A View on the News

The American Thoracic Society will be publishing an article in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that indicates a possible connection between the consumption of cured meats (such as sausage, bacon and luncheon meats) and chronic ovstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The first article I read is from FOXnews.com and can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266295,00.html

The article shows timeliness, since this study will be published in the second issue for April 2007 in the journal. It shows very thoroughly the impact this has on the public by describing the study and other causes of COPD, as well:

**Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, but with a projection of rising to the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, researchers are looking for other causes.**

**This study of 7,352 participants over the age of 45 found that those who ate more than 14 servings of cured meats per month had a significant lower lung function test and increased odds of COPD, as compared with those that did not eat cured meats.**

These are just two of the many facts that show the impact individuals' behaviors have on their health. This event has novelty because it is a brand new study and, simply, because it is a human interest story. As far as the supplemental values go, the article shows that the events have currency, necessity and helpfulness. The article has currency because it something worthy of discussion - our health. The things we eat and the decisions we make impact our health, and therefore it is important to know about. The article has necessity and helpfulness for the same reasons.

The second article I looked at is from scientificamerican.com, originally from Reuters Health. It can be found here: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=cured-meat-consumption-li&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters

The second article shows timeliness, for it mentions the fact the this is "new research." Through the results of the actual study, the article shows the impact eating cured meat can have:

**Subjects who consumed cured meat at least 14 times per month were 78-percent more likely to develop COPD than those who never consumed it, a statistically significant difference. The corresponding increased risk of mild, moderate, and severe COPD were 11 percent, 46 percent, and 141 percent.**

However, this article does not go into the smoking aspect of COPD - something the first article did. This article also has novelty, for it is a new study that was conducted with new imformation coming out of it. It has currency, necessity and helpfulness for the same reasons as the first article did; it is worthy of discussion and people should know about the possible effects of eating a lot of cured meat.

I think the second article is more to the point and concentrates on the actual information that has been released through the study. The second article goes into detail about smoking and how that worsens lung function and puts individuals at risk for lung disease. However, this is not new information. It wouldn't be bad to have a short paragraph stating that it still the leading cause of lung disease, but there is no reason to go into detail about it. Almost everyone knows that.