Bedside wisdom
We have been using unfractioned Heparin for long , and its is better than any other anticoagulants in ACS . . .
Our observation shows that Streptokinase has distinct advanatge over Tenektepelase as it works longer duration . . .
My experience says Diuretic and beta blockers are still good as first line therapy for Hypertension . . .
Mind you , there are infinite number of such wisdom in every sub specialty of medical field.
However , the typical response from any modern scientific intellect would be . . .
Stop it . . . Its old stuff folk , What does the current data say ?
Common uttering in scientific forums,
Is there data backing up your treatment modality ?
Is there sufficient data ?
Come’on , grow up , don’t talk about experience in a scientific forum . . . come out with data man !
No one seem to care the quality of the data . Every one bothers about the quality of the Author and Journal instead . if its X Y Z its ok If its A B C no its not acceptable data.
Probably , Data is most misused word in medical science.
In scientific world, “unpublished sense” goes straightway to dustbin ,while we have so many avenues for the published nonsense to be celebrated (Still, bulk of guidelines in cardiology is backed up by Level C evidence which means experience of experts !)
By the way what do we mean by data ?
Its organised collection of genuine scientific information , that’s post processed , follow it up with sound inference and faithful questioning and debate that should ultimately end up as “clinical application” in patient domain for consumption.(No prizes for guessing , whats happening in real world !)
OMG, give us back that elusive Common sense . . . which I think we lost some time at the turn of this millennium !
Wrong or useless data : Who will recall ?
Once applied to patient , these data is to be scrutinized and monitored . If we find a study conclusion and reality does not match , we need to stall the data from adversely exploding .Every stake holder should have the power to do it. There have been instances a treatment modality got banished in one country is legally permitted in other country knowing fully well the futility.
Final message
Modern scientific Data* is not God sent. Its created , synthesised and disseminated in various mind factories. All you require is , backing up with some pioneering journal publication with huge impact factor.It’s not really blasphemy to question things which doesn’t make sense .Unfortunately , wrong data can be tackled only with further data .(There is no other means I guess !)
When does “good common sense” become hard data and evidence ?
Its the act of publication , so please guys whenever you find some contamination in so-called scientific data please post here. To begin with I am registering a new Journal “Commonsense journal in cardiology”
*Please note, data is not a bad word as this write-up seem to suggest.Naturally occurring , epidemiological and observational data about diseases are the foundations for medical science .The issue become murky when few motivated humans play brutal games at the sensitive interface between science and truth.
It should be acknowledged , there is a distinct risk of this fight against falsehood end up in blocking true progress of science . Still , Homo sapiens are (believed to be !) intelligent enough to differentiate good from bad , that’s the reason God gave us the sixth sense !
Link to Lown Institute (Started by Cardiologist and Nobel peace prize Laurate Dr Lown who strives hard to pursue this goal)
Further reading : Scientific Reversals in cardiology
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 