381,602 papers found

All large prospective studies (n greater than 20,000) and several smaller studies have found that severe obesity [body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35 kg/m2] is associated with approximately a twofold increase in total mortality and in a severalfold increase in mortality due to diabetes, cerebro-, and card…

The ability of adjuvant radiotherapy to prevent distant metastasis and to prolong survival in patients with early breast cancer is much debated. The paper presents a joint analysis of long-term results (13-16 years' follow-up) from the Oslo and Stockholm randomised trials of post-operative megavoltage radiotherapy vers…

The potential association of alcohol intake with breast cancer risk is currently being debated in the literature and a clear consensus of opinion has not emerged. Clarification of the issues surrounding this controversy would be helpful in developing recommendations for the general public regarding alcohol use. A revie…

A recurrent criticism of measurement in schizophrenia research is that symptom suppression is overemphasized as the sole criterion measure of treatment effectiveness, to the neglect of other endpoints, such as the quality of life and subjective experience of the patient. This paper addresses the current status of respo…

The clinical safety of lamotrigine (LTG), assessed in four completed randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trials and an interim analysis of 27 12-month open studies, is discussed. LTG was added to existing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) of adult patients with refractory epilepsy, using a twice-daily regim…

This paper reviews the current status of conservative treatment for early breast cancer. While the first patients were treated with such techniques more than 60 years ago, it is during the last decade that randomized trials have confirmed that such treatment is comparable to mastectomy in preventing breast cancer death…

Re-analysis of the results of several prospective observational studies indicates that modest long-term differences in usual diastolic blood pressure are associated with larger differences in the primary incidence of stroke and of coronary heart disease than was previously believed. A prolonged difference of 5-6 mmHg i…

The analysis of 68 published sets of dose-incidence data for marrow failure in different species, using a double-log mortality function, indicates: (a) There is more heterogeneity, i.e. greater sums-of-squares per degree of freedom, within the data sets for mouse than for larger species (monkey, dog, sheep, goat, pig).…

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether excluding patients from the analysis of randomised trials are associated with biased estimates of treatment effects and higher heterogeneity between trials. DESIGN: Meta-epidemiological study based on a collection of meta-analyses of randomised trials. DATA SOURCES: 14 meta-analyses incl…

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic evidence suggests that an elevated heart rate (HR) is an adverse and independent prognostic factor in arterial hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Although diltiazem is characterized as an HR-lowering calcium antagonist, no studies have quantified the magnitude of HR changes in pat…

Quinidine and procainamide have the potential for major organ toxicity, whereas mexiletine has been reported to have little risk of organ toxicity, serious proarrhythmia or congestive heart failure, but a relatively high incidence of nuisance side effects. In light of the potential adverse effects of all antiarrhythmic…

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of oral corticosteroid therapy in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. DATA IDENTIFICATION: An English-language literature search using MEDLINE (1966 to 1989) and a bibliographic review of all retrieved articles identified 33 original studies of oral cortic…

INTRODUCTION: The introduction of novel robotic platforms has expanded surgical options for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). However, comparative outcomes with da Vinci multiport (MP) system remain unclear. This systematic review and network meta-analysis aimed to compare perioperative, early oncological, a…

BACKGROUND: Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a debilitating psychiatric condition characterized by obsessive concern over perceived physical flaws, which significantly impair daily functioning. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered the standard treatment, the comparative effectiveness of various psych…

OBJECTIVES: A systematic review is a method of evaluating the published and unpublished literature relating to a specific area or topic. The objectives of this paper are to identify and discuss problems encountered in synthesising the available literature; and to make recommendations for the future conduct and reportin…

As a class, quinolones undergo both renal excretion and hepatic metabolism. The dominant elimination pathway is usually renal, where secretion by the proximal tubule results in renal clearances 1.5-4 times greater than creatinine clearance. The benefit of this two-pathway elimination is protection from excessive accumu…

OBJECTIVE: To review the mechanisms and sequence of events that occur during ischemia and cell death and following death of the human body. The impact of these postmortem events on the distribution and pharmacokinetic behavior of drugs is described. The case study presented illustrates a possible situation where such p…

The upsurge in interest in measuring patient outcomes of nursing, it is argued, has been occasioned firstly by management changes and secondly by the professionalizing thrust of the nursing profession. Within this overall context, however, the objectives of individual patient outcome studies vary considerably. The curr…

There has been considerable uncertainty about the best way to prevent stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Recent studies have suggested that low-dose warfarin therapy, in addition to producing fewer bleeding complications, may be as effective as higher-dose therapy in preventing thromboembolic even…

The enhancement of oncogenic transformation in the C3H10T1/2 system by protraction of a high-LET irradiation has been widely reported. Prima facie, the results are inconsistent in that some but not all experiments have shown an enhancement. That the reported data follow a clear pattern is shown, and a model whose predi…