How do these studies pass peer review?

[drnase]

Warning: Below you will find an article that will be extremely novel and contributes greatly to our overall knowledge and treatment of rosacea. Please sit down before you read this because you may faint over the excitement of this earth shattering paper.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2005 Jul-Aug;4(4):473-80. Related Articles, Links


Topical metronidazole combination therapy in the clinical management of rosacea.

Del Rosso JQ, Bikowski J.

Department of Dermatology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Metronidazole was the first topical agent approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of rosacea. Several controlled studies have confirmed the efficacy and safety of topical metronidazole 0.75% gel, lotion and cream and 1% cream for rosacea. At present, little data exists regarding the use of combination topical therapy in rosacea management, although anecdotal evidence and preliminary studies suggest at least some additive benefit when topical metronidazole is used in combination with sulfacetamide 10% /sulfur 5%. In this paper, the results of observational experience evaluating topical metronidazole 0.75% gel used in combination with other topical rosacea therapies and/or subantimicrobial dose doxycycline are reported.

[Bob Bear]

Deja vu

[Callien]

Must have been a slow news day.

[Bob Bear]

No no, not meant that way! Just mirroring the intent of the original post. I take it this is all due to that fabulous article by Dr Dahl? Or have i got wires crossed?

[drnase]

I just dont understand. When we review articles for bio-medical science, there are 5 major prerequisites that they must meet before even starting the review process:

#1 on the pre-requisite list is "The information must be novel in origin"

We never accept any manuscript that is not novel in origin because it does not add to the knowledge base. It does not add another step in the climb to the answer and it takes up valuable reader space that could be filled with novel information to build on or to activate brain cell activity in other biomedical researchers or physicians.


This certainly does not meet that requirement. It baffles me. They could write 100 articles on metronidazole and just add a little spin on each one and say they published 100 articles.



The only exception to this is with regards to review articles.

[bethanne]

And it explains why most derms are so clueless when we go into them for help. Doesn't it make you just want to tear your hair out?

Like you Dr. Nase, I just don't get it.

Beth

[drnase]

And it explains why most derms are so clueless when we go into them for help. Doesn't it make you just want to tear your hair out?

Like you Dr. Nase, I just don't get it.

Beth


That is exactly my point -- one of these authors is a known rosacea expert, so all derms will take this article very seriously. Time to downgrade his ranking. :shock:

[Bob Bear]

I often wondered how such respected expert can get sold on crocks like this. Surely the fact that his patients / studies dont reinforce his opinion would be cause enough for a rethink.

Do these guys get put under any kind of political pressure to 'find' certain results?

[irishgenes]

Surely the fact that his patients / studies dont reinforce his opinion would be cause enough for a rethink.

No, they never rethink because they DO NOT LISTEN to their patients! When a patient gives up and does not return to the doctor, the doctor just thinks, "Ah--another cure!"

[Bob Bear]

I suppose when you've spent god knows how many years becoming a medical guru, its easy to get a bob on yourself. I think thats really quite sad, you should always be prepared to challenge what you 'know' as fact. If not, i cant imagine a vast amount of progress being made.

We should probably send this fellow a fax:

The world isnt flat...
Little green me dont live on Mars...
And Metronidazole does NOT cure rosacea!

[todmiller]

What do you mean, Galderma has ALL 5 prerequisites:

Money, money, money...