# Presentation: 189624

## “Celebrating Plain Language 			at NIH”

**Remarks by Susan Dentzer**
**The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer**
**March 20, 2002**

## “Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia in Rats by CDK Inhibitors”

- Article in *Science, J*anuary 5, 2001 by Stephen T. Davis and 24 others

## Abstract of Article

- “Most traditional cytotoxic anticancer agents ablate the rapidly dividing epithelium of the hair follicle and induce alopecia (hair loss). Inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), a positive regulator of eukaryotic cell cycle progression, may represent a therapeutic strategy for prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA)  by arresting the cell cycle and reducing the sensitivity of the epithelium to many cell cycle-active anti-tumor agents. Potent small-molecule inhibitors of CDK2 were developed using structure-based methods.  Topical application of these compounds in a neonatal rat model of CIA reduced hair loss at the site of application in 33 to 50 percent of the animals. Thus, inhibition of CDK2 represents a potentially useful approach for the prevention of CIA in cancer patients. “

## Words from abstract we used in our Jan. ’01 piece

- Hair follicle
- Hair loss
- Cell
- Prevention
- Chemotherapy
- Compounds
- 33 to 50 percent
- Rat
- Animals
- Cancer patients

## “Word Utility Ratio:”

- 148 words in abstract
- 15 words used in piece (not including commonly used articles and prepositions)
- Total WUR of 10 percent

## “Clyde the Wordhawk, Laying Up the Fancy Adjectives”

- Article in The New York Times, Wednesday, March 13, 2002
- By reporter Chris Hedges

## The Gospel According to Clyde (aka Walt Frazier)

- “When you use words people are cognizant of what you say, but when you use cliches no one says anything.”
- “People will tell me I used ‘ubiquitous’ two times while other guys use cliches the whole game.”
- “I set Marv [Alpert] off when I use cacaphony.”

## “Word Jam: An Electrifying, Mesmerizing, Gravity-Defying Guide to a Powerful and Awesome Vocabulary”

## “U.S. OK’s Calling Fetus a Child” – headline in The Chicago Tribune, February 1, 2002

## Dueling Headlines

- “Greenspan Sees Recovery; Hints at Rising Interest Rates” – New York Times
- “Greenspan Says Economy Still Sluggish; Voices Caution on Rate Hikes” – Washington Post

## Alternative Abstract?

- “Most traditional cytotoxic anticancer agents ablate the rapidly dividing epithelium of the hair follicle and induce alopecia, or hair loss.”
- OR...”Most traditional chemotherapy drugs that fight cancer by killing cells interfere with the normal mechanisms of cell division in hair follicles.  This can result in hair loss.”

##     A Proposition: Plain Language Doesn’t Mean that You Can’t Use Big Words When You Need Them!

## Another proposition: Language that is too plain can mislead or backfire

## The Lancet, January 2000

- <date/time>

- Article by Olsen and Goetzsche
- “Screening for breast cancer with mammography is **unjustified.”**

## In “unplain” but less inflammatory language, what they probably meant:

- <date/time>

- “On the basis of our review of the six clinical trials on screening mammography –four of which we concluded were badly flawed and whose results we dismissed – we conclude that there is at present no solid scientific basis for a widespread program of screening mammography based on the supposition that screening reduces mortality from breast cancer.”

## Proposed Color-Coded    Plain Language     Alert System (PLAS)

## BLUE ALERT

- <date/time>

**Hifalutin’ language ahead**
**Soaring over everybody’s heads, like the sky**

## BLACK ALERT

- <date/time>

**Stultifying prose; may be an IRS memo.**
**Can’t see your way through to the end of the tunnel**

## BROWN ALERT

- <date/time>

**Obfuscatory**
**Lots of you-know-what to wade through**

## PURPLE ALERT

- <date/time>

**Too many ruffles and flourishes, as in purple prose**

## ALL-CLEAR LANGUAGE ALERT

**Clear...as a bell. **
**Utterly transparent, like a cool mountain stream.**
**Really, really beautiful!**