Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List

Editor’s Note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks. The One In 40,000 Parents think their children are one in a million, but Liz Savage knows what it means to have your child be the statistical anomaly. One in 40,000 measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)-vaccinated patients will be affected with immune thrombocytopenia purpura. Her son, whom she refers to as “Oscar” in her story for Slate, “My Son, the Statistic,” was hospitalized with low platelet counts, as his body adversely reacted to the immunization. Oscar recovered, and despite the stress of the ordeal, Savage says she’d still vaccinate him again. “I had to weigh my fear of ITP [immune thrombocytopenia purpura] against a lifetime of worrying that he could contract measles anytime we went on vacation, to the park, or to the grocery store.” The measles vaccine, she points out, has reduced the number of measles cases by 99 percent. “The anti-vaccine movement spreads a misguided belief that expertise is overrated,” she writes. “[Experts] aren’t perfect, and neither are vaccines. But together they are saving countless lives every day.” Mental Illness, The Silent Killer Doris A. Fuller didn’t see the symptoms of mental illness when her daughter Natalie was a junior in college. “I had no frame of reference to recognize them,” she writes in her essay for T...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters End-of-Life Care Mental Health personalized medicine vaccines Source Type: blogs