Critique of a Media Article: Guess What Salt Is Good For Us After All by Rao - Coursework Example

CRITIQUE OF A MEDIA ARTICLE By: Introduction Science and media are critical components of the society since the two gather information, value objectivity and accuracy and understand their vast social roles. The society benefits from an interaction of science and media and the two complement each other (Harper, 2005, p. 460). Nevertheless, since media and science have different standards, objectives, competencies, expertise, and source of funding, they can at times interact in ways that result to unintended and undesirable impacts to the public (Roy, Faulkner & Finlay, 2007, p. 575). There are instances where the public may be ill informed, confused or deceived due to media coverage of scientific studies. Consequently, this can result to poor policy decisions, misinformed public views and reduce the ability to make use of the available scientific information (Lawrence, 2004, p. 70). There are numerous problems on health and nutrition that have been misrepresented in media by oversimplification of their impacts and problems to humans. Naple (2009, p. 27) explains that many new discoveries in medicine are based on interpreting the genome and assessing the role of genes in diseases. These advances are being implemented in a move towards achieving personalized treatment, which is based on an individual’s genetic composition. Despite the enthusiasm in this advancement, Naple (2009, p. 27) explains that the media is misinterpreting this by presenting to the public that genome is a machine that is programmed to control the health of a person. He explains that the word used by the media to describe genome is ‘‘hardwire’’. He further argues that the use of this term misrepresents the function of genome to a person’s health and the implications are that the public is not willing to accept responsibility for specific health problems. There was for example an article with a title ‘Obesity: Gene Discovery Suggests Some People are Hardwired to Overeat,’ carried in the guardian of 15 December, 2008. The article describes that researchers have found that there are some genes that increase a person’s risk of obesity and goes further to claim that persons with these kinds of genes are 3.3 to 4.4 pounds heavier than subjects without this variant gene. This is misinterpretation since it fails to take into account other environmental factors and diet behaviors, which should be controlled in such an experiment to make such a conclusion. Burk (2002, p. 109) asserts that while the media presents scientific findings as concrete, it fails to understand that science is usually a dynamic process. This paper will evaluate an example of an article covered by the Daily express.co.uk on November 10, 2011 that misrepresented facts on nutrition and health. The media claim The article by Rao (2011) carried an eye-catching title ‘Guess what? Salt is good for us after all’ claimed that anyone who reduces their salt intake was actually doing a disservice to themselves. Rao (2011) alleged that after years of warning that a lot of salt intake is harmful to our health, a new study had proved otherwise. He wrote that the study had found that salt in the diet can reduce the chances of getting heart disease and stroke. Moreover, the article noted that by reducing the amount of sodium intake in our diet, our kidneys are triggered to release high amounts of compounds that cause high blood pressure. Rao (2011) supported this article by explaining that these findings were already published in American Journal on Hypertension. However, Rao (2011) writes that these findings are being faced with opposition from salt awareness campaign groups. This article is misrepresenting scientific studies and, therefore, will be treated as a claim in the paper since the research did not actually assess what is carried in the headline. The research was carried out to estimate effects of low sodium versus high-sodium intake on blood pressure, rennin, aldosterone, catecholamines and lipids. Basis for the claim The claim is based on a research conducted by Dr. Gradual and researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital, who analyzed 167 previous cases and found that although reducing salt intake can lower blood pressure, it also caused increase in compounds such as cholesterol and triglyceride. In their study, an increase in these two compounds, which can lead to blood clotting, was significantly higher than the one percent decrease in blood pressure that was observed. The claim was also based on a previous British study conducted by researchers from Exeter University, which had concluded that there is no strong evidence on the relationship between low salt intake in the diet and reduced risks of heart disease. The study had observed that the benefits of cutting salt intake in our diet were being overestimated. What Are The Mechanisms/ Theory To Support Claim? The article by Nathan Rao that supports the claim that salt in the diet can lessen our chances of heart diseases and strokes is to a certain extent “incorrect” because there are mechanisms and theories that claim otherwise. Heart disease is a broad term that is used to describe a variety of diseases that affect the heart. Some of these diseases include heart infections, congenital heart defects, heart rhythm problems, and coronary artery disease (Master and Jaffe, 2003, 103). In as much as the article seems to suggest that salt in the diet can lessen people’s chances of heart disease and strokes, there are numerous other studies that have shown that there is a close link between salt, cholesterol, and heart disease. According to Ford (2004, p. 13), the amount of salt in the daily diet of people does not in any way affect their cholesterol levels. That notwithstanding though, a high sodium diet has the potential of increasing high blood pressure as well as heart diseases. Besides, various studies have shown that salt consumption, in particular, excessive salt consumption over a long period of time leads to heart disease, as well as other adverse health conditions (Carll, et al, 2011, p. 930). Short and long-term epidemiological studies have shown that dietary salt increases blood pressure in people who are sodium- sensitive and that results to corresponding health risks including heart disease. This argument is supported by several studies that indicate that the risk of heart diseases increases with age, implying that progressive consumption of salt is associated with heart disease (Cappuccio, 2007, p. 860). Moreover, the rising incidences of heart disease and stroke in the United States of America and United Kingdom are attributed to the fact that majority of the population consume salt a lot in restaurant and processed foods. Cholesterol is also linked to heart disease. According to (Paul et al, 2001, p. 4), the Low- Density Lipoproteins (LDL) or the negative cholesterol is usually responsible for the build- up of plaque in the arterial walls, thus, obstructing the flow of blood resulting to heart attack or stroke. In most cases, people who suffer from high cholesterol, also suffer from high blood pressure (Weinberger, 1996, p. 488). So, what are the mechanisms by which low and high salt diets could cause high blood pressure and heart disease? In humans, salt has two critical biological functions; one of them is that salt plays an important role in maintaining the volume of body fluid including intracellular and extracellular fluids, as well as blood’s osmotic balance. The body maintains blood pressure through circulating solutes and water. Excessive intake of salt will result to increase of solutes, thus, decrease of water potential in blood leading to increase in blood osmotic pressure. Even though the kidneys will react to excrete excess sodium in the body, retention of water will cause high blood pressure inside the walls of blood vessels (Cappuccio, F, 2007, p. 859-860). What Evidence Is There To Support / Refute Claim? The claim raised in the article has its proponents and opponents as well. Those who are refuting the claim argue that salt, cholesterol and heart disease are inextricably linked. The study contained in the Toxicological Pathology suggests that dietary salt exacerbates isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy in rats, and the same has been proven in similar studies done on humans (Carll et al, 2011, p. 926). In addition, a study on salt and blood pressure contained in the British Food Journal shows that salt is linked to blood pressure because salt has significant effects to blood pressure, which increase the risks of heart disease (Law, 1995, p. 33). On the other hand, there are studies that support the claim by the article. It is important to note that, over the years, there have been more studies that refute this claim compared to those supporting it. The most notable evidence supporting this claim is the study published in the May 4, 2011, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study disputed the prevailing wisdom relating salt and heart disease; it argued that salt in the diet can lessen people’s chances of heart disease and strokes. The study’s argument was informed by the findings among participants that showed that lower excretion of sodium was associated with heart disease (O’Donnell et al, 2011, p. 2229). Summary The Media sometimes misinterprets scientific studies because of its narrow approach to the articles. The study actually addresses what is in the headline. Salt, cholesterol, and heart disease are linked. High salt diets cause high blood pressure that causes heart disease. More studies refute the article’s claim. Conclusion From the discussion, it is evidently clear that more studies link intake of salt and heart disease. Most of these studies argue that there are strong evidences from epidemiological studies that links salt intake with high blood pressure. Consequently, studies have linked high blood pressure with heart disease. As such, salt intake and heart disease cannot be de-linked. On the other hand, there is limited evidence that salt in the diet can lessen people’s chances of heart disease and strokes. Therefore, this critique has led to recommendation that the study contained in the article does not change the current NHS advice that adults should eat no more than 6g of salt per day. References Burk, D.L. 2002, "Lex genetica: The law and ethics of programming biological code", Ethics and Information Technology, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 109-109. Cappuccio, F, 2007, "Salt and cardiovascular disease", BMJ 334 (7599): 859–60 Carll, A, et al, A 2011, Dietary Salt Exacerbates Isoproterenol-Induced Cardiomyopathy in Rats, Toxicologic Pathology, 39, 6, pp. 925-937 Discourse", European Journal of Communication, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 460-474. Ford, S. 2004, "Cutting salt prevents death", Practice Nurse, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 13-13. Harper, S. 2005, "Media, Madness and Misrepresentation: Critical Reflections on Anti-Stigma Law, M.R. 1995, "Salt and blood pressure", British Food Journal, vol. 97, no. 9, pp. 33-33. Lawrence, G. 2004, ‘’Framing obesity: The evolution of news discourse on a public health issue’’, The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 9(3), 56-75. Master, A and Jaffe, H, 2003, “Fads, Public Opinion, and Heart Diseases: Cholesterol and Fats, Anticoagulants, Salt Restriction”, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 183(2): 102-107 Naples, J., 2009, ‘‘Media Misinterpretation’’, retrieved 10th March 2012, from < http://www.nymc.edu/Clubs/quill_and_scope/volume2/naples.pdf> Obesity: Gene Discovery Suggests Some People are Hardwired to Overeat, guardian.co.uk. 15 Dec. 2008. Accessed 10th, march, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/15/nutrition O’Donnell, M et al, 2011, “Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion and Risk of Cardiovascular Events”, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 306 (20): 2229- 2238 Paul R. et al, 2001, "Effects on Blood Pressure of Reduced Dietary Sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet". New England Journal of Medicine 344 (1): 3–10 Rao, N, 2011, ‘‘Guess what? Salt is good for us after all’’, The Daily Express.co.uk (November, 2011) Roy, S.C., Faulkner, G. & Finlay, S. 2007, "Fit to Print: A Natural History of Obesity Research in the Canadian News Media", Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 575-594. Weinberger, M, 1996, "Salt sensitivity of blood pressure in humans", Hypertension 27 (3 Pt 2): 481–90 Read More