Medical Illuminations: Using Evidence, Visualization and Statistical Thinking to Improve Healthcare [Hardcover]

Thirteen contemporary medical topics are used to illustrate how modern tools of statistical thinking and statistical graphics can illuminate them. The book aims to solve some vexing problems that seem perplexing, and make the problems and their solutions clear for the general reader in order to gain a greater understanding of our complex world.Is it sensible to screen for breast or prostate cancer? Should the locations of cancer clusters be made available to the general public? When a doctor wants to perform major surgery and there's no chance for a second opinion, do you agree?The answers to these questions are not as black and white as they may first appear. Medical Illuminations presents thirteen contemporary medical topics, from the diminishing value of mammograms to how to decide if a hip needs to be replaced, to understanding cancer maps. In each case it illustrates how modern tools of statistical thinking and statistical graphics can illuminate our understanding.The goals are to solve some vexing problems that seem perplexing, and to make both the problems and their solutions clear to a non-technical audience. The aim is to ignite in the reader an understanding of statistical thinking, which, though subtle, can be learned without going through arcane mathematics. And, moreover, that learning about how to think in this way provides a huge payoff in the deeper understanding of our complex world.IntroductionSection I - Communicating with the Public1. N.Y. State's Cancer map2. Will Burtin and some pictures at an exhibition3. That's funny4. Commentary on some graphs in the 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report5. Improving graphic displays by controlling creativitySection II - Some Advances6. Looking at blood sugar7. A different kind of second opinion on hip fractures8. False positives9. Estimating long-term effects10. A remarkable horseSection III - Another Hindrance to Progress12. What does it take to change prl£7