Response from Authors

Comments from the reviewers and response from the authors

Authors’ Response to Commentaries

According to Wilson (1), ‘‘. . . any plausible unifying theory that seeks to marry longevity, functional disability, and health perception must involve political, social, cultural, psychological, and economic factors.’’ On the contrary, Fries (2) states: ‘‘A general theory of biological aging . . . needs to precede a general theory of population aging, which then could be derived from it, and i...

Authors Response to Commentary

AUTHORS’ RESPONSE Although the initial diagnosis of appendicitis remains a clinical one, laparoscopy has gone some way in aiding management of acute right iliac fossa pain. However, even this remains fallible with a number of normal looking appendices being proven histologically to be inflammed. The significance of this level of inflammation remains controversial, and indeed our study showed no...

Authors' Response to Gowdy

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...

Authors' Response to Hogan

Richard Hockey Because of the nature of the analysis used in this study [1], no conclusion is possible. There are plenty of examples in the literature demonstrating the “ecological fallacy”. Studies such as this have very little utility other than to generate hypotheses. I tend to think that this association is a marker for greater recognition and treatment for depression. However, it’s a brave...