WHEN a doctor orders a test, he has, on the basis of his knowledge and experience, a certain impression of its reliability. Does the test have many falsely positive or negative results? Moreover, whatever the result, will the findings play a determining ...

ALTHOUGH laboratory and radiologic methods are available for the diagnosis of renovascular disease and surgical approaches are well developed for the treatment of arteriosclerotic and fibromuscular changes in the renal arteries, the optimum management of ...

ALTHOUGH some would claim that the ultimate test of a diagnostic procedure is its ability to sort patients for specific diseases, others more operationally oriented would argue that the ultimate test is the extent to which it improves physicians' ability ...

NO generally accepted screening protocol for the detection of asymptomatic colonic cancer has as yet been developed. One approach, which has been advocated by Greegor, is testing of stool for occult blood. ¹ Recognizing that an isolated stool examination ...

THE dilemma of whether or not to administer a certain drug or carry out a certain operation in a patient without an established diagnosis is familiar to physicians. In many clinical situations considerable uncertainty exists about the presence or absence ...

IN 1968, in an article called "The Tragedy of the Commons," Garrett Hardin discussed a class of human problems that in his view had no technical solution.¹ Focusing on the population problem, Hardin likened our present dilemma to that of a group of ...

THERE has been a tendency in recent academic debate to enjoy shocking by asking such questions as how much a life is worth and by pointing to the limits of what we will do to save lives. We are shown how our effort to cure one disease tends to mean making ...

WHEN I left England in May for another brief visit to the United States, there was still intense concern about the National Health Service (NHS) and about the state of the medical profession itself.

As anticipated, the review body that advises the ...

Presentation of Case

A 59-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of dyspnea.

He was well until 14 years previously, when he was admitted to the hospital because of the Guillain-Barré syndrome. Examination revealed mild hypertension, and an ...

This issue is essentially devoted to decision making in medicine. Analysis of the decision process is far from a new idea, but perhaps it is an idea whose time has come for those who deal with clinical medicine, whether as planners or as practitioners.

In ...

J. Willard Gibbs remarked on the occasion of receiving the Rumsford Medal (1881), "One of the principal objects of theoretical research in any department of knowledge is to find the point of view from which the subject appears in its greatest simplicity." ...

No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.

No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.

In the past 15 years work on the major depressive (and manic) illnesses has undergone several changes; advances have been made in a number of areas — in their treatment (with several classes of drugs), in attempts to test the biogenic amine hypothesis of ...

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS REGIONAL MEETING AND POSTGRADUATE COURSES

A listing of the regional meetings and postgraduate courses of the American College of Physicians, to be held between September, 1975 and June, 1976 is available from the College.

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No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.

No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.