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2011, Number 1

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Gac Med Mex 2011; 147 (1)

Diagnostic and therapeutic misunderstandings derived from case-control studies and meta-analyses

Zárate A
Full text How to cite this article

Language: Spanish
References: 7
Page: 48-50
PDF size: 74.35 Kb.


Key words:

Evidence and knowledgement, Clinical tests, Meta analysis.

ABSTRACT

Up to now, clinical trials and meta-analyses have been considered as essential for medicine, based on evidence and clinical practice, but recently there has been controversial information in the scientific literature regarding the diagnosis and treatment of several maladies. It was generally accepted that early detection of cancer could lead to appropriate and successful treatment, in particular in cancer located in breast, prostate gland, colon, and lungs. Nevertheless, there are reports which show the difficulty to detect the malignancy and development of cancer. As to the use of medicaments, the controversy arises from the possibility of undesirable side effects, which limit their beneficial effect. Likewise, long-term treatment of chronic diseases makes the prediction of adverse effects difficult. It is concluded that the physician should analyze all sorts of information, including that originated from observational and personal experience, in order to reach a correct diagnosis as well as the appropriate therapy. There are no truisms originating totally from clinical trials and meta-analyses.


REFERENCES

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  2. Dentzer S. Communicating medical news- Pitfalls of health care journalism. N Eng J Med. 2009;360:1-3.

  3. Glass AG, Lacey JV, Carreon D, Hoover RN. Breast cancer incidence parallel changes in patterns of mammography screening and use of hormone therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007;99:1152-61.

  4. Ioannidis JPA. Why most published research findings are false. OPLoS Med. 2005 2:696-701.

  5. McNeil C. Screening mammograms in younger women have low accuracy and detect few cancers. JNCI. 2010;101:841-2.

  6. Vandenbroucke JP. When are observational studies as credible as randomized trials? Lancet. 2004;363:1724-7.

  7. Zarate A. La medicina basada en evidencia y la publicidad masiva sobre el ejercicio clínico. Acta Med. 2007;5:233-6.




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C?MO CITAR (Vancouver)

Gac Med Mex. 2011;147