10 Apr
In this review, we consider empirical studies from the United States and elsewhere, and we focus on how one aspect of health systems, clinical care, contributes to maintaining systematic differences in health across population groups characterized by social disadvantage. We consider inequities in clinical care and the policies that influence them. We develop a framework [...]
10 Apr
We lack data about total mortality in the Swedish Two County Trial. After almost 30 years of follow-up, results are no definitive, and doubts persist about the efficacy of breast cancer screening. Problems are with overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and its mortality. So we need data about total mortality. Swedish Two County Trial: total mortality data [...]
10 Apr
A recent study concludes that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) therapy provides the “same or better” relief for pain and disability, as current gold standard treatments for chronic unspecific low back pain (cLBP) caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD), namely spinal fusion and total disc replacement. This conclusion lacks scientific base, as pointe out in this [...]
8 Jan
There is a debate on vaccines. There is agreement on the advantages of some of them have for the individual and for the population, like the poliomyelitis, and there is great disagreement on others, like the vaccine against the human papilloma virus or the flu. In any case, vaccines should be a voluntary practice because [...]
20 Dec
The health system has four functions: 1/ health protection, 2/ health promotion, 3/ health prevention, and 4/ care of diseases and helping to die. In this text there is a proposal for a graphical representation that helps in understanding the medical activity. Logical graphical representation of medical activity. Gérvas, J. Diciembre 2011. Download English version here.
13 Oct
Influenza vaccines are useless. But every year millions of patients and healthy persons get vaccinated against flu virus. Cochrane reviews are consistent: flu vaccines are useless in healthy persons (elderly, adults and children under two years) and do not stop transmission in between humans. The case of Poland versus the world demonstrated that the vaccine [...]
13 Oct
All health services have adverse effects, all health services might produce damage to health. A few services produce more benefits than harms in specific situations. Unnecessary and inappropriate services mainly produce harms, and few benefits if any. Quaternary prevention is the prevention of unnecessary and/or inappropriate services and the prevention of over-medicalisation. Quaternary prevention refers mainly to personal services, [...]
