Monday, April 4, 2011

HAWMC Prompt 4: Ridiculous Headlines & Cures

I'm participating in WEGO Health's Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge (HAWMC) in April.

Today's challenge is to write about a ludicrous headline or cure for my condition. The internet is rampant with examples of misinformation and quackery... it didn't take me long to look up and find a ludicrous headline/cure for migraine. (I know that I've been told A LOT of different - often ridiculous - "cures" and treatments to try by various people, but my migraine brain isn't working right now... online sources will have to do today).

Headline: Why sex can cure your migraine
Cure: There are various different treatments discussed in the article, including "sexual healing." However, it never actually states in the article that any of them "cure" migraine.
Link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/3443445/Why-sex-can-cure-your-migraine.html

Headlines: How to cure a migraine
Cures: These 3 little articles claim to have cures for migraine. The first article discusses the effectiveness of peppermint oil for headache relief. The second article lists some steps to take to help relieve headache pain. the third article claims to have a natural cure for migraine (feverfew), and then lists some steps to take to relieve pain.
Links: http://www.ehow.com/how_4503957_cure-a-migraine.html, http://www.ehow.com/how_6055338_cure-migraine-headache.html, http://www.ehow.com/how_2310161_naturally-cure-migraine.html

What is strikingly clear from these articles is the mis-use of the term "cure." There is NO cure for migraine. There are treatments that can help relieve the symptoms, but there is NOT a cure. What all of these articles have in common is that they use "cure" as a synonym for "treatment." This got me thinking... I've known that "headache" and "migraine" are often (incorrectly) used interchangeably, but I hadn't really given much thought to the terms "treatment" and "cure" being used interchangeably (I knew that people threw the term "cure" around way too loosely, but I never connected the dots that people might be using it in the same way as "treatment"... two completely different things). I'm not sure what to really do with this revelation right now... So, I'll end with a little cartoon that I ran across...

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