Anatomy in the Media - Essay Example

Running head: ANATOMY IN THE MEDIA Anatomy in the Media Anatomy in the Media That the media have already become the essential elements of our daily lives cannot be denied. The media are the most important drivers of public opinion. The media influence the lives and hearts of billions of people on the planet. Individuals, groups, organizations, and corporations apply to the media, to promote their ideas and to expand their influence. The media serve the voice of the public and the expression of the dominant ideas and beliefs. The commercialization of the media requires that professional reporters and writers produce and deliver stories that interest and fascinate the readers. More often than not, the media serve both the source of new knowledge and the instrument of educating the public. Medical news is the best example of how the public familiarizes itself with various aspects of medical science through the media. It should be noted, however, that the ways the media deliver medical news and information are completely different from those, which professionals and scholars in medicine follow when they write and publish their articles in scholarly peer-reviewed journals. Obviously, the target audience predetermines and defines the scope of lexical materials media professionals must use, to meet the information needs of this audience. In mass media, complex terms are being replaced with comprehensive descriptions and words; unfortunately, such descriptions and words often make the article confusing and incomplete, and may even push the readers to search additional information elsewhere. The power of the news and mass media is difficult to underestimate: the mass media work to set the nation’s agenda, make everything possible and impossible to focus readers’ attention on the most important public issues, and produce an immense influence on the audience (McCombs & Shaw, 1992; McCombs & Shaw, 1997). Through mass media, people not only learn factual information about the most important news and affairs in the public sphere, but learn how important each topic is and how much readers’ attention it deserves (Shaw, 1999). Modern newspapers use their print design as a cue about how salient each topic is: large headlines, front pages, lead stories, and editorials are used by the publishers to attract public attention to the most important daily issues. In this way, newspapers and other media set the public decision-making agenda and present the results of the daily public activities in ways that benefit their popularity and, simultaneously, keep the public constantly informed. In this stream of news and information, medical issues are often of minor importance. It would be fair to say rarely or never do newspapers use their lead stories or front pages to discuss medical information and issues, unless the latter turn into a sensation or have far-reaching commercial implications for publishers. Medical news is often left for the last pages of newspapers, devoted to entertainment and easy topics. Media professionals use medical news to educate their readers and to distract their attention from the most serious daily problems. To make their news interesting, the mass media intentionally apply to non-specialist language and simply terminology. In this way, the mass media expect to deliver this medical information to masses. The articles by Yong (2010) and Mercury (2010) are the brightest examples of how specific medical terminology works in mass media: the authors intentionally avoid using sophisticated medical terms and words, to make the information comprehensible and easy to read. In her article, Teresa Yong (2010) describes a young girl who was able to beat bone tumor and is currently nursing others. The story of the young lady described by Yong (2010) is similar to thousands of those, who faced the risks of cancer and unexpected death: the author writes that one day after a camping trip, she felt very tired and experienced severe pain in her left upper arm. A few days later, the girl got worse and thought she had a dislocated shoulder (Yong, 2010). Ultimately, the absence of any health improvements made the girl visit the hospital, and the results of the biopsy confirmed the presence of Proximal Giant Cell Tumor (Yong, 2010). Due to the absence of material resources needed to make a surgery, the young lady and her parents had to apply for charity – she spent three months in the hospital, walking in and out and checking how other patients with similar diseases felt (Yong, 2010). As of today, the girl is working as a research officer in Kuala Lumpur Hospital and gathers the data on trauma patients eligible for treatment (Yong, 2010). She claims she has fully recovered, except for the large scar left on her shoulder after the surgery (Yong, 2010). In a similar vein, The Mercury tells the story of a 20-year-old man, whose heart was repaired to give him another chance to live a full and self-fulfilling life. According to The Mercury (2010), the young man had already had his heart switched on and treated just several days after his birth. However, he became famous as the first patient to survive the “switch-back” operation aimed to repair a leaking valve (The Mercury, 2010). A simple operation to install a mechanical valve would be enough to save the young man’s life, but it would also end his prospects to become a prominent soccer player (The Mercury, 2010). The process of installing a mechanical valve is traditionally associated and is accompanied by severe limitations of the daily life activity for patients (The Mercury, 2010). The young man was born with the arteries of his heart connected in the wrong order, causing him the condition called as transference of the great artery (The Mercury, 2010). Just six days old, he survived a 10-hour-surgery, when medical professionals disconnected his aortic and pulmonary arteries and reconnecting them in ways, which would allow his heart to send blood through his lungs (The Mercury, 2010). Today, McCallum is the head news again, with the second heart operation giving him a chance to become a famous sportsman, without any risks for his health and the need to rely on blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life (The Mercury, 2010). Obviously, the way the medical news is presented in the mass media make it easier for the mass reader to understand the meaning of the complicated terms and to grasp the meaning and significance of various medical processes without applying to complex terminology. When The Mercury (2010) speaks about “transference of the great artery”, the meaning of this word combination is immediately explained – making readers understand that this health condition is associated with the arteries of the heart connected in the wrong order. Yong (2010), too, avoids using specific terms, to present her material in an easy and comprehensive way. However, is everything as easy, comprehensible, and specific as anatomical and medical news require? Is the use of simple terminology in medical news justified? To those who studied anatomy at school and have some degree of knowledge in medicine and the basic human processes, medical news in ways they are presented in mass media are equally confusing and dull. An impression persists that mass media professionals simplify medical information to the extent, which makes it difficult even for non-professionals to understand its medical and health implications. More importantly, the lack of important anatomical, medical, and health information does not allow evaluating the significance of the event or even distorts its meaning and place in the medical science. From the anatomical point of view, it is not enough to present the fact of identifying Proximal Giant Cell Tumor – it is more important to provide its detailed description, its possible symptoms, and the chances for full recovery. Moreover, from the anatomical viewpoint, it is not important whether the young lady is working to nurse others but, rather, the treatment and approaches that were used to give her a chance to fully recover. For example, the official website BoneTumor.org provides the detailed description of Giant Cell Tumor, its incidence, prevalence, symptoms, and prognosis. It appears that of all primary bony tumors, only 5-9 percent are represented by Giant Cell Tumor (Bone Tumor, 2010). This is the most common form of bone tumor in young adults between 25 and 40 years of age, more commonly found in women and, most probably, during their third decade (Bone Tumor, 2010). It appears that the treatment of giant cell bone tumors is by surgery only, and extended curettage is the treatment of choice (Bone Tumor, 2010). Because curettage is associated with high rates of recurrence, medical professionals do not recommend using this form of tumor treatment alone, without surgical treatment solutions (Bone Tumor, 2010). This information could add value to the discussed article. More importantly, this is the information that could be provided by using simple and unsophisticated terms, letting the readers to evaluate the general risks of the disease and the chances of patients with diagnosed Proximal Giant Cell Tumor to fully recover. How the disease was diagnosed and what methods were used to confirm the diagnosis are not available, too. Obviously, with the aim to provide the readers with easy and comprehensible information, the author intentionally avoided using terms and definitions of the complex diagnostic procedures. For this reason, the article lacks diagnostic specificity. However, it is possible to paraphrase and review the basic terms used by medical professionals in scholarly literature, to provide the mass audience with more specific anatomical information. For example, Zampa, Roselli and Beltrami (2010) write that “MRI is a unique imaging technique that allows direct visualization of bone marrow with high spatial resolution. Its high soft tissue contrast enables a precise assessment of bone marrow infiltration and surrounding tissue involvement at high sensitivity” (p.326). Certainly, it is at least inappropriate to use this terminology in common newspaper and general medical articles. However, it is possible to note that MRI was used to confirm the young lady’s diagnosis, saying that MRI is an effective method of assessing the seriousness and severity of different forms of tumors in human bones. In this way, the whole article would look much more complete and, simultaneously, would not burden the readers with complex words and sentences they cannot understand. It should be noted, that contemporary readers are particularly interested in being the first to know everything about the recent achievements in medicine. In the context of the discussed article, the fact of the girl’s having recovered from a fatal disease is, probably the most important. The question is, however, was the recovery a matter of chance or the result of a thoroughly developed treatment therapy. Moreover, were any non-traditional/ experimental treatments used to help the girl to survive the fatal health condition? Today, immunotherapy is widely used to treat various types of bone tumors (Schwab et al, 2009). Yet, the author of the article did not deem it possible and appropriate to include this information. Nevertheless, it would be fair to assume that Yong (2010) used terms and definitions of specific diagnoses in ways that do not leave any room for confusion. The article is written in easy and comprehensible language and, most probably, follows the tone and the mood of the whole newspaper. Unfortunately, it is not clear whether the goal of the article was to show that bone tumors can be successfully treated or that those who recover can lead a full and self-fulfilling life. Here, the article from The Mercury deserves particular attention. The author describes a complex surgical process, the results of which allowed the young patient to cure his heart problems and, simultaneously, to continue his participation in professional soccer. The mechanical valve technique which the author mentions in the article is a common topic in scholarly medical literature. Dozens of authors describe their findings and developments in surgical cardiology (Goldberg & Siminiak, 2010; Maganti et al, 2010). However, not every reader possesses knowledge and skills needed to understand the basic principles and implications of the process itself. The author avoids going too deep into medical and health details. The Mercury seeks to provide the readers with the fullest information without applying to sophisticated medical terms. It seems that from the viewpoint of the anatomical science, the article lacks precision and specificity, but this article was published not in a scholarly journal but a newspaper, which thousands of readers read on a daily basis. Bearing in mind that most of the target audience are non-experts, the article creates the fullest picture of the situation and praises the medical achievements in the cardiology field. The implications are far-reaching: what was accomplished during the surgery can be readily used by other cardiologists in similar situations and to achieve similar results. To some extent, the article in The Mercury could become the beginning of the new series of professional researches in the field of infant and adolescent cardiology. In this sense, the mass media often serve an effective link between science and the mass audience, and both articles support this viewpoint. While mass media make it possible for the readers to access and understand the significance of complex scientific achievements, the mass media ability to be the first everywhere facilitate scientists’ access to the information about new achievements and research results. Both articles successfully fulfill their role – to inform the readers without imposing a burden of new terms and complex meanings on them. Those, who seek to understand the presented information in more detail, can address scholarly literature and medical professionals in the required field. References Bone Tumor. (2010). Giant cell tumor. Bone Tumor. Retrieved from http://www.bonetumor.org/tumors-bone/giant-cell-tumor Goldberg, S.L. & Siminiak, T. (2010). Prospects for the percutaneous repair of the mitral valve. Interv Cardiol, 2, 4, 525-533. Maganti, K., Rigolin, V.H., Sarano, E. & Bonow, R.O. (2010). Valvular heart disease: Diagnosis and management. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 85, 5, 483-500. McCombs, M. & Shaw, D. (1992). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176-187. McCombs, M. & Shaw, D. (1997). Communication and democracy: Exploring the intellectual frontiers. Routledge. Schwab, J.H., Boland, P.J., Agaram, N.P., Socci, N.D., Guo, T. et al. (2009). Chordoma and chondrosarcoma gene profile: Implications for immunotherapy. Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, 58, 339-349. Shaw, E.F. (1999). Agenda-setting and mass communication theory. Gazette, 25, 2, 101-104. The Mercury. (2010). Darcy’s alive and kicking. Yong, T. (2010). Girl who beat bone tumor now nursing others. Zampa, V., Roselli, G. & Beltrani, G. (2010). MRI of bone tumors: Advances in diagnosis and treatment assessment. Imaging Medicine, 2, 3, 325-340. Read More