BMJ  2007;334 (10 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39120.563542.3A

Editor's Choice

US editor's choice

The next best thing

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Medicine and public health are always looking ahead. The problem is trying to figure out when something new is better and not just novel.

With an ageing population comes an increased incidence of macular degeneration, which can cause severe visual impairment. Usha Chakravarthy and Jennifer Lim discuss new, expensive drugs—growth factor inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies—that inhibit the development of macular degeneration. Their editorial (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39100.460671.BE) briefly reviews research that has established that these drugs are better than placebo in slowing neovascularization, but the drugs must be injected into the eye every month to be effective. How much is society willing to pay to keep our elderly population's vision intact?

Another promising technology riding to the rescue is computed tomography screening for the early detection of lung cancer. The authors of recently published cohort studies claim they have established that smokers benefit from CT scan screening. Pamela McMahon and David . . . [Full text of this article]

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