If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s there are very little on offer from mainstream medicine. But when Obhi Chatterjee’s father developed dementia he was encouraged by his consultant to explore plausible alternative treatments. Their effect on his dad was remarkable. Obhi
describes what he did, how to deal with carers skeptical about supplements and a promising new way gathering evidence for their effectiveness without lengthy and expensive randomized trials.
Do you treat people in ways that haven’t been tested in large scale randomised trials (RCTs)? If so you’ve probably been called a quack, a fraud or worse. But are RCTS really the only let alone the best way to tell if what you are doing is safe and effective? In fact they are riddled with shortcomings and we badly need some other options. One possible alternative is Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER). Read more…
Next week we will learn whether statins are going to be given to millions more healthy people. Normally such extensions of drug use are nodded through without a murmur but his time a serious challenge was raised. A fierce debate about whether this was a disastrous idea or welcome move to save the nation’s hearts. The result was a series of revelations about the tangled conflicts of interests surrounding these drugs. Questions that should lead to big changes in the way they are tested and guidelines drawn up. Read more in Hannah Sutter’s article…
WINNER: 
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