I'd just like to ask first whether you note any difference in the two headlines, one purporting to be reporting on...
I'd just like to ask first whether you note any difference in the two headlines, one purporting to be reporting on the other.
Evidence for Cognitive Aging in Midlife Women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation
For women, cognitive decline starts in middle age
Also, Alzheimer's is never mentioned in the paper. It is in the title of one of the references about cognitive testing [Use of brief cognitive tests to identify individuals in the community with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease.]
The AMA staff writer mentions it 5 times and to an average reader, it certainly sounds like he is connecting the paper with Alzheimer's. I really have to wonder how and why that leap was made, and how much even poorer reporting is going to hit the national media. Presumably, the media staff at the AMA is professional communications people, not doctors and scientists, but they don't seem to get reviewed or edited by any doctors or scientists.
That second title, the one in the AMA's brief summary drawing attention to the paper, which is the first title, is doing exactly the sort of thing that makes health disparities worse. Middle aged women are dumb. Like women don't get dismissed as incapable as it is.
P.S. The paper doesn't say women are dumb. It says they have some evidence that there may be reductions in certain aspects of cognitive processing over time and, if so, we need to consider how to counter that. You might go so far as to suggest a quality of life subtext.
Evidence for Cognitive Aging in Midlife Women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation
For women, cognitive decline starts in middle age
Also, Alzheimer's is never mentioned in the paper. It is in the title of one of the references about cognitive testing [Use of brief cognitive tests to identify individuals in the community with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease.]
The AMA staff writer mentions it 5 times and to an average reader, it certainly sounds like he is connecting the paper with Alzheimer's. I really have to wonder how and why that leap was made, and how much even poorer reporting is going to hit the national media. Presumably, the media staff at the AMA is professional communications people, not doctors and scientists, but they don't seem to get reviewed or edited by any doctors or scientists.
That second title, the one in the AMA's brief summary drawing attention to the paper, which is the first title, is doing exactly the sort of thing that makes health disparities worse. Middle aged women are dumb. Like women don't get dismissed as incapable as it is.
P.S. The paper doesn't say women are dumb. It says they have some evidence that there may be reductions in certain aspects of cognitive processing over time and, if so, we need to consider how to counter that. You might go so far as to suggest a quality of life subtext.
I hope the subheading for the second is "For men, it starts in infancy."
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