Much ado with a new paper published by the New England Journal of Medicine . This study was placebo controlled and focused on treating people with “normal” cholesterol but a high “c-reactive protein” (a marker of inflammation) with rosuvastatin (which is not a new statin as some media outlets have reported, but one already in use). Reports have […]
Continue Reading →Placebo power
There is an interesting study this week in the BMJ. The study was a mailed survey to US internists and rheumatologists about their use of placebo treatments. The response rate wasn’t great (57%) but about half said they regularly prescribed placebo treatments. Most also said they thought it was ethically permissible. Placebos do work and the […]
Continue Reading →Second Opinion: Rehabilitation through exercise
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a blight on British health, estimated to cause 20 per cent of medical hospital admissions. Primarily caused by cigarette smoking, it is a condition that damages the airways and obstructs the flow of air from the lungs, leading to breathlessness, a chronic cough and wheezing. The symptoms are distressing and, […]
Continue Reading →Second Opinion: No easy hypertension treatment
The more one learns, the less one is certain of. This is as true in medicine as in life. Thousands of clinical studies have investigated the effects of hypertension treatments, yet there is still considerable uncertainty about which drugs are most effective. Meanwhile, many people with no history of cardiovascular disease are being diagnosed with […]
Continue Reading →Pain and the Virgin Mary
There are lots of reports that “faith in God really can relieve pain” and such in the press at the moment. These reports are based on a study published in Pain (yep, medical journals have all the most exotic titles: Gut, Brain, Breast, Lung….) and the abstract is available here. Unsurprisingly, the research does not prove anything […]
Continue Reading →Column: Do the claims for neuro-linguistic programming stand up to scrutiny?
The first time I heard about neuro-linguistic programming, I was intrigued. By scrutinising and changing a person’s speech and body language, NLP promises to improve social and professional interactions. It has, we’re told, the power to “unlock your capabilities”. Negative psychological patterns are identified, and can be “reprogrammed”. Sensitivity to others’ behaviour is also heightened. […]
Continue Reading →Cancer drugs: when NICE says no
What happens when NICE says no? If NICE refuses to fund an expensive intervention to treat cancer, but the patient wishes it anyway, the patient must forgo all ‘free’ NHS care and pay for the intervention, plus all the rest of their care – ie be subsequently treated entirely as a private patient. Care then becomes […]
Continue Reading →Junk food, fish oils and prisons
Lots of media coverage on a new study today, which is apparently going to compare the reported offences of prisoners while taking either placebo or a fish oil+multivitamin+mineral supplement. Some headlines have interpreted this as ‘Prison study to investigate link between junk food and violence’. I think that’s an extrapolation too far; the quality of the food the […]
Continue Reading →Clinical trials and TV
Just as I was working out how to play a Harry Potter DVD an amazing television advert came on. It’s only broadcasting in Scotland but you can see clips at Get randomised. The website doesn’t say who is funding the ads, but I am impressed at the way that fair clinical trials are being promoted as a good thing […]
Continue Reading →NICE, not easy
Moan as we do about the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which decides which drugs should be available on the NHS, the idea that there should be a rationale about rationing has been received rather differently across the Atlantic. In the US $2,000bn is spent annually on healthcare, but only 0.1% of this is […]
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