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Media Releases
Fact from Fiction:Free Online Course to Help Educate People About Arthritis News, Advertising
Columbia, Mo. (June 8, 2005) - We live in an information society, and every minute we are bombarded with the latest health news, medical breakthrough or the discovery of a miracle drug. Amidst the labyrinth of health information, promotion and advertising, how is one to distinguish between valid scientific claims and dubious sales pitches?
The recent withdrawal from the market of certain arthritis drugs, such as Vioxx and Bextra, left millions of people wondering how to deal with their pain. Many have turned to alternative medicine for help, but supplements and therapies offered by the alternative establishment are not scrutinized for safety and efficacy the way regular drugs and therapies are.
In this precarious situation, it is that much more important for people to be able to evaluate claims about alternative drug therapies and pain management techniques.
A free online course developed by researchers at the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC) at the University of Missouri-Columbia is designed to help consumers do just that: Critically evaluate the soundness of scientific and promotional information about arthritis and related conditions.
"New products for treating symptoms of arthritis seem to appear weekly," says John Hewett, Ph.D., director of biostatistics at the MU School of Medicine and MARRTC principal investigator. "How are individuals supposed to know which product will help them? Suppose there is an ad in a magazine that suggests that peach pulp will reduce pain. How do I know that this is really true?"
The course, titled "Fact from Fiction: Reading Between the Lines of Arthritis News and Advertising," will take place July 11 through Aug. 5, and will help consumers learn how to tell the difference between credible and unproven remedies, how to evaluate information, and find beneficial self-care ideas.
In a recent report, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended that the federal government should adopt a system for evaluating the efficacy and safety of alternative and complementary medicine identical to the one used to scrutinize mainstream practices and drugs.
Americans spent an average of $15 billion a year on alternative remedies, and one in every three adults report they have used some sort of alternative or complementary medicine treatment, according to IOM's findings. For example, the use of herbal remedies jumped by 380 percent between 1990 and 1997. Complementary and alternative medicine includes treatments and products such as herbal remedies, acupuncture, naturopathy and others.
While some advertised products and therapies might be merely ineffective and costly, others may be downright dangerous, especially if used in combination with certain prescription medications.
This course, however, is not intended to suggest specific products as treatments, nor is it intended to replace information you receive from your doctor, Hewett warns. Instead, it is developed to arm consumers with critical knowledge to help them sniff out good claims from quackery.
Students will interact with the instructor and other class members online for one hour per week. While online, students will read prepared material and then test their knowledge. Lessons can be accessed at any time and are designed for anyone, regardless of educational background.
Anyone who can use e-mail and can read the newspaper is qualified to take the course. Those interested in enrolling, should complete and submit an online questionnaire by going to marrtc.org/research/proj5/survey.html
If you require further information contact Ashley Sherman by e-mail at umhmarrtc@missouri.edu. Registration deadline is July 4, 2005.
Arthritis and arthritis-related conditions affect 70 million people in the United States alone, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making them a lucrative market to target for both the pharmaceutical and alternative medicine industries.
For more information about MARRTC and its projects, log on to www.marrtc.org
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions. MARRTC's core message is "Disability is everyone's issue."
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