Current medical research and opinion
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Review
Sting operations in biomedical publishing violate truthfulness and undermine trust in research.
Biomedical research cannot function without the trust of peers and society. The truthfulness of claims made by knowledge-producing agents, such as authors of research, is a prerequisite for their trustworthiness, and violations of truthfulness are rightly seen as a threat to the existence and validity of such research. While most reflection on the lack of truthfulness has focused on fake research, little attention has been paid to how sting operations and hoaxes arguably pose an equally great risk to the ethical integrity of publishing. ⋯ From a deontological perspective, we also argue that the reliance on anonymity in sting operations makes them just as bad, if not worse, than fake research. We advocate for critical scholarship as an alternative to hoaxes and sting operations to expose fake research, in order to promote truthfulness rather than violate it. Finally, we argue that journalists reporting on sting operations should insist less on their entertainment and sensationalist value, and focus more on their unethical nature.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dapagliflozin reduces the white coat effect on systolic blood pressure of patients with type 2 diabetes: a post-hoc analysis from the ADDENDA-BHS 2 trial.
White coat effect (WCE) is a phenomenon linked to increased cardiovascular risk, where office blood pressure readings exceed home or ambulatory measurements. Excess weight and elevated blood pressure or glucose are associated with WCE in type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study compared dapagliflozin and glibenclamide on WCE in T2D patients under equivalent blood pressure and glucose control. ⋯ The trial was registered at the Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT: 02919345).
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This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic significance of serum uric acid (UA), glutathione (GSH), and amyloid-β1-42 (Aβ1-42) levels in relation to disease progression and cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). ⋯ Serum UA, GSH, and Aβ1-42 are independent predictors of disease progression and cognitive decline in PD patients. Their combined use offers enhanced diagnostic accuracy for disease staging and cognitive impairment in PD.