Medicine's Dirty Little Secret ..... Dr Mercola ~

[Guest guest]

Medicine's Dirty Little Secret

There's one medical statistic doctors don't much talk about despite its importance. It's called number needed to treat, or NNT. It’s a measure developed in the past 20 years, and it’s one of the best-kept statistical secrets in medicine.The idea of NNT is simple enough. Most clinical trials look at how much better people do on a particular medicine. NNT answers the question: How many people have to take a particular drug to avoid one incidence of a medical issue (such as a heart attack, or recurrence of cancer)? For example, if a drug had an NNT of 50 for heart attacks, then 50 people have to take the drug in order to prevent one person from having a heart attack.That doesn’t sound like a lot, so pharmaceutical companies tend to keep the number quiet and focus on broader, U.S. population-based statistics. But that could be changed if you ask for the NNT up front the next time you're handed a prescription. Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.