Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Reading this article about the placebo effect will make you feel better today

Here’s a very interesting item about the placebo effect. Yes, it is fun to hear about experiments in which people can be fooled into feeling better, or worse. But more importantly, this professor and psychologist discusses how a patient’s attitude, and a physician’s warmth and (apparent) competence, can impact our Continue Reading…

Imagine knowing after 4 weeks, how a new psoriasis treatment would be working for you after 6 months…

Here’s an interesting, after-the-fact analysis from clinical trials of the biologic Ilumya (tildrakizumab-asmn), an “IL-23 inhibitor” marketed by Sun Pharma. The researchers looked at psoriasis severity scores used in clinical trials, known as PASI scores (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index), for each patient. Each patient’s score is determined before the Continue Reading…

Opioid use “substantial” among people with moderate to severe psoriasis

A recent study looked at a database of privately insured people that included about 9,000 psoriasis patients, of whom just over 2,000 were identified as having moderate to severe psoriasis. It found that about 25% of those 2,000 received opioids, compared to 16% of otherwise-comparable people without psoriasis. The figure Continue Reading…

Big Mac please, hold the broccoli
Big Mac please, hold the broccoli

Today we report a study merely as a reminder that just because it is in a scientific journal does not make it the Gospel. It was a very small study, out of Japan, based on self-reported dietary history questionnaires. (The accuracy of self-reported dietary histories is probably right up there Continue Reading…