A systematic review published in the latest issue of the Cochrane Library, 2007, Issue 1, found that evidence does not support the use of beta-blockers as first-line drugs in the treatment of hypertension.
Patients who use beta-blocker have a slightly higher risk of death and cardiovascular disease than patients who use calcium channel blockers.
This conclusion is based on 13 RCTs that have found the "relatively weak effect of beta-blockers to reduce stroke and the absence of an effect on coronary heart disease when compared to placebo or no treatment. More importantly, it is based on the trend towards worse outcomes in comparison with calcium-channel blockers, renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, and thiazide diuretics."
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Health News
BMA calls for delay to the new junior doctors recruitment system.
Vitamins appeared to raise the risk of death but an expert in the industry said the JAMA study was fatally flawed.
Eating ice cream can help women make babies?
Dementia sufferers in Britain is forecast to rise sharply incurring huge costs.
Violent attacks on NHS staff have reached unprecedented levels.
A treatment centre run by a private company for the NHS patients has been launched by the First Minister.
New guidelines for preventing heart disease in women was published by AHA in the journal Circulation.
BMA warns the risks of medical regulation proposals
Vitamins appeared to raise the risk of death but an expert in the industry said the JAMA study was fatally flawed.
Eating ice cream can help women make babies?
Dementia sufferers in Britain is forecast to rise sharply incurring huge costs.
Violent attacks on NHS staff have reached unprecedented levels.
A treatment centre run by a private company for the NHS patients has been launched by the First Minister.
New guidelines for preventing heart disease in women was published by AHA in the journal Circulation.
BMA warns the risks of medical regulation proposals
Friday, February 16, 2007
Pseudoevidence-Based Medicine (PBM)
There is an interesting article on Emerald's "This month's journal highlights". "Pseudoevidence-based medicine:what it is and what to do about it". Clinical Governance, 2007, 12(1), p.42-52. Wally R. Smith, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA.
The author says that "PBM can be defined as the practice of medicine based on falsehoods that are disseminated as true evidence, then adopted by unwitting and well-intentioned practitioners of EBM" and needs to be discovered, opposed and prevented. Physicians need to be more critical and vigilant in using research evidence.
The full text article is available via the HILO website if you have an Athens acount.
The author says that "PBM can be defined as the practice of medicine based on falsehoods that are disseminated as true evidence, then adopted by unwitting and well-intentioned practitioners of EBM" and needs to be discovered, opposed and prevented. Physicians need to be more critical and vigilant in using research evidence.
The full text article is available via the HILO website if you have an Athens acount.
Health News
Viagra to be sold over the counter at Boots in the UK.
NHS doctors treat elderly patients differently.
Ketek - warning that it carries a risk of liver damage.
Switching from tamoxifen to the new drug, exemestane ( Aromasin), after two or three years resulted in reduced death rates.
The symptoms of Rett Syndrome (RS), the most disabling autism spectrum disorder could be reversed.
Coronary artery bypass surgery performed on a beating heart is safe with fewer negative side effects for bypass patients.
A low dose of naltrexone, a drug used to ease symptoms of alcohol and drug addiction, may also bring relief to people with Crohn's disease.
The drug levetiracetam gives hope to epilepsy patients.
Patients need to act to protect themselves from medical errors.
Pediatricians face challenges in reporting medical errors.
A new treatment for psoriasis that targets its key inflammatory mediators (IL-12 and IL-23) is highly effective.
Patients with a history of heart failure, Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg tablets reduced significally the risk of hospitalizations.
Loss of the activity of the human gene, DDAH, leads to reduced nitric oxide production and may cause heart and circulatory disease.
Recent increase in reported autism diagnoses may be part of a broader pattern in childhood mental illness.
A poll showed that many PGs had private health care.
A significant proportion of doctors do not feel they have an obligation to inform patients about all options on moral or religious grounds.
A commonly used anaesthetic, isoflurane, could cause changes in the brain linked to Alzheimer's.
MRI can provide a more sensitive diagnosis than CT scan for acute stroke.
NHS doctors treat elderly patients differently.
Ketek - warning that it carries a risk of liver damage.
Switching from tamoxifen to the new drug, exemestane ( Aromasin), after two or three years resulted in reduced death rates.
The symptoms of Rett Syndrome (RS), the most disabling autism spectrum disorder could be reversed.
Coronary artery bypass surgery performed on a beating heart is safe with fewer negative side effects for bypass patients.
A low dose of naltrexone, a drug used to ease symptoms of alcohol and drug addiction, may also bring relief to people with Crohn's disease.
The drug levetiracetam gives hope to epilepsy patients.
Patients need to act to protect themselves from medical errors.
Pediatricians face challenges in reporting medical errors.
A new treatment for psoriasis that targets its key inflammatory mediators (IL-12 and IL-23) is highly effective.
Patients with a history of heart failure, Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg tablets reduced significally the risk of hospitalizations.
Loss of the activity of the human gene, DDAH, leads to reduced nitric oxide production and may cause heart and circulatory disease.
Recent increase in reported autism diagnoses may be part of a broader pattern in childhood mental illness.
A poll showed that many PGs had private health care.
A significant proportion of doctors do not feel they have an obligation to inform patients about all options on moral or religious grounds.
A commonly used anaesthetic, isoflurane, could cause changes in the brain linked to Alzheimer's.
MRI can provide a more sensitive diagnosis than CT scan for acute stroke.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Safety concern of Aprotinin
An article "Mortality Associated With Aprotinin During 5 Years Following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery" published in the Feb 7 issue of JAMA has questioned the safety of the continued use of Aprotinin.
Trasylol, the brand name for Aprotinin, a drug commonly used to limit blood loss during cardiac surgery, is found associated with an increased risk of long-term mortality following CABG surgery. The US researchers conclude that "continued use of aprotinin in this population does not appear prudent, given that safer alternatives ... are available."
Cardiac surgeon T. Bruce Ferguson Jr., M.D., writes in an editorial in the same issue of JAMA, "Aprotinin – Are There Lessons Learned?" saying that the study "highlights the need for better ways to assess drug safety.
Aprotinin is made by Bayer, approved for use in patients undergoing cardiac surgery in the US in 1993. The drug was used on more than four million people worldwide since 1985 mainly for heart surgery. This study has raised a larger issue of drug safety evaluation in the current medical environment.
Trasylol, the brand name for Aprotinin, a drug commonly used to limit blood loss during cardiac surgery, is found associated with an increased risk of long-term mortality following CABG surgery. The US researchers conclude that "continued use of aprotinin in this population does not appear prudent, given that safer alternatives ... are available."
Cardiac surgeon T. Bruce Ferguson Jr., M.D., writes in an editorial in the same issue of JAMA, "Aprotinin – Are There Lessons Learned?" saying that the study "highlights the need for better ways to assess drug safety.
Aprotinin is made by Bayer, approved for use in patients undergoing cardiac surgery in the US in 1993. The drug was used on more than four million people worldwide since 1985 mainly for heart surgery. This study has raised a larger issue of drug safety evaluation in the current medical environment.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Redundant publications are widespread
Redundant publications have been a cause of concern for many journal editors.
"A redundant publication is one which duplicates previous, simultaneous, or future publications by the same author or group or, alternatively, could have been combined with the latter into one paper." Surgery. 2001 Jun;129(6):655-61. "Redundant surgical publications: tip of the iceberg?"
The article concluded that "Almost 1 in every 6 original articles published in leading surgical journals represents some form of redundancy…. . Redundancies …. is widespread, and it cuts across the entire spectrum of surgeons in the United States and abroad. Redundant publications must be recognized ........... as a real threat to the quality and intellectual impact of surgical publishing."
Redundant orthopedics publications
There is an interesting article in Orthopedics. 2007 Jan;30(1):60-2. "Redundant publications in the orthopedic literature". Eck JC, Nachtigall D, Hodges SD, Humphreys SC. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Memorial Hospital, 325 S Belmont, Box 129, York, PA 17403, USA.
The article states that the "rates of redundant publications in the general surgery literature are approximately 14%" and the rate of redundant publications in the orthopedic literature is 2.75%, relatively low when compared to other fields.
The authors call for a concensus to define acceptable criteria to discourage redundant publications that have damaged the ethical standard that the scientific community strives to uphold. You can read the full text article if you have an Athens password at the HILO website.
The article states that the "rates of redundant publications in the general surgery literature are approximately 14%" and the rate of redundant publications in the orthopedic literature is 2.75%, relatively low when compared to other fields.
The authors call for a concensus to define acceptable criteria to discourage redundant publications that have damaged the ethical standard that the scientific community strives to uphold. You can read the full text article if you have an Athens password at the HILO website.
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