Education and debate

Systematic Reviews: Some examples

Department of Epidemiology, University of Limburg, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands.

Reviewing the literature is a scientific inquiry that needs a clear design to preclude bias. It is a real enterprise if one aims at completeness of the literature on a certain subject. Going through refereed English language journals is not enough. On line databases are helpful, but mainly as a starting point. This article gives examples of systematic reviews on vitamin C and the common cold, pyridoxine against the premenstrual syndrome, homeopathy, and physiotherapy.

You will have heard of Maastricht - in 1992 the European Union treaty was signed there. Some people dislike Maastricht because it seems to stand for the ideal of the United States of Europe, but many of us in Maastricht do not even know what the treaty is about. What we like is to sit together and enjoy our Burgundian way of living. Maastricht is one big sidewalk cafe.

People in my town are very . . . [Full text of this article]

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