Dtsch Arztebl Int
-
The role of placebos is often misunderstood, leading both to overvaluation and to inappropriate disdain. The effect of a placebo that contains no pharmacologically active substance is often confused with the effect of administration by a physician. The aim of this article is to review the current data on placebos, evaluate these data critically, and provide a well-founded and understandable explanation of the effects that placebos do and do not possess. ⋯ The mechanisms of action of placebo administration, with which positive therapeutic effects can be achieved with little effort, should be consciously exploited by physicians when giving their patients pharmacologically active medications as well.
-
Review Meta Analysis
The morbidity and mortality associated with overweight and obesity in adulthood: a systematic review.
Overweight and obesity are generally thought to elevate morbidity and mortality. New data call this supposed association into question. ⋯ The prevailing notion that overweight increases morbidity and mortality, as compared to so-called normal weight, is in need of further specification. Obesity, however, is indeed associated with an elevated risk for most of the diseases studied.
-
Cataract surgery, the most frequently performed operative procedure worldwide, typically concludes with the implantation of an artificial intraocular lens (IOL) to correct aphakia (absence of the crystalline lens). ⋯ As no effective medications for cataract are available at present, its current standard treatment is the removal of the clouded lens. In industrialized countries, this is usually done with ultrasound (phacoemulsification), followed by the implantation of an IOL.