Answers to big questions

This week's journal offers answers—admittedly provisional—to some big questions. What advice should be offered to a woman who has a normal colposcopy result after a smear shows low grade cervical abnormalities? What is the best age to have children? Should children who live in parts of the world where helminths are common be treated routinely? How can a health system minimise adverse events? Were the results of the United Kingdom prospective diabetes study (UKPDS) hyped, and if so why?

Some 250 000 women in Britain each year have mild or borderline abnormalities on cervical smears. …