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First of all, identify the source of the story. Does the information come from a reputed publication (such as The Lancet) or a leading medical professional organization (such as the American Heart Association)? Second, look beyond the statistics. When reports hurl at you statistics like 'a 50% pregnancy rate ', take a closer look at the exact numbers. Many of us get 'turned off' by numbers, but this attitude can prove dangerous: you need to ask yourself what the numbers really mean and how they apply to you? Benjamin Disraeli once remarked that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. Remember that statistical methods are simply tools, and they can produce blatantly wrong conclusions unless sensibly used. How many patients were treated? How were they selected? Have these results been consistent? Have these results been confirmed in other studies and other centers?
One important safeguard against imperfect or flawed scientific reporting is peer review; i.e., scientists scrutinize each other's work in advance. Almost all well-respected scientific journals rely on peer review to select papers for publication. Any study that has not undergone peer review should be regarded with the utmost skepticism. For example, one should be wary of findings announced at a press conference that are not accompanied by publication in a journal or by a presentation at a scientific forum. Many doctors and clinics will send out press releases to get media attention, in order to attract more patients, even though the information they provide to the press may not be reliable or trustworthy.
While it is true that reproductive technology does represent one of modern medicine's success stories, the wide range of technological advances in reproductive medicine can leave many infertile patients feeling completely confused. How is a patient to make sense of which technology may be useful for his particular problem? New technology can be dazzling, and undoubtedly, when reproductive technology is used properly, it can help many infertile couples to have a baby. However, technology can be a two-edged sword; and we need to remember that every rose has its thorns! For example, growth hormone was introduced as an adjuvant for superovulation in the early 1990s with great hopes and expectations, and leading doctors announced at many conferences that growth hormone helped to improve pregnancy rates dramatically. Unfortunately, these claims were found to be unfounded, and no one uses growth hormone anymore. However, many patients ended up wasting large sums of money.
What can you do to protect yourself? Remember that fashions come and go in medicine as well, and many doctors are happy to jump onto the latest bandwagon, so that they can present papers at conferences and give lectures, to show that they are the leaders in the field. When you read a report of a new advance, it's usually a good idea to let the froth and the hype to settle down before accepting it. If it is in fact a real advance, it will be replicated in many centers all over the world - remember that the best way to assess the true value of a treatment is to see whether it can withstand the test of time!
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
