scientific evidence

Is Dentistry in an Uphill Battle Against Dr. Google?

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During the February 2022 Chicago Dental Society Midwinter Meeting Dr. Gregory Psaltis gave an interesting talk titled “Dealing with Dr. Google.” Dr. Psaltis presented how nowadays patients are turning to internet searches to seek information on scientific topics and in particular their dental treatments. Based on what the patients find online this can cause them and their parents to challenge any recommendations. In the talk Psaltis said how parents of young dental patients these days are arriving at dental practices and don’t agree with the recommendations the dentist suggests. He presented four such scenarios including that parent’s do not want x-rays for their child, that parent’s do not want flouride for their child, that parent’s only want tooth-colored crowns—not silver (stainless steel) for their child, and that parent’s only want only fillings for large lesions and never any crowns for … Read more

Is Public Health and the First Amendment At Odds with Each Other

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An interesting article appears in the vol. 2 and 3. edition of the American Journal of Law and Medicine in 2013 titled “The First Amendment and Public Health, at Odds,” by Seth Mermin and Samantha Graff. The article talks about how the interpretation of freedom of speech in the First Amendment has, in recent years, been altered to benefit corporations. Usually when one thinks of the First Amendment they think of protecting individual’s rights to express their opinions and thoughts. The authors essentially state that with recent changes in the interpretation of the law now companies can push products without much regard to their effect on the health of their customers. The authors state “There has been nothing comparable to an uproar over the Supreme Court’s granting…in the infamous Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission. It is time – well … Read more

Exercise Effective for Preventing Migraines

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An interesting study was recently published in Cephalalgia and looked at 91 migraine patients. A third of these patients were asked to exercise for 40 minutes for 3 times a week with the supervision of a physiotherapist, another third were doing relaxation exercises, and the final third of the patients was given topiramate. The study lasted for a total of 3 months, in which the migraine status, aerobic capacity, level of physical activity, and quality of life was evaluated.  Follow ups of the study were carried out after 3 and 6 months. The randomized controlled study was performed by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The results showed that the number of migraines fell in all three groups that were examined and described above. There was no difference in the preventative effect between the … Read more

Getting published in peer-reviewed journals

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An interesting article appears in the December 2011 issue of the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (vol. 40, issue 12, pages 1342-1345) titled “Getting published in peer-reviewed journals,” by G. Dimitroulis. The author opens by saying “Writing a paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal is a rewarding experience. Even though there are no direct financial incentives for publishing in peer-reviewed journals, thousands of manuscripts are produced each year which compete for the limited journal space available worldwide. In other words, there is a sense of pride and achievement behind every published journal article that has its own rewards for which money plays no role.” Journal articles can be published to help comment or criticize the work of others, to synthesize and build a consensus about what is presently known, to announce new work, to serve as training … Read more

How to Protect Yourself from Abusive Doctors

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John A. McDougall, MD, is a physician and nutrition expert who considers himself a leader of public opinion and often finds it necessary to challenge the accepted wisdom of the time. Dr. McDougall produces a newsletter over on his website. In the October 2011, vol. 10, issue 10, edition he writes about “How to Protect Yourself from Abusive Medical Doctors.” http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2011nl/oct/protect.pdf I think the entire article is well worth the read but I will cover some of the more interesting parts here. Dr. McDougall discuses a case where he has a patient named Marsha who has a history of precancerous changes in the tissues lining her uterus known as endometrial hyperplasia. Over 2 years her condition progressed to early stage cancer. Two surgeons whom she consulted with recommended a hysterectomy as the treatment. Dr. McDougall has a telephone consultation with a young Obstetrician/Gynecologist. This doctor … Read more