Objectives To analyze the effect of improved oven for defluorination in coal-burning endemic fluorosis areas in China, and to provide evidence for the prevention and control of fluorosis. Methods Electronic databases including CNKI, CBM, VIP and CDMD-D (1989 to 2005), were searched. We also checked the reference lists of relevant articles. We selected relevant articles according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The methodological quality was assessed . Data on room heat preservation and the effect of improved oven for defluorination were collected in the surveillance spots of Three Gorges Reservoir. Correlation analyses were conducted between the improved oven and its effect parameters. Results Twelve articles of low quality met the selection criteria, of which 9 were graded C and 3 were graded D in terms of the methodological quality. A negative correlation was found between the decreasing rate of normal oven use and the decreasing rate of dental fluorosis as well as of urine fluorine (Pearson correlation coefficient r = – 0.87, – 0.63, Plt;0.01, lt;0.05, respectively). Analysis also revealed a positive correlation between room heat preservation and the decreasing rate of dental fluorosis as well as of normal oven use (the two Spearman correlation coefficients and P values were the same: r = –1.00, Plt;0.01). Conclusion High-quality studies on the effect of improved oven for defluorination in China are not available. Based on the current evidence, the improved oven for defluorination and the correct use, maintenance and house rebuilding for heat preservation may help to prevent fluorosis.
Gordon Henry Guyatt(1953-)is a professor of Department of Clinical Epidemiology amp; Biostatistics and Department of Medicine in McMaster University. He has engaged in evidence-based clinical research and practice for about 20 years. In 1992, he first proposed the term “evidence-based medicine” in one of his articles published in JAMA. He is dedicated to bringing the wonderful idea of evidence-based medicine to bedside and systematically training clinicians from all over the world to acquire the basic skills for evidence-based clinical practice. His great contribution to evidence-based medicine is introduced in this article through demonstrating the development of evidence-based clinical practice.
To analyze the current doctor-patient relationship and explore its underlying reasons. Evidence-based medicine may provide scientific evidence for the deepening of healthcare reforms as well as the improvement of social security system; provide abundant information for both sides of the doctor-patient relationship; improve medical quality and reduce medical costs, so as to establish a harmonious patient-oriented doctor-patient relationship .
Studies of evidence-based medicine have provided much important evidence, clarified problems, and guided the clinical practice in the treatment of renal diseases. As examples, several therapeutic problems in renal hypertension, renal anemia and low protein diet for the patients with chronic kidney disease are discussed in this paper.
The modernization and internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are the key issues we must face up to. The development of TCM needs to depend on the breakthrough of methods and the innovation of ideology, and the international standardization of scientific research evaluation. The clinical evidence from randomized comtrolled trials (RCT) is valuable and reliable. It has shown that the proportion of RCT identified in TCM journals was less than 30%, and the score of RCT’s quality was less than 3 using Jadad scale. However, the number of systematic reviews on TCM is increasing rapidly after the evidence-based medicine (EBM) was introduced and practiced in China. Until 2004, 43 systematic reviews of TCM were published in China, and the quality of RCT included in those reviews was elevated. It has shown that the efficacy and safety of TCM indicated some advances in treatment of certain kind of diseases. It has been realized that RCT are important in TCM, and improving the quality of RCT is the key step for modernization and internationalization of TCM.
To promote the accessibility and application of guidelines, it is necessary to establish a professional guideline database to adapt to the rapid growth of TCM clinical practice guidelines. This study described the framework design, technology module, information management, and quality control of the clinical practice guideline database of traditional Chinese medicine (G-TCM). G-TCM had included 658 TCM clinical practice guidelines, which would provide a platform for clinicians, researchers, guideline makers (revision), and evaluators to quickly query and obtain clinical guideline information, and play a supporting role in promoting the standardization and accessibility of TCM clinical practice guidelines and better guiding clinical practice.
Archibald Leman Cochrane（1909 to 1988）was a physician and clinical epidemiologist from the UK. The basic theroy of evidence-based medicine was established because of his influential book, Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services published in 1972. The randomized controlled trial and systematic review promoted by Archie has become the key stone of evidence-based medicine. He was known as one of the forefathers of evidence-based medicine because of his outstanding contribution. In commemoration of Arichie Cochrane, The Cochrane Collaboration was named after him. His legendary life story and the early stages of the development of evidence-based medicine are introduced in this article.