Natural Cure

redux [05.02.06]
The New York Times For Science's Gatekeepers, a Credibility Gap
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"Recent disclosures of fraudulent or flawed studies in medical and scientific journals have called into question as never before the merits of their peer-review system."

"Virtually every major scientific and medical journal has been humbled recently by publishing findings that are later discredited. The flurry of episodes has led many people to ask why authors, editors and independent expert reviewers all failed to detect the problems before publication."

redux [03.02.06]
The Scientist Is Peer Review Broken?
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"Despite a lack of evidence that peer review works, most scientists (by nature a skeptical lot) appear to believe in peer review. It's something that's held "absolutely sacred" in a field where people rarely accept anything with "blind faith," says Richard Smith, former editor of the BMJ and now CEO of UnitedHealth Europe and board member of PLoS. "It's very unscientific, really.

Indeed, an abundance of data from a range of journals suggests peer review does little to improve papers. "

redux [08.15.05]
The Boston Globe Flaws are found in validating medical studies

"Now, after a study that sent reverberations through the medical profession by finding that almost one-third of top research articles have been either contradicted or seriously questioned, some specialists are calling for radical changes in the system."

In advance of a world congress on peer review next month in Chicago, these specialists are suggesting that reviewers drop their anonymity and allow comments to be published."

""It would be lovely to start anew and to set up a trial of peer review against no peer review," Rennie said. "But no journal is willing to risk it.""

Cigarette smoking has been identified as a strong risk factor for erectile dysfunction (ED). The authors of this study have attempted to identify whether smoking cessation reverses ED in men who previously smoked cigarettes.

They studied men with ED who entered a nicotine replacement program for smoking termination. The men studied had no risk factors for ED other than smoking. Degree of ED was categorized by the erectile function domain (EFD) score of the International Index of Erectile Function. Patients completed the IIEF on entry into the nicotine replacement program and one year later after cessation of smoking or after one year of continued smoking. There were 118 men who stopped smoking after the nicotine replacement program and 163 men who continued to smoke...

Tags: health | health news | sexual health | men's health | erectile dysfunction

A Harrow Weald man who ran one of Europe's largest counterfeit Viagra factories had his GBP 1.2 million confiscation order upheld by top judges yesterday (Friday).

Allen Valentine was jailed for five-and-a-half-years after admitting conspiracy to supply class C drugs between January 1 2001 and April 21 2004 as well as two charges involving breaches of the Trade Marks Act and Medicines Act.

He was handed the sentence in October 2004 at Harrow Crown Court and was also hit with the GBP 1,216,940 confiscation order, which he challenged unsuccessfully.

Valentine, 46, of Kynaston Wood, Harrow, was prosecuted after police raided his factory in April 2004.

His business, in Wembley, with a warehouse in Watford, could produce 500,000 tablets a day, the prosecution claimed...

Tags: health | health news | sexual health | men's health | viagra