The Fallacy of the Longevity Elixir: Negligible Senescence May be Achieved, but Not by Using Something Physical.

The process of aging is a continuum of degeneration which eventually leads to loss of function and clinically manifest disease. Yet, in the purely therapeutic sense, there is a distinct clinical and practical separation between age-related degenerative diseases and the background process of aging itself. It is quite possible that biomedical technologies will prove invaluable in treating or alleviating the impact of distinct age-related degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis or dementia.

Pregnancy rates after hysteroscopic polypectomy depending on the size or number of the polyps.

Objective: To assess the reproductive benefits of hysteroscopic polypectomy in previous infertile women depending on the size or number of the polyps.

Design And Methods: In this retrospective study, from February 2000 to September 2005, totally 83 selected women were included with: a) diagnoses of primary or secondary infertility, endometrial polyp/polyps and abnormal uterine bleeding. Endometrial polyps were diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasound followed by diagnostic hysteroscopy, to confirm diagnosis, and hysteroscopic polypectomy.

Alternative treatments of cancer: trends over time and implications for the future.

There has been increasing utilization of alternative treatments for cancer, affected primarily by the dissatisfaction of the public with the outcomes of conventional treatments. Mortality rates from cancer have been increasing over time while spending by government on conventional cancer research rose. The lack of clinical trials on alternative therapies has left them open to criticism by mainstream medicine.

An economic evaluation of the market for physicians' services: shortage versus surplus.

The paper examines the existence of a shortage or surplus in the market for physicians' services over time. The assessment is carried out within a framework provided by economic theory, and three basic indicators are utilized: earnings, rates of return to education, and quantity of work. The third indicator is examined in various forms including vacancies, weeks of work, and hours of work.

Informed consent and the "medical student psychiatrist".

The involvement of medical students in the clinical assessment of psychiatry patients raises concerns that have ethical and possibly legal implications. Responses to a 1986 questionnaire by 91 departments of clinical psychiatry in U.S.

Pelvic examinations by medical students.

Involvement in patient care plays a critical role in medical education. Patients, however, have a right to refuse to participate in educational programs, and in the area of gynecologic care this takes on heightened sensitivity. Although the majority of clinical departments specifically inform patients of the student role, a substantial proportion do not have policies that adhere strictly to informed-consent guidelines.

A national survey concerning the ethical aspects of informed consent and role of medical students.

The authors surveyed a national random sample of medical students (10 percent of the graduating class of 1985) to identify the ways in which the students obtained informed consent from their patients and to learn the students' views of certain issues concerning informed consent. The results showed that the students introduced themselves to patients using methods that the authors grouped by levels of forthrightness. Those students who introduced themselves as medical students differed in their views on selected informed consent issues from students who introduced themselves as physicians.

Informed consent policies governing medical students' interactions with patients.

When medical students become involved in patient care, concerns are raised that have ethical and possibly legal implications. In order to determine compliance with the guidelines of the U.S.

A survey of blood pressure in the state of Maryland.

To provide baseline data for a state program to coordinate hypertension resources, a blood pressure (BP) survey was undertaken in Maryland in 1978. A statewide probability sample of households was chosen; each adult member was eligible for interview and measurement of BP. A total of 6,425 adults were interviewed for an overall response rate of 79.

Impact of hypertension information on high blood pressure control between 1973 and 1978.

To determine whether the immense multifocal efforts in the United States over the past 7 years to detect and treat high blood pressure (BP), had affected the status of hypertension, data from a national household survey in 1973-74 were compared with data obtained in 1977-78 from a second non-overlapping population in the same three communities. The impact of hypertension programs was measured by assessing change over the 5-year period in BP distribution, degree of awareness, and level of treatment in the population. Our data show that a substantial improvement in the status of high BP detection, treatment, and control has occurred since the early 1970s for all age, sex, and race groups studied.

Recent status of detection, treatment, and control of hypertension in the community.

The Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program (HDFP), a national collaborative study, screened approximately 159,000 people for high blood pressure in 14 communities between 1973 and 1974. Results show that detection, treatment, and control of high blood pressure has improved considerably since the 1960s. Whereas in the past about half of all hypertensives knew they had high blood pressure, half of those detected were under treatment, and half of those under treatment had their high blood pressure under control, the corresponding percentages in the 14 HDFP communities a decade later indicate that 75% of hypertensives were detected, 72% of those were under treatment, and 70% of those under treatment had a diastolic blood pressure under 95 mm Hg.

Improving trend in hypertension control in a black inner city community.

Throughout the 1960's repeated findings indicated a poor state of management for hypertension in widely diverse communities across the United States. In the early years of the 1970's similarly derived findings showed a substantial improvement in hypertension management. These trends are confirmed in two random samples of a black urban population studied in 1971 and in 1973 indicating more than a twofold improvement in blood pressure control over that period.

Target organ damage in black hypertensives.

A representative sample of black hypertensives has been appraised to determine candidacy for hypertension treatment. A total of 1759 black residents were successfully screened at home. Forty-one percent of the males and 33% of the females had diastolic blood pressures of 95 mm Hg or greater.

Evaluation of cancer screening programs: parallels with clinical trials.

The methodologic limitations of available observational evidence for the evaluation of ongoing cancer control programs is reviewed. The specific example of Control Programs for Cervical Cancer is chosen to illustrate these limitations. These limitations pertain to the special features of the natural history of this disease, to the types of data available as well as to problems in the interpretation of these data.