> All scientific findings are tentative and the advice given in the
> following article should be heeded by all, particularly doctors. The
> HIV as the cause of AIDS was "established" by a single study that was
> found to be fraudulent. The supposed electron microscopic pictures of
> purified virus was never taken. And yet today, inspite of all the
> evidences to the contrary, it continued to be accepted. The originator
> of that hypothesis no longer supports it but support a modified theory
> of passenger virus. This modified theory todate do not have a single
> any evidence in support of it. Why then do people continue to hold on
> to this wrong hypothesis ? As they say, follow the money and the
> answer would be obvious.
>
> HIV/AIDS is only one of the many areas of public concerns. The advice
> to keep an open mind in all scientific findings is an advice that
> should be heeded.
>
> -------
> http://djhampa.spaces.live.com
>
>
>
> Study: A Third of Medical Studies are Wrong
> By Lindsey Tanner, Assocaited Press
> posted: 14 July 2005 10:16 am ET
>
>
> http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/ap_050714_medical_studies.html
>
> CHICAGO (AP) -- New research highlights a frustrating fact about
> science: What was good for you yesterday frequently will turn out to
> be not so great tomorrow.
>
> The sobering conclusion came in a review of major studies published in
> three influential medical journals between 1990 and 2003, including 45
> highly publicized studies that initially claimed a drug or other
> treatment worked.
>
> Subsequent research contradicted results of seven studies -- 16
> percent -- and reported weaker results for seven others, an additional
> 16 percent.
>
> That means nearly one-third of the original results did not hold up,
> according to the report in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical
> Association.
>
> "Contradicted and potentially exaggerated findings are not uncommon in
> the most visible and most influential original clinical research,''
> said study author Dr. John Ioannidis, a researcher at the University
> of Ioannina in Greece.
>
> Ioannidis examined research in the New England Journal of Medicine,
> JAMA and Lancet -- prominent journals whose weekly studies help feed a
> growing public appetite for medical news.
>
> Experts say the report is a reminder to doctors and patients that they
> should not put too much stock in a single study and understand that
> treatments often become obsolete with medical advances.
>
> "The crazy part a
>
>
> bout science and yet the exciting part about science is you almost
> never have something that's black and white,'' said Dr. Catherine
> DeAngelis, JAMA's editor-in-chief.
>
> Editors at the New England Journal of Medicine added in a statement:
> "A single study is not the final word, and that is an important
> message.''
>
> The refuted studies dealt with a wide range of drugs and treatments.
> Hormone pills were once thought to protect menopausal women from heart
> disease but later were shown to do the opposite, and Vitamin E pills
> have not been shown to prevent heart attacks, contrary to initial
> results.
>
> Contradictions also included a study that found nitric oxide does not
> improve survival in patients with respiratory failure, despite earlier
> claims. And a study suggested an antibody treatment did not improve
> survival in certain sepsis patients; a smaller previous study found
> the opposite.
>
> Ioannidis acknowledged an important but not very reassuring caveat:
> "There's no proof that the subsequent studies ... were necessarily
> correct.'' But he noted that in all 14 cases in which results were
> contradicted or softened, the subsequent studies were either larger or
> better designed. Also, none of the contradicted treatments is
> currently recommended by medical guidelines.
>
> Not by accident, this week's JAMA also includes a study contradicting
> previous thinking that stomach-lying helped improve breathing in
> children hospitalized with acute lung injuries. The new study found
> they did no better than patients lying on their backs.
>
> DeAngelis said she included the study with Ioannidis' report to
> highlight the issue. She said the media can complicate matters with
> misleading or exaggerated headlines about studies.
>
> Ioannidis said scientists and editors should avoid "giving selective
> attention only to the most promising or exciting results'' and should
> make the public more aware of the limitations of science.
>
> "The general public should not panic'' about refuted studies, he said.
> "We all need to start thinking more critically.''
>