Bmc Med
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Although there is no doubt that smokers switching to electronic cigarettes (EC) substantially reduce the risk to their health, some tobacco control activists and health organisations discourage smokers from using EC and lobby policy makers to reduce EC use by draconian regulation. The hostility to EC may be related to a moral belief that nicotine use should be eradicated rather than allowed to morph into a relatively harmless activity. ⋯ Discouraging smokers from making the switch and reducing EC competitiveness with cigarettes by unwarranted regulation will delay this opportunity or squander it altogether. In fact, there is now sufficient evidence available for health professionals to recommend to smokers who cannot stop smoking with existing treatments or do not want to do so, to try several types of e-cigarettes to see if they can find one meeting their needs.
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Government and societal efforts to combat obesity are aimed at prevention, although there is a generation for whom excess weight is the rule rather than the exception. Although measures to prevent a worsening of the current epidemic are important, management of obesity must also be prioritised. Obesity management is beset with problems ranging from attitudinal to clinical and pharmacological, and the individualisation of therapy.
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Much research is underway on the links between diet and obesity. So too are long-running disputes among nutritionists on core questions about the relationship. ⋯ The practical consequence is that, at present, frontline health professionals will not find in nutrition science agreed, actionable solutions to assist overweight patients. But research and debate continues actively.
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Text recycling, also referred to as self-plagiarism, is the reproduction of an author's own text from a previous publication in a new publication. Opinions on the acceptability of this practice vary, with some viewing it as acceptable and efficient, and others as misleading and unacceptable. ⋯ In response to these difficulties, we have created a set of guidelines for journal editors on how to deal with text recycling. In this editorial, we discuss some of the challenges of developing these guidelines, and how authors can avoid undisclosed text recycling.
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The internet has opened up vast possibilities for research. An increasing number of studies are being conducted using the internet as both a source of data and a venue for research. ⋯ While some guidance exists regarding the ethics and consent of internet-based research, and some institutions provide their own guidelines, there appears to be a lack of definitive national standards. We discuss the issues surrounding ethics and consent for internet-based research and the need for a consensus on how to address these issues to ensure consistency.