The Illusion of Certainty
Health Benefits and Risks
Buch in deiner Nähe kaufen
Beschreibung
The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks peels away the "veneer of certainty" which many of us attach to health risk and benefit information given to us in our daily lives. It was written and designed primarily to assist the public in comprehending and interpreting the uncertainty associated with the overwhelming amount of information on medical and environmental health risks. The book uses unique, visual presentations and case studies to explain the benefits of medical screening tests (e.g., mammography, prostate and colorectal cancer screening, cholesterol screening) and drugs (e.g., statins, Vioxx™) and the risks associated with exposure to environmental contaminants (e.g., lead, dioxin, radon). This book will help patients and their families get more involved in making medical decisions, and citizens face critical questions about the environment. By putting the complexities of risk analysis in terms the general public can relate to, the authors are empowering people to make well-informed decisions.
About the Authors:
Erik Rifkin is the president of an environmental consulting firm that specializes in the characterization of ecological and human health risks from exposure to soil, water, air and sediments. His firm provides assistance and guidance to federal and state regulatory agencies and corporations regarding the nature and magnitude of environmental risks and potential remediation strategies. Dr. Rifkin's broad experience includes the communication of health risks and benefits to groups concerned with these issues.
Edward J. Bouwer is Professor of Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has extensive experience with water and soil pollution and treatment. His research provides guidance ondefining and managing environmental risks and how to interpret human and ecological health risk data. Dr. Bouwer has served on several National Research Council committees that provide guidance on managing human and ecological risk
Guest Author Bob Sheff, MD, received his medical training as a radiologist at UCLA and Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He spent his career praticing medicine and running one of the largest medical managed-care systems in the U.S. Now semi-retired, he devotes his time to helping non-profit organizations and individual people address their medical concerns. He lives in Columbia, Maryland.
Written for:
Undergraduate, graduate, medical and nursing students, engineers, government advisory agencies, research scientists, lawyers, politicians and anyone interested in risk analysis and the interpretation of risk values.
Risk analysis and risk assessment have been with us long enough for the terms to sound familiar to most people. Standard fare for the nuclear power industry and the military for a half a century or more, risk assessment is now a routine aspect of environmental management, public health and individual medical decision making. There have been popular books on risk, and the current poker craze will likely spread risk concepts to an even wider (and younger) audience. Yet, despite all of this extensive and varied experience, we the analysts and practitioners have not done nearly enough to explain to the people who need to know what they need to know – especially the uncertainty inherent in risk estimates. There are many instances in which the failure to communicate risk information accurately or completely has had an important and material impact on decisions and actions. I have been involved in some of these, ranging from local plans for water management to national decisions about nuclear waste. I have seen first hand the effects of poorly done risk asse- ments and bad risk communication, and especially the way in which the uncertainly of risk estimates is handled (or mishandled). The con- quences of doing this wrong are high. It’s high time that we addressed this gap in understanding, and this book is an excellent and important step in doing so.
Foreword is written by Dr. Jared Cohon, President of Carnegie Mellon University Of interest to millions of people who are concerned with true benefit of screening tests such as mammography, prostate cancer screening, cholesterol screening and colorectal cancer screening Informs the public on true risks and benefits of taking statins, drugs such as Vioxx™, the risks of smoking and the risks of exposure to environmental contaminants such as dioxin, mercury and radon Provides practical information and tools to make informed decision on risk and benefits Book is written to explain complex concepts in an accessible manner Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
This book provides the reader with an understanding and appreciation of the risk assessment process and the ability to objectively interpret health risk values. Included is an explanation of the uncertainty inherent in the assessment of risks as well as an explanation of how the communication and characterization of risks can dramatically alter the perception of those risks. Risk statements tend to be presented as if they are authoritative, definitive, and based on clear and unequivocal evidence, which leads to the illusion of certainty. In this context, this book compares and contrasts the differences between risk assessment and causality. Case studies illustrate the strengths and limitations of characterizing certain risks. Using the accepted risk assessment paradigm proposed by the National Research Council, these case studies illustrate which risk values have merit and why other assessments fail to meet basic criteria.
Autor*in
Erik Rifkin
Themen in »The Illusion of Certainty«
Assessment Medical Screening cancer screening human health risk organization risk assessment screening toxicity uncertainty
Stimmen zu »The Illusion of Certainty«
From the reviews:
"The aim is principally to assist the public in comprehending and interpreting health benefit and risk information, and provide them with the basic methods that will allow them to make their own judgements. … A significant feature of the book is the introduction of a new way of assisting the reader to conceptualise the absolute risk or benefit to an individual. … It could be used as a reference book by a member of the public … ." (Roy Mooney, SCOPE, June, 2008)
()