BACKGROUND "Therapeutic misconception" arises when human subjects interpret a clinical trial as aimed primarily at therapy rather than producing knowledge. Therapeutic misconceptions may be more prevalent in trials enrolling gravely ill subjects or involving novel and well publicized investigational agents. OBJECTIVE To examine the extent to which investigators express therapeutic optimism in...

This paper aims to provide a quantitative analysis of the influence of an aging population on the financing of Japan’s universal health insurance system and potential reform policies. We construct a general equilibrium life-cycle model to study the effects of aging on the tax burden, individual behaviors, the aggregate economy, and welfare. We also evaluate various policy alternatives designed ...

• Health benefits a big potential target for raising revenue: President Bush’s FY 2008 budget estimates all employee benefits-related “tax expenditures” (government revenue foregone due to special tax treatment) will amount to $328 billion next year, or 34 percent of the $961 billion worth of total tax expenditures in the federal budget. Tax-favored employment-based health insurance benefits ac...

Flavones correspond to a flavonoid subgroup that is widely distributed in the plants, and which can be synthesized by different pathways, depending on whether they contain C- or O-glycosylation and hydroxylated B-ring. Flavones are emerging as very important specialized metabolites involved in plant signaling and defense, as well as key ingredients of the human diet, with significant health ben...

OBJECTIVE Numerous scientific studies show that certain combinations of dietary and/or lifestyle factors produce health benefits which are greater than the sum of the benefits associated with each factor alone. To address an existing knowledge gap, we assessed the extent to which individuals understand that certain combinations present these 'synergistic health benefits'. DESIGN Health benefi...

acceptance and commitment therapy (act) is a new development within behavioral therapy. its goal is to promote psychological flexibility. numerous studies show that suffering results when people attempt to avoid their inner experiences (experiential avoidance). this experiential avoidance often leads to rigid and inflexible behavior that also leads them to compromise their goals and what is imp...

ayurveda, the indian art of holistic medicine describes fasting in terms of upavasa and considers it as one among the depletion therapies.   besides the extensive explanations on the preventive purports of fasting, the classics have explicitly explained and exemplified the therapeutic importance of fasting while treating different diseases and dealing with different stages of the diseases. feve...