Evidence-based medicine

Challenging established wisdoms could lead to progress

I am surprised Terry Maguire says in his letter that community pharmacists should avoid the medicalisation of life when we are already treating other diseases that are also prevalent with increasing age, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, arthritis and dementia ( The …

Cholesterol-lowering statin therapy for healthy people is not as simple as ‘yes’ or ‘no’

Recent reports of large trials extolling the virtues of statins have led many to believe that low-risk patients should take them, but an examination of the evidence provides food for thought.…

Panic over “symptomatuc refief” for throat problems

The reported shortage of a popular throat mixture has sent panic across the entertainment industry because of its popularity with actors, singers and performers.…

Financial ties between researchers and the pharmaceutical industry might distort clinical trial results

Analyses of data from 195 clinical trials show that financial ties between researchers and the pharmaceutical industry were associated with a 3.57 greater odds of a positive trial outcome.…

The myth of the male menopause

My old friend and fellow pharmacist Sid Dajani has been making passionate pleas on your pages and elsewhere for pharmacists to identify testosterone deficiency ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2016;297:364). He is confident that, among men of a certain age, a dangerous lack of male hormone p…

Vaccines: under threat by the post-truth populist movement

In a climate where science and facts appear to play second fiddle to post-truth rants on social media, Cynthia Leifer explains why activism and public engagement must become part of the everyday work of scientists and physicians.…

Community pharmacy sector needs to continue to provide evidence if it wants to influence commissioning boards, Pharmacy Show hears

Community pharmacists should do more to collect evidence of the sector’s worth to be granted representation on important boards that influence commissioning in the NHS.…

The availability of homeopathy on the NHS is important

I wonder if people such as Michael Marshall ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2016;297:101), who would refuse patients the option of NHS homeopathic treatment, have considered the plight of people failed by evidence-based medicine? Where are those with chronic, disabling conditions to turn wh…

Why on earth is the NHS spending even a single penny on homeopathy?

A recent article in The Independent has, once again, highlighted NHS spending on homeopathic remedies (‘NHS has spent more than £1.75m on homeopathy, despite admitting there is no good-quality evidence it works’, 7 August 2016). Although the piece cited a spend of £1.75m in t…

Why antidepressants are still the best treatment for depression

Despite criticism about antidepressants in the media and rising calls for non-drug therapies for depression, evidence indicates that drugs are still the most effective treatment.…