Treatment Effects in Pharmacological Clinical Randomized Controlled Trials are Mainly Due to Placebo.

Objectives: The placebo response in clinical trials has four components: regression to the mean (RTM), measurement artefacts, natural tendency (NT) of the disease, and the genuine placebo effect. Our objective is to determine what contributes to the size of the placebo-effect in clinical trials by meta-regressions of randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Study Design And Setting: We identified five diseases where data on the rates of NT were available to search for a sample of n=150 (5x30) RCTs.

Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Mistletoe Extracts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type in women and quality of life an essential part of patients' well-being. Although the treatment with mistletoe extracts is covered by multiple cancer guidelines and reviews, it is uncertain whether mistletoe extracts can improve the quality of life in breast cancer patients. We therefore performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on this topic.

Survival of Cancer Patients Treated with Non-Fermented Mistletoe Extract: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Mistletoe extracts (ME) are used in integrative cancer care to improve quality of life and to prolong survival. ME are available from different producers and differ in pharmaceutical processing, such as fermentation. In contrast to fermented ME, the impact of unfermented extracts on the survival of cancer patients has not yet been assessed in a meta-analysis.

Bibliography of Homeopathic Intervention Studies (HOMIS) in Human Diseases.

Homeopathy (HOM) is a therapeutic method, which is widely used by patients and medical professionals. The medical conditions as well as the homeopathic medical products investigated vary strongly. There is an extensive amount of research, and this necessitates a bibliography that comprehensively presents the entire body of clinical evidence grouped according to medical conditions.

Most healthcare interventions tested in Cochrane Reviews are not effective according to high quality evidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of healthcare interventions tested within Cochrane Reviews that are effective according to high-quality evidence.

Methods: We selected a random sample of 2,428 (35%) of all Cochrane Reviews published between 1 January 2008 and 5 March 2021. We extracted data about interventions within these reviews that were compared with placebo, or no treatment, and whose outcome quality was rated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.

Cancer-related fatigue in patients treated with mistletoe extracts: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Cancer-related fatigue remains one of the most prevalent and distressing symptoms experienced by cancer patients. Effective treatments for cancer-related fatigue are needed. The objective of this meta-analysis is to determine the impact of mistletoe extracts as a pharmacological treatment for the management of cancer-related fatigue.

Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Open-label placebos (OLPs) are placebos without deception in the sense that patients know that they are receiving a placebo. The objective of our study is to systematically review and analyze the effect of OLPs in comparison to no treatment in clinical trials. A systematic literature search was carried out in February 2020.

The quality of evidence for medical interventions does not improve or worsen: a metaepidemiological study of Cochrane reviews.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine the change in quality of evidence in updates of Cochrane reviews that were initially published between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. We used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system to document evidence quality.

Study Design And Setting: We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews on March 20, 2020 to identify which of the reviews from the initial (2013/14) sample had been updated.

Quality of life in cancer patients treated with mistletoe: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Mistletoe extracts are used as an adjunct therapy for cancer patients, but there is dissent as to whether this therapy has a positive impact on quality of life (QoL).

Methods: We conducted a systematic review searching in several databases (Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Science Citation Index, clinicaltrials.gov, opengrey.

Searching for Real-World Effectiveness of Health Care Innovations: Scoping Study of Social Prescribing for Diabetes.

Background: Social prescribing is a process whereby primary care patients are linked or referred to nonmedical sources of support in the community and voluntary sector. It is a concept that has arisen in practice and implemented widely in the United Kingdom and has been evaluated by various organizations.

Objective: The aim of our study was to characterize, collate, and analyze the evidence from evaluation of social prescribing for type 2 diabetes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, comparing information available on publicly available websites with the published literature.

Using a matrix-analytical approach to synthesizing evidence solved incompatibility problem in the hierarchy of evidence.

Objectives: The hierarchy of evidence presupposes linearity and additivity of effects, as well as commutativity of knowledge structures. It thereby implicitly assumes a classical theoretical model.

Study Design And Setting: This is an argumentative article that uses theoretical analysis based on pertinent literature and known facts to examine the standard view of methodology.

The omega-6/omega-3 ratio and dementia or cognitive decline: a systematic review on human studies and biological evidence.

It has been suggested that the intake of certain fatty acids may influence the risk of dementia. However, current reviews have focused only on the therapeutic effects of omega-3 fatty acids, mostly as supplements. To date, the evidence for the relevance of the omega-6/omega-3 ratio has been neglected.

Midlife obesity and dementia: meta-analysis and adjusted forecast of dementia prevalence in the United States and China.

Objective: Obesity is a risk factor of dementia. Current forecasts of dementia prevalence fail to take the rising obesity prevalence into account.

Design And Methods: Embase and Medline were searched for observational studies on the association between overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m(2)) or obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)) and dementia and pooled the effect sizes by meta-analysis.

The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviors on all cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Lifestyle factors are related to mortality. Although much is known about the impact of single factors, the current evidence about the combined effects of lifestyle behaviors on mortality has not yet been systematically compiled.

Method: We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, and Somed up to February 2012.

Zinc diet and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review.

Objectives: This paper reviews evidence of an association between zinc (Zn) nutrition and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or age-associated cognitive decline. The involvement of zinc in the pathology of AD has been reported hundreds of times. It is, however, still a matter of debate whether the disease progression can be influenced by modifying zinc in the diet.

Copper and iron in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and its dietary implications.

Fe and Cu could represent dietary risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD), which has become a global health concern. To establish the relationship between diets high in Cu and Fe and cognitive decline or AD, we have conducted a systematic review of the literature (up to January 2011). We identified two meta-analyses, two systematic reviews, eleven placebo-controlled trials, five observational studies, forty-five case-control studies, thirty autopsy and five uncontrolled studies, and one case report.

Selenium and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review.

Preventing Alzheimer's disease (AD) would require knowledge about its etiology to a degree of detail not yet available. The major hurdle in understanding the disease lies in teasing out the various causes and their complex interactions. Since considerable data have accrued showing that the essential trace element selenium (Se) might play different roles in the progression of AD, we conducted a systematic review of the literature regarding Se and AD.