Know Your Chances: Understanding Health Statistics

I bought this book to help me understand the statistics that I'm constantly seeing in CDC, WHO and FDA public announcements. This important to know for my work as a journalist in reporting medical issues. But as I read over this book, which now has well-worn pages, I've been thinking that the general public needs to read this book too. For example, at the very beginning of the book, the three authors--who are also medical doctors--explain in lay language what "risk" is, what "outcome" really means when you see it, and why it's important to understand the real numbers behind the "statistics" that various organizations throw at you. In the writers' words, "the health messages you encounter every day in the media are often misleading and overstated." And that is so true I just want to shout it. But I also want to shout that even though it's the media that get blamed for being misleading, the real truth is that more often, it's the SOURCE of the information that has been fed to the media that is skewing the presentation of the statistics. In other words, yes, it's true: the sources--be it a drug manufacturer, a lobby firm or the CDC, WHO, FDA and whoever that is releasing the numbers-- will overstate, understate or downright deliberately cloud the numbers. For that reason, I can't thank these authors enough for writing this book.

When you hear on the news that something will double your risk of getting some disease, do you ever wonder, "Double it from what to what?" It does make a difference. If it doubles the risk from one in a thousand to two in a thousand, you might think, "So what?" If it doubles it from one in three to two in three, you might have a different reaction. Or maybe you would be fatalistic and figure you'd probably get the disease, anyway. But either way, the numbers do matter, and you rarely get them. This outstanding book explains why you need those numbers and why the health statistics provided in advertisements and press releases are generally misleading. The authors explain how it is possible for BOTH survival rates AND death rates for a given illness to go up at the same time. They also discuss why some studies should be viewed with suspicion, what questions patients need to ask before choosing a treatment, and the difference between surrogate outcomes, which simply deal with numbers like cholesterol levels, and patient outcomes, which deal with how a person actually feels. The book is written in a simple, straightforward style that can be easily understood by readers without medical degrees, and its 142-page length will not overwhelm anyone. I can't think of anyone who would not benefit from reading this book. It won't take much time, and unlike some medical books, it's enjoyable as well as important. This one should not be missed.

I lecture to doctor colleagues on some of the topics in this book and they often need reminding of the concepts. Yet the book is appropriate for almost any audience, assuming ten years or so of decent education. I recommend this book for the 99+% of people who don't know this material but have to deal with stuff in these contexts all the time.And docs ought to know all this stuff cold instead of having to be reminded of what it means day-to-day.

This book does a terrific job of helping us translate the mountain of healthcare claims we see and hear each day...on tv, in the hospital lobby, in the newspaper, and from researchers and volunteers...each with their own perspective. Do you have the tools to evaluate claims of drug or treatment efficacy/effectiveness? These claims are often confusing and misleading...leading to erroneous decisions and conclusions on our part. This short and simple discussion uses a variety of real-life examples to show how easily we can be mislead...or simply mislead ourselves by not reading or listening carefully. I have practiced pathology for 25 years and actively taught graduate medical studies addressing these types of problems...and I found the simple and straightforward discussions very, very helpful. You owe it to yourself to be an informed and active participant in your own care.

This book is for those who look for the footnotes when reading about healthcare claims, who question the facts behind today's barrage of health risk messages. 'Know Your Chances' gently guides you through the hype in medical news, TV drug ads and pitches from advocacy groups. Learn the critical-thinking skills to interpret the statistics behind messages that are often incomplete, misleading or exaggerated.We recommend this book on our website, A-Fib.com, for those researching treatment options for Atrial Fibrillation. We also include it in our Amazon Listmania: Atrial Fibrillation: Recommended A-Fib Reference Books and Guides.Patti RyanEditor and Publisher, A-Fib.com

This book is okay as far as it goes, but it appears to have been written for high-school-age students or younger. There's no indication on the cover or in the introduction of its elementary approach.I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher.

Excellent read...provides clarity to the potentially misleading headlines and claims of various types of clinical study results

This book is a real eye-opener. Now when I see commercials or read articles touting some new miracle drug that will "reduce your chance of getting _____ by 50%" I just laugh. I've given this book to my family doctor. Wonder if he'll read it? It's an amazing book and is very easy to understand.

Had it b4 and liked it and still go. Service fine

An interesting read.