV vaccine"

"Hello. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me."
(this comment has been moderated)

"Hit and run victim has made medical history by standing and walking, bringing hope to paraplegics"

"Thank you for your interest in this story. However in reviewing it I believe you have done your own audience as well as this journalist a disservice.
Appearing below Media Doctor's slogan of "Improving the accuracy of medical news reporting" (is there any evidence to back this claim, as I am aware of none?), most readers would look at your 1 1/2 star rating and conclude the story must have been an inaccurate and shoddy piece of work. This is wrong and unfair.
The journal report, as your review appears to accept, was credible and highly interesting, which vindicates our judgement that the findings deserved a prominent spot in the newspaper.
Our job was then to report those findings in the next available edition, which we did - going to press within 90 minutes of the details being sent to us by The Lancet.
Did we make some material error in reporting those findings? If so, you do not mention it.
Instead, your unhappiness with the story seems to stem from the nature of the research - that it was not a randomised controlled trial, that the Lancet did not provide a detailed breakdown of the costs, and that (as the story in fact made clear) that this research was by its nature preliminary and any practical application could be years away.
It is a strange position to take to accept the interest value of preliminary research findings, yet to attack a news report that has reported these findings accurately for the fact that much remains uncertain or unknown (when this too is apparent in the story).
Your points about the research's limitations are of course valid, but a fuller explanation of those limitations could only be secondary to an explanation of the findings themselves.
In other words, your review - which as you fail to mention was posted after the benefit of a full week's hindsight - is criticising this news story for not being something that could not have been written until later - its own follow up."

"Dear Adam

Thanks for your feedback. We do agree with many of your points about our rating of this story. The rating doesn't reflect the fact that this is an interesting and credible subject and certainly does not take into account the time limits faced by journalists in getting stories to press. In addition the review process was not complete and it was posted prematurely - our apologies for that.

We do not believe or imply in any way that this story was 'inaccurate' or 'shoddy' but it didn't rate well on our instrument. This is because the subject matter didn't fit well with the rating criteria and it may not be possible to derive a valid score. In light of your feedback we will review our ratings and let you know what we come up with. In order to do this the current rating has been taken down.

Thanks again for writing to us about this


Media Doctor"

"Drinking tea may stave off cancer"

"Hey - I am definitely happy to find this. great job!"

"The doctor many believe can cure cancer"

"I am the max ralphs in the story and i am very real,I am writing this because my wife is having treatment at the radiowave clinic.When i wrote that story i didn't think i would be taking my wife here.She started this morning and came through the radiowave AOK.another 14 treatments and it's back to wollongong.I know we are looking forward with a lot more hope than we had when they told us the treatment we could get was chemo with it's 33% chance.I will write again down the track."

"Botox injections help ease tennis elbow"

"Hey guys,

Im new here im sam.

I hope everyone is good!

I look forwards to being active here :)

see you all on the forum"

"Multivitamin link to breast cancer"

"You may wish to proof read your text, as it contains several spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors in the "what we said" section."

"Thank you Sarah - we do need sub editors."

"Aspirin a breast cancer lifesaver"

"I have survived a heart attack recently (April , 2010) and i am on aspirin. I can say confidently it has helped me but I do not know if it is a placebo effect.It has saved my life as myocardial infarct is a killer. I would appreciate that a proper randomized study be conducted worldwide as there are millions of patients surviving a heart attack while a half million had died even before they went to the doctor. Why can't governments fund these studies? How can aspirin save lives from both cancer and heart disease? They must rule out the possibility of some foods in the diet may also prevent heart or cancer.For instance it is said that cinnamon has the blood thinning effect as aspirin. One Australian study claims to have prevented 54 deaths, 30 strokes in patients with chronic kidney disease. But I don't have kidney disease. How do i interpret the results? I did not have angina pectoris those severe painful symptoms. Sam"
(this comment has been moderated)

"Dear Sam

There are some great questions here and I wish we could answer them all for you. We as a community are given so much information about the many studies and research projects conducted around the globe - some of that information is conflicting and much is incomplete. You might try asking your doctor these questions or go to if the Cochrane Library http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html for high quality evidence about health interventions.

The Media Doctor Team"

"Hormone in pill blamed for women's hair loss"

"I noticed this article when it was published. At first, as a woman with hair loss who has done a lot of research of medical literature on the topic, I couldn't believe they would publish such tripe. But then, as a woman with hair loss who is desperate for a solution, I started to worry that perhaps it was right. I switched pills to one of these so called new generation pills, only to find my hair shedding increased dramatically. Surely the media should research these claims before they publish them."
(this comment has been moderated)

"Hi Jess

Thanks for your feedback. While we cannot provide any medical advice, we do recommend you discuss this problem with your doctor.

While the media are not in a position to research the quality of the claims made to them, they can provide a more balanced view by talking to medical experts who have nothing to do with the product or research being reported. The media should also take into consideration the fact that people like yourself do read this information and often act on it. They have a responsibilty to present the most complete information they can.

We hope your condition improves.

Thank you
The Media Doctor Team"

"Doctors perform heart valve replacement without major surgery"

"Hi Media Doctor,

two years post the original article, can you respond any further on this procedure? Thank you.

Worried."
(this comment has been moderated)

"Dear Worried

Thank you for this email. So many apparently wonderful interventions appear in news stories raising hopes of a breakthrough in treatment but then disappear never to be heard of again. This is a big problem and one that ultimately comes back to researchers who need to responsibility for their press rereleases. It's not simply a matter of getting media coverage - it's a matter of ensuring that information given to a vulnerable population is accurate and states when a treatment will be available. In this case, there has been no further media coverage and no research publications that we could locate. Hopefully research has continued and we will hear more about this in the future. You could try contacting the Curran Foundation which has been supporting this research on 02 8382 2134.

The Media Doctor Team"

"Brain scan may help autism diagnosis"

"Missing in this article is whether the patients were medication-naive. If not, the scans should have been compared to those of other people on the same medication with different diagnoses. Otherwise the scans may have been 90% effective in detecting not autism but iatrogenesis."

"Sleeping drug 'causes overeating'"

"Hi. I know long term use of any sleep enhancer is ultimately not good for the body, however was wondering if I rely on a product to get me to sleep during the day 2 times a week for my after midnite bus driving duties, can I ask doctor for more and he must give them to me, or is it his call as to whether he prescribes more....I take 3 tabs a week, Fri around 2pm and Sunday around 7pm plus maybe one during the week to help my bod sleep at 'normal' time...am feeling weird about asking as I dont have a prob, just I cant sleep during the day without them/something

Cheers

David"
(this comment has been moderated)

"Dear David

We do understand your problem - having been through shift work and the horrors of trying to sleep during the day. Talk to your doctor about your sleeping patterns and what will work best for you.

Good luck

The Media Doctor Team"

"Cancer vaccine for girls before sex life starts"

"Five years on, the concerns about parental reaction raised by this article have been shown to be valid.

One of the greatest barriers, internationally, identified in the scientific literature on this topic is parents' concern about appearing to condone sexual activity in their daughters and not liking to think about their early teens in the context of a sexually transmitted disease. As this is widely reported in journals worldwide, I doubt it is the result of SMH's article.

Of course, this is not logical (as your good comparison to the hepatitis B vaccine, given at the same age to girls in Australia, shows) or helpful, but the opinion exists and health educators are still addressing it. I give the article some points in that it explained both points of view.

And, of course, the challenge is now to rebut the belief that vaccination means no more Pap testing!"

"Machine better at diagnosing melanomas"

"i am interested in this machine and how it works.i will be pleased if you give me every detail of the machine.
thanks... looking forward to hear from you soonest."

"Thank you for your email Edeh

Unfortunately we are unable to provide any further information about this intervention. You could try contacting the manufacturers who are cited in the article - follow the link.

MediaDoctor Team"

"World's first skin cancer cream launched"

"Hi,
my friend has a melanoma type of cancer in his hand and this skin cream was recommended for him to use. i was just wondering, because not much info is available, could you please tell if the sideffects are okay and if the cream is effective for hand cancer of this type?

also if its expensive? how long it takes? if its painful?

eveyrhting =)

thankyou."

"MediaDoctor does not provide medical advice and we recommend consulting a medical practitioner with any medical questions you might have. You have raised some excellent questions which your friend should discuss with his treating doctor. These are the type of questions we would like to see addressed by the media when they cover health interventions.

Thank you for your feedback

MediaDoctor Team"

"Sweaty armpits run dry in new surgery"

"I was the first woman in the UK to have this carried out, it is the most painful thing you could ever have done, my armpits are left scared and I still sweat, but not anywhere near as much as I did, but I would not recommend this to anyone."

"Thank you for your insights Rionne.

MediaDoctor Team"

"Easter eggs may be good for your heart"

"Admittedly we should have included the absolute numbers to provide greater context to this story. However, I find it surprising that virtually the same story published on another website(with the absolute numbers) was given 3.5 stars compared to 2 stars for this one."

"Thanks for your comments Darren. We will investigate the reason for this disparity.

Addit: You were right. Our ratings were inconsistent and the other story has been re-rated and their star rating downgraded to 2. Thank you for your feedback on this.

Media Doctor Team"