Steroids as adjuvant therapy for acute pharyngitis in ambulatory patients: a systematic review.

Purpose: This review summarizes the evidence regarding the efficacy of adjuvant steroids for pain reduction in acute pharyngitis.

Methods: We searched for randomized controlled trials, using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, published between 1966 and December 2008. Two reviewers assessed the quality of each retrieved article and summarized the data.

Do genetic factors protect for early onset lung cancer? A case control study before the age of 50 years.

Background: Early onset lung cancer shows some familial aggregation, pointing to a genetic predisposition. This study was set up to investigate the role of candidate genes in the susceptibility to lung cancer patients younger than 51 years at diagnosis.

Methods: 246 patients with a primary, histologically or cytologically confirmed neoplasm, recruited from 2000 to 2003 in major lung clinics across Germany, were matched to 223 unrelated healthy controls.

Surrogate phenotype definition for alcohol use disorders: a genome-wide search for linkage and association.

For the identification of susceptibility loci in complex diseases the choice of the target phenotype is very important. We compared results of genome-wide searches for linkage or for association related to three phenotypes for alcohol use disorder. These are a behavioral score BQ, based on a 12-item questionnaire about drinking behavior and the subject's report of drinking-related health problems, and ERP pattern and ERP magnitude, both derived from the eyes closed resting ERP measures to quantify brain activity.