General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Naturopaths and the creep of pseudo-science [View all]pnwmom
(108,980 posts)and neither have SSRI's for mild and moderate depression.
Research showing that spinal fusion is an ineffective treatment for chronic lower back pain:
http://mcaulifflaw.com/News/files/d64705b81166b5665f272e271a40b8dc-20.html
The article in Spine, authored by Dr. Trang H. Nguyen of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, looked at 1,450 workers' compensation patients with chronic lower back pain and found that those who underwent the invasive fusion procedure had worse long-term outcomes compared to those whose treatment entailed only physical rehabilitation and exercise.
Trang and study co-author David C. Randolph outlined their preliminary findings during the annual meeting of the Ohio Self-Insurers Association last June.
Nguyen writes in the Spine article that only 26% of patients who underwent spinal fusion surgery returned to work within two years, compared to 67% of patients whose treatment involved only rehabilitation and exercise. Additionally, 85% of the surgical patients were still taking oral narcotics two years later, compared with 49% of the patients who did not have surgery.
Additionally, the article states that 27% of surgical patients needed to be operated on again, while 36% had complications from the surgery. What's more, permanent disability rates were 11% for fusion patients compared to 2% in the nonoperative control group, according to the study. Days away from work for those who had surgery was 1,140, compared to 316 in the control group.
The article concludes that fusions performed for disc degeneration, disc herniation or radiculopathy in a workers' compensation setting "is associated with significant increase in disability, opiate use, prolonged work loss and poor return-to-work status."
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2. Other research indicates that SSRIs are no more effective than placebos for cases of moderate and mild depression, yet doctors write millions of prescriptions for these conditions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/health/views/06depress.html?scp=2&sq=ssri&st=cse
Some widely prescribed drugs for depression provide relief in extreme cases but are no more effective than placebo pills for most patients, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.
The findings could help settle a longstanding debate about antidepressants. While the study does not imply that the drugs are worthless for anyone with moderate to serious depression many such people do seem to benefit it does provide one likely explanation for the sharp disagreement among experts about the drugs overall effectiveness.
Taken together, previous studies have painted a confusing picture. On one hand, industry-supported trials have generally found that the drugs sharply reduce symptoms. On the other, many studies that were not initially published, or were buried, showed no significant benefits compared with placebos.
The new report, appearing in The Journal of the American Medical Association, reviews data from previous trials on two types of drugs and finds that their effectiveness varies according to the severity of the depression being treated.
SNIP
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3. Ear tubes for children with repeated ear infections is another very popular medical procedure that may not work after all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/15brody.html?pagewanted=all
According to a new long-term study by Dr. Stenstrom and colleagues, when young children were randomly assigned to receive ear tubes or to be treated daily with antibiotics, those with ear tubes suffered greater damage to their eardrums and had, on average, poorer hearing 6 to 10 years after the tubes were removed.
Although the tube design has changed and daily antibiotics are no longer recommended, this controlled clinical trial calls into question whether the benefits of ear tubes outweigh the risks.
Ear tubes remain popular with an estimated 700,000 insertions a year in the United States despite subsequent well-planned studies that challenged many of the assumptions that long justified their use. Research directed by Dr. Jack L. Paradise, professor of pediatrics at Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, and other independent studies found no lasting effects of lingering fluid in the middle ear in otherwise healthy children.
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4. And I'm sure you don't need any links to prove that many M.D's prescribe antibiotics to patients who don't need them and who, in fact, shouldn't be given them. This is part of why we're getting so many antibiotic resistant organisms.