The epidemiology and treatment of ALS: focus on the heterogeneity of the disease and critical appraisal of therapeutic trials.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Abstract Effective treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have remained elusive. Only riluzole, a drug thought to affect glutamate metabolism, improves survival albeit to modest extent. Explanations for the negative results of therapeutic trials include a likely heterogeneity, both in disease susceptibility and pathogenic mechanisms, and faulty methodology of clinical trials. Further understanding of these factors will lead to improvements in patient stratification, and in the design of future clinical trials.
منابع مشابه
Evaluation of Clinical Trials
In a number of important clinical issues such as evaluation of the efficacy or effectiveness of therapeutic or preventive interventions as well as for comparing the harms of interventions, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide the highest levels of evidence, either directly or indirectly. It is obvious that critical appraisal of these studies to assess their validity and precision is of p...
متن کاملP-46: The Effect of Oral Antioxidants on Male Infertility
Background: The use of antioxidants in treatment of infertile men has been suggested, although the evidence base for this practice is unclear. A systematic review of randomized studies was conducted to evaluate the effects of oral antioxidants (vitamins C and E, zinc, selenium, folate, carnitine and carotenoids) on sperm quality and pregnancy rate in infertile men. Materials and Methods: MEDLIN...
متن کاملLetter to editor: the critical appraisal of “efficacy of licorice extract in the treatment of melasma: a randomized, double-blind, lacebo-controlled clinical trial”
This is a letter to editor criticizing the paper entitled “Efficacy of licorice extract in the treatment of melasma: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial”. We discuss some methodological points on external and internal validity of results. The paper suffers from lack of detailed information on sample size and power calculation to make sure generalisability of results to...
متن کاملThe Effect of Introducing Evidence Based Medicine on Critical Appraisal Skills of Medical Students
Introduction: Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is a set of methods and resources for finding and employing the best evidences among present resources in order to manage each patient. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an introductory course of EBM on critical appraisal skills of medical students. Methods: This Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) was performed on clerkship students in ...
متن کاملCritical appraisal of fundamental items in approved clinical trial research proposals in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
Background: Writing, designing, and conducting a clinical trial research proposal has an important role in achieving valid and reliable findings. Thus, this study aimed at critically appraising fundamental information in approved clinical trial research proposals in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS) from 2008 to 2014. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted o...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis : official publication of the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Motor Neuron Diseases
دوره 12 1 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2011