We change our lives every day, from what we eat to how we move, to the questions we ask our doctors when our children get sick, to how we support our elderly parents with dementia or cancer. to make hundreds of decisions that affect our health.
Sometimes we make decisions out of habit or based on what feels right. Other times, it's after hearing about a friend's experience or doing some research online.
However, there is a lot of contradictory advice in the news, online, and especially on social media. One day, a study comes out saying coffee is bad for your health, and the next week, a study comes out saying coffee can help you live longer. So it's hard to know whether you should actually drink less, more, or worry about something else.
The problem is that science is incremental. While early findings may sound promising, more research by more people is needed to build the body of evidence. We need experts to help us interpret new discoveries, put them into context, and make the decisions that are right for us.
This is why we started The Conversation 13 years ago (I was one of the original 10 editors). At the time, the anti-vaccination movement was gaining momentum and listicles were starting to become an issue. We started at a time when other media outlets were shrinking, and although we had three years of funding, no one was sure whether this type of journalism would take off.
Thankfully, it happened. Evidence-based journalism is needed now more than ever.
I and The Conversation's other health editors comb the academic literature to bring you the latest research findings and then commission experts to explain them to you in easy-to-understand terms. We scrutinize government announcements about how taxpayer money is being spent and evaluate policy solutions to improve our health. And we ask experts to answer the questions you (and we) have been wondering for ages, like what happens to your teeth as you age or, as in the news this morning, how to best help patients undergoing cancer treatment.
If you value our journalism, please consider making a donation to The Conversation today. I know the cost of living is difficult, but every little bit helps.
