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Medicine Movement (medicine + movement)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Evidence in Medicine and Evidence-Based Medicine

PHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 6 2007
John Worrall
It is surely obvious that medicine, like any other rational activity, must be based on evidence. The interest is in the details: how exactly are the general principles of the logic of evidence to be applied in medicine? Focussing on the development, and current claims of the ,Evidence-Based Medicine' movement, this article raises a number of difficulties with the rationales that have been supplied in particular for the ,evidence hierarchy' and for the very special role within that hierarchy of randomized controlled trials (and meta-analyses of the results of randomized controlled trials). The point is not at all to question the application of a scientific approach to evidence in medicine, but, on the contrary, to indicate a number of areas where philosophers of science can contribute to a proper implementation of exactly that scientific-evidential approach. [source]

Complementary therapy for psoriasis

DERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 2 2003
Giovanni Luigi Capella
ABSTRACT: The authors provide some specifications regarding the correct terminology to be applied in the field of complementary medicine, and review and comment on several complementary treatments for psoriasis. Putative psychotherapeutic equivalents are kept distinct from treatments based on the surreptitious administration of physical or pharmacologic agents. Limits on the application of psychotherapeutic techniques are discussed. Risks inherent to complementary treatments (psychological derangements, moral subjugation, physical damage, economic exploitation) are underscored. The authors plead for the application of adequate scientific criticism in complementary medicine, but warn that any approach to the practice of medicine which is not disinterested and patient oriented,as the academic one should be,will be inappropriate, misleading, or even immoral. In the authors' opinion, this could also apply to the evidence-based medicine movement (often perceived as the archenemy of alternative medicine), should this movement be influenced by economical, political, or other nonmedical factors. [source]

The evolutionary ecology of Plasmodium

ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 9 2003
R. E. L. Paul
Abstract Plasmodium, the aetiological agent of malaria, imposes a substantial public health burden on human society and one that is likely to deteriorate. Hitherto, the recent Darwinian medicine movement has promoted the important role evolutionary biology can play in issues of public health. Recasting the malaria parasite two-host life cycle within an evolutionary framework has generated considerable insight into how the parasite has adapted to life within both vertebrate and insect hosts. Coupled with the rapid advances in the molecular basis to host,parasite interactions, exploration of the evolutionary ecology of Plasmodium will enable identification of key steps in the life cycle and highlight fruitful avenues of research for developing malaria control strategies. In addition, elucidating the extent to which Plasmodium can respond to short- and long-term changes in selection pressures, i.e. its adaptive capacity, is even more crucial in predicting how the burden of malaria will alter with our rapidly evolving ecology. [source]

Evidence and the industrialization of medicine

CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
J. L. Rees
Summary Medicine is changing rapidly. In part, this is due to the accumulation of discoveries in biomedical science. However, this is not sufficient to explain the changes clinicians see. Whereas once medical advance concerned discoveries external to clinical practice (such as the identification of a causative microorganism or gene), medical practice itself is now a subject of study. What clinicians know, how they acquire knowledge, and how knowledge is distributed are all subjects of scrutiny. In short, medicine is being industrialized: we can see the twin changes of specialization, and the desire to codify practice such that those with different educational backgrounds can undertake a clinical role. Key to such change is the role played by evidence. Whereas once natural science was seen to determine clinical practice, this view is now known to be mistaken. How we can formally combine evidence from different traditions is, despite the claims of the evidence-based medicine movement, as yet unresolved. [source]